ABOUT THE CHICAGO CHIEFS

The Chicago Chiefs represent the oldest professional ballclub still extant, having been the franchise owned by William Whitney when he founded the Century League in the fall of 1875. Along with the Philadelphia Keystones, the Chiefs are the lone remnant of that inaugural season. The Chiefs' success on the field has not lived up to their historical significance as the team had only two Century League pennants (1877, 91) and one Federal Association pennant and world title (1917) to its credit through the first 50 seasons of its existence. Still, the legacy of founder William Whitney lives on in his son William W. Whitney Jr (better known as W. Washington Whitney, or just Wash Whitney). The younger Whitney oversaw the construction of a splendid baseball palace on the banks of the Chicago River: Whitney Park which opened in 1920 to much excitement as a state-of-the-art venue with excellent sightlines and a welcome cooling breeze that blows through the large open windows on the concourses on summer days from the nearby river.