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T E Although Black Sox scandal is often thought to be reason ML baseball appointed a commissioner with czar-like powers, it was in fact Mays who started the ball rolling when he walked off the Bosox team in 1919 and vowed never to play for them again. Frazee, owner of Bosox then did what he liked doing best, auctioning off Mays to the highest bidder, that being, who else, the NY Jankees.
Ban Johnson tried to reverse the deal, only to have NY go to court to obtain an injunction against Johnson. The Bosox, Jankees and, interestingly enough, the Chi Sox, owned by you know who, formed an alliance against Johnson, with the other five AL teams backing him. The three even threatened to jump to the National League.
The real threat, of course, was to the reserve clause- If Mays could dictate where he played, who would be next?
The penurious Charles Comiskey had an answer for that problem. When Dickie Kerr won 53 games over 1919-1921, Comiskey refused Kerr a $500 raise. Kerr sat out the entire 1922, and Comiskey in turn suspended Kerr for the next two seasons, effectively ending his career.
After the Mays fiasco in 1919, it was clear that an overall commissioner was needed with power over both leagues. The Black Sox scandal made that need, of course, even clearer.