Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was baseball's first commissioner--while he served as a federal judge in Chicago. As soon as he was appointed, he had to deal with Chicago White Sox players who allegedly conspired with gamblers to throw the World Series of 1919 against the Cincinnati Reds. Even though the courts did not convict the players, Landis banned them from baseball for life. This set up baseball's strict rules regarding gambling. This story traces Landis' humble beginnings in Millville, Ohio, to Chicago, where he became a federal judge. When the presidents of both leagues were deadlocked on decisions, they agreed to appoint Landis as commissioner and give him the authority to run the game as he saw fit. He ran it well--and tightly. There was none like Kenesaw Mountain Landis in the years that followed, nor will there ever be.