Alva Theodore Bonda (1917 - October 22, 2005) was the president of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

from 1973 to 1978. He was born in

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, which also served as his death place. He was a partner in Nick Mileti's ownership group who assumed control of the team in 1973, though Mileti wasn't completely bought out until 1975. While with the Indians in 1974 he hired

Frank Robinson Frank Robinson (August 31, 1935 – February 7, 2019), nicknamed "the Judge", was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams over 21 seasons: the Cincinnati Reds (1956–196 ...

to be the first African-American baseball manager. Bonda was a partner with Howard Metzenbaum in Metzenbaum's airport parking company, APCOA Parking. Bonda was also chairman of

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at one time and served on the Cleveland School Board. The Bonda and Metzenbaum were also principal owners of the Cleveland Stokers professional soccer club and in the Indians. Bonda was named after Alva Bradley, a previous Indians owner who owned the building where Bonda's father worked. Bonda was active in civic affairs. He's credited with keeping the franchise in Cleveland at a time when both the franchise and the city were in poor shape.

Political Views

Bonda was a liberal Democrat. He dedicated a lot of his wealth to philanthropic endeavors.

References

Cleveland Indians executives 1917 births 2005 deaths American sports businesspeople Businesspeople from Cleveland Jewish American baseball people Major League Baseball team presidents North American Soccer League (1968–1984) executives 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews Jewish American sports executives and administrators Jews from Ohio {{baseball-business-bio-stub