Remember Dick Jacobs

RIP Mr. Jacobs.

He may have been the best owner that this city has ever seen. He single handidly revitalized the city of Cleveland by leading the construction of Gateway. He was responisble for building Jacobs Field, The Gund Arena, and bringing hundreds of new buisnesses to create a welcoming area for Cleveland Sports and entertainment.

Mr. Jacobs bought a sorry Cleveland Indians franchise in the mid 1980's for a whopping $40 million and turned around to sell it in 2000 for the huge profit of $200+ million. He revitalized this team and city by constructing the most beautiful baseball field in the MLB and putting a team on the field that I grew up to love. He brought in players like Baerga, Sorrento, Lofton, El Presidente, Belle, Thome, Ramirez, Kent, Williams, Hersheiser, Grisom, Justice, Robbie and Sandy Alomar, Murray, Mesa, Plunk, Assenmacher, Wright, and the list goes on and on. With these players he brought this city a winning atmosphere that no life-long Cleveland fan could have ever imagined!

He built a winning tradition from 1994-2000 that produced 5 straight Central Division Titles, 2 American League Pennants, and a team that was within 1 out of winning the World Series for the first time since 1948. Most importantly he built a tradition that translated into a MLB record 455 straight home sell-outs. It was almost impossible to get a ticket for that place.

I was lucky enought to meet Mr. Jacobs in 1996 during the a home ALCS game against Baltimore. My dad was lucky enough to get club seats for that game and that meant we got to take the elevator up to our seats. As I was standing in the elevator I looked over and Mr. Jacobs was standing right there. (Gapa loves when I randomly meet Ohio sport legions) My dad introduced us and he was the nicest guy ever. He asked me if I was having a great time and he was kind enough to sign my ticket. That ticket sits on my sports mantle to this day as a great memory. That was the kind of owner that he was. He always put the fan first!

I only wish that Mr. Jacobs would have never sold that team to Larry Dolan. He hasn't held true to Mr. Jacobs thought of doing whatever it takes to win a World Series for this team. Plus he took away the greatest stadium name ever. It will always be Jacobs Field in my eyes and we will always refer to it as "The Jake".

Thank you for everything Mr. Jacobs. I have you to thank for so many great Cleveland Indian memories. Hopefully you and Herb will look over us and bring us that World Series that we need so badly!