The Formation of the Home Nations Baseball League

The sequence of events which led to the creation on Home Nations Baseball League, is a look at what if a couple of seemingly minor events had not transpired. Today, the world game is considered football (soccer to us Americans). But it had a rough beginning. What if it had failed?

The need for a single body to oversee the worldwide game became apparent at the beginning of the 20th century with the increasing popularity of international fixtures. FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) was founded in Paris on May 21, 1904 — the French name and acronym persist to this day, even outside French-speaking countries. Its first president was Robert Guérin.

FIFA presided over its first international competition in 1906, but this met with little approval or success. This, in combination with economic factors, led to the swift replacement of Guérin with Daniel Burley Woolfall from England, by now a member association. The next tournament staged, the football competition for the 1908 Olympics in London was more successful, despite the presence of professional footballers, contrary to the founding principles of FIFA.

Membership of FIFA expanded beyond Europe with the application of South Africa in 1909, Argentina and Chile in 1912, and Canada and the United States in 1913.

FIFA however floundered during World War I with many players sent off to war and the possibility of travel for international fixtures severely limited. Post-war, following the death of Woolfall, the organization fell into the hands of Dutchman Carl Hirschmann.

Hirschmann had conceived of the idea of a World Cup prior to the war and wanted to restart the competition after WWI. It was this vision which Hirschmann hoped to use to save from FIFA extinction. Immediately, Britain’s Home Nations withdrew, citing an unwillingness to participate in international competitions with their recent World War enemies. This quickly spread to Belgium, Germany, Austria and finally France. The remaining European associations and the associations in South Africa, Argentina, Chile, Canada and the United States were too weak to keep the vision alive. FIFA appeared doomed and opportunities existed for other sports to be the world’s game.

In the meantime President Woodrow Wilson was struggling to get US commitment to his League of Nations. Fortunately, his vision and foresight saw the opportunity. Point three of his fourteen point proposal was the removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance. Sport was a popular area of trade and commerce. The European community had started the concept with football, but was it possible for President Wilson to convince them of baseball instead?

Wilson was quickly able to gain support from many of the League’s nations. The Latin America community viewed baseball above football. The success of their football federations led to the quick creation of baseball federations supporting international baseball as a means of world commerce. England resisted, due to it’s longtime heritage of cricket. However, in the modern world, England was struggling to maintain control over the Realm. India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand saw the opportunity to distance themselves from England’s position. Canada was not a cricket playing nation, thus these United Kingdom nations/colonies joined the Latin America countries in supporting the baseball movement.

While Europe was not supportive and still wanted to proceed with football, there was no unity due to the lack of trust from years of war. Not wanting to side with the French against the baseball proposal, or anything else, Britain reversed it’s position and supported the proposal. The logic behind this reversal was that Britain felt they had facilities to support baseball (the cricket clubs), which would give them competitive advantage over her European rivals. With the help of former President William Howard Taft (who played a major role as a supporter), Wilson was able to convince republican senators Henry Cabot Lodge and William E. Borah, strong opponents of the League of Nations, to support the League with the huge economic potential due to the world game being America’s game, baseball.

Even though the US wound up ratifying participation in the League of Nations, events were underway in the US which would prevent the US from realizing that potential.

The Federal League was the latest attempt to establish an independent professional baseball league in baseball in the United States in direct competition with and opposition to the established National and American Leagues in 1914 and 1915. The league started as an independent minor league in 1912 as the Columbia League, but changed its name to the Federal League at the start of the 1913 season, playing as what would now be known as an "independent" minor league, but was at that time thought of as an "outlaw" minor league. John T. Powers was president of the six-team league, but was replaced early in the season by James A. Gilmore, under whose leadership the league declared itself a major league for the 1914 season. Other financers of the League included oil baron Harry F. Sinclair, ice magnate Phil Ball, and George S. Ward of the Ward Baking Company.

In order for the Federal League to succeed, it needed Big League players. Walter Johnson signed a three year contract with the Chicago team, but the Senators' Clark Griffith went personally to Johnson's home in Kansas and made a successful counter-offer. Major League players that jumped to the Federal League included Bill McKechnie, Claude Hendrix, Jack Quinn, Russell Ford, Tom Seaton, Doc Crandall, Al Bridwell, Hy Myers and Hal Chase. The Federal League also recruited Big League names to manage the new teams. Joe Tinker managed the Chicago team, Mordecai Brown managed the St. Louis team and Bill Bradley managed the Brooklyn team.

During the 1914-15 offseason, Federal League owners brought an antitrust lawsuit against the American and National Leagues. The lawsuit ended up in the court of Federal Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who allowed the case to languish while he urged both sides to negotiate. Swift action might have made a difference, but without the lawsuit going forward, the Federals found themselves in deepening financial straits.

After the 1915 season the owners of the American and National Leagues bought out half of the owners (Pittsburgh, Newark, Buffalo, and Brooklyn) of the Federal League teams. Two Federal League owners were allowed to buy struggling franchises in the established leagues: Phil Ball, owner of the St. Louis Terriers, was allowed to buy the St. Louis Browns of the AL, and Charlie Weeghman, owner of the Chicago Whales, bought the Chicago Cubs. Both owners merged their teams into the established ones. The Kansas City franchise had been declared bankrupt and taken over by the league office after the close of the regular season, and the Baltimore owners rejected the offer made to them. They had sought to buy and move an existing franchise to their city, but were rebuffed, and sued.

Sir Edward Grey, Foreign Secretary in the UK (1905-1916) and UK Ambassador to the US (1919-1920) was considered the originator of the League of Nations idea was a devoted Imperialist. As an astute business person as well, Grey recognized that Britain could hold a leading position in the world game of baseball due to their existing cricket facilities. Grey worked with Taft in defining some of the details necessary for an International Federation of Baseball. Thus he was in a good position to talk with the Cricket clubs about expanding their operations into baseball. If Sir Grey could get famous US ballplayers, it would instantly create credibility in the British league. He also had one other key observation. Negro leagues in the US were prevalent but the players had no future in the US Major Leagues due to the continuing segregation practices. England had no such limitations. These players appeared to bring energy and excitement to the game. He was confident that many would want to come to England to play the game and enjoy the prejudice-free UK lifestyle.

The key to luring the American plays was the UK labor laws. There was no reserve clause in the UK. Players negotiated their contracts with the clubs. Also, clubs had to pay for the right to contact players to transfer. This encouraged clubs to trade players since it was also a source of revenue. To Sir Grey, it seemed that the UK offered the best opportunity for baseball players.

Discussions on a world baseball association were slowed during the war, but Taft was still an active supporter. He found that he and Judge Landis shared views on the problems with baseball in America in this era. Taft convinced Landis that he should be the head of the International Federation of Baseball. Taft also urged Landis to rule on the Federal league case which was still open. Judge Landis finally agreed and ruled in favor of the Federal League. While only Baltimore benefited financially, the major league owners were upset and appealed to the Supreme Court and obtained an injunction pending the outcome of the appeal. Thus the status quo was maintained in the interim.

The concept of an international federation continued post war. Sir Edward was successful in getting the cricket clubs to adopt a baseball association. This was not as difficult as it would appear since other sports which use the term "Home Nations" include boxing, cricket, curling, cycling, disabled sports, fencing, hockey, golf, mountaineering, rowing, rugby league, skiing, swimming and tennis. Thus the Home Nations Baseball Association (HNBA) was born. Just as the clubs were starting to form, the 1919 World Series scandal occurred. Not only did this turn off the US fans, but the problem of player salaries and contracts also came to light. Grey and the cricket clubs were quick to seize on the opportunity.

As usual, the US was slow to react to a changing market. Players began signing on to UK squads. Even the Black Sox players were welcome. The owners felt Landis’s decision was incorrect and banked on the Supreme Court ruling to re-establish the status quo and help them get their players back. They were wrong. With Wilson’s establishment of baseball as a vehicle of commerce not entertainment, in 1922 the Supreme Court, under Chief Justice William Howard Taft, had to uphold Landis’s decision that Major League Baseball was not exempt from the Sherman Anti-Trust act and they were in fact in violation. There was now no way to stem the tide of baseball players from the world over moving to the British league. Baseball continued in the US as a popular sport but it was generations before they were able to create an environment where they were regularly producing the caliber of play Britain was able to produce or lure quality players to the HNBA and became the leader in baseball talent.

The Home Nations Baseball Association (HNBA) was now fully established. Not only did it flourish initially, but with the US in the League of Nations, WWII was avoided, allowing the thriving league not to be disrupted as FIFA had been in WWI. It became the premier league in the world. This league is their story.