Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Judge and Jury is really two books, because Kenesaw Landis had two vastly different careers, and author Pietrusza is the first to have recognized the significance of that dichotomy. Baseball fans will value Judge and Jury's coverage of Landis' career as the National Pastime's first commisioner. They will particularly savor revelations concerning two topics. The first is the machinations surrounding the Judge's appointment in the wake of the 1919 Black Sox scandal, particularly the plottings and counter-plottings of American League president Byron "Ban" Johnson. The second is Pietrusza's artful demolition of the oft-told tale that Landis scotched Bill Veeck's plan to purchase the Philadelphia Phillies and stock the team's roster with Negro League stars. Either chapter is worth the price of admission for baseball fans. Landis' other career covered politics and the law. Baseball fans and history buffs alike will find much to learn: of Landis' career in the State Department; his remarkable family; his handling of the landmark Standard Oil antitrust case and the IWW and Socialist Party sedition cases of World War 1; and his interaction with the Chicago crime scene (including pre-Capone mobsters, poison-dispensing mass-murderers, and high-stakes swindlers). Landis could be harsh; he could be surprisingly lenient. Pietrusza skillfully chronicles both sides of this complex and often downright enigmatic individual. Judge and Jury is a masterpiece of sports biography and more than holds its own regarding Landis' "other" life. Five stars.
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