| 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 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 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 Beginning--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 Beginning--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
| Listed in Ron Kaplan's 501 Baseball Books Funs Must Read Before They Die |