The Federal Case

Who really owns the National Pastime?

In 1914 the Federal League of Base Ball Clubs declared itself a "major" league and began pirating players from the established leagues. Ban Johnson, the most powerful man in Major League Baseball, led the fierce resistance to this move.

In 1915 Federal League owners filed a lawsuit claiming that the American and National Leagues were restraining trade in violation of the nation's new antitrust laws. The litigation languished until an informal settlement ended the case—and the league's existence.

But was that the whole story?

A century later, young night-schooled lawyer Andy Dennum has landed a position with a prestigious law firm, only to find himself tasked with mucking out the firm's archive of presumedly dead files. There he stumbles across an old, and perhaps still viable, file containing a single document that might suggest otherwise. The firm shows no interest, and after several more months reviewing old cases, Andy is summarily fired to make room for the next night-school grunt to pick up the task.

But Andy has other ideas. Assisted by his girlfriend, professional cartographer and amateur genealogist Keiley Barefoot, he follows a series of leads to a conclusion he never expected. And he finds himself in a courtroom facing his old nemesis, the senior partner who fired him.

At stake? Not only the viability of Major League Baseball's business model, but Andy's future as a lawyer and even his sense of self.

It all comes together in The Federal Case.