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

Book Synopsis: WINNER OF THE CASEY AWARD Finalist, Seymour Medal Nominee NASSH Book Award

"Finally, an objective biography of Baseball's first Commissioner. Beautifully done."--Jerome Holtzman

"Judge and Jury is first rate."--Fay Vincent

Baseball fans should be grateful for this comprehensive biography of one of the game's most towering and dominating figures."--Attorney General Richard Thornburgh

"[I] was stunned at the amount of detail, accuracy, original research, and skilled interpretation of the facts." --Rob Neyer, ESPN

"Handled readably and with plenty of documenting research . . . every baseball history library should make room for 'Judge and Jury.'"--Total Baseball Daily

David Pietrusza has gone beyond the one dimensional public image of Kenesaw M. Landis that too many people today accept as graven truth . . . In this meticulously researched book, Pietrusza with admirable objectivity depicts both the faults and virtues of one of the most important and colorful figures of the 20th century."--Robert Creamer

"[Judge and Jury] is outstanding. I have learned more about the history of baseball, true history, than from anything I have ever read or heard about. [It's] research and documentation clarifies so many of the personalities and events that took place before 'my time' in the game. Jacques Barzun's quote: 'Whoever would know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball' should be supplanted by [this] biography of Landis."--Ralph Kiner

"The truth that emerges from this exhaustive and engaging biography of Judge Landis has no problem matching the outsized legend stride for stride."--Jeff Silverman, amazon.com

"Excellent"--Stefan Szymanski and Andrew Zimbalist

Since his death in 1944, history has transformed Kenesaw Mountain Landis into a one-dimensional figure: the stem, scowling ruler of baseball who rescued the sport from the depths of the Black Sox scandal--banishing wrongdoers, scowling at owners, helping to block racial integration. JUDGE AND JURY: The Life and Times of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis strips away the myths and facile explanations to reveal the real Landis--with all the subtleties and contradictions that made him not only czar of baseball, but also the most I famous, popular, and controversial federal judge in America.

Landis' historic $29 million fine on John D. Rockefeller's grasping Standard Oil trust was but the most sensational decision of a long and fiery career on the bench. Through his courtroom trooped such fascinating figures as "Big Bill" Haywood and his radical IWW, bootleggers, gamblers, and con men, religious cultists, and the arsenic-dispensing murderer Herman Billick. The Judge could be harsh-sentencing anti-war dissenters to the maximum penalties--or he could be unpredictably forgiving. Lenience to the downtrodden nearly led to his impeachment.

As the iron-fisted first commissioner of baseball from 1920 to 1944, Landis did whatever he deemed necessary to secure the best interests of baseball. His measures were harsh and often inconsistent to observers, but one of his least popular decisions--the banishment of third baseman Buck Weaver--may have been his most significant move in cleaning up and preserving the game.

Above all, Landis was a shrewd and crafty wielder of power. Coming from a talented family of politicians and journalists, he understood better than any of his contemporaries what was necessary to succeed in the modern world of media-created heroes.

From his memorable name to his unforgettable impact on baseball and the law, here the Landis legend is balanced by fact and finally preserved in extensive and intriguing detail for generations to come.