The 1914 major league baseball season began on April 13, 1914, with the first game of the inaugural major league season of the Federal League (having previously existed as a minor league the year before). The league declared itself as a "third major league", with its own eight teams, in competition with the established National and American Leagues.
The National League regular season ended on October 6 with the Boston Braves as champions, and the American League regular season concluded the next day with the Philadelphia Athletics as champions. The Federal League season ended on October 10, and saw the Indianapolis Hoosiers winning the Federal League pennant. The postseason between the National and American Leagues began with Game 1 of the 11th World Series on October 9 and ended with Game 4 on October 13. The Braves swept the Athletics in four games. Both the National and American Leagues rejected offers by the Federal League for a postseason matchup.
This was the last of four seasons that the Chalmers Award, a precursor to the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (introduced in 1931), was given to a player in each of the established National and American Leagues.
The major-league status of the Federal League was confirmed by the Special Baseball Records Committee (as convened by then-Commissioner of BaseballWilliam Eckert) in 1969.[1]
The 1914 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League, National League, and Federal League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format first put in place for the 1904 season, and which lasted until the 140-game schedule of 1919. Most teams played more than 154 games, due to tie games (called on account of darkness or weather) that had to be replayed;[2] tie games are excluded from team standings, but the statistics of individual players are included in their season totals.
The Federal League had its Opening Day on April 13, with a game between Buffalo and Baltimore.[3] Opening Day for the American and National Leagues was on April 14, and featured all 16 teams of those leagues,[4] only the third time those two leagues started their season on the same day (the 1912 season had been the second). The National League had its final day of the regular season on October 6,[5] while the American League's final day of the regular season was October 7.[6] The World Series between AL and NL champions took place between October 9 and October 13.[7] The Federal League had the final day of its regular season on October 10.[8]