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

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Judge and Jury: The Life and Times of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis (eBook) Pub. Date: 1/25/2011 Publisher: David Pietrusza
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Judge and Jury: The Life and Times of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis Pub. Date: 10/28/2001 Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing

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Overview

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.

A look at the jurist who became baseball's first commissioner.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

This exhaustive study of baseball's first commissioner by the author of Minor Miracles includes details about its subject's life before baseball. Named for the Civil War battle in which his father was wounded and nicknamed "Squire," Landis grew up in a large family, two of whose members later served in the House of Representatives, while others became prominent journalists. This scion of a rock-ribbed Midwestern Republican family served in Washington, D.C., in the administration of Democrat Grover Cleveland. But back in his adopted city of Chicago in 1905, Landis was appointed a federal district court judge by Teddy Roosevelt. Deeply involved in the progressive, trust-busting wing of the GOP, he came to national attention when he took on Standard Oil and its powerful head, John D. Rockefeller Sr. Though the multimillionaire tried to avoid a subpoena, Landis made him testify and assessed Standard Oil a $29-million finethe largest in U.S. history (though it was later reduced). During WWI he was an unabashed jingoist, convinced that all socialists and labor leaders who opposed the war were traitors; unfortunately for them, many were tried in Landis's court and drew inordinately long sentences. The so-called Black Sox scandal in the World Series of 1919, fixed by gamblers, led the owners to hire Landis as an almost omnipotent commissioner, a job he held until his death 24 years later. He did indeed restore the reputation for honesty of the national pastime, though he opposed night games and the farm system in vain. In this fascinating, diligently researched work, Pietrusza tackles a complex, important man and makes him his own. Photos not seen by PW. (Aug.)

Library Journal

Long-renowned as baseball's first real commissioner, Landis had earlier been the strong-minded judge who fined John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Co. $29 million. Pietrusza, past president of the Society for American Baseball Research, portrays a harsh if occasionally lenient baseball czar who banned the 1919 Black Sox, among others, for gambling but spared some players. Unlike Jerome Holtzman, who recently labeled Landis "a bigoted curmudgeon" in his The Commissioners (Total Sports, 1998), Pietrusza says that owners, not Landis, blocked the game's integration. This warm but fair biography belongs on most sports shelves.--Morey Berger, St. Joseph's Hosp. Medical Lib., Tucson, AZ

More Reviews (4) Fewer Reviews

Dan Albaugh

Pietrusza has written an excellent in-depth look at the man attributed with cleaning up a tainted game. The voluminous Judge and Jury: The Life and Times of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis is well worth the reading effort.

Morey Berger

"belongs on most sports bookshelves."

Rob Edelman

"superior . . . a literate, impeccably researched biography"

Rob Teitelbaum

". . . an entertaining book that will interest any baseball fan or person who loves to follow law."

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781888698091
Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing
Publication date: 10/28/2001
Pages: 452
Sales rank: 685,111
Product dimensions: 6.18 (w) x 9.26 (h) x 1.79 (d)

Meet the Author

Called one "of the best historians in the United States," David Pietrusza has produced a number of critically-acclaimed works concerning 20th century American history.

His book "1960: LBJ vs JFK vs Nixon: The Epic Campaign that Forged Three Presidencies" was named by ForeWord Magazine as among the best political biographies.

Pietrusza's "1920: The Year of the Six Presidents" received a Kirkus starred review, was honored as a Kirkus "Best Books of 2007" title, and was named an alternate selection of the History Book Club. Historian Richard Norton Smith has listed "1920: The Year of the Six Presidents" as being among the best studies of presidential campaigns.

Pietrusza's biography of Arnold Rothstein entitled "Rothstein: The Life, Times & Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series" was a finalist for the 2003 Edgar Award. Rothstein's audio version won an AUDIOFILE Earphones Award.

Pietrusza's "Judge and Jury, his biography of baseball's first commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis," received the 1998 CASEY Award and was also a Finalist for the 1998 Seymour Medal and nominated for the NASSH Book Award.

Pietrusza collaborated with baseball legend Ted Williams on an autobiography called "Ted Williams: My Life in Pictures."

His books have been utilized as texts by such colleges as George Washington University, the City University of New York, the University at Buffalo, Baylor University, Bellevue College, the University of Illinois, and the University of San Francisco. "1920" has been part of the syllabus for the course "Congress, The Presidency & 21st Century Media" offered by C-SPAN, The Cable Center and the University of Denver. His talk on "Silent Cal's Almanack" is included in the curriculum for the C-SPAN Classroom initiative.

Pietrusza served as president (1993-97) of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), and as editor-in-chief of the publishing company Total Sports. He has been interviewed on NPR, MSNBC, C-SPAN, ESPN, the Fox News Channel, the History Channel, EBRU-TV, and the Fox Sports Channel. He has produced and written the PBS-affiliate documentary, "Local Heroes."

Pietrusza holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in history from the University at Albany.

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Anonymous

Posted December 26, 1999

Judge and Jury a Winner!

Judge and Jury: The Life and Times of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis won the 1998 CASEY Award as best baseball book of the year. It desserved it--but it is more than just a baseball book. It is a well-rounded biography of a complex, fascinating, and still contoversial individual.
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Posted August 10, 2010

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