Europe had broken out into war in the summer, and the world of baseball had its first war between leagues since the American League was formed in 1901. The Federal League set up shop as a third major league and proceeded to raid both established leagues for players. The National League lost more players to the Feds than the American, but the National was compensated by one of the most exciting pennant races in its history.

John McGraw led his Giants out to a substantial lead in June, apparently on the way to a fourth straight pennant. Though Rube Marquard was losing more than he was winning, Christy Mathewson and Jeff Tesreau were piling up enough victories to keep the Giants on top, despite slumps by Red Murray and Larry Doyle.

The Boston Braves, mired in last place as late as July 18, were a club made up of castoffs who had finished fourth the previous year. Then, suddenly, around mid-July the Braves caught fire and started moving up. Behind the direction of dapper manager George Stallings, the Braves moved into fourth place on July 21, and kept going until reaching second place August 12. Bill James, Dick Rudolph, and Lefty Tyler assumed practically all the Brave pitching chores during the drive, and all three were consistent winners. Joe Connolly represented the only .300 hitter on the club, but ex-Cub Johnny Evers and shortstop Rabbit Maranville provided solid infielding around second base in addition to clutch stick work. The Braves poked their heads into the clouds of first place on September 2, and passed the slumping Giants for keeps on September 8, capping a drive of 34 wins in 44 tries. The Braves, so recently doormats, kept winning until the season's end, finishing 10 1/2 games over the faded Giants and writing the greatest comeback story in baseball's annals.

The American League race exhibited none of the drama of the pennant chase -- the Philadelphia Athletics were expected to win, and they did so quite handily. Connie Mack's machine ground out 749 runs, tops in the league, as Stuffy McInnis, Eddie Collins, and Frank Baker provided teeth for the Philadelphia attack. With Jack Coombs again out with illness, Chief Bender and Eddie Plank provided the mound savvy and were helped by young hurlers, Bob Shawkey and Joe Bush.

The Red Sox came in second, relying on good pitching to keep the team in contention. Manager Bill Carrigan had "The Grey Eagle," Tris Speaker, as the heart of his lineup, and Ray Collins and Dutch Leonard developed into top starters. Joe Wood could not return to his form of 1912, as he again won only nine games. A more historical note out of Boston occurred in September, when the Red Sox purchased a promising young pitcher named Babe Ruth from Providence of the International League.

The World Series promised to be an easy Athletic win, but the momentum which swept the Braves on to their pennant crested and broke over the back of Philadelphia. Boston won the first game behind Dick Rudolph, 7-1, and the upset materialized as the Braves swept the next 3 games to shut the Mackmen out of the win column. The Boston staff of Rudolph, James, and Tyler held the Athletics to a .172 batting average, while Boston's hot hitters included Johnny Evers at .438 and catcher Hank Gowdy at .545.

The Series marked the end of the line for the 1914 edition of Connie Mack's Athletics. Mack could not meet the salary demands of star players who were being wooed by the Federal League, so he began selling most of his top players to other teams in the circuit to keep the American League intact. Breaking up the perennially tough Athletics spelled disaster to Mack's dynasty, and the Tall Tactician would have to rebuild his team over the course of a dozen years before they could return to the status of contenders.

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