John Arnold Heydler (July 10, 1869 – April 18, 1956) was an American executive in Major League Baseball. After working as a National League (NL) umpire, he was the secretary to the NL president and then became the secretary-treasurer of the NL before assuming the NL presidency himself. Heydler made early contributions to baseball recordkeeping and statistics.
In 1903, he was hired as the private secretary to NL president Harry Pulliam, principally working to compile league playing statistics, a duty of every baseball league office. Heydler's work caused him to record much of the league's early history, and he became an advocate for new ways to measure player accomplishments; for example, he was a strong supporter of recording runs batted in for batters and he began computing earned run averages for pitchers.
On becoming the NL's secretary-treasurer from 1907 to 1918, he served as the league president briefly after Pulliam's suicide in 1909. As NL president again from 1918 to 1934, he hired the Elias brothers to maintain as official keeper of playing statistics (1919), and he pushed for the selection of Kenesaw Mountain Landis as Commissioner of Baseball (1921), realizing the importance of an official who could keep the owners in check. Later he helped to establish the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In December 1928, Heydler proposed permitting a tenth player to bat in place of the pitcher[1] – 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, in 1956, aged 86.
Biographical Dictionary of American Sports, Greenwood Press (1987).
^"Suggest Ten Man Team For Baseball; Player To Bat For Pitcher". Courier News. Bridgewater, New Jersey. December 12, 1928. Retrieved August 31, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
john, heydler, john, arnold, heydler, july, 1869, april, 1956, american, executive, major, league, baseball, after, working, national, league, umpire, secretary, president, then, became, secretary, treasurer, before, assuming, presidency, himself, heydler, mad. John Arnold Heydler July 10 1869 April 18 1956 was an American executive in Major League Baseball After working as a National League NL umpire he was the secretary to the NL president and then became the secretary treasurer of the NL before assuming the NL presidency himself Heydler made early contributions to baseball recordkeeping and statistics John HeydlerHeydler in 1918BornJuly 10 1869La Fargeville New York U S DiedApril 18 1956 1956 04 18 aged 86 San Diego California U S NationalityAmericanOccupation s National League president umpire sportswriter Contents 1 Biography 2 See also 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External linksBiography editBorn in La Fargeville New York Heydler was a printer s apprentice as a young man and he eventually worked at the U S Government Printing Office Heydler was an umpire in the NL from 1895 to 1898 umpiring a total of 83 games He also worked as a sportswriter In 1903 he was hired as the private secretary to NL president Harry Pulliam principally working to compile league playing statistics a duty of every baseball league office Heydler s work caused him to record much of the league s early history and he became an advocate for new ways to measure player accomplishments for example he was a strong supporter of recording runs batted in for batters and he began computing earned run averages for pitchers On becoming the NL s secretary treasurer from 1907 to 1918 he served as the league president briefly after Pulliam s suicide in 1909 As NL president again from 1918 to 1934 he hired the Elias brothers to maintain as official keeper of playing statistics 1919 and he pushed for the selection of Kenesaw Mountain Landis as Commissioner of Baseball 1921 realizing the importance of an official who could keep the owners in check Later he helped to establish the Baseball Hall of Fame In December 1928 Heydler proposed permitting a tenth player to bat in place of the pitcher 1 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 in 1956 aged 86 See also editHonor Rolls of BaseballReferences editBiographical Dictionary of American Sports Greenwood Press 1987 Suggest Ten Man Team For Baseball Player To Bat For Pitcher Courier News Bridgewater New Jersey December 12 1928 Retrieved August 31 2017 via newspapers com Further reading editBiography from SABRExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Arnold Heydler Retrosheet umpiring record nbsp This biographical article relating to a baseball executive is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John Heydler amp oldid 1179439596, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
