Calvin Griffith

Calvin R. Griffith (December 1 1911 - October 20 1999), born Calvin Robertson in Montreal, Canada, was a Major League Baseball team owner (1955 - 1984). He was famous for his devotion to the game and for his sayings.

He was the nephew of Clark Griffith, who raised Calvin from the age of 11. After Calvin's father died a year later, Clark adopted the boy. The senior Griffith owned the Washington Senators from 1920 until his death in 1955; upon his death, the team passed into the hands of Calvin, who had worked up through a variety of positions with the team, starting as a batboy.

Under Calvin Griffith's ownership, the Senators moved to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota in 1961, and were renamed the Minnesota Twins. Famous for his sayings, one of his most infamous landed him in trouble in 1978, drawing charges of racism. In 1984, buffeted by the changes in baseball brought about by free agency, Griffith sold the Twins to Minneapolis banker Carl Pohlad; Griffith wept at the signing ceremony.

Preceded by Clark Griffith 1920–1955

Owner of the Washington Senators (I)/Minnesota Twins 1955–1984

Succeeded by Carl Pohlad 1984–present

External links

• BaseballLibrary - career highlights
• Minnesota Public Radio - Calvin Griffith Dead at 87
• Washington Post - Leaving for the Last Time
• ESPN - Griffith dies after developing kidney infection
• Calvin Griffith brought color to baseball

Further reading

• John Kerr, Calvin: Baseball’s Last Dinosaur (Wm. C. Brown, Dubuque, 1990)
• David Anderson, Quotations From Chairman Calvin (Brick Alley Books Press, Stillwater, 1984)