Joseph John Lannin (April 23, 1866 – May 15, 1928) was a Canadian-born American baseball entrepreneur. He was the sole owner of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for most of the 1914 through 1916 seasons, during which the team won two

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

Biography

Lannin was born on April 23, 1866, in Lac-Beauport,

Canada East Canada East () was the northeastern portion of the Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new colony, known as the Province of ...

to John Lannin and Catherine Evans. His parents were Irish immigrants. Orphaned at the age of 14, Lannin migrated from Quebec to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, where he worked as a hotel bellboy. Penniless, he had remarkably made his way from Lac-Beauport to Boston on foot. He married Hannah Furlong and had two children, Paul Joseph Lannin and Dorothy A. Lannin. Although he had limited education, Lannin was personable and possessed a quick mind. He soon learned about real estate and the commodities market by listening to conversations of the wealthy patrons at his hotel and taking advice from those who were willing to share their insights with him. A confident and knowledgeable Lannin invested his savings in the commodities market, making a small fortune. From there he began to acquire other businesses and eventually built an empire of hotels, apartment buildings, and golf courses. On December 21, 1913, Lannin and a group of investors purchased 50% of the

baseball team from Jimmy McAleer and Robert B. McRoy. In 1914, he became the sole owner of the Red Sox and in that same year he purchased the rights to bring

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

to Boston. The team went on to win the

in and . Lannin sold the team in 1917 to Harry Frazee for $675,000. He was quoted as saying, "I am too much of a fan to be an owner." With the profit made from the sale of his team, he continued to invest in real estate ventures all around Boston and across

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

. Lannin acquired Roosevelt Airfield on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, where

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

began his historic transatlantic flight. Lannin provided Lindbergh with a room at his nearby hotel and watched the takeoff from Roosevelt Airfield on May 20, 1927. Lannin died on May 15, 1928, aged 62, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, having fallen or jumped from a window of a hotel that he owned; it was not known if he had a medical issue or died by suicide. At the time of his death, his estate was valued at $7,000,000. He is interred at the Cemetery of the Holy Rood,

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 23,272 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within the Town of Hempstead ...

. Lannin was inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lannin, Joseph 1866 births 1928 deaths American people of Irish descent Baseball executives Boston Red Sox owners Burials at the Cemetery of the Holy Rood Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Businesspeople from Boston Sportspeople from Capitale-Nationale People from Long Island Deaths from falls

Biography

References

Further reading

External links