Barney Dreyfuss

Bernhard Dreyfuss

• Born February 23, 1865 in Freiburg, Baden Germany
• Died February 5, 1932 in New York, NY USA

Inducted into Hall of Fame in 2008

Biographical information

Barney Dreyfuss owned the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1900 to 1932. He also had owned the Louisville Colonels; when the National League shrank from 12 teams to 8 in 1900, he moved most of the Louisville stars to Pittsburgh, including Honus Wagner, Fred Clarke, Deacon Phillippe and Rube Waddell, thus forming the first powerhouse team of the 20th Century.

He played an instrumental role in fostering peace between the National League and the upstart American League in 1903 when he agreed to have his Pirates play the AL Champions, the Boston Americans in what became the first World Series. Two of his protégés became influential figures in the National League, Harry Pulliam who became league President, and William Locke who became owner of the Philadelphia Phillies. Both had served as secretary of the Pirates.

Dreyfuss' daughter, Eleanor Fanny Dreyfuss, was married to Bill Benswanger.

He was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2007 and inducted the following summer.

Further Reading

• Bob Bailey: "Barney Dreyfuss Buys Pittsburgh", Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Vol. 48, Nr. 1, Spring 2019, pp. 86-91.
• Brian Martin: Barney Dreyfuss: Pittsburgh’s Baseball Titan, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2021. ISBN 978-1-4766-7961-7

Related Sites

• Barney Dreyfuss at the SABR Bio project