The Indians had endured a stretch of humdrum seasons following their heyday in the late 1940s and 1950s, and had seriously considered moving twice in the early 1960s due to poor attendance.
Stouffer had little option but to take the massive losses, as he had bought a substantial block of Litton stock and agreed to hold onto it for several years after the merger.
Years later, Hank Peters, then the Indians player personnel chief, recalled asking Stouffer if he was serious about keeping the team, since if not he had effectively "committed suicide.
"[7][6] This was one of many cases in which Stouffer wound up micromanaging the team after initially promising to leave baseball matters in Paul's hands.
In hopes of staunching the bleeding, Stouffer proposed playing 30 games per season in New Orleans starting in 1974, when the Superdome was due to open.
[6] Later in 1971, Cleveland shipping magnate George Steinbrenner, who had been a classmate of Stouffer's son, offered to buy the team for $8.6 million.