WI: Federal League survives, effect on Major League Baseball?

Getting most of my information from this article: http://research.sabr.org/journals/federal-league-a-major-league

From 1913 to 1915, the upstart Federal League put up a strong fight against Organized Baseball. By 1914, 59 major leaguers had jumped ship to the Federal League, including Hal Chase, and attempted to land Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and Christy Mathewson, though they chose to remain after having their salaries increased.

David Fultz, former outfielder with the A's and the Highlanders before becoming a lawyer, organized the Baseball Players' Fraternity in 1912. They soon became a formidable entity, and had enough clout to present the National Commission with a set of seventeen "demands" and seventeen "requests" relating to improving conditions for players in the major leagues. Ultimately, their efforts were successful in increasing player rights and improving salaries. It seems likely that, had Fultz's organization not done this, more players would have left for the Feds.

Federal judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis endeared himself to Organized Baseball when he delayed the FL's antitrust suit for months, until the league had already folded, before handing down his ruling exempting baseball from Federal antitrust laws.

Had Fultz not presented his demands to the National Commission, allowing the FL to snag more players (perhaps including players such as Cobb), or a different judge tried the antitrust suit, could the Federal League have been able to establish itself a major league?
 
I think the Federal League would look for an eventual merger, since Weeghman was willing to buy out the Chicago Cubs and move them to his own stadium (Wrigley Field).
 
Most assuredly a merger

Issue is lots of teams already in several markets

St Louis doesn't need three nor does Chicago..

I could see maybe a second team in Detroit or elsewhere in Michigan possibly.

But expansion to new cities would be a must.

Baltimore is a safe bet, Lexington, Indianapolis
 
Most assuredly a merger

Issue is lots of teams already in several markets

St Louis doesn't need three nor does Chicago..

I could see maybe a second team in Detroit or elsewhere in Michigan possibly.

But expansion to new cities would be a must.

Baltimore is a safe bet, Lexington, Indianapolis
Maybe the AL and NL work out a deal with the FL, giving the latter the South, while they keep the Midwest/Northeast?
 
as explained in a different thread, The south is quite racist .. as are the northern owners as well.

The areas of high population at the time in the south would be:

Lousiville KY
New Orleans
Kansas City
atlanta only has around 90K people


see this list for 1900 census numbers

so be given the south isn't exactly awesome sauce in 1915. now this doenst mean you couldn't get teams in many of these markets, but competing with the big city teams is going to be tough.

Open cities of any real size -
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
New Orleans
Baltimore
Buffalo
Newark and Jersey City ( those are going to compete head on with Brooklyn, the Highlanders and Giants ( not saying the NYC area couldn't support 1 more team as they could. same with Chicago and I would also say Detroit could afford one more team or Toledo.)

St Louis could support three teams back in 1915 as well.. problem comes around the 30's.

final question would be come 54 where do teams go to?
So teams go west ..

Athletics?
Browns?
Braves?
Senators?
Who goes west? and where do they go west?

Does the Fed react and put teams out west? If they are absorbed and they just become another league inside of MLB then when teams go west they will as well.

How long do fed teams stay financially viable in some places?
 
I don’t see the FL surviving as a full-on league unless it snaps up some more markets with no teams. Perhaps they go to the South (I can’t imagine segregation being a huge deal to them although maybe with three leagues someone decides, fuck it, we’ll sign a black dude.) Landis probably never becomes commissioner and it may avert the Black Sox scandal (that is if the underpaid Sox players decide to tell Comiskey to go fuck himself and jump to the Federal League. That or the players unionize sooner.)

If the FL (whose logo interestingly looks a lot like an early NFL logo) exists as a third league, some teams have to go away. St. Louis can’t support a third team. Sorry, it just can’t. And whatever genius decided to name a baseball team the fucking Whales will soon figure out Chicago probably isn’t big enough for three teams unless they decide to be Westsiders or something.

Realistically, Baltimore, Buffalo And KC survive without too much trouble. I have to believe they put a team back in Indy. Maaaaaaybe Chicago hangs on (but seriously - the Whales?) And Milwaukee is a good candidate. Beyond that...uh, Louisville and Minnesota?

It also sets up the PCL as a fourth league. That may keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn and it also may force the Giants elsewhere, not sure where. And no fucking clue what happens when the Browns, Braves, A’s and Senators decide to get the hell out of Dodge.
 
. . . It also sets up the PCL as a fourth league. . .
Or, within a couple of years, championship play is the winner of each of the 3 leagues, plus a wildcard team selected by sports writers (early shades of BCS controversy!)

And since this wildcard team is often a team which is right-now hot and healthy, to avoid the possibility of a team trying to tank the number one seeding (by avoiding having the best record in the three leagues), the seeding among the four teams is randomly selected.

and thus compared to the ALCS and NLCS which I think came on board 1969

we have post-season playoffs decades earlier!
 
Or, within a couple of years, championship play is the winner of each of the 3 leagues, plus a wildcard team selected by sports writers (early shades of BCS controversy!)

And since this wildcard team is often a team which is right-now hot and healthy, to avoid the possibility of a team trying to tank the number one seeding (by avoiding having the best record in the three leagues), the seeding among the four teams is randomly selected.

and thus compared to the ALCS and NLCS which I think came on board 1969

we have post-season playoffs decades earlier!

That is possible assuming the FL gets roped in, which I guarantee will take time (probably not four decades but time.) So one possibility is a wild card format, and another is a quick three-team qualifier with the two surviving teams playing in the Series.

Picture this - one City is designated as the host, probably on a three-year rotation. So, let’s say, the Yankees, Cardinals and Terrapins win their leagues, and Baltimore is the host. Day One is one game between the Yankees and Cardinals, and then the loser faces the Terrapins in Game 1 on Day Two while the winner gets the Terrapins in Game 2.

So let’s say the Yankees win the first game. The Cardinals play the Terrapins first, and here’s the rub - if the Cards lose, the Series is automatically Yankees-Terrapins. If they win, the Terps have to beat the Yankees to stay alive. Not sure how ties would be broke but there are ways.
 
I agree with the idea of the Federal League teams merging into the existing major leagues. Here's the way I see it devolving (former FL teams in italics; I used modern nicknames for existing teams to minimize confusion):

National League
Baltimore Orioles (originally FL Terrapins)
Boston Braves
Brooklyn Dodgers
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers (originally FL St. Louis Terriers)
Montreal Royals (originally FL Newark Peps)
New York Giants
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Twin Cities Harvesters (originally FL Chicago Whales)

American League
Boston Red Sox
Brooklyn Aces (originally FL Tip Tops)
Buffalo Bisons (originally FL Buffeds)
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Blues (originally FL Packers)
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Athletics
St. Louis Browns
Toronto Mounties (originally FL Pittsburgh Rebels)
Washington Senators
Philadelphia Athletics

I couldn't see Pittsburgh supporting a second team--nor could I see St. Louis or Chicago supporting three. On the other hand, as baseball-happy as Brooklyn was, I could make a case for keeping a second team there as an AL team.

Now, many will argue vehemently against inclusion of two Canadian cities. Montreal's population in 1911 (the last census before 1916) was ~560,000--essentially identical with that of Baltimore or Cleveland--and don't forget the regional importance. Travel wouldn't be a problem given the nearly-open border of the time and a first-rate rail system. Toronto's head count of ~380,000 would put that city on a par with Cincinnati or Washington. And of course the same comments apply about regional importance and the rail system. One more thing: data aren't readily available for the exchange rate between Canadian and US dollars more than a century ago, but it seems to me that the two currencies traded very close to par ± a few cents until the last 30 years or so (if anyone knows of historic data, please speak up).
 
I agree with the idea of the Federal League teams merging into the existing major leagues. Here's the way I see it devolving (former FL teams in italics; I used modern nicknames for existing teams to minimize confusion):

National League
Baltimore Orioles (originally FL Terrapins)
Boston Braves
Brooklyn Dodgers
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers (originally FL St. Louis Terriers)
Montreal Royals (originally FL Newark Peps)
New York Giants
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Twin Cities Harvesters (originally FL Chicago Whales)

American League
Boston Red Sox
Brooklyn Aces (originally FL Tip Tops)
Buffalo Bisons (originally FL Buffeds)
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Blues (originally FL Packers)
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Athletics
St. Louis Browns
Toronto Mounties (originally FL Pittsburgh Rebels)
Washington Senators
Philadelphia Athletics
That's a very nice looking list - if you'll allow me to offer a slight variation:

National League
Baltimore Orioles (originally FL Terrapins)
Boston Braves
Brooklyn Dodgers
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers (originally FL St. Louis Terriers)
New Orleans Crescents (originally FL Newark Peps)
New York Giants
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Twin Cities Harvesters (originally FL Chicago Whales)

American League
Boston Red Sox
Brooklyn Aces (originally FL Tip Tops)
Louisville Colonels (originally FL Buffeds)
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Blues (originally FL Packers)
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Athletics
St. Louis Browns
Atlanta Rebels (originally FL Pittsburgh Rebels)
Washington Senators
Philadelphia Athletics
 
That's a very nice looking list - if you'll allow me to offer a slight variation:

National League
Baltimore Orioles (originally FL Terrapins)
Boston Braves
Brooklyn Dodgers
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers (originally FL St. Louis Terriers)
New Orleans Crescents (originally FL Newark Peps)
New York Giants
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Twin Cities Harvesters (originally FL Chicago Whales)

American League
Boston Red Sox
Brooklyn Aces (originally FL Tip Tops)
Louisville Colonels (originally FL Buffeds)
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Blues (originally FL Packers)
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Athletics
St. Louis Browns
Atlanta Rebels (originally FL Pittsburgh Rebels)
Washington Senators
Philadelphia Athletics

Interesting, but there was another thread recently that noted the relative difficulty of north / south rail travel approximately a century ago: the network in what had been the Confederacy was not nearly what it was in the Rust Belt (which definition I'm stretching to include Montreal, since it's about 225 miles by rail). Also, using 1910 census data, New Orleans outranks only Kansas City in population (~340,000 vs. ~250,000). Couple that with the relative rigors of train travel (pretty much have to go via the Illinois Central's City of New Orleans or the multiple-line Southern Crescent) and I'd say New Orleans is a stretch at best. Atlanta at the time counted ~160,000, putting it clearly in the ranks of minor league cities. Finally, Buffalo weighed in with ~425,000 people then as opposed to Louisville's ~225,000--and Buffalo was still one of the nation's premier industrial cities at the time. So...looks to me like those southern / border southern venues are a stretch at best in one case and non-starters in the other two.

As to who moves to California...my guess is that the St. Louis Browns and Brooklyn Aces both go. Try this on for size: IOTL, the owners of the St. Louis Browns had all their ducks in a row to move the Browns to LA in time for the 1942 season. Each team would make three (instead of the typical four) visits to LA, going and coming on the Super Chief or a similar train; the erstwhile Browns would do likewise in reverse. Only the travel restrictions after Pearl Harbor squelched the move. In this case, add in teams using The California Zephyr to go to/from Frisco, as well as any number of LA/Frisco runs to connect those cities and it would be entirely feasible for the AL to stake out the biggest cities in California without too much trouble.

If you want to push it further and assert that neither Boston nor Philadelphia could support two teams--I'd have to question the latter, but for this exercise, let's go with it--perhaps the Braves and Phillies could be transplanted to provide NL outlets in the LA and San Francisco/Oakland areas as well, likely shortly after the Browns and Aces moved. Thus, you'd have a post-move lineup like this:

National League
Baltimore Orioles (originally FL Terrapins)
Brooklyn Dodgers
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Los Angeles Scorpions (originally Philadelphia Phillies)
Milwaukee Brewers (originally FL St. Louis Terriers)
Montreal Royals (originally FL Newark Peps)
New York Giants
Oakland Oaks (originally Boston Braves)
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Twin Cities Harvesters (originally FL Chicago Whales)

American League
Boston Red Sox
Buffalo Bisons (originally FL Buffeds)
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Blues (originally FL Packers)
Los Angeles Angels (originally St. Louis Browns)
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Athletics
San Francisco Seals (originally FL Brooklyn Aces)
Toronto Mounties (originally FL Pittsburgh Rebels)
Washington Senators
 
When you evaluate the size of the Kansas City market, remember three things. Kansas City, Kansas is adjacent; alcoholic beverages were illegal in Kansas until 1948; and "Boss" Pendergast ran bootleg central. State Line Road, the street that separates the two, and the blocks to the east, were still packed with bars and liquor stores on the Missouri side into the seventies.
 
The elephant in the tall grass here is in the timing. WWI has already broken out and Canada is in it fully and soon in 1917 it will engulf the US. There is no room for a third major league then, and barely the staffing and transportation for the existing leagues. Also keep in mind the proposed alternate cities were all AA (future AAA) then and except for possibly Baltimore were such for good reason. Perhaps a Federal League in 1924, when the economy was booming and the Babe had transformed baseball economics, could have worked. Either as an independent entity or by forcing a merger with the existing majors. But in the mid-teens it was not going to happen. No way.
 
The elephant in the tall grass here is in the timing. WWI has already broken out and Canada is in it fully and soon in 1917 it will engulf the US. There is no room for a third major league then, and barely the staffing and transportation for the existing leagues. Also keep in mind the proposed alternate cities were all AA (future AAA) then and except for possibly Baltimore were such for good reason. Perhaps a Federal League in 1924, when the economy was booming and the Babe had transformed baseball economics, could have worked. Either as an independent entity or by forcing a merger with the existing majors. But in the mid-teens it was not going to happen. No way.
Or the continental league proposed in the 60's
 
You won't see the majors expanding in the teens. Nor during the Depression in the thirties. Milwaukee and KC would lie at the limits of railroad-based scheduling. You could have added two more teams to each league, putting baseball into Baltimore, Milwaukee, Kansas City and Buffalo (or Indianapolis). But you already had four places with one too many teams: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, St. Louis.
 
The elephant in the tall grass here is in the timing. WWI has already broken out and Canada is in it fully and soon in 1917 it will engulf the US. There is no room for a third major league then, and barely the staffing and transportation for the existing leagues. Also keep in mind the proposed alternate cities were all AA (future AAA) then and except for possibly Baltimore were such for good reason. Perhaps a Federal League in 1924, when the economy was booming and the Babe had transformed baseball economics, could have worked. Either as an independent entity or by forcing a merger with the existing majors. But in the mid-teens it was not going to happen. No way.

And here’s the trouble with that - by the 1920s, the ruling that gives MLB an antitrust exemption is already in place and that racist dickweed Landis is running MLB like a dictator. It was already suggested that Landis just happen not to get the case, and that’s one possibility, but it doesn’t avert the reason Landis was installed in the first place - the damn Black Sox scandal.

However, if a different judge rules for the Baltimore Terrapins, there was the possibility of some unionization. So if the Black Sox decide to work with union organizers instead of the fucking mafia (even if some of said union organizers were involved in said fucking mafia) they play the 1919 Series clean, they win the damn thing, and then they have Comiskey’s balls in a vise grip (OOC: I did a DBWI about this a while ago and concluded that the Black Sox’ only choices seemed to be to unionize or buy the damn team themselves, which may end up making the White Sox an anomaly in MLB like he Packers in the NFL or it may spur other player-owned teams.)

So with no antitrust exemption, a weaker reserve clause, unionization, and no Landis, the 1920s may be friendlier to a third league.

And here’s an idea - a league with all player-owned teams. Let’s say the Black Sox decide to buy the team and fail, likely through a combination of American League internal politics and Comiskey being a stubborn jackass. So they decide to form their own version of the Foolish Club and start their own league, presumably with blackjack and hookers and certainly with player-owned teams.
 
Milwaukee and KC would lie at the limits of railroad-based scheduling.

The late Don Barnes, owner of the St. Louis Browns in 1941, would beg to differ: he and others worked out a practical AL schedule that allowed the Browns to move to Los Angeles for the 1942 season. Pearl Harbor and the wartime traveling restrictions laid that to rest rather than any feasibility concerns.
 
The late Don Barnes, owner of the St. Louis Browns in 1941, would beg to differ: he and others worked out a practical AL schedule that allowed the Browns to move to Los Angeles for the 1942 season. Pearl Harbor and the wartime traveling restrictions laid that to rest rather than any feasibility concerns.
That's pretty interesting - could this be applied to Southern teams?
 
That's pretty interesting - could this be applied to Southern teams?
Atlanta, yes. But what is the fan population there, and don't they already have a AAA minor league team? Remember where the Southern teams, outside Texas, actually are (ATL, TSP, MIA) and their populations before air conditioning.
 
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