Billionaire Carl Pohlad; Owned Baseball's Twins

For a time, Carl Pohlad's thrift was an issue regarding the Minnesota Twins. (By Jim Mone -- Associated Press)

Recently, Mr. Pohlad displayed greater willingness to spend money on his team. The Twins have won their division in four of the past seven years, and since 2007, Mr. Pohlad had handed out $160 million in contracts to stars Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and Joe Nathan.

Carl Ray Pohlad was born Aug. 23, 1915, in Valley Junction, Iowa, which is now part of West Des Moines. His father was a railroad brakeman and his mother, who lived to be 104, cleaned houses.

He attended Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., on a football scholarship and boxed for money when he wasn't playing football. He left college to work for a finance company owned by his brother-in-law, Russell Stotesbury, who bought Marquette Bank with him.

He met his wife, Eloise O'Rourke, on a blind date, and they married in 1947. She died in 2003.

He is survived by his sons, Robert, William and James, who has taken over control of the Twins. William Pohlad was a producer of the hit film "Brokeback Mountain."

Mr. Pohlad and his wife donated millions of dollars to charities each year and established a family foundation and the Twins Community Fund. He also co-founded the Minneapolis Boys and Girls Clubs.

"All I wanted in life," he told the Star Tribune in 2005, "was to make $100 a week and have two suits of clothes."