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Judge and Jury: The Life and Times of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis | 
 enlarge | Author: David Pietrusza
Publisher: Diamond Communications
Category: Book
List Price: $34.95
Buy New: $21.31
You Save: $13.64 (39%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 152054
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 564
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.8
ISBN: 1888698098
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.357092
EAN: 9781888698091
ASIN: 1888698098
Publication Date: September 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ships immediately! Perfect and New! 1998 Hardcover.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Baseball's first commissioner cast such a long and powerful shadow over the game, it's often hard to untangle his contribution from his personality, and his life from his lasting myth. The truth that emerges from this exhaustive and engaging biography of Judge Landis has no problem matching the outsized legend stride for stride. Landis moved into the public spotlight to clean up the national pastime after the disgrace of the 1919 World Series, but there was much more to this complex man and his complex career. Judge and Jury chronicles the entirety. A tough, colorful judge, his rulings could be as unpredictable as he was. Landis could be as severe and stubborn as he could be gentle and understanding, characteristics that both defined his decision-making and confused his critics. Noted as a trustbuster--he went head to head with John D. Rockefeller, fining Standard Oil $29 million--he upheld baseball's exemption from antitrust status from the bench. Known for his harsh sentences, he was almost impeached for his leniency to the destitute. As commissioner, he loved the post, the game, and his perceived responsibility as its primary upholder and restorer of virtue: "You have told the world that my powers would be absolute," he warned the owners who hired him. "I wouldn't take this job for all the gold in the world unless I knew my hands were free." In his regime, they pretty much were, and he used them to grab his share of whatever power and glory he could wrap them around. --Jeff Silverman
Product Description
This book strips away the myths and facile explanations to reaveal the real Kenesaw Mountain Landis--with all the subtleties and contradictions that made him not only czar of baseball, but also the most famous, popular, and controversial federal judge in America.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 readers will cringe August 5, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Pietrusza's portrait of the Squire is not without its flaws. Typos are too frequent. Some words, like soon and merely, are used repetitiously; Hampton L. Carson is represented as "Hampton L. Carlson." Pietrusza also commits redundancies and is too enamored of stilted adverbial phrases. In addition, some readers will cringe at Pietrusza's space allocation: large sections are given over to explanations and clarifications of cases and issues where Landis's name fails to be mentioned, and substantial sections also deal with characters only peripherally associated with Landis.
 Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis: Judge and Jury June 14, 2000
2 out of 9 found this review helpful
I rated this book a 5 because it captured the flavor of the Anabaptist spirit. His Mennonite heritage was outlined in the first part of the book. His character certainly was played out, as he mentioned the Landis Family is in the book of "Martyrs Mirror". This man definitely knew no compromise. It was evident that he was willing to help the underpriviledged. For anyone who knows Mennonite Philosophy he fits the ticket. I am not a baseball fan, but I did enjoy reading and seeing his character played out. Definitely worth reading.
A Thorough Biography April 17, 2000
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Someone once described Branch Rickey as a man of many facets, and they are all turned on. Much the same could describe baseball's first commissioner. Landis, being a baseball fan, appeared to make decisions which would benefit the game. An example would be delaying the Federal League court decision which could have changed the game radically. Rather than make a decision he didn't want to make, he delayed until a settlement could be made with the major leagues. He banned Shufflin' Phil Douglas when Douglas said he would go fishing rather than pitch a game for the Giants he would probably win. This was to get back at his manager, John McGraw, who gave him a vicious tongue lashing and had him given a so-called harsh drying out from alcohol abuse without his wife's knowledge as to his whereabouts. When asked by Landis his side of the story, Douglas didn't defend himself against McGraw's actions and just hung his head. Gambling wasn't a banishable offense prior to the Cobb/Speaker incident in 1927, and Landis seemed to let these two superstars off easy, whereas he was especially hard on Rogers Hornsby. The Rajah, who enjoyed attending the racetrack, stood up to Landis and said his wagering money at the racetrack was no different than Landis losing money in the stockmarket. An unfortunate character in the story is Jimmy O'Connell of the Giants. O'Connell, naively approached Heinie Sand of the Phillies about making it worth his while to lose a game against the Giants during the last week of the season. Sand, knowing what happened to Buck Weaver of the White Sox, reported the incident, and this led to O'Connell's banishment from the game. The sad part of this story is that O'Connell's teammates, Frank Frisch and Ross Youngs played a prank on O'Connell and Jimmy took it seriously. Frisch and Youngs, both Hall of Famers, were never punished. Landis's treatment of the eight Black Sox players would never be upheld today. His beginning statement, "Regardless of the verdict of juries..." tells it all. Landis would do what he wanted. He would never get away with that with either the ACLU or the players' union if they had one at that time. The author appears to defend Landis for his lack of action towards allowing blacks to play in the major leagues. Landis said he feared riots in ball parks if blacks were admitted. Maybe it was true that the time was not right, but he hid behind the tired response stating there was no rule prohibiting blacks from playing in the major leagues. Maybe not, but there was a "gentleman's agreement" that none would be signed. Some gentlemen! Landis was hired by the owners, but he didn't appear to respect them. He claimed to be a player's commissioner, and one way he showed that was in releasing players from the minor leagues that he felt covered up preventing their advancement. You really never knew what Landis' reaction would be to something. He could be very unpredictable with what he would do regarding an issue, and he seemed to play favorites regarding players. He didn't care for Branch Rickey, who he may have felt was hypocritical by playing the part of a preacher while doing things that Landis felt were self-serving. The Judge had his fights with J. G. Taylor Spink, the publisher of The Sporting News because a Saturday Evening Post article referred to Spink as Mr. Baseball and the conscience of baseball. There are some strong willed personalities in this book and the author does an excellent job of bringing this part of baseball and American history to life.
A fascinating backdrop and a paradox for the subject.. April 10, 2000
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Biographer Pietrusza has undertaken a significant task in this biography, and has done admirably. He has fully explored much of what molded Judge Landis, and explores in major league fashion his checkered career as a Federal Judge. The history of baseball, of which Landis was obviously an integral componet is well researched and covered. His interactions with the other greats of the game, like Ruth, Cobb and Rickey give good insight into his character and impact.The work does have one glaring deficciency, though. I must disagree with a fellow writer, with regard to the book's chronicle of Landis and the efforts to integrate the game. I rather felt that this (certainly the most significant of any shortcoming of his reign) was given less than adequate coverage by the author. Others have written more authoritatively (including first hand reporting of confrontations over the issue) about how intractable a foe Landis was of integration of the American pasttime. This book not only ignores almost all of these, but glosses over the issue in general with little more than an apologist's dismissal. From my perspective, this is an unpardonable transgression. All in all, though, certainly a book worth reading by anyone interested in either the history of the game, or an exploration of who those with significant power may wield it.
A masterful biography of a complex man February 20, 1999
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
David Pietruza has written an extraordinary book about a complex, fascinating man. I always thought of Landis as a mostly eccentric showman. But Pietruza gives a portrait of a towering figure with a legacy extending far beyond baseball. I bought this thinking I'd find a good baseball book for the dead of winter; what I got was that and more. Landis' early life is particularly interesting. You don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy "Judge and Jury." It's well worth the read.
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