Buffalo Blues

• Win-Loss Record: 154-149-5 (.506)
• Ballpark: Federal League Park (Buffalo) (May 11, 1914-Sept. 29, 1915) (20,000)

Team History

The Buffalo Blues represented Buffalo, NY in the Federal League for both seasons of the league's existence, although the team was known by different nicknames. On November 1, 1913 the New York Times announced that the board of directors of the Federal League had declared war on major league baseball and admitted teams from Baltimore, Buffalo and New York City, bringing the league total to 8. The following day the Buffalo Express reported that the city of Buffalo would have a team in the Federal League for the upcoming 1914 season. The team was owned by Dick Carroll and Larry Schlafly would be the manager. Officially the called the "Federals" the team was called the Buffeds by the press. The Buffeds posted a 80-71-4-1 record which was good enough for 4th place in 1914.

The team was called the Blues for the 1915 season. The team dropped its opening game against the Baltimore Terrapins, and went 2-3 before its home opener, another loss to the Terrapins. By May 3rd the team was in last place with a 6-13 record. Schlafly was replaced as manager following a June 3rd doubleheader loss to the Terrapins. His replacement, Walter Blair, lasted two games before being replaced by Harry Lord. Lord turned the team around and the club won 55% of its remaining games to finish the season with a 74-78-1 record and a 6th-place finish. The team folded with the rest of the league following the 1915 season. The Blues were the last major league team from Buffalo. The last surviving Blues player was Rube Marshall, who died in 1980.

Sources

• Robert P. Wiggins: The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs: The History of an Outlaw Major League, 1914-1915, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2008
• 1910
• Peter Filichia: Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebrations of All 273 Major League and Negro League Ballparks Past and Present, Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1993.