Baseball is the oldest professional sport in America. It dates back to the 1870s when the National League came into existence. Due to its longevity, baseball has a vast and storied history. It is jam-packed with important moments and historical achievements.
Much of the time, people tend to brush off the past as inconsequential to the present. That mentality does a major disservice to the men who helped make the game great. It is important to know the history behind our great game. Not only because it can make for an interesting conversation, but because it forms the foundation of game today. It is my hope that after reading this article, which I hope to produce on a weekly basis, you will have a deeper appreciation and understanding of our great pastime.
This Week in Baseball History:
November 12th, 1886 – The Cincinnati Red Stockings and St. Louis Browns make the first trade in baseball history. The Browns sent away outfielder Hugh Nicol and received rookie catcher Jack Boyle and $400. This was a major turning point in the game of baseball. The idea that talent could be traded for talent was revolutionary. The game of baseball would be forever changed. Prior to their trade, the exchange of players for players was unheard of in any league of baseball. Much of the time, a player was bought by another team straight-up for money.
Nicol began his career as a White Stocking of Chicago in 1881 and was traded over to the Browns in 1883. He appeared in one ‘World Series’ and that came in 1885, the year prior to his historic trade. In his first season with the Reds, Nicol would steal an incredible 138 bases in just 125 games. He would go on to play four years with the Reds, and three of those were spent in the American Association (a league in which baseball players and teams competed). His final year with the Reds was spent as a part of the National League.
Boyle had just began his career in the American Association when he was traded. He had only played a single game prior to his relocation. He played 88 games in his first season on the Browns roster and batted an anemic .189. Boyle was by no means a star. The Browns were more interested in the cash that came along with him rather than the effect he could have on the team. His impact as a player pales in comparison to the impact his and Nicol’s trade had on the baseball landscape.
November 12th, 1920 – Kenesaw Mountain Landis is named the first Commissioner of Major League Baseball. He is a stern and hard-nosed District Judge of the United States. His hiring came amid the aftermath of the infamous 1919 World Series in which players on the Chicago White Sox accepted money in order to throw the series. His appointment was made in the hopes that he could provide order to a young league following one of the darkest moments in its history.
Kenesaw Mountain Landis reigned as commissioner for 24 years. In his time at the helm, he grew and maintained the public faith in the game in some of the most troubling times of American history. He cracked down on crookery in baseball and banned a number of players for gambling on baseball. Arguably, he set the standard on how to deal with gamblers in the game of baseball, which is still felt to this day. He knew what it would take to get the leagues back into shape and he did just that.
The appointment of Landis signaled a change in the way baseball was operated. Prior to his hiring, baseball was in what is called the “dead ball era.” It was a period of time in which a softer ball was used and power hitters were unheard of and the best way to play was to play small ball.
With Landis at the helm, the leagues shifted to the use of a more tightly wound ball and the power numbers exploded, just in time for Babe Ruth to burst onto the scene. The second golden age of baseball was upon the country, and all because a tough judge took hold of it and didn’t let go until the game was what he knew it could be, our great national pastime.
Since Landis, Major League Baseball has had just ten commissioners, each serving lengthy terms, with a few exceptions. The shortest term being that of Bart Giamatti, who only served a year. The position of MLB commissioner is a role of constant improvement. All commissioners assume office with goals they want to accomplish in their tenures. Many have achieved them and then some.
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The position of commissioner continues to be a large seat to fill. Kenesaw Mountain Landis was the George Washington of baseball. He set the precedent for what a commissioner could and could not do. All commissioners in his wake have followed in his example and expanded baseball to lengths he could have never imagined.