founded by charles weeghman, the club finished 1½ games behind the indianapolis hoosiers in the inaugural season for the league, during which the team lacked a formal nickname and was known simply as the chicago federals. prior to the start of the season, weeghman built a stadium for the team, called weeghman park, designed by zachary taylor davis, who had previously designed comiskey park. he also leased the parcel on which the park stood for 99 years.