Federal League

Brooklyn Tip Tops History

By Patrick Mondout

The Brooklyn Tip Tops were a team in short-lived Federal League of professional baseball from 1914 to 1915. The team was named by owner Robert Ward, who owned the Tip Top Bakery.

At a glance... BROOKLYN TIP TOPS Franchise Facts Established 1914 Disbanded 1915 Located Baltimore Owner Robert B. Ward Year by Year Results W L % 1914  77 77 .500 1915  70 82 .461 Affiliations Federal League (1914-1915) Postseason/Titles FL Titles (0) Nicknames Brooklyn Tip Tops (1914-1915) aka Brooklyn Brookfeds Ballparks Washington Park III (1914-1915) Top Performances Single-Season Career

The Tip Tops played in old Washington Park, which the Dodgers had abandoned after the 1912 season to move to Ebbet's Field.

The team finished a disappointing 4th in 1914. Federal League officials believed it important to have a successful franchise in the New York area and when the Indianapolis franchise was transitioned to Newark, the "Federal League Ty Cobb", as 1914 FL batting champ Benny Kauf was known, was placed on the Brooklyn roster. It didn't help and the team finished seventh.

The Newark and Brooklyn FL teams played a three holiday doubleheaders during the 1915 season were one game was in Newark and the second was in Brooklyn.

Had the Federal League (FL) lasted just one more season, night baseball might have been introduced two decades earlier. The Tip Tops had announced plans for the 1916 to play some games at night.

Federal League sources/bibliography:
The Federal League of 1914-1915 by Marc Okkonen.
The Formation, Sometimes Absorption and Mostly Inevitable Demise of 18 Professional Baseball Organizations, 1871 to Present by David Pietrusza.
May the Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy by Andrew Zimbalist.
Total Baseball: The Ultimate Baseball Encyclopedia by John Thorn, et al.