Baseball Commissioner Requests Sousa march

Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis with Sousa, ca. 1926

In 1925, baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis asked Sousa to write a march for the National League’s 50th anniversary. Sousa responded with his wonderful march, “The National Game”.

Landis was American jurist who served as a federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and as the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death. His father was a Civil War veteran who named his son after a battle in which he fought.

As a judge, he had once sentenced an aging bank robber to fifteen years in jail. “Your honor,” the man said, “I’m 72 years old. I can’t serve that long.” Landis replied, “Well, do the best you can.”