134: The Federal League - MLB

Sports' Forgotten Heroes

Back in the early 1900s, the National League was the only game in town. It was Major League Baseball, thus the name the "Senior Circuit". In 1901, Ban Johnson, and others, joined the game with the American League and it was granted Major League status in 1903. Both leagues operated as separate entities, but met every year in the World Series. In 1913, the Federal League was a minor league, but it wanted to join the party and in 1914 and 1915 it called itself a Major League as well. The Federal League, however, did not gain widespread acceptance. Despite going to head-to-head in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Brooklyn and St. Louis with established NL and AL teams, it couldn't gain a foothold. It also played in Buffalo, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Baltimore, it struggled in those cities as well. Poor attendance and high salaries for the players it poached from its NL and AL rivals, the Federal League didn't make it. In fact, very - very - few have challenged MLB. On this episode of Sports' Forgotten Heroes, baseball historian and author Dan Levitt joins the podcast to discuss the Federal League. Its teams, players, the court cases and so much more. Dan is an expert on the Federal League having written the book, "The Outlaw League And The Battle That Forged Modern Baseball."