June 2017 Sports Card & Memorabilia Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/25/2017
Nice 2017 Leaf Executive Collection Masterpiece 1/1 A.B. Happy Chandler cut autograph baseball card - numbered 1/1! The card is within a Leaf slab, and has a nice gold border surrounding the autograph! Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler, Sr. (July 14, 1898 – June 15, 1991) was an American politician from the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. He represented the Commonwealth in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also served as the second Commissioner of Baseball from 1945 to 1951 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. Following the death of Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in November 1944, John O. Gottlieb, a friend of Chandler's in the War Department, suggested Chandler as a successor. Baseball owners who had been afraid that their players would be made eligible for the draft during the war had decided that their new commissioner needed to have the skills and influence to represent baseball's interests in Washington, D. C. As a senator, Chandler had advocated on behalf of baseball during the war, endearing him to the owners. The commissioner's $50,000 annual salary—about five times that of a US senator at the time—proved a significant enticement, and Chandler agreed to be considered for the job. Chandler supported Jackie Robinson and the integration of baseball, which is evidenced by his actions during the 1947 season. As commissioner, Chandler had the power to void Robinson's contract, but he chose to approve it. Following extreme, race-based jeering at Robinson by the Philadelphia Phillies and their manager, Ben Chapman, Chandler threatened both the team and Chapman personally with disciplinary action for any future incidents of race-based taunting. Later that season, he decisively supported Ford Frick's decision to indefinitely suspend any members of the St. Louis Cardinals who followed through on a threat to strike in protest of integration
2017 Leaf Executive Collection Masterpiece 1/1 A.B. Happy Chandler Cut Autograph Card
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