James Keelty

James S. Keelty Jr.
(Jim)

• School Catholic University
• High School Calvert Hall College High School

• Born December 23, 1911 in Baltimore, MD USA
• Died August 26, 2003 in Mays Chapel, MD USA

Biographical Information

James Keelty was a wealthy real estate developer in Baltimore, MD who was part of the original ownership group of the Baltimore Orioles when they relocated from St. Louis, MO before the 1954 season.

Keelty was not originally part of the group started by Baltimore mayor Tom D'Alesandro and attorney Clarence Miles to bring a team to the city. Their original plan was to only buy half of the shares of the St. Louis Browns, owned by Bill Veeck, in order to entice him to relocate the team, as he wanted badly to move out of St, Louis, where the rival St. Louis Cardinals had gained the upper hand. However, other American League owner, wanting to get rid of the iconoclastic Veeck, voted down the plan, and were looking to put together a competing bid to move the team to Los Angeles, CA instead. To thwart the move, D'Alesandro and Miles sought out other potential investors in Baltimore in order to buy out Veeck completely. Keelty, brewer Jerold Hoffberger and businessman Zanvyl Krieger were among those who were quickly convinced to come onboard, and on September 29, 1953, the sale of the team to the new investors for a sum of $2.5 million was completed. It was approved by other American league owners in short order and the team was renamed the "Orioles", the traditional name associated with baseball teams in the city.

At first, it was Miles who was the ownership group's principal, being voted as team President and Chairman of the board. However, the team's first two seasons, in 1954 and 1955, proved to be unsuccessful on the field, and fellow owners were angry at Miles for spending too much on young players (reportedly, of some of $700,000) without tangible results. In November of 1955, Miles was voted out and replaced by Keelty. he stepped down in 1959, to be replaced by veteran baseball man Lee MacPhail. Meanwhile, Hoffberger bought out most of his fellow minority owners and eventually became the team's principal owner.

As a developer, he built a number of large residential neighborhoods around Baltimore, including Rodgers Forge.

Related Sites

• Obituary from the Baltimore Sun