Dan Topping

Daniel Reid Topping (June 11, 1912 – May 18, 1974) was a part owner and president of the New York Yankees baseball team from 1945 to 1964. Daniel Reid Topping was the son of Rhea Reid and Henry J. Topping. Rhea Reid, the daughter of Daniel G. Reid, known as the "Tinplate King" for his vast wealth in the tin industry, was the mother of three sons, Daniel Reid Topping, Henry J. Topping (1914), and John Reid Topping (1921). Daniel Topping, along with Del Webb and Larry MacPhail, purchased the Yankees for $2.8 million from the estate of the late Jacob Ruppert on January 25, 1945. MacPhail sold his share of the team to Topping and Webb in 1947, and the two sold controlling interest in the team to CBS in 1964, after which Topping remained as team president until 1966, when he sold his remaining stake in the Yankees.

Topping also was co-owner, along with John Simms Kelly, of the National Football League's Brooklyn Dodgers starting in 1931, eventually owning the team outright. By the mid-1940s, Topping wished to move his football team from Ebbets Field into the newer and larger Yankee Stadium. Tim Mara, owner of the New York Giants, who played in the Polo Grounds, held NFL territorial rights, and refused to permit this. Topping moved the team anyway, joining the newly formed All-America Football Conference. Topping's team retained most of its players during the jump and became the football New York Yankees. The team was not one of the AAFC teams admitted to the NFL in 1950, and folded.

Personal life

Topping was married six times. His first marriage was to heiress Theodora Boettger. His second was to actress Arline Judge and lasted from 1937-1940. He was married to three-time Olympic figure skating gold medalist Sonja Henie from 1940 to 1946. His fourth marriage was to actress Kay Sutton in 1946. From 1954-1958, he was married to Manhattan model Alice Lowthers.^[1] His final marriage was to Charlotte Lillard which lasted from 1957 until his death. (Notice that the previous two sentences implicitly accuse him of bigamy.)

Topping fathered nine children, including Dan Topping, Jr. former General Manager of the Yankees, Rhea Topping a fly fisher,^[2] and Leigh Topping, daughter-in-law of future United States Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas F. Brady.

He died of complications from a lung ailment in Miami Beach, Florida on May 18, 1974, at age 61 (less than a month from his 62nd birthday).

See also

• Dan Topping at Find a Grave

References

Sporting positions
Preceded by Jacob Ruppert Estate	Owner of the New York Yankees with Del Webb and Larry MacPhail 1945-1947 with Del Webb 1947-1964	Succeeded by CBS
Preceded by Larry MacPhail	New York Yankees President 1947-1966	Succeeded by Mike Burke

v t e Principal owners of the New York Yankees Baltimore Orioles (1901-1903) Sydney Frank (1901-1902) John Mahon (1902) Andrew Freedman (1902) Ban Johnson (1902) New York Highlanders (1903-1913) William Devery and Frank Farrell (1903-1913) New York Yankees (1913-present) William Devery and Frank Farrell (1913-1915) Jake Ruppert Jr. and Tillinghast Huston (1915-1922) Jake Ruppert Jr. (1922-1939) The Estate of Jake Ruppert Jr. (1939-1945) Larry MacPhail, Dan Topping and Del Webb (1945-1947) Dan Topping and Del Webb (1947-1964) CBS (1964-1973) George Steinbrenner (1973-2008) Hal and Hank Steinbrenner (2008-present)

v t e New York Yankees presidents Joseph Gordon Ed Barrow (1920-1945) Bob Quinn Larry MacPhail (1945-1947) Dan Topping (1965-1966) Mike Burke (1967-1973) Gabe Paul (1973-1977) Al Rosen (1978-1979) Lou Saban (1980-1981) Eugene McHale (1983-1986) Randy Levine (2000-present)

v t e Brooklyn Dodgers/Brooklyn Tigers Defunct National Football League club 1930-1945 Based in Brooklyn, New York Originally founded in 1913 as the Dayton Triangles The Franchise Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) Stadiums Ebbets Field Owners Bill Dwyer John C. Depler Chris Cagle John Simms Kelly Dan Topping Head Coaches Friedman Emerson McEwen Schissler Clark Sutherland Getto Cawthon Kubale Bridges Pro Football Hall of Famers (4) Morris Badgro Benny Friedman Frank Kinard Clarence Parker Seasons 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Lore Dayton Triangles Boston Yanks New York Yanks Dallas Texans

Persondata
Name	Topping, Dan
Alternative names
Short description	American baseball executive
Date of birth	June 11, 1912
Place of birth
Date of death	May 18, 1974
Place of death