When the 1900 season ended there was relative peace in the
world of baseball. After a shaky decade
financially things had started the rebound a little as the National League had
shed four of their weaker franchises following the 1899 season (Cleveland,
Louisville, Washington, and Baltimore). Brooklyn won their second consecutive
pennant, and as the NL moved into its 25th year of existence it looked like
things might have finally stabilized for baseball's only major league.
1900 National League Champion Brooklyn Superbas |
But Ban Johnson and
the Western Association, the strongest of the minor league's organizations, had
other plans. The Western Association had long established themselves with
strong leadership and good players, but they felt confined by the
National Agreement that laid out the basic rules and structure of professional
baseball, including rules on not poaching players from other teams and
establishing territorial rights. Johnson and Charles Comiskey and the other
owners saw their opportunity as they snapped three of the four former NL
locations and Comiskey moved into Chicago for the 1900 season. Following the
1900 season they further announced they were no longer going to hold to the
National Agreement and declared themselves a Major League and set about
preparing for the 1901 season.
The NL owners were
less than pleased (as you might expect). Not only was the new American League
going to infringe on their business territory, but the AL teams immediately
began signing NL stars, eventually grabbing ~30 players from NL teams to join
the fledgling AL franchises. This not only helped the AL teams with better
players on the field but legitimately allowed them to state their claim that
they really were a major league-level organization. Of course, the players
profited too as the competition for signings drove up salaries. But just as the
players and the AL franchises benefitted, the NL teams, especially those on the
east coast, were particularly hit hard with player losses. Several court cases
were initiated as the NL attempted to protect its monopoly, but most wouldn't be settled for years to
come.
The net effect of
all this is that as the 1901 season kicked off no one really knew what was
going to happen. The beefed-up AL teams were still pretty much of an unknown,
and with the NL franchises effectively gutted who knew would rise from amongst
this group. And how would the fans react? Many teams were run on a shoestring
to begin with, so any downturn in business would have an adverse effect. Would
all of the franchises even make it through the year? The AL and NL each had
their own league president, their own rulebook, their own umpires, and a and
both had a jaundiced view of the other that was being played out in court. All
signs pointed towards a topsy-turvy season for both leagues with plenty of
opportunities to take their own destiny into their own hands.
Nevertheless, winter
soon turned to spring, training camps commenced, sixteen teams scrambled to
find whatever talent they could to fill out their rosters, and as the middle of
April drew near everyone knew it was time to hear those magical words: Play Ball!
1901 NL Schedule |
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