Editing Kenesaw Mountain Landis (section)

=== Policies as commissioner ===

==== Major-minor league relations; development of the farm system ====

[[File:Landis first ball.jpg|upright|thumb|Landis throws out the first pitch, 1924.]]

At the start of Landis's commissionership, the minor league teams were for the most part autonomous of the major leagues; in fact the minor leagues independently chose to accept Landis's rule.{{sfn|Pietrusza|p=347}} To ensure players did not become mired in the minor leagues without a chance to earn their way out, major league teams were able to draft players who played two consecutive years with the same minor league team.{{sfn|Pietrusza|p=350}} Several minor leagues were not subject to the draft; Landis fought for the inclusion of these leagues, feeling that the non-draft leagues could prevent players from advancing as they became more skilled. By 1924, he had succeeded, as the [[International League]], the final holdout, accepted the draft.{{sfn|Spink|p=127}}

By the mid-1920s, major league clubs were beginning to develop "farm systems", that is, minor league teams owned or controlled by them, at which they could develop young prospects without the risk of the players being acquired by major league rivals. The pioneer in this development was [[Branch Rickey]], who then ran the St. Louis Cardinals.{{sfn|Pietrusza|p=347}} As the 1921 National Agreement among the major and minor leagues which implemented Landis's hiring lifted a ban on major league teams owning minor league ones, Landis was limited in his avenues of attack on Rickey's schemes. Developing talent at little cost thanks to Rickey, the Cardinals dominated the National League, winning nine league titles in the years from 1926 to 1946.{{sfn|Abrams|p=99}}

Soon after Landis's appointment, he surprised the major league owners by requiring that they disclose their minor league interests. Landis fought against the practice of "covering up", using transfers between two teams controlled by the same major league team to make players ineligible for the draft. His first formal act as commissioner was to declare infielder [[Phil Todt]] a free agent, dissolving his contract with the [[St. Louis Browns]] (at the time run by Rickey, who soon thereafter moved across town to run the Cardinals); in 1928, he ruled future Hall of Famer [[Chuck Klein]] a free agent as he held the Cardinals had tried to cover Klein up by having him play in a league where they owned two affiliates.{{sfn|Pietrusza|p=347}} The following year, he freed [[Detroit Tigers]] prospect and future Hall of Famer [[Rick Ferrell]], who attracted a significant signing bonus from the Browns.{{sfn|Spink|p=166}} In 1936, Landis found that teenage pitching prospect [[Bob Feller]]'s signing by minor league club [[Fargo-Moorhead Twins|Fargo-Moorhead]] had been a charade; the young pitcher was for all intents and purposes property of the Cleveland Indians. However, Feller indicated that he wanted to play for Cleveland and Landis issued a ruling which required the Indians to pay damages to minor league clubs, but allowed them to retain Feller, who went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Indians.{{sfn|Pietrusza|pp=351–358}}

Landis's attempts to crack down on "covering up" provoked the only time he was ever sued by one of his owners. After the 1930 season, minor leaguer [[Fred Bennett (baseball)|Fred Bennett]], convinced he was being covered up by the Browns, petitioned Landis for his release. Landis ruled that the Browns could either keep Bennett on their roster for the entire 1931 season, trade him, or release him. Instead, Browns owner [[Phil Ball (baseball)|Phil Ball]] brought suit against Landis in his old court in Chicago.{{r|lind}} Federal judge [[Walter C. Lindley]] ruled for Landis, noting that the agreements and rules were intended to "endow the Commissioner with all the attributes of a benevolent but absolute despot and all the disciplinary powers of the proverbial ''[[pater familias]]''".{{sfn|Pietrusza|p=350}} Ball intended to appeal, but after a meeting between team owners and Landis in which the commissioner reminded owners of their agreement not to sue, decided to drop the case.{{r|lind}}

Landis had hoped that the large Cardinals farm system would become economically unfeasible; when it proved successful for the Cardinals, he had tolerated it for several years and was in a poor position to abolish it. In 1938, however, finding that the Cardinals effectively controlled multiple teams in the same league (a practice disliked by Landis), he freed 70&nbsp;players from their farm system. As few of the players were likely prospects for the major leagues, Landis's actions generated headlines, but had little effect on the Cardinals organization, and the development of the modern farm system, whereby each major league club has several minor league teams which it uses to develop talent, proceeded apace.{{sfn|Pietrusza|pp=362–366}} [[Rob Neyer]] describes Landis's effort as "a noble effort in a good cause, but it was also doomed to fail."{{r|neyer}}

==== Baseball color line ====
One of the most controversial aspects of Landis's commissionership is the question of race. From 1884, black ballplayers were informally banned from organized baseball. No black ballplayer played in organized baseball during Landis's commissionership; Rickey (then running the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]]) broke the color line by signing [[Jackie Robinson]] to play for the minor league [[Montreal Royals]] in 1946, after Landis's death. Robinson became the first African-American in the major leagues since the 19th century, playing with the Dodgers beginning in 1947.{{sfn|Pietrusza|pp=viii, 405}}

According to contemporary newspaper columns, at the time of his appointment as commissioner, Landis was considered a liberal on race questions; two Chicago African-American newspapers defended him against the 1921 efforts to impeach him from his judgeship.{{sfn|Pietrusza|pp=411–412}} However, a number of baseball authors have ascribed racism to Landis, who they say actively perpetuated baseball's color line.{{sfn|Pietrusza|p=406}} James Bankes, in ''The Pittsburgh Crawfords'', tracing the history of [[Pittsburgh Crawfords|that Negro league team]], states that Landis, whom the author suggests was a Southerner (Landis was born in Ohio and raised in Indiana),{{importance inline|date=January 2024}}<!-- The "suggestion" is called that as in the source, A.B. Chandler, Landis's successor, is referred to as "another Southerner", implying Landis was from the South. --> made "little effort to disguise his racial prejudice during 25&nbsp;years in office" and "remained a steadfast foe of integration".{{r|Bankes 2001}} Negro league historian John Holway incorrectly termed Landis "the hard-bitten Carolinian {{sic}} Kennesaw {{sic}} Mountain Landis".{{r|Holway 1975}} In a 2000 article in [[Smithsonian (magazine)|''Smithsonian'' magazine]], writer Bruce Watson states that Landis "upheld baseball's unwritten ban on black players and did nothing to push owners toward integration".{{r|smith}} A number of authors say that Landis banned major league play against black teams for fear the white teams would lose, though they ascribe various dates for this action, and the Dodgers are known to have played black teams in and around their Havana spring training base as late as 1942.{{sfn|Pietrusza|pp=413–414}}

Landis's documented actions on race are inconsistent. In 1938, Yankee [[Jake Powell]] was interviewed by a radio station, and when asked what he did in the offseason, made comments that were interpreted as meaning he worked as a police officer and beat up African Americans. Landis suspended Powell for ten days.{{sfn|Pietrusza|pp=414–415}} In June 1942, the Negro league [[Kansas City Monarchs]] played several games against the white "[[Dizzy Dean]] All-Stars" at major league ballparks, attracting large crowds. After three games, all won by the Monarchs, Landis ordered a fourth canceled, on the ground that the games were outdrawing major league contests.{{sfn|Pietrusza|p=417}} On one occasion, Landis intervened in Negro league affairs, though he had no jurisdiction to do so. The Crawfords lost a game to a white semi-pro team when their star catcher [[Josh Gibson]] dropped a pop fly, and Gibson was accused of throwing the game at the behest of gamblers. Landis summoned the black catcher to his office, interviewed him, and announced that Gibson was cleared of wrongdoing.{{sfn|Pietrusza|p=429}}

In July 1942, Dodgers manager [[Leo Durocher]] charged that there was a "grapevine understanding" keeping blacks out of baseball.{{sfn|Pietrusza|p=417}} He was summoned to Landis's Chicago office, and after emerging from a meeting with the commissioner, alleged that he had been misquoted.{{sfn|Pietrusza|p=417}} Landis then addressed the press, and stated,

<blockquote>
Negroes are not barred from organized baseball by the commissioner and never have been in the 21&nbsp;years I have served. There is no rule in organized baseball prohibiting their participation and never has been to my knowledge. If Durocher, or if any other manager, or all of them, want to sign one, or twenty-five Negro players, it is all right with me. That is the business of the managers and the club owners. The business of the commissioner is to interpret the rules of baseball, and to enforce them.{{sfn|Pietrusza|p=418}}
</blockquote>

In his 1961 memoir, ''Veeck as in Wreck'', longtime baseball executive and owner [[Bill Veeck]] told of his plan, in 1942, to buy the Phillies and stock the team with Negro league stars. Veeck wrote that he told Landis, who reacted with shock, and soon moved to block the purchase. In his book, Veeck placed some of the blame on National League president [[Ford C. Frick]], but later reserved blame exclusively for Landis, whom he accused of racism, stating in a subsequent interview, "<nowiki>[a]</nowiki>fter all, a man who is named Kenesaw Mountain was not born and raised in the state of Maine."{{sfn|Pietrusza|pp=420–423}} However, when Veeck was asked for proof of his allegations against Landis, he stated, "I have no proof of that. I can only surmise."{{sfn|Pietrusza|pp=420–423}} According to baseball historian David Jordan, "Veeck, nothing if not a storyteller, seems to have added these embellishments, sticking in some guys in black hats, simply to juice up his tale."{{sfn|Pietrusza|pp=420–423}}

In November 1943, Landis agreed after some persuasion that black sportswriter [[Sam Lacy]] should make a case for integration of organized baseball before the owners' annual meeting. Instead of Lacy attending the meeting, actor [[Paul Robeson]] did. Robeson, though a noted black actor and advocate of civil rights, was a controversial figure for his affiliation with the [[Communist Party USA|Communist Party]]. The owners heard Robeson out, but at Landis's suggestion, did not ask him any questions or begin any discussion with him.{{sfn|Pietrusza|pp=425–426}}

Neyer noted that "Landis has been blamed for delaying the integration of the major leagues, but the truth is that the owners didn't want black players in the majors any more than Landis did. And it's not likely that, even if Landis hadn't died in 1944, he could have prevented Branch Rickey from bringing Jackie Robinson to the National League in 1947."{{r|neyer}} The [[Baseball Writers' Association of America]] after Landis's death in 1944 renamed its [[MLB Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player Awards]] after Landis,{{sfn|Spink|p=246}} but removed his name in 2020 with a vote of 89 percent of voting members in favor. The president of the association said Landis had "notably failed to integrate the game during his tenure".<ref name = "later">{{cite news|last=Perry|first=Dayn|title=Kenesaw Mountain Landis' name to be removed from MLB MVP awards|work=CBS Sports|date=October 2, 2020|access-date=October 3, 2020|url=https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/kenesaw-mountain-landis-name-to-be-removed-from-mlb-mvp-awards/}}</ref>

C.C. Johnson Spink, son of Landis biographer [[J.G. Taylor Spink]] and his successor as editor of ''The Sporting News'', noted in the introduction to the reissue of his father's biography of Landis,

<blockquote>
K.M. Landis was quite human and not infallible. If, for example, he did drag his feet at erasing baseball's color line, he was grievously wrong, but then so were many others of his post-Civil War generation.{{sfn|Spink|p=10}}
</blockquote>

==== World Series and All-Star Game; other innovations ====

[[File:Landis and Ruppert.jpg|thumb|Landis with New York Yankees owner [[Jacob Ruppert]] (standing), 1923]]

Landis took full jurisdiction over the World Series, as a contest between representatives of the two major leagues.{{sfn|Creamer|p=245}} Landis was blamed when the umpires called a game on account of darkness with the score tied during the [[1922 World Series]], even though there was still light. Landis decided that such decisions in future would be made by himself, moved forward the starting time of World Series games in future years, and announced that proceeds from the tied game would be donated to charity.{{sfn|Spink|pp=105–106}} In the [[1932 World Series]], Landis ordered that tickets for Game One at [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]] only be sold as part of strips, forcing fans to purchase tickets for all Yankee home games during that Series. Bad weather and the poor economy resulted in a half-filled stadium, and Landis allowed individual game sales for Game Two.{{sfn|Spink|pp=173–174}} During the [[1933 World Series]], he instituted a rule that only he could throw a player out of a World Series game, a rule which followed the ejection of [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senator]] [[Heinie Manush]] by umpire [[Charley Moran]].{{sfn|Spink|p=179}} [[1934 World Series|The following year]], with the visiting Cardinals ahead of the [[Detroit Tigers]], 9–0 in Game Seven, he removed Cardinal [[Joe Medwick]] from the game for his own safety when Medwick, the left fielder, was pelted with fruit by Tiger fans after Medwick had been involved in a fight with one of the Tigers. Spink notes that Landis would most likely not have done so were the game within reach of the Tigers.{{sfn|Spink|pp=180–181}} In the [[1938 World Series]], umpire Moran was hit by a wild throw and suffered facial injuries. He was able to continue, but the incident caused Landis to order that World Series games and [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Games]] be played with six umpires.{{sfn|Pietrusza|pp=345–346}}

[[File:Landis at 1937 All-Star Game.jpg|thumb|left|Landis at the 1937 All-Star Game, [[Griffith Stadium]], Washington, D.C.]]

The All-Star Game began in 1933; Landis had been a strong supporter of the proposal for such a contest, and after [[1933 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|the first game]] remarked, "That's a grand show, and it should be continued."{{sfn|Spink|p=179}} He never missed an All-Star Game in his lifetime; his final public appearance was at the [[1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1944 All-Star Game]] in Pittsburgh.{{sfn|Spink|p=179}}

In 1928, National League ball clubs proposed an innovation whereby each team's pitcher, usually the weakest hitter in the lineup, would not bat, but be replaced for the purposes of batting and base-running by a tenth player. There were expectations that at the interleague meetings that year, the National League teams would vote for it, and the American League teams against it, leaving Landis to cast the deciding vote. The proposal was withdrawn, and Landis did not disclose how he would have voted on this early version of the "[[designated hitter]]" rule.{{sfn|Spink|pp=163–164}}{{importance inline|date=January 2024}}

Landis disliked the innovation of "night baseball", played in the evening with the aid of artificial light, and sought to discourage it. Despite this, he attended the first successful minor league night game, in [[Des Moines, Iowa]], in 1930.{{sfn|Pietrusza|pp=388–389}} When major league night baseball began in the late 1930s, Landis got the owners to restrict the number of such games. During World War II, many restrictions on night baseball were reduced, with the [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] permitted to play all their home games (except those on Sundays and holidays) at night.{{sfn|Pietrusza|p=434}}