1914 Chicago Chi-Feds

Claude Hendrix

1914 Chicago Chi-Feds / Franchise: Chicago Whales / BR Team Page

Record: 87-67, Finished 2nd in Federal League (1914 FL)

Managed by Joe Tinker

Ballpark: Weeghman Park

Dutch Zwilling

History, Comments, Contributions

Prior to the 1914 season, the Chi-Feds (also known as the Chicago Whales) lured future Hall of Famer Joe Tinker away from the Cincinnati Reds to manage the club. The team led the Federal League for much of the 1914 season but finished second behind the Indianapolis Hoosiers, falling behind the Hoosiers after they lost a doubleheader to the Kansas City Packers on October 6. They won the season's last game on October 8 - but so did the Hoosiers behind Katsy Keifer, giving the pennant to Indianapolis.

Slugging outfielder Dutch Zwilling led the league with 15 home runs, and star hurler Claude Hendrix led the league's pitchers with 29 wins.

The Chi-Feds were the property of flamboyant Chicago businessman Charles Weeghman, who had long harbored the dream of owning a major league baseball team and saw the emergence of the major league Federal League as his opportunity to do so. He hired Tinker and put together a very solid group of ballplayers, and also oversaw the building of a brand new ballpark - Weeghman Park - which was completed just before the start of the season and still stands today as Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. The Chi-Feds went to spring training in Shreveport, LA, where they were plagued by unseasonably cold and rainy weather. As a result, the venture south ended up costing Weeghman a large amount of money when it had been planned as a money-making venture.

The 1914 Chicago Whales at Weeghman Park

Further Reading

• Margaret M. Gripshover: "Weathering Spring Training: The Chicago Federals in Shreveport, Louisiana, 1914", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 40, Number 1 (Spring 2011), pp. 25-36.

Related Sites

• Account of the Chi-Feds first home game