The owner of Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians, Lawrence Dolan has passed away at the age of 94 the team announced Monday.
According to a statement issued by the club, Dolan passed away on Sunday evening due to natural causes. The Dolan family were owners of the franchise since the year 2000.
“Mr. Dolan invested his entire life in Greater Cleveland and impacted our community on so many levels,” Bob DiBiasio, Guardians senior vice president of public affairs, said in a statement. “From his service to our country as a First Lieutenant in the United States Marines, his many philanthropic acts of kindness, career in law, business, education, and sports, many benefited from his engagement, influence, and passion. Especially in the world of sports.”
Current chairman & CEO Paul Dolan, Lawrence’s son, took over day to day operations of the club back in 2013. He, along with the rest of his family, own a 75% stake in the club and have overseen 7 AL Central Division titles, and a trip to the 2016 World Series. They also ushered in the “Guardians” era after changing the name from “Indians” back in 2021.
“We are saddened by the loss of our Dad, but lucky to have him as part of our lives as long as we did,” Paul Dolan said in a statement. “He was a loving husband, father and grandfather who was passionate about his family, work, our community and his love of our local sports teams, including owning the Cleveland Guardians.”
Following news of Lawrence’s passing, an outpouring of condolences from around the baseball world poured in. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred released a statement of his own, saying “I am saddened by the passing of Cleveland native Larry Dolan, whose family’s quarter-century ownership has made their hometown team a consistent winner and a staple of their community…He strongly believed in mentoring young people and using the Guardians as a way to impact Greater Cleveland. Larry also served the industry by bringing his professional expertise to the Major League Executive Council and the Ownership Committee, and he served on two labor negotiating committees.”
Lawrence is survived by his wife, Eva, six children and 21 grandchildren as well as James Dolan, who himself is the owner of the New York Rangers & Knicks.
“Cleveland sadly lost one of their own last night,” said Bob DiBiasio, Guardians SVP/Public Affairs. “Mr. Dolan invested his entire life in Greater Cleveland and impacted our community on so many levels. From his service to our country as a First Lieutenant in the United States Marines, his many philanthropic acts of kindness, career in law, business, education, and sports, many benefited from his engagement, influence, and passion. Especially in the world of sports. We are forever grateful for his passion in supporting the Northeast Ohio community and our franchise; through his initial leadership the Dolan family continues to be the longest tenured owners in franchise history.”
The Guardians continue their spring training with a game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday at 3:05pm ET. The franchise has yet to confirm any concrete plans to honour Dolan’s memory, though its believed that the front office is actively looking into options for the 2025 season.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.