Athletes - John Heydler

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	Athletes - John Heydler

John Arnold Heydler (July 10 1869 - April 18 1956) was an American executive in Major League Baseball. Born in Lafargeville, New York, he began working as a printer, eventually being employed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. He is reported to have recited "Casey at the Bat" to President Grover Cleveland, while presenting a drafted document for approval. Heydler later began working as an umpire in the National League from 1895 to 1897, and then became a sportswriter. In 1903 he was hired as the private secretary to NL president Harry Pulliam, principally working to compile league statistics. Heydler's work caused him to record much of the league's early history, and he became an advocate of introducing new ways to measure player accomplishments; he was a strong supporter of recording runs batted in for batters, and began computing earned run averages for pitchers. Becoming the NL's secretary-treasurer from 1907-1918, he served as the league president briefly after Pulliam's suicide in 1909. He became NL president again from 1918 to 1934, and pushed for the selection of Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the first Commissioner of Baseball in 1920, realizing the importance of an official who could keep the owners in check.

Among Heydler's other accomplishments were helping to establish the Baseball Hall of Fame, and his 1929 proposal of a rule which would allow a tenth player to bat in place of the pitcher – a rule which came about with the creation of the designated hitter in 1973. After retiring as league president, he served as NL chairman until his death in San Diego, California at age 86.

Refernces

Biographical Dictionary of American Sports, Greenwood Press (1987).

Heydler, John Heydler, John

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