Judge and Jury: The Life and Times of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis

by David Pietrusza

Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis is most famous for his role as the first Commissioner ever to rule organized baseball. But before he came into his legendary position as baseball's final say, Landis already had built a reputation from his Chicago courtroom as the most popular and most controversial federal judge in World War I-era America. Judge and Jury is the first complete biography of the Squire, from the origins of his unusual name through his career as a federal judge and his clean-up after the infamous Black Sox scandal.

Genres: Baseball, Biography, Sports

785 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

David Pietrusza’s books include 1920: The Year of Six Presidents; Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series; 1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year that Transformed America's Role in the World; 1960: LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign that Forged Three Presidencies; and 1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR—Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny. Rothstein was a finalist for an Edgar Award in the Best Fact Crime category, and 1920 was honored by Kirkus Reviews as among their "Books of the Year." Pietrusza has appeared on Good Morning America, Morning Joe, The Voice of America, The History Channel, ESPN, NPR, AMC, and C-SPAN. He has spoken at The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, The National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, the Harry S Truman library and Museum, and various universities and festivals. He lives in Scotia, New York. Visit davidpietrusza.com

Reviews

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1922 baseball needed a czar. The game was rocked by scandal the most prominent of which was the fixing of the 1919 World Series. And two things saved it. One was Babe Ruth and the new lively
ball era with Ruth hitting more home runs a season than most teams and that went on for about a
decade. The second was the hiring of a baseball commissioner with dictator like power. One
Kenesaw Mountain Landis was hired, a federal judge who had issued some controversial opinions,
breaking up the Standard Oil Trust, coming down hard on anti-war protesters during World War I,
stuff like that.

And what an image. Even now that white haired judge looks like one of those old testament prophets
and from the bench his opinions his opinions read like scripture. Just what the national past time
needed. As far as the owners, players, and fans were concerned he was God Almighty.

Landis was a rock ribbed Republican, son of a Civil War veteran who was an army doctor and
served at the Battle of Kenesaw Mountain and named his latest born child after same. He was a
great supporter of Theodore Roosevelt who named him to the Federal bench. He had connections
with the Democrats as well. He was an aid to mugwump Republican Walter Q. Gresham, also a
federal judge whom Grover Cleveland made his Secretary Of State during his second term.

During his tenure Landis issued rulings from which there was no appeal. He banned many players
including the 8 White Sox players accused of throwing the World Series. He was a foe of the farm
system developed by Branch Rickey and just by fiat freed many players signed to contracts that
were buried in the minor leagues.

He certainly gave the image of baseball a needed polishing. Had he not died in 1944 it would have
been interesting how he would have handled the integration of baseball. He killed the purchase of
the Philadelphia Phillies by Bill Veeck who had intentions of doing that. He was however the son
of a Union Army veteran and he was proud of that. One might have to get a seance going to find
out.

Read David Pietrusza's fine book on Landis and come to your own conclusion.

[Steven D. Cron · Rating 5 out of 5]

If all you know about Kenesaw Mountain Landis is that he barred eight “Black Sox” from baseball for life for having thrown the 1919 World Series and that he prevented the integration of Major League Baseball, then this book is for you…as it was for me! As fascinating as Landis’ work as commissioner was — and there were constant controversies to be decided and disputes to be settled, and he banned many more players — I found his life as a judge to be equally fascinating, and this book covers Landis’ judicial career as well. Regarding integrating baseball, Landis cannot be praised, but neither can all the blame be placed at his feet for failing to advance this cause. Landis didn’t have to ban African-Americans from Major League Baseball because no owner (except eventually Branch Rickey) was going to sign a Black player anyway. Of course, neither did Landis make any move even to nudge, much less push, the owners in the right direction. in short, I found this to be a captivating biography of a man who dominated baseball for almost a quarter of a century. I will mention that this book is well researched, with 1,373 footnotes, yet the author still manages to make simple errors like when referring to player Larry “Dobby” instead of “Doby” and writer Shirley “Polish” instead of Shirley “Povich.”

[Virginia Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

Landis a fascinating man, and this was worth the read. I thought the book included a bit too much extraneous material concerning his siblings' careers (perhaps just me) and I skimmed through that. I am interested to know more about his closely guarded personal family life as he was such a unique character, but that appears to be difficult to report from available sources. I very much appreciated the balanced life story the author produced of Judge Landis and the representation of the controversial issues he juried, which continue to this very day to be challenged as new baseball cheating scandals emerge and are compared to events chronicled here. I learned a lot of interesting history from this book, including about the Wobblies.

[Robert Hilliard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional Biography of an Exceptional Man

Pietrusza's work is a highly-detailed, rigorously-researched book that brings forth the true character of The Man Who Saved Baseball. It's a refreshing change from the stereotypes that have been repeated so frequently about Judge Landis over the years.

I highly recommend this book for any student of baseball history or any fan who wants to understand how the game we know today evolved.

[Clayton Brannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like baseball and have an interest in the early years of modern baseball then this is a must read. Judge Landis influence on America and especially baseball is unparalleled.

[Doug DePew · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Judge and Jury: The Life and Times of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis" is an essential read for fans of baseball history in my opinion. It's well researched and well written. I found this book fascinating from both the baseball perspective and also from the general history perspective. I try to read some baseball books every year around the start of spring training. It's one of my traditions. This year, David Pietrusza's book sat on my list. I'm glad I read it.

Nearly anyone who knows even cursory baseball history has heard the name Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Even people who aren't familiar with how much he influenced baseball has probably heard of him from the Black Sox scandal. Until I read this book, I wasn't aware of much else about him. This book does a great job of filling in the blanks to give us a more rounded picture of who the judge was. I really appreciated the history prior to 1920 when he assumed the commissionership. It was great! The extensive notes in the back also help people like me who enjoy further research.

I think this was a very fair, balanced look at a complicated man. It addresses myths that have surrounded the judge back to his lifetime. I appreciate all of the work Mr. Pietrusza put into this book, and I will read it again.