imported>Jim Dixon 55104: Updated short description

2025-06-29T01:47:42Z

Updated short description

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{{Short description|American baseball executive (1844–1910)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = John Ignatius Rogers
| image = John Ignatius Rogers.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1844|5|27}}
| birth_place = [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|1910|3|13|1844|5|27}}
| death_place = [[Denver, Colorado]], United States
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| other_names =
| known_for =
| education = [[University of Pennsylvania]]
| employer =
| occupation = Owner of [[Philadelphia Phillies]] baseball and [[Philadelphia Phillies (NFL)|Philadelphia Phillies]] football teams, attorney, politician
| title =
| term =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| party =
| boards =
| spouse = Elizabeth H. Henkels, January 20, 1876
| partner =
| children = 5
| parents =
| relatives =
| signature = Signature of John Ignatius Rogers.png
| footnotes =
}}
'''John Ignatius Rogers''' (May 27, 1844, [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]] – March 13, 1910, [[Denver, Colorado]]),<ref name="shiffert">{{cite book|last=Shiffert|first=John|title=Base ball in Philadelphia: a history of the early game, 1831-1900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLvUMZsVuL0C&q=Base+ball+in+Philadelphia:+a+history+of+the+early+game|year=2006|publisher=McFarland|isbn=0-7864-2795-7|pages=244–246}}</ref> was part-owner of the [[Philadelphia Phillies]] from 1883 to 1899, and majority owner from 1899 to 1903. He also owned the [[Philadelphia Phillies (NFL)|Philadelphia Phillies]] of the short-lived [[National Football League (1902)|National Football League]] of 1902.

Rogers was born to Irish immigrant parents in Philadelphia on May 27, 1844.<ref name=shiffert/> He earned his law degree at the University of Pennsylvania,<ref name=shiffert/> and was admitted to the bar in 1865. Rogers was elected the city comptroller in 1880. As a member of the City Troop/([[First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry]]), he participated in the quelling of the Pittsburgh riots during the [[Great Railroad Strike of 1877]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39057931/the-new-york-times/ |title=Col. John I. Rogers |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |location=Philadelphia |page=7 |date=1910-03-14 |access-date=2020-12-16 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Rogers was later appointed Judge Advocate General of the Philadelphia National Guard, with the rank of colonel.<ref name="hamilton">{{cite book|last=Kerr|first=Roy|title=Sliding Billy Hamilton: The Life and Times of Baseball's First Great Leadoff Hitter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mejXXRlBdO8C&q=Sliding+Billy+Hamilton:+The+Life+and+Times+of+Baseball's+First+Great+Leadoff+Hitter|series=2009|date=November 21, 2014|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-4639-1|pages=78–79}}</ref>

A prominent attorney and politician in Philadelphia, Rogers came to the baseball business when former player and sporting goods magnate [[Al Reach]] consulted with him on a patent for a baseball.<ref>"Col. Rogers Was Baseball Sponsor for Twenty Years" (obituary), ''Denver Post'', March 19, 1910, p. 2.</ref> Rogers and Reach later teamed up to acquire the remnants of the [[Worcester Worcesters]] in 1883, winning the rights to the franchise via drawing of lots. Reach and Rogers relocated the franchise to Philadelphia, where they became known as the Quakers (they would later become the Phillies), entering the team as an expansion franchise in the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] in 1883. During these early days, Rogers was involved in creating baseball's [[reserve clause]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Abrams|first=Roger I.|title=Legal Bases: Baseball and the Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=658NtZdwJykC&q=Legal+Bases:+Baseball+and+the+Law|year=2001|publisher=Temple University Press|isbn=1-56639-890-8|page=30}}</ref> which would remain in effect until the era of free agency.

Reach and Rogers sold the Phillies to a group led by [[James Potter (baseball)|James Potter]] in February 1903, but retained the rights to the team's stadium, National League Park (which eventually became [[Baker Bowl]]). On August 8, a balcony collapsed at the park, killing 12 people and injuring hundreds more. Rogers was nearly ruined by the resulting avalanche of lawsuits, and was forced to sell the stadium to Potter as well.<ref name=shiffert/> Eventually, both Rogers and Reach were absolved of blame and financial responsibility for the accident by the U.S. Supreme Court.<ref name=hamilton/>

Rogers died of heart failure in Denver, Colorado on March 13, 1910.<ref name=hamilton/>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Philadelphia Phillies owners}}
{{NFL (1902)}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, John}}
[[Category:Philadelphia Phillies owners]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball owners]]
[[Category:1844 births]]
[[Category:1910 deaths]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:19th-century American businesspeople]]

John Rogers (baseball) - Revision history

imported>Jim Dixon 55104: Updated short description