Between 1913 to 1915 the Federal League was operated as a third major league for professional baseball.
It went out of business rather quickly but before doing so they went to court with the baseball establishment and as a result the owners of the Chicago and St. Louis franchises were allowed to buy into and merge the Whales with the Cubs and the Terriers with the Browns. Is there any way to extend the life of the Federal League ten years or more? Is a larger merger with the American and National League possible with franchises in cities not already dominated by MLB teams? I'm thinking the Baltimore Terrapins, Buffalo Blues, Newark Peppers, and Kansas City Packers. Alternatively is there any chance the Feds might have merged with another league like the Pacific Coast League to form a viable competitor for MLB?

Thoughts, comments, questions? I'd love to hear them all especially folks with more baseball knowledge than myself.
 
That approximate era was far too early for inclusion of the Pacific Coast in a *major league baseball* structure, given the travel technology of the time (the earliest attempt was the stillborn attempt to move the St. Louis Browns to Los Angeles starting in the 1942 season, which proposal was squelched by Pearl Harbor and wartime travel restrictions).

That said, I'd have to do some research but I believe it might have been possible for all eight Federal League franchises to survive albeit not all in original locations. Certainly Baltimore, Buffalo, and Kansas City would have been viable as is. It's possible Brooklyn might have supported a second team. On the other hand, Pittsburgh, Newark, Chicago, and St. Louis would have required moves. I suggest the league would have ceased to exist as an entity in its own right, but the eight teams would have been distributed between the American and National Leagues, thus:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Boston Red Sox
Brooklyn Aces [were Brooklyn Tip Tops]
Buffalo Bisons [were Buffalo Buffeds]

Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Milwaukee Brewers [were Chicago Chifeds]
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Athletics
St. Louis Browns
Toronto Dominions [were Pittsburgh Rebels]
Washington Senators

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Baltimore Orioles [were Baltimore Terrapins]
Boston Braves
Brooklyn Dodgers
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Kansas City Pioneers [were Kansas City Packers]
Montreal Royals [were Newark Peppers]

New York Giants
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Twin Cities Reapers [were St. Louis Terriers]

I changed a number of the nicknames since they seemed to me too contrived / hokey / minor league-like. If Brooklyn couldn't support two teams, put that would-be American League Brooklyn team in Louisville, KY, restoring that city to major league status after a hiatus of sixteen years.

Once incorporated, I expect the former FL teams would have a rather rugged initiation into the existing leagues. Expect the McGraw-led Giants to be merciless when playing, say, Baltimore or Twin Cities. And Ty Cobb would be just this side of homicidal when playing, say, Milwaukee or Buffalo. And the Canadian-based teams might have it even rougher: probably wouldn't be out of the question to need cops in force in Detroit for the first time the Dominions visited the Tigers, or in New York for a Royals visit to the Giants.
 
It was very possible for the Federal League to survive. Certainly the American and National League owners felt the Federal League was a significant threat. With the exception of the Baltimore Terrapins the American and National League owners bought out the Federal League owners. Two Federal League owners merged their teams into existing major league teams. In Chicago Charles Weegham became owner of the Cubs and in Saint Louis Phil Became owner of the Browns.

The Feds had decent attendance in comparison to the other teams in 1914.

Team

Stadium

Attendance

Boston Red Sox

Fenway Park I

481,359

Chicago White Sox

Comiskey Park

469,290

Detroit Tigers

Navin Field

416,225

Boston Braves

South End Grounds III

382,913

New York Giants

Polo Grounds V

364,313

New York Yankees

Polo Grounds V

359,477

Philadelphia Athletics

Shibe Park

346,641

St. Louis Cardinals

Robison Field

256,099

St. Louis Browns

Sportsman's Park IV

244,714

Washington Senators

Griffith Stadium I

243,888

Chicago Cubs

West Side Park II

202,516

Cleveland Naps

League Park II

185,997

Pittsburgh Pirates

Forbes Field

139,620

Philadelphia Phillies

Baker Bowl

138,474

Brooklyn Robins

Ebbets Field

122,671

Cincinnati Reds

Crosley Field

100,791


Federal League


Team

Stadium

Attendance

Chicago Chi-Feds

Weegham Park

200,729

Indianapolis Federals

West Washington Street Park

136,186

Baltimore Terrapins

Terrapin Park

124,672

Brooklyn Tip Tops

Washington Park

77,101

Buffalo Blues

Federal League Park

71,101

Kansas City Packers

Gordon and Koppel Field

65,346

Pittsburgh Rebels

Exposition Park

63,482

St. Louis Terriers

Handlan's Park

47,586



Baseball attendance in 1914 declined by about 20% from the preceding year. There was a recession starting 1914 and not really recovering until the United States joined World War I. So things were probably difficult for all of baseball.
 
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