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Last time, we took a look at the rise of the American League and how the first World Series came about. In this concluding chapter, we will see the final challenge to organized professional baseball, the last attempt by an outside league to gain a share of the world championship and a place in the hearts and minds of Americans. So here it is: The rise and fall of the Federal League.
Part IV: The Challenge of the Federal League
It wasn't until 1913 that the final challenge to the major leagues reared its head. Left out of organized baseball, a number of other professional and semi-professional clubs united and formed the Federal League. Teams were placed in major American and National League cities in order to provide direct competition, an invasion of sorts into League territory. Initially starting as six clubs, the Federal league expanded to eight teams for the start of the 1914 season. Over the few years that the Federal League operated, it managed to draw a couple hundred players away from the American, National, and minor league teams with its larger contracts and liberal handling of players. Money spoke to players even in the early years of baseball, and for some, he offers from the Federal League were too juicy to resist.
War was officially declared in early November of 1913, when the Federals decided to put a franchise in New York City, in direct competition with the AL and NL teams that had already taken root there. Leaders of the other leagues went so far as to call the Federal League an "outlaw league." The Federals shot back, claiming that the American and National Leagues were a trust that needed to be broken up, by the government if need be.
The biggest battle between the leagues, of course, revolved around the signing of various players to contracts that both sides would dispute. Two former Philadelphia Phillies players were at the center of the battle. After signing contracts with the Federal League, they decided to jump back and signed with Philadelphia again. Trying to prevent them from leaving, the Federals filed an injunction preventing the players from playing in the National League. All three leagues filed injunctions against one another, but it all ultimately came down to a U.S. District Court decision that said the old Reserve Clause was invalid, thereby preventing the Federals from holding onto the players, which allowed them to resign with their former team.
Numerous legal victories were claimed by the American and National Leagues, all involving player signings and injunctions filed. Where the Federal League really lost the war, however, was at the gates. Attendance didn't keep up enough for the Federals to make money to pay back their large player contracts, and a plot by the AL and NL to eliminate the rule limiting the number of players each team could keep on its roster forced the Federals to sign more players than they needed, thereby causing them to spend money on unnecessary players. The Federal League asked that they be recognized as a legitimate league and thereby allowed a stake in the World Series title, but every request was either denied or ignored.
Filing an anit-trust lawsuit against the organized baseball clubs in January of 1915 that failed, the continued loss of money and attendance in the face of stiff competition from the professional and semi-professional leagues, and continued denials to allow the Federal League champions to compete for the World Series championship eventually led the Federal leaders to seek peace. However, there was no happy ending for the men who had worked so hard to gain a share of the market against the massive League machines. The peace settlement that was arranged in late 1915 provided that two Federal League clubs would be amalgamated into the major league clubs, and that the rest of the "outlaw" teams were to be dissolved and bought out for a total of $600,000. Several Federal League ballparks were taken over by the American and National Leagues, to help them cut down on operating losses caused by the war. It is estimated that the Federal League lost a total of $2,500,000 in operating costs during its three years of existence. The final challenge to the supremacy of organized major league baseball had been completely quelled, the national game had been solidified, and there was not to be another challenge.
So there you have it. That concludes this four-part series on the history of conflice in major league baseball. For nearly forty years, there were regular wars between the baseball leagues as numerous clubs fought for recognition in the public stage of American baseball. Following the collapse of the Federal League, the peace in the leagues became permanent, and baseball continued to grow and thrive, cementing itself as the national pastime of the United States.
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