On January 21, 1921, at Chicago’s Congress Hotel, baseball owners signed federal Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis to a groundbreaking 7-year contract as the first MLB commissioner, handing him unchecked power to clean up the Black Sox scandal and restore public trust in America’s pastime. Dive into the cinematic story of how the 1919 World Series fix forced owners to scrap the weak National Commission, negotiate with a trust-busting judge who demanded total authority (at $50,000 salary minus his judge pay), and launch an era of iron-fisted rule that banned Shoeless Joe Jackson for life while enforcing baseball’s color line. Explore Landis’s dramatic courtroom rise, his role in segregation debates (ignoring 1M+ integration petitions), and the lasting commissioner model that shaped MLB history through gambling crackdowns, farm system wars, and WWII-era controversies. Why did owners surrender control? How did Landis’s “best interests of baseball” clause become a double-edged sword? Perfect for Black Sox Scandal fans, baseball history buffs, and true crime sports listeners uncovering the scandal that birthed modern MLB governance.
Kenesaw Mountain Landis commissioner, Black Sox scandal commissioner hiring, Judge Landis first MLB contract 1921, baseball segregation Landis role, 1919 World Series fix fallout, Landis lifetime bans Shoeless Joe Jackson, MLB commissioner powers history, National Commission dissolved, baseball gambling scandal cleanup, Landis integration petitions ignored
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