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48-531: A third major league, called the Federal League , began play in 1914, challenging established baseball clubs in several major league cities, as well as some of the larger minor league cities, of which Baltimore was one. Although the Federal League folded after the 1915 season, the league had a profound impact on the sport of baseball, much of that impact centered on Baltimore. The Terrapins , as

96-598: A Class C level league based in Southern New England . In April, Alexander Bannwart drew notice by acquiring Big Jeff Pfeffer to manage the team in Pawtucket, Rhode Island , and by May, it was suspected that Bannwart was working as an agent of the Federal League, which Bannwart denied. Upon these news reports, some of the founding members of the Colonial League resigned, fearing banishment by

144-581: A .284 batting average (580-for-2044) with 351 runs , 80 home runs and 356 RBI . He recorded a .990 fielding percentage . Back in the minors in 1930, Hauser played for the Baltimore Orioles of the International League and regained his hitting touch, slamming a then-professional record of 63 home runs in one season, in the cozy confines of Oriole Park . He also led the minors in homers in 1931. The Minneapolis Millers of

192-463: A couple of weeks later, setting a new league mark. On August 20, he hit his 60th, the first player to hit 60 twice in a professional career. He tied and broke his own professional record by hitting his 63rd and 64th in St. Paul's Lexington Park on Labor Day . He pushed the total to 69, with his chance at 70 rained out. Hauser also collected 182 RBIs and a record-setting 439 total bases. Hauser got off to

240-627: A discarded cigarette) consumed the old ballpark and every object the team had on-site, including uniforms and trophies. All that was left standing were the outfield fences and the scoreboard. The club quickly arranged to make their temporary home in Municipal Stadium , the city's football field which had opened in 1922. Literally rising from the ashes, the Orioles went on to win the International League championship, and then

288-548: A good start in 1934, but a fractured kneecap ended his season, and his career wound down after that. He played off and on for the Millers and then Sheboygan Indians before hanging up his cleats in 1943. Following his playing career, he ran a sporting goods shop in Sheboygan until retiring in 1984. Hauser's 69 home runs were eventually matched by Bob Crues in 1948 and surpassed by the 72 of Joe Bauman in 1954. He remained

336-480: A minor league playing outside of the National Agreement. After James A. Gilmore succeeded Powers as league president, the league declared itself to be a major league. Playing in what detractors called the "outlaw" league allowed players to avoid the restrictions of the organized leagues' reserve clause . The competition of another, better paying league caused players' salaries to skyrocket, demonstrating

384-573: A new league with teams in Chicago , Cleveland , Pittsburgh , Indianapolis , St. Louis , and Covington, Kentucky . He named the organization the Federal League, and served as its first president. Because it did not abide by the National Agreement on player payment in place in organized baseball , the Federal League was called an "outlaw league" by its competitors. The Federal League's outlaw status allowed it to recruit players from established clubs, and it attracted many current and former players from

432-650: A primary party in an antitrust legal suit filed against Major League Baseball and involving the Commissioner of Baseball . This resulted in the landmark 1922 U.S. Supreme Court decision, in Federal Baseball Club v. National League , that exempted baseball from antitrust laws. The new Orioles soon established themselves as a strong, competitive team. Their greatest success at this ballpark included winning seven consecutive International League championships from 1919 through 1925. On April 18, 1919,

480-530: A virtual tie for first. But since the Whales (86-66) played two fewer games than the St. Louis Terriers (87-67), they were awarded the pennant based on their slightly better winning percentage (.566 to .565). Pittsburgh, with one game unplayed, ended up at 86-67 (.562). During the 1914–15 offseason, Federal League owners brought an antitrust lawsuit against the American and National Leagues. The lawsuit ended up in

528-482: Is our Joe!" He had his best major league year statistically in 1924, but a broken leg and slow recovery hampered his career in 1925 and 1926. In 1928, he seemed to get back on track, but his ability to hit major league pitching somehow vanished, and after 1929, he was through in the majors. He later blamed Oakland Athletics player-coach Ty Cobb for over-analyzing and impairing his hitting style. In 629 games over 6 seasons in his major league career, Hauser compiled

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576-428: The 1944 Boston Red Sox held spring training at the park, rather than traveling to Florida . This fifth Oriole Park was the club's home for the next 28½ seasons. The club was very conscious of the ballpark's potential as a firetrap. Great care was always taken to protect the aging wooden structure, such as hosing it down after games. But on the night of July 3, 1944, a fire of uncertain origin (speculated to have been

624-573: The Baseball Hall of Fame who played in the Federal League are listed below. Each of these players was elected via the Veterans Committee . In addition, Cy Young managed the 1913 Cleveland Green Sox . Per final regular season standings, as there was no postseason. Source: Joe Hauser Joseph John Hauser (January 21, 1899 – July 11, 1997), nicknamed " Unser Choe ", was an American professional baseball player who

672-601: The Buffalo Bisons and Indianapolis Indians , respectively. Newark had a team, the Bears , in the independent Can-Am League , which folded after the 2012 season. There is at least one achievement of note that happened in Federal League play. Eddie Plank , pitching for the St. Louis Terriers , won his milestone 300th game on September 11, 1915, at St. Louis' Handlan's Park , becoming the first 300-game winning left-hander in

720-413: The Federal League , was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league ", in competition with the established National and American Leagues , from 1914 to 1915 . The Federal League came together in early 1913 through the work of John T. Powers, and immediately challenged the operations of organized baseball as

768-588: The Junior World Series over Louisville of the American Association . The large post-season crowds that fall of 1944 at Municipal Stadium, which would not have been possible at the old wooden Oriole Park, caught the attention of the major leagues, and Baltimore soon became a viable option for struggling teams who were considering moving to other cities. Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs , known simply as

816-617: The Junior World Series . 1933 was Hauser's career year. The league decided to cut its schedule from 168 to 154 games, and Hauser went homer-less in his first nine games, so his prospects for even reaching his previous year's total were in doubt. However, in the home opener, Hauser hit one out in his first at-bat, and then three more the next day, and the long balls began to accumulate. By the end of June, he had reached 32. He hit his 50th on July 27 in Milwaukee. He hit his 54th and 55th in Toledo

864-754: The National Baseball Commission . At the April 1915 league meeting, Coppen was re-elected as president and Bannwart was elected secretary. Walter S. Ward, the treasurer of the Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the Federal League and George S. Ward's son, was elected as the league's treasurer. The Colonial League reorganized itself as a farm system for the Federal League and voluntarily withdrew itself from organized baseball. The Federal League had close pennant races both years. In 1914, Indianapolis beat out Chicago by 1½ games. 1915 witnessed

912-506: The Sherman Antitrust Act ; MLB remains the only North American sports league with such a status, and it has not faced any competitor leagues since unlike the other pro sports leagues because of this exemption. Though significantly weakened in the 1970s, this exemption remains intact 102 years later; however, it has been eroded by subsequent court rulings and legislation regarding issues specific to Major League Baseball. Of

960-626: The Ward Baking Company . As a major circuit, the Federal League consisted of eight teams each season. Four of the teams were placed in cities with existing major league baseball teams (Chicago, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Brooklyn). The other four teams were placed in areas without a current major league club (Baltimore, Buffalo, Indianapolis and Kansas City). In the first year, 1914, some of the teams had official nicknames and some did not, but either way, sportswriters were inclined to invent their own nicknames: "ChiFeds," "BrookFeds," etc. By

1008-653: The American Association thought Hauser would be a good addition to the even-cozier Nicollet Park , home of the Millers, and they were right. They bought his contract just before the 1932 season. After a slow start, Hauser hit 49 long ones to lead the Association in home runs. He might have hit more, and challenged the league record of 54 (set by Nick Cullop of the Millers in 1930), but he was rested to allow an injury to heal so that he would be healthy for

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1056-665: The Baltimore Federal League club was called (a nickname associated with the University of Maryland since 1933), built their ballpark, Terrapin Park, on a wedge-shaped block bounded by 29th Street, York Road (later Greenmount Avenue), 30th Street, and the angling small alley-like Vineyard Lane (originally Gilmore Lane). The ballpark was located at 39°19′26″N 76°36′40″W  /  39.32389°N 76.61111°W  / 39.32389; -76.61111 . Home plate

1104-588: The Federal League included Bill McKechnie , Claude Hendrix , Jack Quinn , Russell Ford , Tom Seaton , Doc Crandall , Al Bridwell , and Hal Chase . The Federal League also recruited Big League names to manage the new teams. Joe Tinker managed the Chicago team, Mordecai Brown managed the St. Louis team and Bill Bradley managed the Brooklyn team. In 1914, the Colonial League began to operate as

1152-486: The National and American Leagues in their operations caused the Federal League to fold after the 1915 season. This resulted in a landmark federal lawsuit, Federal Baseball Club v. National League , in which the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the Sherman Antitrust Act did not apply to Major League Baseball . The Federal League left its mark on baseball history in the field now known as Wrigley Field , which

1200-557: The Red Sox came through town on their way north from spring training, and played an exhibition game at Oriole Park. By now, Babe Ruth had become known as a great home run slugger as well as a top-level pitcher. In his old hometown's ballpark, Ruth put on a hitting exhibition the likes of which Baltimoreans (and most others) had never seen before, rocketing four home runs out of the ballpark, three of which were estimate to have traveled 500 feet (150 m) or more. In 1930, Oriole Park joined

1248-569: The Terrapins as the sole professional baseball team in Baltimore. After the Federal League experiment had ended, Dunn created a new Baltimore Orioles club for the International League. Their previous ballpark had been demolished in favor of a Billy Sunday tabernacle. The Orioles arranged to take over the now-vacant property, Terrapin Park, and quickly renamed it the traditional name, Oriole Park (later retroactively labeled Oriole Park V ). Of

1296-508: The bargaining potential of free agency for the first time since the war between the AL and NL. Notably, six years prior to his founding of the Federal League, John T. Powers took the field to umpire a league game in Goldfield, Nevada on 7 August 1907 with two revolvers strapped around his waist. The local sheriff showed up and disarmed him, before allowing the game to proceed. Interference by

1344-511: The court of Federal Judge (and future Commissioner of Baseball ) Kenesaw Mountain Landis , who allowed the case to languish while he urged both sides to negotiate. Swift action might have made a difference, but without the lawsuit going forward, the Federals found themselves in deepening financial straits. After the 1915 season, the owners of the American and National Leagues bought out half of

1392-466: The growing ranks of minor league ballparks with lights for night games. The Orioles played a couple of exhibition games against major league teams, then staged their first International League night game on September 11. That year also saw a lot of excitement on the field, as Joe Hauser of the Orioles began hitting home runs at a record clip, eventually reaching 63, which surpassed Ruth's season high of 60 in 1927. Due to World War II travel restrictions,

1440-522: The history of major league baseball and one of only six as of 2018. However, that milestone was not acknowledged by Major League Baseball until 1968. The Federal League was the last serious attempt at creating a "third major league" outside the established structure of professional baseball in the U.S. There was one further attempt at creating a third league – the Continental League in 1959 – but its founders had hoped to find their place within

1488-482: The home of the Chicago Whales . Marc Okkonen, in his book on the Federal League, referred to Wrigley as a "silent monument" to the failed Federal League experiment. Otherwise, few visible remnants were left by the short-lived Federal League. The Baltimore entry sold their facility to the Baltimore Orioles of the International League , who renamed it Oriole Park and played there for nearly 30 years before it

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1536-828: The home of the Pittsburgh Rebels , Exposition Park , which had been the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League until they moved into Forbes Field in 1909. The other "silent monument" to the Federal League is a famous legal decision. In 1922, the Supreme Court ruled in Federal Baseball Club v. National League (brought by the Terrapins, one of the teams which had not been bought out), that Major League Baseball and its constituent leagues were primarily entertainment, not conventional interstate commerce, and thus were exempt from

1584-475: The last serious attempt to create a third major league until the abortive Continental League of 1960. In 1912, baseball promoter John T. Powers formed an independent professional league known as the Columbian League . However, the withdrawal of one of the organization's primary investors caused the league to fail before ever playing a game. Undaunted, Powers tried again the following year, creating

1632-464: The league office after the close of the regular season, and the Baltimore owners rejected the offer made to them. They had sought to buy and move an existing franchise to their city, but were rebuffed, and sued unsuccessfully. One of baseball's most famous ballparks was originally built for a Federal League team: Wrigley Field , the home of the Chicago Cubs , began its long life as Weeghman Park,

1680-651: The locations of teams in the Federal League, five currently have major league teams. Those are Baltimore, Chicago, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. Brooklyn has a minor league team, the Brooklyn Cyclones . (The major league Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, although the New York Mets , the Cyclones' parent club, have been located in the adjacent borough of Queens since 1964.) Buffalo and Indianapolis have International League teams,

1728-476: The major as well as minor leagues. In 1913, the Federal League played as an independent six-team minor league. In its first season Powers initially served as president, but he was soon replaced by James A. Gilmore , under whose leadership the league declared itself a major league for the 1914 season. Other financiers of the League included oil baron Harry F. Sinclair , ice magnate Phil Ball , and George S. Ward of

1776-411: The new ballparks built by the "Feds", the longest-lasting has been Chicago's Wrigley Field , which was made of steel and concrete. Terrapin Park had been built primarily of wood. That decision would prove to be its undoing, but its eventual demise would boost Baltimore 's chances of returning to the major leagues . Following the demise of the "Feds", the Baltimore professional baseball interests became

1824-490: The owners (Pittsburgh, Newark, Buffalo, and Brooklyn) of the Federal League teams. Two Federal League owners were allowed to buy struggling franchises in the established leagues: Phil Ball, owner of the St. Louis Terriers , was allowed to buy the St. Louis Browns of the AL, and Charles Weeghman , owner of the Chicago Whales , bought the Chicago Cubs . Both owners merged their teams into the established ones. The Kansas City franchise had been declared bankrupt and taken over by

1872-593: The purview of organized baseball . The Continental League disbanded in 1960 without ever playing a game, making the Federal League the last such league to ever take to the field. The Federal League features prominently in Ring Lardner 's sports humor book You Know Me Al (1916), in which the protagonist pitches for the Chicago White Sox and repeatedly threatens to jump to the Federal League whenever he feels underappreciated or underpaid. Players in

1920-531: The second season, most of the teams had "official" nicknames, although many writers still called many of the teams "-Feds." In order for the Federal League to succeed, it needed Big League players. Walter Johnson signed a three-year contract with the Chicago team, but the Senators' Clark Griffith went personally to Johnson's home in Kansas and made a successful counter-offer. Major League players that jumped to

1968-510: The tightest pennant race in Major League history, as three teams (Chicago, St. Louis and Pittsburgh) fought into the last weekend of the season. On the season's final day, Sunday, October 3, Chicago split a doubleheader with Pittsburgh, winning the darkness-shortened seven-inning nightcap, 3-0; this combined with St. Louis' 6-2 win over Kansas City, knocked Pittsburgh back to third (albeit just a half-game behind), with Chicago and St. Louis in

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2016-560: Was a first baseman in the major leagues from 1922 to 1929, with the Philadelphia Athletics and Cleveland Indians . Hauser's major league career was undistinguished, but he made a name for himself in the minor leagues , where he became the first player ever to hit 60 or more home runs twice in a professional career: 63 in 1930, and 69 in 1933. After being discovered playing semi-pro ball in Waupun, Wisconsin , Hauser

2064-480: Was destroyed by fire. The Newark ballpark was also used for minor league ball for a short time. Washington Park III in Brooklyn, completed after the 1915 season was underway, resembled Chicago's Weeghman Park. It was used for various sports until the end of 1917 and then for storage until Brooklyn Edison Electric bought the property in 1925 and shortly thereafter tore it down. One wall still stands. The other Federal League ballparks were demolished quickly, including

2112-407: Was directly across the street to the north from Oriole Park (IV) , the home of the Baltimore Orioles of the minor International League . This was competition at its most direct, and the established Orioles suffered a drop in attendance so severe that owner Jack Dunn was compelled to sell the contracts of some of his best players, most notably the young left-hand pitching sensation Babe Ruth , who

2160-563: Was originally built for the Chicago Whales Federal League team. The league itself and many sports writers considered it a major league during its existence; organized baseball recognized its major league status in 1968. Not including certain periods of the Negro leagues , it would be the last independent major league outside the established structure of professional baseball to make it to the playing field, and would be

2208-546: Was sent to the Boston Red Sox , as was right-hand pitcher Ernie Shore . The Orioles were solvent again, but could not survive the competition. Dunn pulled the club out of Baltimore after the game of August 22. Although they were still listed as Baltimore in the standings, they staged their September home games in neutral sites such as Wilmington, Delaware . For 1915, Dunn settled the club in Richmond, Virginia , leaving

2256-675: Was signed to begin with the Providence Grsys of the Eastern League in 1918, and found himself back in his hometown two years later, with the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association . There, he acquired the nickname "Unser Choe". As he told it, the predominantly German-immigrant fans would support him. If he was having a bad day at the plate and some fans were booing, others would admonish them with, "Das ist unser Choe!" -- German and German-English for "That

2304-401: Was toward the southwest corner, in the "vee" of the wedge-shaped block. The playing field was small by modern standards. The exact dimensions are not known with precision, but a Baltimore Sun item from May 2, 1935, indicates left field 290 feet (88 m), center field 412 feet (126 m) (it was about 450 before the scoreboard was added), and right field 313 feet (95 m). This location

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