1920 Major League Baseball season

Creation of the office of the Commissioner of Baseball

Persisting rumors of the Chicago White Sox throwing the previous year's World Series to the Cincinnati Reds and another game during the 1920 season led to the game's brass looking for ways of dealing with the problems of gambling within the sport. At the time, MLB was governed by a three-man National Baseball Commission composed of American League President Ban Johnson, National League President John Heydler and Cincinnati Reds owner Garry Herrmann. At the request of the other owners, Herrmann left the office reducing the commission to be deadlocked by two. With the owners disliking one or both presidents, calls began for stronger leadership, although they opined they could support the continuation of the leagues' presidencies with a well-qualified Commissioner.

A plan that began to circulate and gain support was dubbed the "Lasker Plan", after Albert Lasker, a shareholder of the Chicago Cubs, called for a three-man commission with no financial interest in baseball. With the Black Sox scandal exposed on September 30, 1920, Heydler began calling for the Lasker Plan. All eight NL teams supported the plan, along with three AL teams. The three AL teams were the White Sox, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. The teams in support of the Lasker Plan wanted federal judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis to take the office of Baseball Commissioner. Johnson, who opposed the plan and thus, the appointment of Landis, had allies in the other five AL clubs, and attempted to get Minor League Baseball to side with him. However, the minor leagues would not, and when the AL teams learned their position, they relented and instead went along with the Lasker Plan. The owners agreed that they needed a person with near-unlimited authority and a powerful person to fill the position of commissioner.

The owners approached Landis, who eventually accepted the position as the first Commissioner of Baseball. He drafted the agreement which gave him almost unlimited authority throughout the major and minor leagues – every owner on down to the batboys was accountable to the Commissioner – including barring owners from dismissing him, speaking critically of him in public or challenging him in court. Landis also kept his job as a federal judge.

While Landis' record as Commissioner would eventually attract considerable controversy, especially with respect to his role in maintaining the color line, at the time a near autocratic leader was widely believed to be needed for baseball since the Black Sox scandal had placed the public's trust in baseball on shaky ground. As a result, the owners accepted the terms of the agreement with a scant trace of opposition, if any.

Schedule

The 1920 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. The 154-game format had previously been used since , except for , and would be used until in the American League and in the National League.

Opening Day took place on April 14 with all but the Washington Senators and Boston Red Sox playing. The final day of the regular season was on October 3, with all teams but the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees playing. The World Series took place between October 5 and October 12.

Tripleheader

The 1920 season featured an extremely rare tripleheader—the third in National League and major-league history, having previously occurred only in 1890 and 1896—when the Pittsburgh Pirates hosted the Cincinnati Reds on October 2 for three games, the day before the final day of the regular season. The Reds won the first two games while the Pirates won the third game, which was called after six innings on account of darkness.

Rule changes

The 1920 season saw the following rule changes:

• Having previously withdrawn from the National Agreement over the previous offseason, the Rule 5 draft is reimplemented when the minor leagues voted to renew their working arrangement with the major leagues.
• Fly balls hit over the fence along the left and right-field lines will be judged fair or foul according to where the ball passes the fence, rather than where it landed; previously, umpires would judge based on where the ball landed. On June 25, the rule reverted to the 1919 version, which is based upon where the ball disappears from view. The rule would re-revert to the 1920 version before the season began.
• When a batter hits a ball over the fence to win the game, he is now credited with a home run. Previously, the batter would be rewarded with the number of bases needed for the team to win the game and were not considered home runs.
• Spitballs, shine balls, emery balls, and other unorthodox ("trick" or "freak") pitches, were outlawed. Foreign substances such as rosin, dirt or mud from the field to scar the ball, spit or phlegm, material from rubbing the ball on the glove or clothing, or any kind of defacing of the ball were banned. Violations to this rule would result in immediate ejection and being barred from any championship contest for a period of ten days. There were 17 pitchers who were exempted from the spitball rule, becoming legacy spitballers (the last of which retired in 1934).
• A balk was to be called if the pitcher releases the ball while the catcher is out of his box.
• The failure of a preceding runner to touch a base would not affect the status of a succeeding runner.
• Cases where the defense intentionally allows the runner to advance without attempting to put him out are scored as defensive indifference, also called fielder's indifference, and do not count as stolen bases. This is usually only scored late in games when it is clear that the defense's priority is getting the batter out. The lack of a putout attempt does not by itself indicate defensive indifference; the official scorer must also factor in the game situation and the defensive players' actions.

Teams

Effect of the Black Sox scandal on the AL pennant race

After an August 31 game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs, allegations began to arise that the game was fixed. The state court in Chicago opened a grand jury to investigate gambling within baseball. Gambler Billy Maharg came forward with information that he worked with New York gambler Arnold Rothstein and former boxer Abe Attell to get the White Sox to throw the 1919 World Series. The White Sox again were contending for the American League title and were in a near-dead heat with the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees. However, on September 28, eight White Sox players were indicted and suspended by owner Charlie Comiskey. The Indians pulled ahead and won the pennant by two games over the White Sox.

Standings

American League

National League

Tie games

6 tie games (3 in AL, 3 in NL), which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.

American League

• Boston Red Sox, 1
• Detroit Tigers, 1
• Philadelphia Athletics, 2
• St. Louis Browns, 1
• Washington Senators, 1

National League

• Boston Braves, 1
• Brooklyn Robins, 1
• Cincinnati Reds, 1
• New York Giants, 1
• Pittsburgh Pirates, 1
• St. Louis Cardinals, 1

Postseason

The postseason began on October 5 and ended on October 12 with the Cleveland Indians defeating the Brooklyn Robins in the 1920 World Series in seven games.

Bracket

| RD1-seed1=AL | RD1-team1=Cleveland Indians | RD1-score1=5 | RD1-seed2=NL | RD1-team2=Brooklyn Robins | RD1-score2=2

Managerial changes

Off-season

League leaders

American League

National League

1 National League Triple Crown pitching winner

Home field attendance

Venues

The Chicago Cubs' Weeghman Park is renamed to Cubs Park.

By 1920, the name of Brush Stadium, home of the New York Giants and New York Yankees, fell into disuse, reverting to the Polo Grounds name.

The St. Louis Cardinals would play their last game at Cardinal Field on June 6, having played 28 seasons there going back to , and returned to Sportsman's Park on July 1, having previously been their home venue for 11 season from to , as well as the home of the St. Louis Browns since their relocation from Milwaukee, Wisconsin in . The Cardinals would go on to play at Sportsman's Park for another 47 seasons through early .

References

Bibliography

• {{cite book
• {{cite book | author-link = David Pietrusza | url-access = registration
• {{cite book | author-link = J. G. Taylor Spink

References

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