Notable people · Sports Executive · Baseball
Ban Johnson
Born in Norwalk, Johnson founded the American League and was its first president from 1901 to 1927. He is credited with backing umpires and curbing rowdiness, and was a charter member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.
At a glance
- Born
- 1864-01-05
- Died
- 1931-03-28
- Education
- Marietta College, Marietta, OH, none
- Known as
- Sports Executive, Baseball
- Organizations
- American League, Western League
Life story
Byron Bancroft 'Ban' Johnson was born in Norwalk, Ohio, in 1864. He studied law at Marietta College without finishing, then became a sports editor for a Cincinnati newspaper, where he befriended Reds player Charles Comiskey.
In 1894 he took over the minor Western League and set about making it a cleaner alternative to the rowdy National League, with firm support for umpires and discipline for players. That league became the American League in 1901.
He led it until 1927. He died in St. Louis in 1931, was buried in Spencer, Indiana, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1937. Will Harridge said no one had done more to make baseball the national game.
Timeline
What Ban is known for
- Founder and first president of the American League
- Baseball Hall of Fame, 1937
Honors and things named for them
- Baseball Hall of Fame, 1937
- Ban Johnson Fieldhouse, Marietta College
Ohio places
Where Ban Johnson was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.
- Born: Norwalk, Huron County ZIP 44857 · Norwalk · Huron County
- Buried: Spencer, Owen County (Riverside Cemetery)
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.
- Wikipedia: Ban Johnson dates, career, burial, honors
