[AnotherUnixGeek]

More historical revisionism. His legacy is now measured by the Woke zeitgeist of 2020.

It's not historical revisionism - no one's denying that Kenesaw Mountain Landis was once the baseball commissioner. They're just removing his name from the MVP award, and they can do that for any reason they choose. I'd argue that placing all of the blame for baseball's color line on one man when the owners had the power to hire whoever they pleased is incorrect, but again - they can take his name off an award if they want.

[fhayek]

Of course. I guess my point is, Landis' war was on the corrupting influence of gambling on baseball. He was a Southerner, and, while he didn't start the color line, he saw no need to break it. Had he done that, he would be hailed as one of the all time great heroes of sports in America. Breaking the color barrier fell to his successor, Happy Chandler.

Landis did much for baseball. But he didn't do everything.

[Alberta's Child]

I was a very serious baseball fan and a student of baseball history until 1994 ... and I had no idea Judge Landis’ name was on the MVP trophies. Go figure.

[TBP]

placing all of the blame for baseball's color line on one man when the owners had the power to hire whoever they pleased is incorrect

True, but he gets a lot of it. The color line would have ended sooner but for Judge Landis.

In 1944, a few years before Bill Veeck finally got the St. Louis Browns, he was the owner of the then-minor league (AAA) Milwaukee Brewers. Veeck hatched a plan to buy the last-place Philadelphia Phillies and sign several Negro League stars, including Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Buck Leonard.

Veeck had a tentative deal, but while he was on his way to Philadelphia, Commissioner Landis got wind of the plan and put the kibosh on the sale. It would be another three years before Jackie Robinson broke the color line.