Pre-season

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