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: