Select Page

Marvin Goldklang

Marvin Goldklang is an American businessman. He has been a minority owner of the New York Yankees since 1979[2] and is the majority owner of both the Pittsfield Suns in Massachusetts and the Charleston RiverDogs in the Carolina League.

Goldklang grew up in Bayonne, New Jersey and played college baseball for the Penn Quakers.[3] He holds a bachelor's degree from the Wharton School and a LL.B. from the Carey School of Law, both at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as an LL.M. from New York University.[1][2][4]

After law school, he briefly joined a New York law firm before serving in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. After returning from the Army, he continued to practice law in New York.[1]

In 1982, Goldklang bought a share of a minor league team in Utica, New York.[1] In 1983, he stopped practicing law to focus on baseball.[3] In 1989, he led investment groups that acquired controlling stakes in minor league teams in four different states. In 1991, he acquired the Erie, Pennsylvania club of the New York–Penn League and relocated them to New York's Hudson Valley where they became the Hudson Valley Renegades.[1]

In the early 1990s, he was a leading figure in establishing the independent Northern League. He became the owner of the St. Paul Saints in that league. He later spearheaded the establishment of the independent American Association of Professional Baseball.[1]

He also previously owned the Fort Myers Miracle, the Minnesota Twins' entry in the Class A Florida State League.

Since 2004, he has been in the Hall of Fame of the South Atlantic League.[5] He was inducted in the Florida State League Hall of Fame in 2010,[citation needed] the New York–Penn League Hall of Fame in 2018[citation needed] and was elected to the board of trustees for Minor League Baseball in 2014.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Beal, Dave (September 5, 2015). "Career timeline: Marv Goldklang". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Sapakoff, Gene (September 19, 2023). "Marv Goldklang, the true star of this Charleston RiverDogs' boom". Post and Courier. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Beal, Dave; Fedor, Liz (September 5, 2015). "St. Paul Saints owner built success on early business risks". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
  4. ^ "Executives". Goldklang Group. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  5. ^ Maloney, Mark (June 11, 2004). "Foul tips". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. C3. Retrieved January 7, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

Further reading

  • Ruttman, Larry (2013). "Marvin Goldklang: Multiple Minor League Team Owner and Baseball Man of Influence". American Jews and America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball. Lincoln, Nebraska and London, England: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 377–386. ISBN 978-0-8032-6475-5. This chapter in Ruttman's oral history, based on an April 22, 2009 interview with Goldklang conducted for the book, discusses Goldklang's American, Jewish, baseball, and life experiences from youth to the present.