Federal League

The Federal League was the last major attempt to establish an independent major professional baseball league in the United States in direct competition with the established National and American Leagues in 1914 and 1915. Although there were a few attempts after this, nothing was as direct and serious as the Federal League.

Major League status was retroactively applied to the Federal League in 1968.

Federal League in "The House That George Built"
George Ruth believed the Federal League's failure to start a team in Baltimore played a critical role in his failure to ever achieve major league baseball stardom. Ruth had considered defecting from the Baltimore Orioles to the Federal League, but could not as Orioles owner Jack Dunn was also Ruth's legal guardian.