William Howard Taft has one of the singularly unique political resumes in American history; in addition to serving as Governor and Governor-General of Cuba and the Philippines, respectively, and as Secretary of War under Teddy Roosevelt, Taft stands as the only man in our country’s history to serve as both President and Chief Justice of the United States (no other President has served on the Supreme Court in any capacity, let alone as Chief Justice).
But what does this have to do with Baseball? Turns out quite a bit; you see, both as President and as Chief Justice, William Howard Taft is responsible in multiple ways for baseball and a tradition as we know it today.
An Early Love for the Game
Growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, the future home of America’s first all-professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings/Reds, young Taft – known affectionally for his large size as “Big Lug” – was an excellent student, but enjoyed playing sports in his downtime, with baseball being at the forefront of his enjoyment. Indeed, one could argue that the youthful William was among the earlier fans of what would become our national pastime, as he was born in 1857, with the first baseball game being played under Alexander Cartwright’s “Modern Rules” taking place only 12 years earlier in 1846. In fact, professional baseball as we know it didn’t even come into being until either 1871 if you include the National Association as a Major League, or 1876 if you don’t; when Taft was ages 14 and 19.
Creating Baseball Tradition as President
By the time Taft ascended to the Presidency in 1909 – almost halfway through the Deadball Era – the American and National Leagues had been operating in cooperation for six years (with the National Agreement having come in 1903); the next year, in 1910, Taft became the first President in American history to “open the baseball season by throwing out the first pitch.” He would of course not be the last, and while not every succeeding President would take part, this tradition carried on for a century as one of American sport’s greatest traditions, lasting through the presidency of Barack Obama in 2010. Hopefully, it will return one day soon.
Rendering Judgment on the Future of the Game We Love
While sitting as Chief Justice on the Supreme Court, the case “Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs” was brought before him in 1922; the conflict arose from the American and National Leagues buying out teams in the Federal League, causing them to depart said league. The Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore sued, believing that this was an attempt at a monopoly, and winning an $80,000 judgment for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act (equivalent to $1,478,840 in 2025). Unfortunately for them, the decision was reversed on appeal, leading to the Baltimore Club appealing the case to Taft’s Supreme Court.
What is fascinating about this case appearing before Taft is not only because of his prior connection to baseball, but also due to his actions as President. During his four years as Chief Executive, President Taft had brought over 90 antitrust lawsuits against corporations for monopolistic practices, preferring to enforce the Sherman Act as his method of attack (the Sherman Act was passed in 1890 as a deterrent to monopolies), resulting in the breakup of companies like Standard Oil and for a time, the American Tobacco Company. So how would Taft’s court rule regarding the violation of an act he loved to enforce?
The Court ruled unanimously in favor of the American and National Leagues, affirming that the Sherman Act’s definition of “interstate commerce” did not apply to the business of organized baseball, even though oftentimes teams involved in these leagues would have to travel across state lines to engage in games, which would themselves generate revenue. Why? Writing for the court, Justice Holmes explained:
Of course, the scheme [of organized national baseball leagues] requires constantly repeated traveling on the part of the clubs, which is provided for, controlled, and disciplined by the organizations, and this, it is said, means commerce among the states…It is true that, in order to attain for these exhibitions the great popularity that they have achieved, competitions must be arranged between clubs from different cities and states. But the fact that, in order to give the exhibitions, the Leagues must induce free persons to cross state lines and must arrange and pay for their doing so is not enough to change the character of the business…the transport is a mere incident, not the essential thing.
That to which it is incident, the exhibition, although made for money, would not be called trade of commerce in the commonly accepted use of those words. As it is put by defendant, personal effort not related to production is not a subject of commerce. That which in its consummation is not commerce does not become commerce among the states because the transportation that we have mentioned takes place.
I am not a legal expert or a prophet of alternate realities, but one can easily speculate how if the Taft court had ruled the other way, that the leagues that formed Major League Baseball were subject to the Sherman Act, it would have set a precedent that altered the structure of their operations, and could and perhaps would have led to a potential breakup or altering of the MLB by opening the door to future lawsuits regarding potential monopolistic practices if found guilty, of course. Either way, it is fair to say that the MLB exists as it does today in some significant way, because of William Howard Taft and his court, putting a fitting and significant cap on this fascinating man’s baseball life.
