SEATTLE -- Stanley Golub, a jewelry wholesaler who became one of the original owners of the Seattle Mariners, has died at 85.

  He died Oct. 14 of pneumonia.

  In 1976, when an American League franchise became available, Golub teamed with other investors, including entertainer Danny Kaye, to buy it. The team began play in 1977.

  ``He got into it because my mom was a baseball nut,'' said Golub's son, Stanley Golub Jr. ``Owning the Mariners was a blast for the family ... even though it only lasted four or five years'' before the investors sold the team.

  Golub was also active in Democratic politics and a was key fund-raiser for the late Henry Jackson, a U.S. senator and presidential candidate.

  ``He was my husband's best friend,'' said Helen Jackson, the senator's widow.

  A native of St. Louis, he grew up in Seattle and earned a law degree from the University of Washington, where he was a classmate of Jackson's.

  He practiced law before going to work for the jewelry business founded by his father. He served as an infantry captain in Europe during World War II.

  Golub is survived by his wife, Adele, his son, two daughters, his brother and four grandchildren.