Baseball History Comes Alive Now Ranked #2 by Feedspot Among All Internet Baseball History Websites and Blogs!
Guest Submissions from Our Readers Always Welcome!
Subscribe to my blog for automatic updates and Free Bonus Reports: “Memorable World Series Moments” and “Gary’s Handy Dandy World Series Reference Guide.”
Weegham Park/Wrigley Field Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to see photos in full size and to start Photo Gallery:
The 1914 Federal League Chi-Feds
Before we rap up this week’s tour through the Dead Ball Era, let’s make one more stop in 1914 with a look at this beautiful 1914 Chi-Feds team photo. It’s one of my favorites Dead Ball Era photos.
In April, 2014, the Cubs celebrated the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field, which was originally known as Weegham Park. It was built in 1914 as the home for the Chi-Feds, the Chicago entry into the ill-fated Federal League. To commemorate this 100th anniversary, the Cubs printed a beautiful photo of the 1914 Chi-Feds (also known as the Chicago Whales) on the cover of the souvenir program.
The Chi-Feds finished second in 1914 and then won the Federal League pennant in 1915. After this season, the Federal League disbanded and the Whales merged with the Cubs, who then moved from their wood-structured West Side Park into the more modern steel and concrete stadium known as Weegham Park. The Cubs played their first home game at the park on April 20, 1916, defeating the Cincinnati Reds 7–6 in 11 innings. It was named renamed Cubs Park from 1920 to 1926, and then Wrigley Field in 1927.
I was able to identify many of the players in this great photo. Most are obscure, but there are a few notables, including manager, Hall-of-Famer Joe Tinker. Claude Hendrix, Max Flack, and Al Wickland were later teammates on the Cubs’ 1918 pennant winner, Flack being the starting right-fielder, and Hendrix being the ace of the staff. Art Wilson was one of John McGraw’s catchers on his pennant-winning teams of the early 1910’s. Dutch Zwilling was a baseball lifer who was still managing in the minor Leagues as late as 1951.
Ironically, Claude Hendrix was involved in a minor gambling incident in a meaningless game against the Phillies in 1920 that eventually lead to the Grand Jury cracking open the Black Sox scandal.
1914 Chi-Feds player identifications:
Top Row, L-R: Skipper Roberts, Bill Jackson, Claude Hendrix, Unknown(1), Doc Wilson, Dan Sherman, Tom McGuire.
Middle Row: Clem Clemens, Dutch Zwilling, Fred Beck, Art Wilson, Bruno Black, Harry Fritz, Max Fiske.
Front Row L-R: Jack Farrell, Max Flack, Unknown(2), Al Wickland, Joe TInker (Mgr.), Jim Stanley, Rankin Johnson.
(1) might be Jimmy Smith; (2) might be Ad Brennan.
Gary Livacari
“Friend” me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gary.livacari.9
Visit Our Web page: “Baseball History Comes Alive!” now with over 120K hits!:
http://wp.me/P7a04E-2he
Do you need copy writing for your web page? Contact me: Livac2@aol.com
Photo Credits: All from Google search
Information: Excerpts edited from the Chi-Feds Wikipedia page.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Click here to view Amazon’s privacy policy
