The Outlaw League and the Battle That Forged Modern Baseball

Almost a century has passed since Major League Baseball faced its last serious challenge from an upstart league, but the short-lived Federal League left its mark. Consisting of eight teams located in Midwestern and Northeastern cities, the Federal League launched in late 1913 to compete with the American and National Leagues (which were suffering their own growing pains at the time) and lasted two seasons. Backed by wealthy owners and an aggressive business strategy that included selling public shares in some cities, the organization struggled to gain players and profits. Award-winning writer Levitt (Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees’ First Dynasty) offers a richly detailed account of how the battle between the leagues played out in the press and in the courts. Not only was the Federal League responsible for introducing the first successful labor union to the game, its failure resulted in the landmark 1922 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that the Sherman Anti-Trust Act did not apply to Major League Baseball. Despite such accomplishments, the Federal League didn’t help its cause by striking a game from the standings 'because an umpire made a bad decision at first base,' considering a rule change to allow a walk after three balls instead of four, and permitting owners of some teams to bankroll financially struggling competitors. Levitt’s thorough research makes for . . . rewarding reading. * Publishers Weekly *
In this compelling narrative, Levitt uncovers the economic and legal battles between Organized Baseball and its last rival, the Federal League of 1913-15. Anyone seeking to understand how Major League Baseball (or the other U.S. sports leagues) came to be structured as the closed monopolies that they are today will benefit from reading Levitt's excellent book. -- Andrew Zimbalist, Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics, Smith College
Daniel L. Levitt's book on the Federal League is the best work on the subject up to now.  Thoroughly researched and well-written, it is particularly impressive in its detailed narrative and analysis of the corporate, financial, and legal aspects of the Federal League's potent challenge to the two established major leagues—a challenge that, while ultimately unsuccessful, eventuated in the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark exemption of Organized Baseball from the federal antitrust laws. -- Charles C. Alexander, Ohio University
If we recall the Federal League today it is for its last gasp: the Supreme Court decision of 1922 that provided Major League Baseball with an antitrust exemption that has endured to the present day. But the story of how it began, briefly flourished, frayed, and collapsed, is a fascinating and instructive tale on many fronts. No one has ever told it more compellingly than Dan Levitt; I cannot recommend his book highly enough. -- John Thorn, Official Historian of Major League Baseball
Anyone who wants to advance beyond the stage of fandom to understand what it takes to establish and run professional baseball would do well to read Mr. Levitt’s fascinating book. * New York Journal of Books *
Dan Levitt has produced a well-researched, well-written account of the machinations of both the Federal League and Organized Baseball as they challenged each other to compete in the same venue. This is not dry, legal stuff but an entertaining and informative recreation of the rough and tumble times of the American game. * The Past In Review *
Author Daniel R. Levitt, in his new book The Battle That Forged Modern Baseball, offers up the most authoritative account yet of the short-lived league. * The Capital Times *