Before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, baseball was divided between the two Major Leagues and the Negro League. There was one attempt by a league to take on the MLB’s US and National Leagues in the early 20th century: the Federal League.

The League is now seen as an independent competitor, but when the Federal League began play in 1912 (under the name of the Columbia League) it was believed to be an “outlaw” minor league. Originally managed by John T. Powers, the league declared itself a major league when James A. Gilmore took it over in 1914. Gilmore also added two teams to the roster for a total of eight: the Baltimore Terrapins, the Brooklyn Tip-Tops, Buffalo Blues, Chicago Whales, Indianapolis Hoosiers/Newark Pepper (team moved to Newark in 1915), Kansas City Packers, and St. Louis Terriers.

In 1914 only some of the teams had official nicknames. Not knowing what to call their hometown teams, the sportswriters added. The teams became known as the Buffeds, Brookfeds, etc. Even after being named for the second season, teams often used these “fed” nicknames.

Big names from the major leagues were recruited as players and coaches to bring attention to the fledgling league. The federal league teams were incredibly well matched; The 1915 pennant race was the closest in Major League history: Chicago won by a narrow margin of 0 games and 0.001 points off the second-place team, a half-game and 0.004 ahead of third-place.

But the league was not to last long. After a few years, they were facing serious financial problems. The owner of the St. Louis Terriers bought the St. Louis Browns and the owner of the Chicago Whales bought the Cubs, merging the two teams. The Cubs took over Wrigley Field, the only Federal League field still standing today. Wrigley is now known as the “silent monument” to the failed Federal League.