Commissioners of Major League Baseball
| Name | Term Began | Term Ended | Years |
| Kenesaw Mountain Landis | Nov 12, 1920 | Nov 25, 1944 | 24 |
| Given unlimited powers after a two-month contract negotiation, and the owners immediately regretted it. Suspends the Chicago 8 from baseball despite a jury verdict of not guilty. Suspended Cobb, Ruth. Prohibited baseball in Montreal. Established first non-waiver trade deadline. Created the 40-man major league roster, and oversaw the regular roster expanding from 23 to 25. Fined teams and made free agents out of players for being "hidden" in farm systems. | |||
| Albert B. "Happy" Chandler | Apr 24, 1945 | Jul 15, 1951 | 7 |
| The Players Commissioner. Integrated baseball. Suspended Leo Durocher for consorting with gamblers. Put six umps on the field for the World Series. Created pension plan for major leaguers. Encouraged east coast teams to look westward. | |||
| Ford C. Frick | Sep 20, 1951 | Nov 16, 1965 | 14 |
| As NL President, founded the Baseball Hall of Fame. Huge help to Chandler in integrating baseball. As commissioner, modified and clarified the trade deadline, waiver rules. Created Cy Young award. Oversaw the move of franchises west, expansion of the majors, and created the free-agent draft. Revoked fan voting for the All-Star game after the Reds stuff the ballot. Best known for killing Roger Maris with an asterik. Oversaw first Japanese player in league, Masanori Murakami. | |||
| William D. "Spike" Eckert | Nov 17, 1965 | Nov 20, 1968 | 3 |
| Former Air Force General who blundered his way through a three-year term. Awarded the Mets Tom Seaver (over the Braves, Phils, and Indians) by pulling their name out of a hat. He developed more effective committee actions, streamlined business methods and helped stabilize franchises with bigger stadiums and long-term leases. | |||
| Bowie Kuhn | Feb 04, 1969 | Sep 30, 1984 | 16 |
| King of the strikes and lockouts. Withstood Curt Flood's challenge to the reserve clause, but watched the Messersmith-McNally challenge be successful. Suspended Mays and Mantle for association with casinos. Suspended George Steinbrenner for associations with Nixon. Suspended Ted Turner for well, being Ted. Helped baseball triple attendence from 1968 to 1980. Announced that Negro League players would be full members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, instead of in a separate (but equal?) wing. Allowed female reports into the lockerrooms. Suspends/fines numerous players for drug use, starting with Denny McLain in 1970 and ending with Vida Blue in 1984. | |||
| Peter V. Ueberroth | Oct 01, 1984 | Sep 30, 1988 | 4 |
| Reinstated Mays and Mantle. Suspends/fines numerous players for drug use. Begins investigation of Pete Rose. Negotiated $1.2 billion television rights package. Faciliated collusion. | |||
| A. Bartlett Giamatti | Apr 01, 1989 | Sep 01, 1989 | 1 |
| Former Yale president, suspended Pete Rose and died. Had been offered the job in Ueberroth's stead, but took the NL Presidency in 1986 as a warmup for the top post. | |||
| Francis T. "Fay" Vincent, Jr. | Sep 13, 1989 | Sep 07, 1992 | 3 |
| Banned Steinbrenner from day-to-day operations for life for paying Howie Spira $40k to spy on Dave Winfield. Bans smokeless tobacco in the Class A and Rookie leagues. Banned Steve Howe for life after his 7th suspension from baseball. Attempted to realign the National League, but the Yankees lawsuit overrides any decision by Vincent. Steinbrenner is reinstated, the National League is left intact, and Vincent resigns after a no-confidence vote. | |||
| Allan H. "Bud" Selig | Sep 07, 1992 | present | 11 |
| Canceled the 1994 World Series, effectively killing the Montreal Expos, who are later purchased and run by MLB. Realigns his Brewers into the National League so he doesn't have to pay for DHs. Eliminates the AL and NL as legal entities. Reinstates Darryl Strawberry and then suspends him again. After the most exciting finish to a World Series in ages, Selig announces contraction plans. Announces he'll start enforcing the 60/40 rule (asset/debt ratio) in 2002, despite the Brewers being at 100/97 just five years before. Allows All-Star game to end in a tie. Lightly slapped Marge Schott for repeated predjudicial remarks and actions. Approved plan to have All-Star game decide home field advantage for World Series. | |||
File last modified March 01, 2004
 Support ContractBud.com! Buy attractive CB merchandise now! |
