April 16th, 1934 - Profile

Commissioner Landis

Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was in his 15th season as Commissioner (he would serve 25) in 1934. His unusual name comes from the Civil War battle in which his father was wounded. Landis was a federal judge who presided over several important cases, most notably one of the earliest involving baseball's status under federal antitrust laws, when the Federal League sued the Major Leagues for blocking access to MLB players. More notoriously, Landis presided over the trial of the African American boxer Jack Johnson - a shameful ordeal beyond the purview of this blog (see here for more on this episode).

Appointed as baseball's first sole commissioner by the owners after the "Black Sox" scandal of 1919 to restore integrity to baseball, Landis did them one better, ruling imperiously over the game in a manner never seen before or since. Approached by the owners to head what they proposed as a multi-member commission to oversee the game, Landis informed them that he would only accept on the condition that he be the sole member and given absolute control of all aspects of the game. It is a sign of the dire straights the game was in at that point that the owners accepted his terms.

Landis dealt harshly with both players and owners whose conduct he deemed "not in the best interests" of baseball. For example, although he barred eight of the 1919 White Sox from baseball for their role in fixing the World Series, he also forced White Sox owner Charlie Comiskey to clean up the pecuniary practices that indirectly led to the scandal by severely underpaying his players.

Landis used his power in ways that helped the game by cleaning up the gambling, brawling, drinking and other unsavory practices that plagued baseball in the first quarter of the century. He was also, however, principally responsible for maintaining baseball's color barrier, which fell soon after he left office.

Interestingly, Landis championed the minor leagues, and opposed Major League owners' efforts to control them via the "farm system." At the same time, however, he opposed efforts of minor leagues, such as the Pacific Coast League, to reposition themselves as new major leagues in addition to the AL and NL. These positions can arguably be reconciled by Landis's strong sense of integrity of the game of baseball and his innate conservatism.

Landis's contributions to the game are significant. Baseball historian Bill James credits Landis rather than Ruth with saving baseball after the Black Sox scandal ('Baseball in 1920 was not threatened by a lack of popularity. Baseball in 1920 was threatened by a lack of honesty. The man who saved baseball from that threat was not Ruth, but...Landis"). He came into baseball at a time when its existence was precarious and left it indisputably as America's past time. The judgment in his Wikidpedia entry that Landis was the right person at the right time for the job, but who stayed too long, seems about right.

www.dickperez.com