Al Davis, Oakland Raiders' Owner & Terror of the NFL

A short biography of Al Davis, who terrorized the National Football League and was the bete noire of NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle!

Al Davis, Oakland Raiders' Owner & Terror of the National Football League, is Now an Octogenarian

Bowie Kuhn: The Fifth Commissioner of Baseball

Bowie Kuhn: The Fifth Commissioner of Baseball

After General William Eckert was sacked at the end of 1968, Bowie Kuhn -- a lawyer who had been counsel to first the National League and then Major League Baseball, was appointed interim commissioner. In 1970, he was given the job with a 7-year contract.

Derided as the "Village Idiot" by legendary Oakland A's owner Charlie Finley (who should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame but is not), Bowie Kuhn served as MLB Commissioner during arguably its most important epoch aside from the founding of the two major leagues, as he oversee the volatile era that saw the  end of baseball's reserve clause and the advent of free 
agency. 

He was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame, while his great rival, union boss Marvin Miller (the man who freed the slaves from the reserve clause) has not been.

William Eckert: The Fourth Commissioner of Major League Baseball

William Eckert: The Fourth Commissioner of Major League Baseball

Before the baseball owners dropped all pretense and just elevated used car salesman Bud Selig to the catbird seat, they tried various stratagems to keep their iron grip on baseball. One was hiring U.S. Air Force Lt. General William Eckert to be commissioner. That the general hadn't seen a baseball game in a month of Billy Sundays, not had ever had a public sector job, didn't deter them. However, he proved so inept the owners, fearing he wouldn't back them up in their union busting activities in their desire to keep baseball players perpetually in serfdom, gave General Eckert the sack at the end of 1968.

Ford Frick: The 3rd Baseball Commissioner

Ford Frick: The 3rd Commissioner of Baseball

Ford Frick was a sports writer who ghosted articles and a book for Babe Ruth, "The Sultan of Swat." Hired to be the National League's public relations director, he soon was made league president. He supported the integration of baseball in that capacity, and succeeded Happy Chanler as the second commissioner of Major League baseball. In that capacity, he oversaw the expansion of baseball to the West Coast and the expansion of the two leagues from eight teams playing a 154 game schedule to 10 teams with a 162-game schedule. He will forever be associated with the asterix he appended to Rger Maris' home-run record, when the Yankees' right fielder broke the single-season home run record of another Yankee right fielder, Frick's former client Babe Ruth, in 1961.

For a biography of the third commissioner, click on the link above:

Happy Chandler: The 2nd Baseball Commissioner

Happy Chandler: The Second Commissioner of Baseball

Kentucky politician Albert B. "Happy Chandler" served as the second commissioner of baseball, resigning his seat in the U.S. Senate to take over as baseball czar after the death of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Chandler's commissionership saw the integration of baseball, when Jackie Robinson in the National League and Larry Doby in the American League crossed the color bar in 1947. Chandler blamed his support for integration for the refusal of the team owners to renew his contract in 1951, but his support for player's rights likely was the main culprit in his being purged.

For a biography of this interesting man, click the link above:

Kenesaw Mountain Landis: The 1st Baseball Commissioner

Kenesaw Mountain Landis: The First Commissioner of Baseball & His Legacy

For a short biograpghy of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first baseball commissioner, click on the link above.

Judge Landis was -- by far -- most powerful commissioner in baseball history until a different kind of commissioner, Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selig, took over the post.

NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle

Pete Rozelle: Former NFL Commissioner was Father of Super Bowl

For a short biography of NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, click on the link above.