Walter Briggs Jr.

Walter Owen "Spike" Briggs Jr. (January 20, 1912 – July 3, 1970) was an American Major League Baseball executive. He was owner of the Detroit Tigers for five seasons following the death of his father, industrialist Walter Briggs Sr., in 1952.

Spike Briggs
Born	Walter Owen Briggs Jr. January 20, 1912 Detroit, Michigan
Died	July 3, 1970 (aged 58) Detroit, Michigan
Occupation	Baseball executive
Parent(s)	Walter Briggs Sr.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Briggs was educated at Canterbury School and graduated from Georgetown University in 1934. He joined the family business, Briggs Manufacturing Company (maker of automobile bodies), and interrupted his business career to serve as a lieutenant in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.[1] He also had become a vice president of the Tigers before the war.

Owner of Detroit Tigers (1952–1956)

On the field: Rebuilding

Walter Briggs Sr.'s death on January 17, 1952, occurred as the Tigers were entering one of the lower points in their five-decade-old history. The 1951 team had finished a disappointing 73–81, in fifth place and 25 games behind the New York Yankees. But the 1952 edition fared even worse, losing 104 games, and finishing eighth and last in the American League—the first time the Tigers had ever reached those dubious milestones since entering the league in 1901.[2]

Four seasons of decided improvement followed, until the 1956 squad won 82 games under manager Bucky Harris. During that time, future Baseball Hall of Famers Al Kaline and Jim Bunning and eight-year All-Star Harvey Kuenn made their debuts.

Off the field: Torturous sale process

However, the senior Briggs' passing also triggered a four-year process that ultimately forced a sale of the team during 1956. Ownership of the Tigers had passed in 1952 into a Briggs family trust whose executors were Spike Briggs and the Detroit Bank & Trust Company. The bank viewed the team as an "imprudent investment" and ordered that it be sold. Briggs made multiple attempts to assemble a syndicate to purchase the Tigers from the trust. One group, which included Henry Ford II, broke apart before making a bid.[3]

In September 1955, Briggs' final syndicate, which included Tiger great and Baseball Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer, bid $3.5 million to buy the Tigers from the trust; Spike Briggs held 46 percent of the syndicate's shares. His four sisters, however, declined to sell the team to their brother for personal reasons that included Briggs' heavy alcohol use.[3][4] Their decision created a rift in the family,[4] and opened up a bidding process which saw a group of 11 Michigan businessmen, led by radio executives John Fetzer and Fred Knorr, purchase the Tigers for $5.2 million in July 1956, with the sale due to close October 1. That same summer, Briggs made headlines from his scathing criticism of his team, manager Harris, and Harris' coaching staff. His outburst drove one of Harris' coaches, Joe Gordon, also a future Hall of Famer, to immediately resign. (He would return to briefly manage Detroit in August and September of 1960).

As part of the sale agreement, the new owners retained Briggs as executive vice president, and prior to the 1957 campaign, he also became general manager. But Briggs resigned from both posts in April 1957, after clashing with the board over the choice of Harris' successor in the Bengal dugout.[4][5][6] His tenure as owner and general manager saw the continuation of the Tigers' policy of enforcing the baseball color line; when the team fielded its first black player, Ozzie Virgil Sr., on June 6, 1958, it became the 15h of the then-16 MLB teams to integrate its playing roster.[7]

Briggs died at age 58 in Detroit after a prolonged period of ill health. He was survived by his wife, three children, sisters, and 13 grandchildren. One of his brothers-in-law was United States Senator Philip Hart.[1]

References

1. The Associated Press (3 July 1970), Walter O. Briggs: Owned the Tigers (obituary), The New York Times
2. Retrosheet: Detroit Tigers franchise history
3. Harrigan, Patrick Joseph (1997), The Detroit Tigers: Club and Community, 1945–1995. Toronto, Buffalo and London: The University of Toronto Press, pages 74–77. ISBN 0-8020-0934-4
4. Hawkins, Jim, and Ewald, Dan; with Van Husen, George (2003), The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia. Sports Publishing LLC, page 92. ISBN 1-58261-222-6
5. Tiger Stadium at ParksOfBaseball.com
6. "Scoreboard". Time magazine. May 6, 1957. Retrieved August 17, 2014. Tossed out at home: the Detroit Tigers' Walter ("Spike") Briggs Jr. A man with a tiger by the tail ever since he inherited the team from his father, Spike tried hard not to let go. When the courts ordered him to sell, he talked the new owners into keeping him on as executive vice president and general manager, but last week his resignation was 'accepted.' Said Spike: 'It was a semi-force play.'
7. Briley, Ron (2002): "In the Tradition of Jackie Robinson: Ozzie Virgil and the Integration of the Detroit Tigers;" The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture. McFarland & Company, pages 137-150. ISBN 0-7864-1570-3