Jerry Summers
Most baseball fans probably are not aware that there have previously been actual and potential major baseball leagues in addition to the National League (1876) and the American League (1901).
The Players National League of Professional Baseball Clubs (Players League) was recognized in 1968 as a major league although it only lasted the one season in 1890.
Although the league history has mostly been lost to time, former player Roger Conner who led the league with 14 home runs was eventually inducted in the present day Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York. Other Hall of Fame league members were King Kelly, Dan Brouthers, Old Hoss Radbourn, Charles Comiskey and Hugh Duffy.
The Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players was the sport's first players union and its membership included most of the best players of the National League who left to join the new league. The pennant winner in the short-lived season was the Boston Reds who beat the Brooklyn Ward’s Wonders by 6 ½ games in the eight team league.
Eventually franchises in Brooklyn, New York, Chicago and Pittsburgh would merge into the National League.
One positive result of the new league was the erection of new baseball parks. The most prominent was the Polo Grounds built in 1891 which lasted to 1957 as the home of the New York Giants and the New York Mets for two seasons after the Giants moved to San Francisco.
The demise of the Players League is alleged to have been financial management and the owners' refusal to adequately compensate the players as the popularity of the sport increased.
The players formed the Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players with the dual purpose of increasing players’ salaries and to abolish the infamous reserve clause which was described as “a fugitive slave law”.
On January 16, 1891 the Players League officially ceased operation over lack of financial resources although it grew larger crowds than the National League in several cities.
The next attempt to form a third major league was in 1912 when a baseball promoter named John T. Powers formed an independent professional baseball league known as the Columbian League.
However it failed due to the withdrawal of a substantial financial backer and never played a game.
The next year Powers formed the Federal League in six cities and it was called an “outlaw” league because it did not abide by the National Agreement on levels of player salaries then in existence.
However the lure of higher salaries allowed the Federal League to attract many major and minor league players.
Planning to commence play in 1914 it consisted of eight teams in Chicago, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, Baltimore, Buffalo, Indianapolis and Kansas City.
Six of the future Hall of Fame players who jumped to the outlaw league were Chief Bender, Mordecai “Three Fingers” Brown, Bill McKechnie, Eddie Plank, Edd Roush and Joe Tinker of the famous double play combo of Tinker to Evers to Chance played for the new league.
Only the last minute financial counter-offer of Washington Senators’ owner Clark Griffith to Walter “Big Train” Johnson prevented the Hall of Fame pitcher from signing a three year contract with the Chicago Whales.
During its two year existence the Indianapolis Hoosiers won the pennant in 1914 and the Chicago Whales prevailed in 1915.
The Federal League owners also brought an anti-trust lawsuit against the American and National leagues which wound up in the court of Federal Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis who encouraged the parties to negotiate but the lawsuit was never resolved. As a result the Federal owners found themselves in deepening financial snarls and Judge Landis would become the future Commissioner of Baseball while serving as federal judge in 1920. He would remain in both capacities until his death in 1944.
One of the most classical baseball stadiums, Wrigley Field, was built during the short existence of the league. It began its long life as Weeghman Park named after Charles Weeghman, owner of the Chicago Whales, who ultimately became the Chicago Cubs under the ownership of chewing gum magnate, William Wrigley. He changed its name to Wrigley Field in 1927.
The Federal League was the last serious attempt at creating a third major league in addition to the National and American ones.
The proposed Continental League (1959-1960) was primarily the idea of William Shea whose efforts in bringing baseball back to New York City after the flight of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to the West Coast resulted in Shea Stadium, home of the expansion Mets being named after him. Shea was also involved in efforts to secure second franchises for the New York metropolitan area in each of the other three sports of football, basketball and hockey.
Eight Continental League cities had been originally proposed and seven would eventually receive major league franchises (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Houston, New York, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Toronto and Denver) with only Buffalo being left out of the expansion moves.
The inclusion of New York with the Mets satisfied William Shea’s objective and he ceased touting the formation of the Continental League and the promise of expansion achieved the existing owners desired effect. On August 2, 1960 the league died without ever playing its first game!
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Jerry Summers
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