In 1920, professional baseball confronted a crisis after eight Chicago White Sox players were indicted for allegedly throwing the 1919 World Series, amid other fixed-game allegations. Governance rested with a National Commission made up of National League president John Heydler, American League president Ban Johnson, and Garry Herrmann, whose conflicts of interest undermined independence. Herrmann resigned and the commission failed to appoint a new third member. Days before the 1920 World Series, leaders of several major clubs proposed creating a tribunal of powerful, independent figures with absolute authority over major and minor leagues to preserve baseball as a national game.
In 1920, professional baseball was in crisis. The Black Sox scandal, in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox -- star outfielder "Shoeless Joe" Jackson; co-aces Eddie Cicotte and Lefty Williams; four other starters (first baseman Chick Gandil, shortstop Swede Risberg, third baseman Buck Weaver, and outfielder Happy Felsch); and a key backup infielder (Fred McMullin) -- were indicted and accused of throwing the 1919 World Series, had, along with allegations of other fixed games, shaken the sport to its core.
Baseball had been governed by a National Commission consisting of three parties with extreme self-interest: National League president John Heydler, American League president Ban Johnson, and Garry Herrmann, president of the Cincinnati Reds team that had beaten the White Sox in the World Series. Its leadership proved lacking in this moment, and its questionable independence severely damaged perceptions. Herrmann resigned from the commission in 1920, and the commissioners couldn't agree on a new third member.
In early October 1920, days before the start of that season's World Series between the Brooklyn Robins and Cleveland Indians, leaders of the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, New York Giants, and Pittsburgh Pirates proposed a tribunal of, in the words of the New York Times, "three of America's biggest men, with absolute power over both major and minor leagues."
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