| Major Leagues: The Formation, Sometimes Absorption and Mostly Inevitable Demise of 18 Professional Baseball Organizations, 1871 to Present |
| By David Pietrusza Foreward by Lee MacPhail |
Foreword
by Lee MacPhail
As a former American League president, I
can tell you how a major league is run. I can
inform you about scheduling, assigning
umpires, discipline and fines and about the
101 mundane details that go into operating a
big league.
What I cannot so effortlessly tell you is how a
major league is formed. I came to the
American League presidency three-quarters
of a century after Ban Johnson and Connie
Mack and John McGraw turned a fairly
successful minor league into one of the two
great majors. The struggle of these historic
figures is well documented here, as are those
of William Hulbert, Albert Spalding and
Morgan Bulkeley in establishing the senior
circuit, the National League.
These are success stories, but most often the
attempt has ended fruitlessly. So here, too,
are such erstwhile circuits as the National
Association, the American Association, the
Mexican League and the Federal League.
Those leagues lasted for a few seasons, but
their longevity topped such flops as the Union
Association, the Players’ League, and
the United States and Global leagues.
What David Pietrusza has done is to recount
the story—for the first time—of how such
enterprises are formed, how they succeed,
why they failed, the men who made them,
and the playing talent they showcased. But
there’s more; it’s how the game
developed from a loose consortium of teams
in the National Association of the 1870s to
the million—billion—dollar business of
today.
It’s all here: the initiation of the reserve
clause, the weeding out of gambling by the
National League, the building of Wrigley
Field for the Federal League, the plight of the
Mexican League jumpers, the expansion
efforts of the 1960s, and the story of Branch
Rickey’s and Bill Shea’s Continental
League.
Right now, there is even talk of forming a
third major league; it is probably idle chatter,
but someday there could be a genuine
challenge to the organized structure of the
game. If its organizers wish to learn the
triumphs and tragedies, the victories and
blunders, of those who have gone before, I
recommend this volume to them. And the
same goes for any serious scholar of the
game. The various major leagues have
formed the structure by which our great game
has thrived. Their history is an integral part of
our national game.
by Lee MacPhail
As a former American League president, I
can tell you how a major league is run. I can
inform you about scheduling, assigning
umpires, discipline and fines and about the
101 mundane details that go into operating a
big league.
What I cannot so effortlessly tell you is how a
major league is formed. I came to the
American League presidency three-quarters
of a century after Ban Johnson and Connie
Mack and John McGraw turned a fairly
successful minor league into one of the two
great majors. The struggle of these historic
figures is well documented here, as are those
of William Hulbert, Albert Spalding and
Morgan Bulkeley in establishing the senior
circuit, the National League.
These are success stories, but most often the
attempt has ended fruitlessly. So here, too,
are such erstwhile circuits as the National
Association, the American Association, the
Mexican League and the Federal League.
Those leagues lasted for a few seasons, but
their longevity topped such flops as the Union
Association, the Players’ League, and
the United States and Global leagues.
What David Pietrusza has done is to recount
the story—for the first time—of how such
enterprises are formed, how they succeed,
why they failed, the men who made them,
and the playing talent they showcased. But
there’s more; it’s how the game
developed from a loose consortium of teams
in the National Association of the 1870s to
the million—billion—dollar business of
today.
It’s all here: the initiation of the reserve
clause, the weeding out of gambling by the
National League, the building of Wrigley
Field for the Federal League, the plight of the
Mexican League jumpers, the expansion
efforts of the 1960s, and the story of Branch
Rickey’s and Bill Shea’s Continental
League.
Right now, there is even talk of forming a
third major league; it is probably idle chatter,
but someday there could be a genuine
challenge to the organized structure of the
game. If its organizers wish to learn the
triumphs and tragedies, the victories and
blunders, of those who have gone before, I
recommend this volume to them. And the
same goes for any serious scholar of the
game. The various major leagues have
formed the structure by which our great game
has thrived. Their history is an integral part of
our national game.
Contents
Acknowledgments iv
Foreword by Lee MacPhail vi
Prologue xiii
1. The National Association 1
2. The National League 23
3. The International Association 47
4. The American Association 61
5. The Union Association 80
6. The Players’ League 99
7. Failed Beginnings—Part I 127
8. The American League 145
9. Failed Beginnings—Part II 183
10. The Federal League 209
11. The Continental League of 1921
253
12. The Mexican League 257
13. The Continental League 278
14. The Global League 301
Epilogue 319
Appendices 323
Bibliography 343
Index 349
Acknowledgments iv
Foreword by Lee MacPhail vi
Prologue xiii
1. The National Association 1
2. The National League 23
3. The International Association 47
4. The American Association 61
5. The Union Association 80
6. The Players’ League 99
7. Failed Beginnings—Part I 127
8. The American League 145
9. Failed Beginnings—Part II 183
10. The Federal League 209
11. The Continental League of 1921
253
12. The Mexican League 257
13. The Continental League 278
14. The Global League 301
Epilogue 319
Appendices 323
Bibliography 343
Index 349
| Federal League Magnate Charles Weeghman, Owner of the Chicago Whales, Builder of Wrigley Field |
| . |
| A limited number of copies of Major Leagues remain available for purchase. They make great gifts and will be personally autographed by the author. Email for details. |
| "This is a first class work in the comprehensive baseball history category and belongs on the shelf along with those impressive volumes of Harold Seymour and David Voigt. . ." —Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Bibliography Committee Newsletter |
Ban Takes Manhattan
An Excerpt from Major Leagues: The Formation, Sometimes
Absorption and Mostly Inevitable Demise of 18 Professional
Baseball Organizations, 1871 to Present
An Excerpt from Major Leagues: The Formation, Sometimes
Absorption and Mostly Inevitable Demise of 18 Professional
Baseball Organizations, 1871 to Present
Other Excerpts:
• 1877: The Spectre of Gambling
• The Feds Go to Judge Landis
• The Colonial League
• The Continental League of 1921
• William A. Shea: Father of the Continental League
• 1877: The Spectre of Gambling
• The Feds Go to Judge Landis
• The Colonial League
• The Continental League of 1921
• William A. Shea: Father of the Continental League
