born Nov. 20, 1866, Millville, Ohio, U.S.
died Nov. 25, 1944, Chicago, Ill.
U.S. federal judge and first commissioner of professional baseball.
Landis was named for a Georgia mountain where his father had been wounded as a Civil War soldier. He practiced law in Chicago (18911905) before being appointed a U.S. district judge (190522). In 1907 he presided over a famous case in which Standard Oil Co. was found guilty of granting unlawful freight rebates and fined $29 million (his decision was later reversed). He was named baseball commissioner in 1920 in the aftermath of the Black Sox scandal and became noted for his uncompromising measures to preserve the game's integrity. Though widely disliked for his stern, autocratic rule, he kept the post until his death.
Landis, 1928
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