An Aborted Trial

Abstract

This chapter examines Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs and its dismissal, focusing on the period between February 1916 and June 1917. In the weeks following the dismissal of the Federal League's antitrust suit, organized baseball worked behind the scenes to resolve its budding dispute with the Baltimore Federals. The American and National Leagues sought to persuade Jack Dunn, owner of the city's International League team, to purchase the BaltFeds's stadium, thereby securing some settlement proceeds for the rival franchise. At the same time that organized baseball was dealing with Baltimore, it was also trying to resolve its own outstanding legal fees from the Federal League case. Baltimore, meanwhile, continued to build its case that federal antitrust law applied to professional baseball. This chapter first considers the BaltFeds's settlement negotiations with organized baseball before discussing the proceedings of its antitrust suit and Judge Oliver B. Dickinson's decision to dismiss the case.