Joseph Cairnes

Joseph Francis Cairnes

• School Lowell Institute
• High School Somerville (MA) High School

• Born May 26, 1907 in Somerville, MA USA
• Died March 3, 1993 in Palm Beach, FL USA

Biographical Information

Joseph Cairnes served as president of the Milwaukee Braves from 1957 to 1961. His original career was as a construction engineer, through which profession he met construction magnate Lou Perini. Even though Cairnes had no baseball background, Perini called on him to run the business side of the Braves, which he did successfully. He began in 1947 by overseeing the concessions business of what were then the Boston Braves, turning a money-losing venture into a profit center for the team. In short order, he was promoted to Business Manager, overseeing both major league and minor league operations. By 1952, he was one of the team's Vice-Presidents, and he was one of the few persons Perini consulted when he made the fateful decision to move the team from Boston, where it was no longer profitable, to Milwaukee, WI in the first relocation of the modern era.

Cairnes was the man charged with negotiating with Bill Veeck, owner of the minor league Milwaukee Brewers to move the team to Toledo, OH in order to clear space for the major league Braves to move into the city for the 1953 season. The move was made official on March 18th, and it was an immediate and huge success. Cairnes then succeeded Perini as team President in 1957 and stayed in the position for four years. He then gave way in order to concentrate on running the Perini corporation's project to develop real estate around the West Palm Beach, FL area, where they had installed their spring training complex.

Related Sites

• Joseph Cairnes at the SABR BioProject