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Associated Press - June 5, 2009 1:35 PM ET
Corrected Version
CLEVELAND (AP) - Former Cleveland Indians owner and commercial real estate developer Richard E. "Dick" Jacobs has died. He was 83 and would have been 84 on June 16.
Jacobs' real estate company says he died peacefully early Friday. He had been in ill health.
Jacobs and his brother, David, bought the Indians from the Steve O'Neill estate in late 1986 for $40 million. David Jacobs died in 1992.
Dick Jacobs focused his attention on restoring the struggling American League franchise to financial soundness and competitiveness on the playing field. The team's new ballpark in downtown Cleveland became Jacobs Field when it opened in 1994, and the Indians made it to the World Series in 1995 and 1997. Jacobs owned the club until 2001.
The park was renamed Progressive Field last year.
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