The Federal League: Part Three

The final chapter of my three part series focuses on the final season of the Federal League. Part one can be viewed here while part two can be read here.

With their ongoing legal case still in the courts, the Federals opened up the 1915 season on April 10^th, with all eight teams in action. Emerging as winners on opening day were Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, Chicago and the defending champion Newark team, having just relocated a month before the season from Indianapolis. Slugger Benny Kauff, having moved from Indianapolis to Brooklyn in November, homered on the first pitch he saw in a Brooklyn uniform, his home run being one of 22 on the day as Brooklyn defeated Buffalo 13-9.

Late in April, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis announced he had reached a decision in the Federal League’s lawsuit. He said his decision ‘would hurt the game’ and urged both sides to negotiate. An unnamed source involved in the suit told the papers that Landis’ decision would end the baseball war ‘quickly and abruptly’ and it would probably be in the interest of all sides involved to reach a mutual agreement. He told all sides they had until June 1^st to reach an agreement or he would make the decision.

On the 30^th of April, an interesting development took place at the Polo Grounds. Manager John McGraw announced that his New York Giants had signed the BrookFeds all-star center fielder Benny Kauff. The opposition at the Grounds that day, the Boston Braves, refused to play and forfeited the game initially. Then, after a discussion with NL president John Tener, the umpires reversed their decision, telling McGraw to remove Kauff or forfeit the game himself.

The Giants and Kauff appealed the decision to the National Commission but ultimately lost. The Commission said that Kauff was on their blacklist of major league deserters who left to go to the Federal League. Kauff’s name was on the list due to the 11 at-bats he had with the Yankees in 1911. The rule stated that the jumper was to be suspended three years from the date he jumped, after which he can apply for reinstatement. Kauff jumped a year prior, which meant he was not yet eligible for reinstatement.

On the field, the first lead change atop the standings happened in May. Newark, who had been leading since day one, dropped both games of a doubleheader to St. Louis, who got a masterful performance on the mound by former Athletic Eddie Plank. Chicago, meanwhile, took the lead by defeating Buffalo in another doubleheader. Brooklyn, who had been on Newark’s tail all season, had slipped to fourth. Kauff, the team’s MVP, had not been producing the way he was before signing a contract with the Giants and was largely the reason for the BrookFeds slide.

The June 1^st deadline came and went, with only one attempt at peace. The American League and the Feds agreed to a peace agreement in which the Federal League would drop franchises in cities in which major league teams were currently occupying. In exchange, the AL agreed to include the Feds in the World Series. However, the National League declined to sign the peace treaty. Then, a month after his deadline, Landis gave the leagues more time, saying progress was being made.

On the field, Benny Kauff was causing more problems for the league. On July 1^st, Kauff quit the BrookFeds and announced he was joining the Giants. He said that the Brooklyn club violated his contract, making him a free agent. The National Commission didn’t think the contract problem voided his contract and stood by its previous decision. President Gilmore then suspended Kauff for 10 days and fined him $100, telling him to play for Brooklyn or don’t play at all.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn moved on without Kauff for the time being. On Independence Day, Brooklyn and Newark would play the first of what would be three unique doubleheaders. The teams would play in Brooklyn in the morning, and then both teams would travel across the waterfront to Newark for a late afternoon game. The first game was washed out but the second game in Newark was thrilling, thanks to Bill McKechnie, who would later go into the Hall of Fame as a manager. McKechnie plated Al Scheer with an RBI triple in the bottom of the 12^th to make Newark winners on the holiday.

The next day, both teams made more news. Newark, who was drawing the worst attendance in the league, was looking to relocate as soon as a new, viable place was found. Boston and Detroit were among the names being thrown around, but it was likely the team would be relocated just across the river in New York. Brooklyn announced that Kauff would rejoin their team as soon as his suspension expired and that the problems regarding Kauff’s contract had been resolved. Kauff said that Brooklyn would be getting his best services.

In August, the pennant race was shaping up to be a thrilling one. Newark took a doubleheader from Chicago, who relinquished their lead to Newark for a short period of time until the Kansas City Packers took over the pennant lead for the first time in their history, thanks to two wins over Baltimore, which put them two games ahead of Newark and three ahead of Chicago. All three of those teams would flip-flop in the standings through August, along with Pittsburgh, who took the lead on the 25^th and carried it into September.

The pennant race in September is almost impossible to decipher without an actual game-by-game schedule. St. Louis joined the mix as the fifth team in a tight race early on in September, riding in as the hottest team in the league. While both Kansas City and Newark played above-.500 ball the rest of the way, it quickly became a three-team race down the stretch in what would become the greatest pennant race ever.

With less then a week left in the season, the pennant race was now down to three teams: Pittsburgh, Chicago and Kansas City. Thanks to rain outs and cancellations, percentage points would decide the race as teams played an uneven amount of games. Five points separated first place Pittsburgh from the two other teams, who were tied for third on the 29^th. Pittsburgh and Chicago each had four games left, two doubleheaders against each other.

The first twin bill was in Pittsburgh on October 2^nd. Chicago won a sloppy game in the first one, 8-5. Twenty-eight hits were scattered amongst both clubs. The second game was pretty much the season for the Pittsburgh Rebels. Down 3-0 heading into the 9^th, the Rebels had two outs with a runner on first. After allowing only one hit all night, Whales pitcher Mike Prendergast gave up three consecutive base hits to allow Pittsburgh to tie the game. However, the Whales rallied in the 11^th for three runs and won the game 6-3, effectively ending Pittsburgh’s chance. The Rebels needed to sweep Chicago and hope for some help from Kansas City, who were playing St. Louis.

They got no help as St. Louis swept the Packers at home, giving them a half-game lead on Chicago. Chicago, having lost the first game of their doubleheader to Pittsburgh, 5-4 in eleven innings earlier in the day, needed a win in the late afternoon. The equation was simple: If Chicago won, the Whales were the pennant champions. If Pittsburgh completed the sweep, St. Louis would go from last place in 1914 to pennant winners in 1915.

All eyes that afternoon were on Chicago, Illinois. With darkness closing in on the ballpark, Chicago put up a trio of runs in the sixth; Bill Bailey set Pittsburgh down 1-2-3 in the seventh before the game was called due to darkness. A sold out crowd at Weeghman Park saw the final Federal League pennant awarded that day to the hometown Whales. The final standings looked like this:

Team           W   L   WL%  GB

Chicago       86  66  .566  --

St.Louis      87  67  .565  --

Pittsburgh    86  67  .562  0.5

Kansas City   81  72  .529  5.5

Newark        80  72  .526  6.0

After the season ended, the league scrambled for more money to survive. It was quickly looking like the Feds had just awarded its final pennant. A month after the season closed, it was reported that Kansas City had lost over thirty thousand dollars and a week later, they folded. Baltimore and Newark did not fare much better. While President Gilmore was looking for possible relocation scenarios, it was clear that the Federal League owners wanted to talk peace. They were losing money rapidly and wanted to settle.

Then, on the 22^nd of December, after two weeks of negotiations, a peace agreement was reached. The following were the main terms of the peace treaty:

• The Federal League would withdraw its anti-trust lawsuit and cease to exist.
• Charles Weeghman, the owner of the Whales, would be allowed to purchase the National League’s Cubs. Also, Philip Ball, who had majority control of the Terriers, would purchase the St. Louis Browns. Robert Ward would be reimbursed for his interests in Brooklyn.
• Any player who jumped their contract would be reinstated immediately. Also, with the exception of the Chicago and St. Louis players who followed their owners, the remainder of the Federal League’s players would be sold to the highest bidder.

And so was the end of the Federal League. The war that almost killed baseball was now over and after two strenuous offseasons, the American and National Leagues returned to normal for the 1916 campaigns. Littering the major league rosters were former stars of the Federal League. Benny Kauff, who proclaimed himself the best ballplayer in the world that offseason, debuted for the New York Giants the following season and was one of the few ex-FLers to make an impact on the field, starring for five years with the Giants until being banned by Kenesaw Mountain Landis for being connected to a car theft ring.

Very few monuments are left from the Federal League. The most notable attraction is Weeghman Park, which is now known as Wrigley Field. As soon as Weeghman took over the Cubs, he moved them into a brand new ballpark that has been home to the Cubbies ever since. Also, the Brooklyn Tip-Tops were planning on introducing night baseball in 1916 until the league went under. Night baseball wasn’t introduced until two decades later in Cincinnati in 1935.

One of the more notable impacts the Federal League had on the game was the fact that its existence made the American League and National League allies. While the feud between the two leagues was over by then, there was still tensions and bad blood between the two former rivals. Both leagues realized the Federal League was a threat and decided to act together to eliminate the opposition. In its two years of existence, the Federal League made some major impacts on the game, but still rings anonymous to some.