Mordecai Brown by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Mordecai Brown

Page 136

The league itself and many sports writers considered it a major league during its existence. Organized baseball recognized its major league status in 1968.

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 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 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.