Ex-Rangers owner Corbett dies at 75

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ARLINGTON, Texas, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Former Texas Rangers owner Brad Corbett, known for quickly replacing managers in the 1970s, has died at age 75, friends said Monday.

Corbett owned the team for six years from 1974-80, hiring and firing six managers during his span in the owner's suite.

He died peacefully in his sleep, The Dallas Morning News reported.

A New Yorker who moved to Fort Worth, Texas, in 1968, he made a fortune with his company Robintech Inc., which manufactured plastic pipe for the oil industry, before running into financial troubles within a few years after purchasing the team from Bob Short in 1974, the newspaper said.

Corbett went through four managers -- Frank Lucchesi, Eddie Stankey, Connie Ryan and Billy Hunter -- in an eight-day span in 1977 as the Rangers posted a then-club record 94 wins, finishing second in the American League West.

His money problems, however, led to series of six trades for cash and minor leaguers the following year and the Rangers didn't make the playoffs until 1996.

Corbett sold his majority stake in 1980 Eddie Chiles.