Joe Jackson

Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis suspends eight members of the Chicago White Sox for their alleged involvement in the fixing of the 1919 World Series

ByThis Day in Baseball

On March 12, 1921, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis suspends eight members of the Chicago White Sox for their alleged involvement in the fixing of the 1919 World Series. The group includes outfielder Joe Jackson, who batted .375 in the Series. Others banned are Eddie Cicotte, Oscar “Happy” Felsch, Arnold “Chick” Gandil, Fred McMullin, Charles “Swede”…

Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis

Owners unanimously elect Kenesaw Mountain Landis for seven years

ByThis Day in Baseball

1920 – Owners unanimously elect Kenesaw Mountain Landis chairman for seven years. The owners’ action comes in direct response to the Black Sox Scandal, which threatens the integrity of the game. Landis accepts, but only as sole Commissioner with final authority over the players and owners, while remaining a federal judge (with his $7,500 federal salary deducted from the baseball salary of $50,000).

Ban_Johnson,_1905

At a meeting to depose Ban Johnson as the American League president, a new 12-team National League is proposed

ByThis Day in Baseball

1920 – At a meeting to depose Ban Johnson as the American League president, a new 12-team National League, made up of the dissenting 11 teams plus one of the five teams loyal to Johnson, is agreed to. John Heydler will be its president and federal judge Kenesaw Landis the proposed chairman of the new commission. This revolutionary plan for a new senior circuit will be discarded a few days later, after four of the five American League clubs still backing Johnson agree to a joint meeting on November 12th in Chicago, IL.

Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis

Federal League’s year-old suit charging antitrust violations by organized baseball is dismissed by mutual consent in U.S. District Court

ByTom

1916 – The Federal League’s year-old suit charging antitrust violations by organized baseball is dismissed by mutual consent in U.S. District Court in Chicago by Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. No appellate decision is written and it will not be until 1922 when the courts rule on antitrust, in another suit stemming from the Federal League.

Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis

123 Federal League free agents is released by the National Association.

ByTom

Under the terms of the peace agreement, a list of 123 Federal League free agents is released by the National Association. Next month, the upstart league’s year-old suit charging organized baseball of antitrust violations will be dismissed by mutual consent in the U.S. District Court by Judge Kenesaw M. Landis, who will become the game’s first commissioner in 1920.

The Federal League sues organized baseball, claiming it to be an illegal trust and asking that it be dissolved and all contracts voided

The Federal League sues organized baseball, claiming it to be an illegal trust and asking that it be dissolved and all contracts voided

ByThis Day in Baseball

The Federal League sues organized baseball, claiming it to be an illegal trust and asking that it be dissolved and all contracts voided. The case is filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, before Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. He will stall his decision, and peace will be declared at the end of the year, but another suit, brought by the owners of the Baltimore Terrapins franchise, will result in baseball receiving an exemption from antitrust laws. In the meantime, the FL shifts players to strengthen teams in key cities. Benny Kauff, the league’s answer to Ty Cobb, is moved from the Indianapolis Hoosiers to the Brooklyn Tip-Tops.

August Herrmann

National Commission adopts a rule that bars World Series winners from playing post-season exhibition games.

ByTom

1911 – At Laughery club house, near Rising Sun, IN, the National Commission adopts a rule that bars World Series winners from playing post-season exhibition games. This obscure rule will lead to a direct confrontation between Babe Ruth and Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in 1921.