Images courtesy of Del Webb Corp. Photographs, Greater AZ Collection, ASU Library
Above: Yankees General Manager George Weiss, Del Webb, and Phoenix Senators General Manager Chet Murphy at Phoenix Municipal Stadium during spring training, 1950. Top right: New York Yankees spring training program at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, 1950. Right: Del Webb working as a carpenter.
carpenter’s paycheck. But in 1928, Webb contracted typhoid fever, which effectively ended his Major League dream. After recovering, Webb and his wife of nine years, Hazel Church, moved to Phoenix, lured by his father’s contacts in the aggregate industry. That’s when Webb’s moved up to the major league in the construction industry. After minor projects, Webb’s big break came after he had worked on the Westward Ho Hotel. The hotel’s contractor wanted a carpenter on call at the grand opening, but they had to wear a dark suit. Fortunately, fifty
Webb had one in his wardrobe. That evening, he met A.J. Bayless, who owned Bayless markets. Mr. Bayless mentioned that he had issues with a superintendent who was building one of his stores. “The next day Del went to see him, and Mr. Bayless employed him as the substitute superintendent to run the job,” according to the 1991 book. “He finished that building, and then Bayless wanted to build another, and Webb set up a little company. After that, he was off and running.” Webb set up an office at 218 North Ninth Street in Phoenix. His construction firm grew from that tiny storefront during the 1930s and expanded rapidly with the vast military construction in Arizona during World War II. In 1945, Webb reentered baseball, this time as part-owner of the New York Yankees along with Larry MacPhail and
Dan Topping. The purchase included “The House that Ruth Built,” Yankee Stadium, and minor league teams and stadiums in Newark and Kansas City. The deal brought together Webb’s two passions: construction and baseball, which complimented each other. “I applied the rules of baseball to business,” Webb said, citing boldness, showmanship, calm in a crisis, and teamwork. Tucson developer Roy Drachman detailed Webb’s most crucial baseball contribution in the 1991 book. “He brought business principles to major league baseball. Before that, baseball was a game, and most people involved were not business people…A lot of them [other owners] were, like Topping, rich men, who never did anything in their lives but play. Some were ex-ball players, ex-managers; they didn’t know much about business.” January February 2022