The United States Baseball League was a short-lived hopeful third major-league that was established in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1912 and lasted only one partial season.

History

In March 1912, organizers of the proposed league – described by members of the sports establishment as an "outlaw league" – met in New York's Hotel Imperial. The U.S. Baseball League subsequently organized teams in

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Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, New York, Reading, Pennsylvania; Richmond, Virginia; and

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The league president was William Witmann. Sports historian Rudolf K. Haerle observed that the U.S. Baseball League "stressed the inherent 'good' of baseball for all individuals and communities, and indicated that it wished to conduct its business in the accepted capitalist style–free competition in the marketplace". Despite these lofty ambitions, the league quickly incurred the scorn and hostility of the baseball establishment. Additionally burdened with weak leadership, limited financing, poor attendance, and a lack of skillful players, the U.S. Baseball League "folded after about one month of action".

Legacy

Many sports historians view the U.S. Baseball League as "a major precursor to the

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

of 1914–1915". The Federal League, which was the last independent major league, was financed by magnates including oil "baron" Harry F. Sinclair.Suehsdorf (1978), p. 54.

Teams

* Chicago Green Sox * Cincinnati Cams/Pippins * Cleveland Forest City *

New York Knickerbockers The New York Knickerbockers were one of the first organized baseball teams which played under a set of rules similar to the game today. Founded as the "Knickerbocker Base Ball Club" by Alexander Cartwright in 1845, the team remained active unti ...

Pittsburgh Filipinos The Pittsburgh Filipinos were a minor league baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team began play in 1912 in the United States Baseball League. The team played all of its home games at Exposition Park, located on Pittsburgh's No ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

* Richmond Rebels * Washington Senators

Standings

The league's regular season began May 1, 1912 and ended June 5. The ''

Richmond Times Dispatch The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia. Circulation The ''Times-Dispatc ...

'' released the intended 126-game USL schedule, to have run from April 8 through September 22.

Ballparks

* Bronx Oval – New York * Exposition Park – Pittsburgh * The Fairgrounds – Lynchburg * Georgetown Park – Washington, D.C. * Hippodrome Park – Cincinnati, OH. The park was also referred to as United States Park * Gunther Park (Clark St and Leland Ave) – Chicago; now Chase Park * National Association Grounds – Cleveland * Lee Park (Moore Street and North Boulevard) – Richmond; became Boulevard Field of the

Richmond Climbers The city of Baltimore, Maryland, has been home to two Minor League Baseball teams called the Baltimore Orioles, in addition to the three Major League Baseball teams that have used the name (the first of which played in the American Association i ...

in 1917, and now The Diamond

Notes

References

* Suehsdorf, A. D. (1978). ''The Great American Baseball Scrapbook''. New York: Random House. {{Authority control Defunct major baseball leagues in the United States Sports leagues established in 1913 Defunct minor baseball leagues in the United States