Throughout the summer, interested parties waited for an announcement of a change in ownership. Speaker’s group appeared to have fizzled out, but the others seemed to still be in play. On September 8, word came through that Alva Bradley, contrary to earlier statements, was ready to buy the Indians. Sportswriter Henry Edwards, still digging up scoops for the Plain Dealer after twenty-seven years on the beat, was all over this story. His source was Chuck Bradley, the brother of Alva. Chuck told Edwards, “Alva has changed his mind. He has decided that in order to boost Cleveland, a Cleveland man should buy the ball club instead of having it owned by residents of other cities.” Edwards asked Bradley if he intended to be a partner but could only get a maybe in reply.
The Bradley brothers may have planned to boost Cleveland, but in reality they had numerous interests of their own to advance. Alva had a large block of real estate downtown that could be turned into restaurants, hotels, and new offices for the Cleveland team. The only thing missing was a new stadium to cash in on. Edwards mentioned that other individuals had been talking about a new lakefront stadium that could seat over eighty thousand fans. Perhaps the Bradley brothers would lead the charge to make the talk reality. It made sense that downtown businessmen would see the huge investment opportunity in a state-of-the-art facility just a few blocks away from their real estate. The time had come for Cleveland men to take back the team.
Mrs. Dunn continued to make things exciting by acknowledging the Bradleys’ interest as well as that of two other mysterious syndicates. She cautioned that no other names would be mentioned, but that she preferred to sell the club to Cleveland buyers. It did not hurt that the Indians were playing good-quality baseball in September and showed some faint promise for the future.
On September 15, news broke that Alva Bradley was in serious negotiations to buy the Cleveland Indians. A price had been agreed upon, but the one sticking point was that Bradley wanted to buy out all the shareholders. He told Edwards, “We will not buy a share unless we can buy every dollar’s worth. We want no minority stockholders.” When Bradley made the statement, he already had an agreement with the three original partners of Jim Dunn: Pat McCarthy, Richard Lane, and vice president Tom Walsh. With the trio on board, the remaining minority holders would likely give up their shares.
Bradley mentioned in his interview that he wanted to give Cleveland a representative ball club and a modern stadium to go with it. Fans had heard the whispers about a huge new downtown stadium for several years. This was the first time the rumor had some real weight to it. Bradley mentioned a seating capacity of seventy-five thousand, more than two-and-one-half times the size of old League Park. Fans had to be excited by the news, realizing they would have a sporting chance to get tickets on weekends and when the Yankees came to town. When Ruth, Gehrig, and company were playing at League Park, tickets were extremely hard to come by.
Edwards asked Bradley why he wanted to buy the team. In a revealing answer, Bradley replied, “We are not going into this because we are such great baseball fans and are eager to get mixed up in the national game. But we feel that a winning baseball team is a splendid asset to any city and we are for Cleveland first, last and all the time.” This was a novel approach for a prospective Major League owner. In 1901, Charlie Somers started the Cleveland franchise mainly because he loved baseball. Certainly, he saw the opportunity to earn a fortune, but his heart and soul belonged to the game. The late Jim Dunn had seen the Indians as a money-making proposition. He learned to orchestrate trades to his advantage and within five years brought home a world title. “Sunny” Jim had great affinity for his players and the fans, but managed the bottom line extremely well. So here, in Bradley, we have a new man, one who wanted to enhance the city by owning the team.
Just who in fact was Alva Bradley? He was a leap year baby, born in Cleveland on February 29, 1884. His father was Morris A. Bradley, one of the top men in the Great Lakes shipping industry. Alva’s paternal grandfather, Alva, Sr., was the first Bradley to sail the open seas. He began as an ordinary deckhand but showed enough skills to later become a captain. With his expert knowledge of ships he took on a partner and by the 1860s made a mark in the shipbuilding trade. Their warehouses were located in Vermillion, Ohio, where the partners concentrated on building the largest wooden ships in the Great Lakes region. The business later moved to Cleveland, where he added to his already large fleet. The Captain piloted many of those ships and never lost one during his time at sea.
After the Captain’s death, Morris Bradley shifted the family interests to real estate. He accumulated nearly ten million dollars’ worth of real estate, most of it in downtown Cleveland. Property was held in the Wholesale District, a series of buildings from Superior Avenue north to the lakefront. Other holdings were from West Ninth Street going southeast to Ontario Street and Public Square. In sum, the Bradleys owned much of the property over a three-block area in the heart of downtown. Just about everybody who did business off Public Square paid rent to the Bradley family.
Morris Bradley had a home at 1375 Euclid Avenue, right in the heart of Millionaire’s Row. This was an area of land that stretched from Public Square and extended east several miles. The richest folks in Cleveland built spectacular mansions on the available land. Among the residents were John D. Rockefeller, one of the wealthiest men in America, and Marcus Hanna, the political boss of Ohio and future United States senator. The Bradleys were right at home.
In the late 1890s Alva began attending University School, an elite private school east of Cleveland. He was a good student, often scoring As and Bs in his classes. He was quarterback of the football team while his younger brother Chuck played tackle. They had a tremendous team, with many of the players later starring at Case Tech, Yale, and Minnesota. In a game against Kiski Prep, a boy’s school in Pittsburgh, fists were flying from the opening kickoff. Chuck Bradley in particular was taking a pounding from the Kiski defensive tackle. Nobody had helmets or much padding in those days, which led to many a bloodletting. During a pileup at the line of scrimmage, Chuck suddenly rose to his feet and began throwing punches at the defensive tackle. He had to be restrained by the officials and dragged off the field. When asked what happened, Chuck would later say, “I didn’t care how much he hit me, but when he landed on Alva that was different. Anyone that picks a fight with Alva has got to fight me first!”
After graduation Alva enrolled at Cornell University, where he studied engineering. He drew up a series of designs for ornamental lights to be installed in front of all the Bradley properties. Morris Bradley politely reviewed the plans but thought them too flamboyant for the Bradley reputation. Alva still had a few things to learn.
While Morris presided over the family holdings, the younger Bradley spent his time learning all aspects of the family business. In his spare time he played golf and tennis and sailed the family yacht. For years, Alva kept a season pass and a private box at League Park. He usually gave the seats away to friends and his employees. One afternoon he decided to watch the Indians take on the Yankees. He entered the park and realized he had forgotten his box seat ticket. He checked his wallet and to his relief there was his season pass. He walked to the pass gate and showed his card, but the man at the gate had never seen Alva before and believed him to be an imposter. There was a stalemate at the turnstile. Bradley looked around and spotted another ticket taker whom he knew personally. The man came over and verified that there was no fraud, and Alva was allowed in to see the game. Later he would tell Baseball Magazine, “Guess I will have to keep the pass gate man on the roster. If he will try to keep out the president of the club I guess he may be depended upon to keep out those who really have no right to pass.”
Morris Bradley passed away in 1926, leaving Alva to run the Bradley empire. Overnight, Alva became chairman of the board of the Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Company, president of the United States Coal Company, and the sole head of Bradley Real Estate. As was the family custom, he became involved in civic affairs, serving on multiple boards of local charities. He had numerous friends, including, significantly, Ernest Barnard, the Indians executive. The connection here cannot be overstated. When Barnard attempted to sell the team for Mrs. Dunn, knowing her preference was to sell to a Cleveland man, the obvious choice was Alva Bradley.
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