No: 34
Date: 5/1/1987
Name: Gus Cherry
Then the owner of the Omaha Royals baseball team, Cherry is shown in a Royals uniform as he gets ready to wind up a pitch. The owner actually had played baseball when the Chicago Cubs signed him in 1936. But his two seasons in the minor leagues ended with an arm injury. The baseball enthusiast went on to become a partner in Metropolitan Structures Inc., a building firm in Chicago, staying until his retirement in 1978. Irving 'Gus" Cherry bought the Royals from the Kansas City parent club in 1985. He set about boosting attendance, which passed 300,000 for the first time in 1989. In 1990, attendance was over attendance. He owned the Class AAA baseball team for seven years, selling it in Buffett and Walter Scott Jr. and Union Pacific Railroad bought the team for $5 million. Cherry, who lived in Evanston, Ill., made sure the team went to local owners, even though he had 14 communities make offers to buy the team and move it out of Omaha. He is now deceased. Back to Top