Kenesaw Landis Marquee Hall of Fame 1944

Kenesaw Landis was a federal judge before the owners appointed him baseball's first commissioner after the fixed 1919 World Series. Born in November 1866 and dead in November 1944, he held the office until his death and was elected to the Hall of Fame that year by the Old Timers Committee.

He banned eight Chicago players for life, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, after a jury had acquitted them, which is the act that established what the office could do. He held it for twenty-four years and used it freely, against owners as well as players.

No Black player appeared in the major leagues at any point during those twenty-four years. Landis said publicly that there was no rule against it, and no club signed one while he was alive. Jackie Robinson debuted on April 15, 1947, twenty-nine months after Landis died, under his successor. This archive now counts the Negro Leagues those men were confined to, and 47 of their players went on to the American or National League once they were allowed.