Ban Johnson
Byron Bancroft Johnson (
January 5,
1864 -
March 28,
1931), usually known as
Ban Johnson, was an
American executive in
Major League Baseball who served as the founder and first president of the
American League.
Johnson was born in
Norwalk, Ohio. He studied law at
Marietta College, but didn't complete his degree. He later became the sports editor of a paper in
Cincinnati. During this time, he befriended
Charles Comiskey, who was then manager of the
Cincinnati Reds. At the suggestion of both Comiskey and Reds owner
John Brush, Johnson was elected president of the
Western League, a faltering
minor league, at a reorganization meeting in
1893.
Johnson had criticized the
National League for its rowdy atmosphere, which was driving away families and women. He set about making baseball more friendly to both. Contrary to the practice of the time, he gave his
umpires unqualified support and had little tolerance for players or managers who didn't give them due respect. He fined and suspended players who used foul language on the field. Soon, the Western League was recognized as not only the strongest minor league, but the best-run league in all of baseball.
Johnson, however, had a bigger plan--another major league. With the help of Comiskey, who bought the
Sioux City franchise and moved it to
St. Paul in 1894 after leaving the Reds, he began an ambitious plan of expansion. He got his chance after the 1899 season, when the National League dropped teams in
Baltimore,
Cleveland,
Louisville and
Washington, D.C. Johnson moved the
Grand Rapids franchise to Cleveland, where they would eventually become the
Indians. He also had Comiskey move his St. Paul team to
Chicago, where they eventually became the
White Sox. The latter move was made with the blessing of the NL, which saw Comiskey's team as a way to head off any attempt to revive the
American Association.
The 1900 season was an unqualified success, and Johnson received a 10-year contract extension. In October, he withdrew the American League from the National Agreement (the formal understanding between the NL and the minor leagues). The final step came on
January 28,
1901, when he declared the American League would operate as a major league. He then upped the ante by placing teams in Baltimore,
Boston,
Philadelphia and Washington.
The NL then made a critical blunder by limiting salaries to $2,400--a low sum even by 1901 standards. Johnson, Comiskey and the other AL owners responded by raiding NL rosters, promising disgruntled players much higher salaries. Eventually, over 100 players "jumped" to the new league. After a two-year war in which the AL trounced the NL in attendance both seasons, the NL sued for peace. Under a new National Agreement, the AL was formally recognized as the second major league. A three-man National Commission was set up, comprised of both league presidents and Reds owner
Garry Herrmann. Although Herrmann was nominal president of the commission, Johnson soon dominated the body.
Johnson ruled the American League with an iron hand. He brooked no criticism, and made it very difficult for men he didn't like to buy into the league. For instance, when
Harry Frazee bought the
Boston Red Sox in
1917, Johnson tried almost from the start to drive him out. Frazee was the first owner in league history not to be virtually handpicked by Johnson. In fact, it was Johnson who started the rumors that Frazee was
Jewish and thus not fit to be part of the "noble" sport of baseball.
The Frazee dispute planted the seed for Johnson's downfall. Eventually, the league divided into two factions, with the Red Sox, White Sox and
New York Yankees on one side and the other five clubs (the Indians,
Philadelphia Athletics,
St. Louis Browns,
Detroit Tigers and
Washington Senators, known as the "Loyal Five") on the other. By this time, Comiskey had become a bitter enemy of Johnson; the two men's once warm friendship had strained considerably after Comiskey lost
Jack Quinn to the Yankees for the
1919 season on a Johnson ruling. Johnson's authority eroded further that year when the Red Sox traded
Carl Mays to the Yankees in defiance of a Johnson order to suspend him. The Yankees got an injunction to allow Mays to play.
The final nail in Johnson's coffin proved to be the
Black Sox Scandal. Johnson blew off Comiskey's claims that his White Sox may have been on the take from gamblers. However, when the scandal broke after the
1920 season, the White Sox, Red Sox and Yankees threatened to pull out of the American League and join a new 12-team National League. The enlarged league would include a new team in Detroit unrelated to the Tigers, who were owned by Johnson loyalist Frank Navin. However, Navin was in no mood for another war and persuaded the other five clubs to agree to appoint a new National Commission of non-baseball men. Federal District Court Judge
Kenesaw Mountain Landis was appointed as chairman. However, Landis would only accept an appointment as sole
Commissioner of Baseball, with unlimited power over the game. The owners were still reeling from the damage to baseball's reputation due to the Black Sox Scandal, and readily agreed to Landis' demands.
Under the circumstances, a clash between Johnson and Landis was inevitable, and it happened prior to the
1924 World Series. Landis banned two
New York Giants from the Series for attempting to bribe members of the
Philadelphia Phillies late in the season. After
Frankie Frisch and two other Giants stars were implicated, only to be cleared by Landis, Johnson demanded that the Series be cancelled. He publicly criticized Landis for his handling of the affair, and Landis threatened to resign if the AL owners didn't rein Johnson in. After the Series, the AL owners promised to remove Johnson from office if he stepped out of line again. Johnson remained on good behavior for two years, even getting an extension of his contract to
1935 and a raise to $40,000 (he'd previously made $25,000).
However, in
1926, Johnson criticized Landis for granting
Ty Cobb and
Tris Speaker an amnesty after evidence surfaced that they had fixed a game in 1919. Landis demanded that the AL choose between him and Johnson. The AL owners were prepared to remove Johnson from office at their annual meeting in January
1927. However, Johnson was in ill health at the time, and the owners decided to put him on an indefinite sabbatical instead. Johnson tried to return in the spring and acted as if nothing had changed. However, the situation had become untenable, and Johnson was forced to resign at the end of the season.
Johnson died at age 67 in
St. Louis, Missouri. He was elected to the
Baseball Hall of Fame in
1937 as one of its charter members. The athletic fieldhouse at
Marietta College is named in his honor.
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Baseball Hall of Fame*
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