It’s a complicated legacy. Baseball had lost all its credibility, and its fans, after the 1919 “Black” Sox scandal. They needed someone to clean up the mess. Landis said he would, and he did, but the owners had to agree to give him complete and final authority to make any decision he determined to be in “the best interests of baseball.” He, and successor commissioners through Fay Vincent, retained this authority, and occasionally used it (Landis especially). Then the owners got fed up with having an executive they felt was in their employ (a dubious claim, IMHO) tell them they could not do something they wanted to do. They were able to force out Mr. Vincent and install Bud Selig, one of their own, as figurehead. Now there are pro teams in Las Vegas. We have already had the cheating Houston Astros win a WS. Who will be this century’s Black Sox?
It’s a complicated legacy. Baseball had lost all its credibility, and its fans, after the 1919 “Black” Sox scandal. They needed someone to clean up the mess. Landis said he would, and he did, but the owners had to agree to give him complete and final authority to make any decision he determined to be in “the best interests of baseball.” He, and successor commissioners through Fay Vincent, retained this authority, and occasionally used it (Landis especially). Then the owners got fed up with having an executive they felt was in their employ (a dubious claim, IMHO) tell them they could not do something they wanted to do. They were able to force out Mr. Vincent and install Bud Selig, one of their own, as figurehead. Now there are pro teams in Las Vegas. We have already had the cheating Houston Astros win a WS. Who will be this century’s Black Sox?