Most Brooklynites are well aware of the demise of their beloved Brooklyn Dodgers. But other than the avid baseball historian, who among us knew that Brooklyn was once home to another team — the Brooklyn Tip Tops (also known as the Feds) of the short-lived Federal League?
Daniel Levitt’s new book, The Battle That Forged Modern Baseball: The Federal League Challenge and Its Legacy, explores baseball’s ill-fated Federal League, which from 1913 until 1915 challenged the established American and National Leagues. The book delves into the complicated battle for control of professional baseball that played out not only on the playing field, but in the courts and in the press. While the Federal League itself unraveled, it left its mark on professional baseball as we now know it. In fact, the Federal League players were the first to organize a real players’ union.
Check out Levitt’s authoritative account and find out more about how the American and National Leagues established their monopoly on baseball. And for those of you whose curiosity has been piqued, sadly the Tip Tops best finish was in seventh place in 1915. On the bright side, the league’s only no-hitter was pitched by Ed Lafitte of the Tip Tops.