The Federal League formed in 1913 as an "outlaw league" in six cities across the Midwest. In 1914 it added two teams and declared itself a major league. The league's owners "stole" players from the two existing major leagues and put teams in some of the same cities. Both the American and National Leagues struck back. After the 1915 season, with several Federal League teams struggling financially, the two more-established leagues bought out several teams. This caused the collapse of the Federal League. The impact of the Federal League on baseball is still felt today. The league filed one of the first antitrust lawsuits against Organized Baseball. The case ended up in the court of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who looms large in baseball history. Although that case was settled, a later lawsuit went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court decided that baseball is entertainment and thus not subject to antitrust law. This decision has had a wide-ranging effect on the business of baseball. For a physical reminder of the Federal League, one can still see the ballpark built for the Chicago Whales, now known as Wrigley Field.
The last independent major league ended its brief run in 1915, after only two seasons at the national pastime’s top level. But no competitor to establishment baseball ever exerted so much influence on its rival, with some of the most recognizable elements of the game today—including the commissioner system, competition for free agents, baseball’s antitrust exemption, and even the beloved Wrigley Field—traceable to the so-called outlaw organization known as the Federal League of Base Ball Clubs. This comprehensive history covers the league from its formation in 1913 through its buyout, dissolution, and legal battles with the National and American leagues. The day-to-day operation of the franchises, the pennant races and outstanding players, the two-year competitive battle for fans and players, and the short- and long-term impact on the game are covered in detail.
In late 1913 the newly formed Federal League declared itself a major league in competition with the established National and American Leagues. Backed by some of America’s wealthiest merchants and industrialists, the new organization posed a real challenge to baseball’s prevailing structure. For the next two years the well-established leagues fought back furiously in the press, in the courts, and on the field. The story of this fascinating and complex historical battle centers on the machinations of both the owners and the players, as the Federals struggled for profits and status, and players organized baseball’s first real union. Award winning author, Daniel R. Levitt gives us the most authoritative account yet published of the short-lived Federal League, the last professional baseball league to challenge the National League and American League monopoly.
Chronicles the 1913-1915 battle between baseball's newly-formed Federal League versus the established National and American leagues, and discusses the short- and long-term impact on the game.
Babe Ruth thrilled baseball fans with his tremendous home-run swing. He made friends-and some enemies-with his loud, larger-than-life personality. The list of books about Ruth could fill a few bookshelves. Most recently, SABR awarded the prestigious Seymour Medal to Jane Leavy for her 2018 biography entitled The Big Fella, and she contributes the introduction to this book we call THE BABE. A baseball book published under that title is quite naturally about the great slugger for the New York Yankees, who led the American League in home runs 12 times and lived life large during the Jazz Age. This book includes the contributions of over 50 SABR members: 30 articles, plus accounts of 50 notable games from The Babe's career. He hit tape-measure long balls, fought with managers, won more than 90 games as a pitcher, and gave time and money to children's charities. In no way is this an exhaustive last word on Babe Ruth. That might be an impossible chore. We do believe this book will help readers get a fuller picture of baseball's most fabled figure, a man still famous today and still revered in the game he loved. Introduction, Jane Leavy 1. George Herman "Babe" Ruth, Allan Wood 2. Babe - A Baseball Nickname, Bill Nowlin 3. How "Ruthian" Was Babe Ruth?, Mike Huber 4. Cool Babe Ruth Facts, Allan Wood 5. The Home Runs That Changed Everything, Hot Springs Historic Baseball Trail Research Team: Mark Blaeuer, Mike Dugan, Don Duren, Bill Jenkinson, and Tim Reid 6. Showdown: Babe Ruth's Rebellious Barnstorming Tour, T S Flynn 7. Babe Ruth in Minnesota, Stew Thornley 8. Babe Ruth Visits Louisville, Harry Rothgerber 9. The Babe Comes North, David McDonald 10. The Babe's Canadian Connections, David McDonald 11. Babe Ruth and Baseball Diplomacy, Robert K. Fitts 12. Cigars, Horses, and A Couple of Homers: The Bambino's Experience in Cuba, Reynaldo Cruz and Bill Nowlin 13. Babe Ruth and Cricket, Glen Sparks 14. Sale of the Century: The Yankees Bought Babe Ruth for Nothing, Michael Haupert 15. The Mystery of Jackie Mitchell and Babe Ruth, Leslie Heaphy 16. Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig, Tara Krieger 17. Babe Ruth and Ownership: Not A Match Made in Heaven, Gary Sarnoff 18. Babe Ruth and the Boston Braves before Opening Day 1935, Carolyn Fuchs and Wayne Soini, with Herb Crehan 19. Babe Ruth's National League "Career" 28 Games with the 1935 Boston Braves, Saul Wisnia 20. U. S. Presidents and The Babe, Curt Smith 21. The Babe: In Person and Onscreen, Rob Edelman 22. Babe Ruth Characterizations - and Caricatures, Rob Edelman 23. To the Rescue: Brother Matthias, Brian (Chip) Martin 24. Babe Ruth: A Man of Simple Faith, Gabriel B. Costa 25. Babe Ruth's Final Legacy to the Kids, Alan Cohen 26. The Babe's Final Personal Appearance, Steve Smith 27. Even Against HOF Hurlers, Ruth Was King of Swing, Ed Gruver 28. The Babe as a Pitcher, Pete Palmer 29. Babe Ruth Stealing Home, Bill Nowlin 30. 715, Allan Wood BALLGAMES 31. July 11, 1914: Babe Ruth Debuts, Joe Schuster 32. October 2, 1914: A Sign of So Many Swats to Come, Mark S. Sternman 33. May 6, 1915: Ruth's First Career Home Run, Mike Huber 34. May 20, 1916: Ruth Replaced While Throwing No-Hitter, Bill Nowlin 35. June 13, 1916: Red-Hot Ruth vs the Browns, James Forr, 36. August 15, 1916: Ruth Outlasts Johnson, Jack Zerby, 37. October 9, 1916: Red Sox Win Game Two on a Loaned Diamond, Cecilia M. Tan and Bill Nowlin 38. May 6, 1918: First Start As A Position Player, Glen Sparks 39. September 5, 1918: Babe Ruth Tosses Shutout, Mike Huber 40. April 18, 1919: Six Home Runs in Six At-Bats, Jimmy Keenan And over 40 more!
From exploits on the field, to machinations in the front office, to data on the cities where they play, the Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball Clubs presents the team history of each of the 30 MLB teams. Intelligent, in-depth essays provide social and economic histories of each club that go beyond the recounting of team glories or failures year by year. Team origins, annual campaigns, and players and managers all figure into the story, but so do owners, financiers, politicians, neighborhoods and fans. Teams are also looked at as business enterprises, with special attention given to labor issues like the reserve clause and free agency, as well as stadium construction and financing. Social and political issues are covered as well, including racism and integration, ethnic makeup of fans and players, gambling, liquor sales, and Sunday play. National events, like World War I, World War II, the Great Depression and the Cold War, and their impact on the national pastime, are also brought into the picture where they are relevant. Media coverage and broadcasting rights are discussed, as is the great influence the flood of media money has had on the sport. As America's sport, baseball reflects not just our ideas and beliefs about competition, it also reflects our national and regional identities. Readers will be able to find useful information about: important players, managers, owners; community relations/charity work; business and labor issues (television income, free agency); race relations; baseball/sports economics (including stadium construction, team relocations; and teams in local and national culture (Fenway Park, Wrigley Field as local icons, Yankees as a national team). Every essay is signed, and concludes with suggested readings and a bibliography. The work is illustrated, has a comprehensive bibliography, and is thoroughly indexed.
When baseball teams began competing in Milwaukee in the 1860s the game, though still recognizably baseball, had some peculiar rules. There were no gloves, no protective gear for the catchers, the pitchers threw underhanded, and the game was over when one team scored 21 runs. Spanning the years 1859 to 1901, this volume presents a detailed study of the history of baseball in Milwaukee. In addition to coverage of the major league teams that played in the city, there is also an extensive history of the many minor league and amateur league teams. Also included are photographs and illustrations of owners, players and teams as well as statistics on Milwaukee players and teams of the era.
SABR 50 at 50 celebrates and highlights the Society for American Baseball Research’s wide-ranging contributions to baseball history. Established in 1971 in Cooperstown, New York, SABR has sought to foster and disseminate the research of baseball—with groundbreaking work from statisticians, historians, and independent researchers—and has published dozens of articles with far-reaching and long-lasting impact on the game. Among its current membership are many Major and Minor League Baseball officials, broadcasters, and writers as well as numerous former players. The diversity of SABR members’ interests is reflected in this fiftieth-anniversary volume—from baseball and the arts to statistical analysis to the Deadball Era to women in baseball. SABR 50 at 50 includes the most important and influential research published by members across a multitude of topics, including the sabermetric work of Dick Cramer, Pete Palmer, and Bill James, along with Jerry Malloy on the Negro Leagues, Keith Olbermann on why the shortstop position is number 6, John Thorn and Jules Tygiel on the untold story behind Jackie Robinson’s signing with the Dodgers, and Gai Berlage on the Colorado Silver Bullets women’s team in the 1990s. To provide history and context, each notable research article is accompanied by a short introduction. As SABR celebrates fifty years this collection gathers the organization’s most notable research and baseball history for the serious baseball reader.
