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Landis, Kenesaw

Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Born: November 20, 1866, Millville, Ohio
Died: November 25, 1944, Chicago, Illinois
Elected to the Hall of Fame by Veterans Committee: 1944
Biography: 

Baseball's first commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis was elected to office on November 12, 1920, and helped restore public confidence in baseball following the Black Sox scandal of 1919. The former U.S. district judge banned eight White Sox players for life, despite their acquittal in a court of law. Landis subsequently issued other edicts utilizing the absolute power granted him by the owners to ensure the game's integrity, including allowing hundreds of minor leaguers contractual freedom.

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Did You Know: 
that since 1944, the official title of each league's Most Valuable Player Award has been the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Award?
Baseball is something more than a game to an American boy; it is his training field for life work. Destroy his faith in its squareness and honesty and you have destroyed something more; you have planted suspicion of all things in his hear.