Book Review: Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame

"Full disclosure, the editors of the book, Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Louis H. Schiff and Robert M. Jarvis, sent me a review copy, but I've been trying to get it from the library, and we'll be honest, I'll buy this book because it's going to sit in my office as a resource. How? We'll see but I keep a dictionary of etymology and the Dickson Baseball Dictionary on the desk too. You just never know."

"Unlike some baseball profiles of the judge and commissioner, this one does show his warts. And as the first one written about, he's pictured on the cover (you can see in the link about to the publisher). Growing up with mostly the lite version of his history, Landis seemed like a larger than life figure: his stepping in to "save" baseball, his crazy hair, the over the top name."

"The book tells the story of eleven lawyers who now grace the halls of Cooperstown: Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Hughie Jennings, Jim O'Rourke, Miller Huggins, John Montgomery Ward, Branch Rickey, Larry MacPhail, Happy Chandler, Bowie Kuhn, Walter O'Malley, and famous banal person Tony La Russa. There are some familiar names here - Landis, Rickey, Kuhn, and La Russa (for me at least) - and some that are unfamiliar. But all get their due."

Eleven lawyers who joined the Baseball Hall of Fame are presented, including Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Hughie Jennings, Jim O'Rourke, Miller Huggins, John Montgomery Ward, Branch Rickey, Larry MacPhail, Happy Chandler, Bowie Kuhn, Walter O'Malley, and Tony La Russa. The accounts cover careers ranging from 19th-century players to 20th-century owners and commissioners, highlighting legal, executive, and managerial influence on the game. Kenesaw Mountain Landis appears as a powerful and controversial figure, credited with stabilizing baseball while bearing clear moral failings. John Montgomery "Monte" Ward moved from a playing career (1878–1894) into law after playing for the Providence Grays. The collection balances well-known figures with lesser-known ones, offering detailed attention to each individual's impact.

Read at Over the Monster