Ernest Sargent Barnard was the second President of the American League

American League

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

, serving from 1927

1927 in sports

-American football:NFL championship* New York Giants win National Football League titleCollege championship* College football national championship – Georgia Bulldogs, Illinois Fighting Illini, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Texas A&M Aggies and Yale Bulldogs -Association football:England* The Football...

 until his death in 1931. Born in West Columbia

West Columbia, West Virginia

West Columbia is an unincorporated community in Mason County, West Virginia, United States. West Columbia is located on the Ohio River and West Virginia Route 62 southwest of Mason. West Columbia has a post office with ZIP code 25287....

, West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

, he later resided in Delaware, Ohio

Delaware, Ohio

The City of Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County in the United States state of Ohio. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the center of Ohio, is about north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Area...

. He graduated from Otterbein College in 1895, and became football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 and baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 coach there until 1898. Moving to Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

, he became secretary of the local Builders Exchange, and coached football at Ohio Medical University. In 1900 he became sports editor for The Columbus Dispatch

The Columbus Dispatch

The Columbus Dispatch is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since The Columbus Citizen-Journal stopped printing in 1985....

.

Hired by the Cleveland Indians

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

 in 1903, he served that club as traveling secretary (1903-08), vice president and general manager (1908-16, 1918-22), and president (1922-27). During this time he often acted as a mediator between AL president Ban Johnson

Ban Johnson

Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson , was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League ....

 and Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis

Kenesaw Mountain Landis

Kenesaw Mountain Landis was an American jurist who served as a federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and as the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death...

. He served under the Indians first owner, Charles Somers

Charles Somers

Charles Somers aka Charles W. Somers, was an American executive in Cleveland, Ohio's coal industry who also achieved prominence in Major League Baseball...

, and under their second, Jim Dunn

Jim Dunn (baseball team owner)

James Christopher "Jim" Dunn , aka "Sunny Jim" Dunn, was a businessman and baseball team owner.-Biography:Dunn was born in Marshalltown, Iowa and became wealthy through his partnership in a railroad construction firm...

. Dunn had initially fired Barnard upon taking over in 1917. Realizing he'd made a mistake, Dunn brought Barnard back to the team in 1918. Barnard stayed on as president after Dunn's death in 1922, running the team for Dunn's widow and estate.

When AL owners removed Ban Johnson, the league's founder, from the league presidency in 1927, Barnard, after first clearing the way by arranging the sale of the Indians to a group headed by Alva Bradley

Alva Bradley

Alva Bradley , aka Alva Bradley II, was a businessman and baseball team executive.Bradley was born to a wealthy family in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of M.A. Bradley and grandson of his namesake, Captain Alva Bradley. He graduated Cornell in 1908...

, replaced him. He was re-elected to a 3-year term on December 9, 1930, but died suddenly 3 months later just prior to an examination at the Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group specializing in treating difficult patients . Patients are referred to Mayo Clinic from across the U.S. and the world, and it is known for innovative and effective treatments. Mayo Clinic is known for being at the top of...

 in Rochester, Minnesota

Rochester, Minnesota

Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on both banks of the Zumbro River, The city has a population of 106,769 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it Minnesota's third-largest city and the largest outside of the...

. Coincidentally, Johnson died just hours later.