Books and articles about John Fetzer

As a developer of radio and TV stations, Fetzer's strength was in creating new concepts for packaging radio and television coverage of ML baseball after he became owner of the Tigers in 1962. He was a member of the ML executive council, and was active on expansion and planning committees. (NLM)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » July 16, 1956: A group headed by Fred Knorr and John Fetzer buys the Detroit Tigers and Briggs Stadium for a record $5.5 million. » October 11, 1960: Radio-television executive John Fetzer buys a controlling interest of the Tigers, giving one man control of the team for the first time since Walter Briggs died in 1952. He offers club president Bill DeWitt a job as his assistant. » November 14, 1961: John Fetzer's purchase of the outstanding one-third interest in the Tigers makes him sole owner of the club. » December 15, 1964: Tigers owner John Fetzer announces a 2-year television pact between ML baseball and ABC-TV. The network pays $12.2 million to telecast games on 25 Saturdays, Independence Day, and Labor Day. » August 4, 1967: John Fetzer, president of the ML television committee, announces a $50 million, 3-year deal with NBC to televise the World Series, All-Star Game, and 28 weekly telecasts. » January 12, 1972: Owner John Fetzer announces that the Tigers have signed a lease to build a $126 million domed stadium along the river in downtown Detroit. The complex will seat 52,000 for baseball, and 60,000 for football. Lawsuits, a failed bond issue, and the construction of the Silverdome in nearby Pontiac will kill the idea.