In the midst of the gambling scandal that followed the 1919 World Series, commonly known as the Black Sox Scandal, Major League owners in both leagues agreed that they needed to change their image. The sport had been tarnished by gambling and fan disaffection with greedy owners for years, but fixing the World Series was just too much for even the most ardent supporter of the National Pastime.
Commissioner Landis Replaces National Commission
Since the birth of the American League in 1901, the game had been managed by a panel known as the National Commission, which was under the complete control of ownership. But now things had to change. The game needed a man with no tolerance for criminal activity, most of all gambling, who would agree to serve as an independent Comissioner.
Now, Judge Landis wasn’t exactly picked out of the clear blue sky, and he certainly was not chosen because of his judicial talents. After all, he had the dubious honor of being the trial judge who was most reversed by the Court of Appeals within his circuit. But Judge Landis had made rulings in baseball cases that favored ownership over the players, so perhaps the owners thought they could control him. .
And it was the "for life" provision, and the absolute power codicil of his Commissioner’s contract that really bit the ass of major league owners from time to time.
Commissioner Landis Banishes the Black Sox
Landis’s first act as commissioner was a shock to the owners, the sport, and most of all, the City of Chicago. Despite the fact that the eight players accused of throwing the Series had their cases dismissed for lack of evidence, Landis issued a ruling that banned all eight players for life. Joe Jackson, a career .356 hitter, was banished from the game. So was legendary lefty Eddie Ciccote, and Buck Weaver, the third baseman who protested his innocence until the day he died. Landis made the very unpopular decision based on his conclusion that gambling should be banned in the best interests of the game. Gamblers, and those who consorted with gamblers, would be given no quarter.
It was a hard stand that stunned some owners and didn’t endear fans of the Sox to the new commissioner. For the rest of his career, Landis continued to impose stern punishments on those who gambled or consorted with gamblers. In total, he issued lifetime bans against nineteen players. He also formalized the bans of Heinie Zimmerman and Hal Chase, both known gamblers who’d been banned informally in Landis’ opinion.
Landis' Anti-Gambling Stance Remains in Baseball Today
Landis maintained his hardline stance against gambling in baseball for his entire career, and expelled several players for life for fixing games or consorting with known gamblers. Among those banned were Phil Douglas and Jimmy O'Connell of the New York Giants and Philadelphia Phillies owner William D. Cox.
Subsequent MLB Commissioners have (usually) followed Landis's rigid stance against gambling, and a whole host of players have been suspended or banned from baseball for gambling activities. Most notable, of course, was Commissioner Bart Giamatti's lifetime ban of hit king Pete Rose in 1989 for betting on games (including, it was later discovered, his own Cincinnati Reds team when he was a manager).
It was only one of the many impacts that Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis had on the National Pastime.
James Lincoln Ray - Real Name: James Lincoln Ray Jim has been the Feature Baseball Writer for Suite101 since March, 2007, where he has written more then ...
