The 1889 major league baseball season began on April 17, 1889. The regular season ended on October 15, with the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms as regular season champions of the National League and American Association, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the sixth World's Championship Series on October 18 and ended with Game 9 on October 29, in what was a best-of-eleven-playoff. The Giants defeated the Dodgers, six games to three, capturing their second consecutive World's Championship Series.
| 1889 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American Association (AA) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Games | 140 |
| Teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| Pennant winner | |
| AA champions | Brooklyn Bridegrooms |
| AA runners-up | St. Louis Browns |
| NL champions | New York Giants |
| NL runners-up | Boston Beaneaters |
| World's Championship Series | |
| Champions | New York Giants |
| Runners-up | Brooklyn Bridegrooms |
Over the offseason, the National League's Detroit Wolverines folded, and saw them replaced by the American Association's Cleveland Blues, renamed to the Cleveland Spiders. In Cleveland's AA place, the Columbus Solons were enfranchised. This was the final season of the NL's Indianapolis Hoosiers & Washington Nationals, and the AA's Kansas City Cowboys.
Schedule
The 1889 schedule consisted of 140 games for all teams in the American Association and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 20 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place by the American Association since the 1886 season and by the National League since the previous season. This format would last until 1892.
American Association Opening Day took place on April 17 featuring four teams, while National League Opening Day took place on April 24, featuring all eight teams. The American Association would see its final day of the regular season on October 15 with four teams playing, while the National League would see its final day of the season on October 5, featuring all eight teams. The 1889 World's Championship Series took place between October 18 and October 29.
Rule changes
The 1889 season saw the following rule changes:
- The sacrifice hit is now statistically recognized.
- Four balls is now considered a base on balls (BB); previously, five balls were considered base on balls.
- One predesignated substitute may be used at the end of any complete inning.
- A batted ball striking the umpire stationed behind the pitcher would count as a single for the batter and any baserunner would be allowed to move up one base.
- The foul tip was abolished.
- No assist awarded to a pitcher on a strikeout.
Teams
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Association | Baltimore Orioles | Baltimore, Maryland | Oriole Park | 7,000 | Billy Barnie |
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | Brooklyn, New York | Washington Park II | 3,000 | Bill McGunnigle | |
| Washington Park I[A] | 3,000 | ||||
| Cincinnati Red Stockings | Cincinnati, Ohio | American Park | 3,000 | Gus Schmelz | |
| Columbus Solons | Columbus, Ohio | Recreation Park (Columbus) | 6,500 | Al Buckenberger | |
| Kansas City Cowboys | Kansas City, Missouri | Exposition Park | 4,000 | Bill Watkins | |
| Louisville Colonels | Louisville, Kentucky | Eclipse Park | 5,860 | Dude Esterbrook | |
| Jimmy Wolf | |||||
| Dan Shannon | |||||
| Jack Chapman | |||||
| Philadelphia Athletics | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Jefferson Street Grounds | 15,000 | Bill Sharsig | |
| St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 12,000 | Charles Comiskey | |
| National League | Boston Beaneaters | Boston, Massachusetts | South End Grounds | 6,800 | Jim Hart |
| Chicago White Stockings | Chicago, Illinois | West Side Park | 6,000 | Cap Anson | |
| Cleveland Spiders | Cleveland, Ohio | National League Park | Unknown | Tom Loftus | |
| Indianapolis Hoosiers | Indianapolis, Indiana | Seventh Street Park | Unknown | Frank Bancroft | |
| Jack Glasscock | |||||
| New York Giants | Jersey City, New Jersey* | Oakland Park* | Unknown* | Jim Mutrie | |
| St. George, New York* | St. George Cricket Grounds* | Unknown* | |||
| New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 15,000 | |||
| Philadelphia Quakers | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds | 12,500 | Harry Wright | |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | Allegheny, Pennsylvania | Recreation Park (Pittsburgh) | 17,000 | Horace Phillips | |
| Fred Dunlap | |||||
| Ned Hanlon | |||||
| Washington Nationals | Washington, D.C. | Swampoodle Grounds | 6,000 | John Morrill | |
| Arthur Irwin |
- Initial stadium of the season burned in a fire in mid-May.
Sunday games
Blue laws restricted Sunday activities in several localities, causing several teams of the American Association (which was informally referred to as the "Beer & Whiskey League" due to its openness on alcohol, compared to the National League) to play at ballparks in a different locality.
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Games played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | Ridgewood, New York | Ridgewood Park | 10,000 | 14 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | Gloucester City, New Jersey | Gloucester Point Grounds | Unknown | 14 |
Standings
American Association
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 93 | 44 | .679 | — | 50–19 | 43–25 |
| St. Louis Browns | 90 | 45 | .667 | 2 | 51–18 | 39–27 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 75 | 58 | .564 | 16 | 46–22 | 29–36 |
| Cincinnati Red Stockings | 76 | 63 | .547 | 18 | 47–26 | 29–37 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 70 | 65 | .519 | 22 | 40–24 | 30–41 |
| Columbus Solons | 60 | 78 | .435 | 33½ | 36–33 | 24–45 |
| Kansas City Cowboys | 55 | 82 | .401 | 38 | 35–35 | 20–47 |
| Louisville Colonels | 27 | 111 | .196 | 66½ | 18–46 | 9–65 |
National League
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 83 | 43 | .659 | — | 47–15 | 36–28 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 83 | 45 | .648 | 1 | 48–17 | 35–28 |
| Chicago White Stockings | 67 | 65 | .508 | 19 | 37–30 | 30–35 |
| Philadelphia Quakers | 63 | 64 | .496 | 20½ | 43–24 | 20–40 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 61 | 71 | .462 | 25 | 40–28 | 21–43 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 61 | 72 | .459 | 25½ | 33–35 | 28–37 |
| Indianapolis Hoosiers | 59 | 75 | .440 | 28 | 32–36 | 27–39 |
| Washington Nationals | 41 | 83 | .331 | 41 | 24–29 | 17–54 |
Postseason
Bracket
| World's Championship Series | ||||||||||||
| AA | Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 12 | 2 | 88 | 106 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 2 | ||
| NL | New York Giants | 10 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 211 | 11 | 16 | 3 | ||
Managerial changes
Off-season
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Beaneaters | John Morrill | Jim Hart |
| Detroit Wolverines | Robert Leadley | Team folded |
| Indianapolis Hoosiers | Harry Spence | Jack Glasscock |
| Louisville Colonels | John Kerins | Dude Esterbrook |
| Washington Nationals | Ted Sullivan | John Morrill |
In-season
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis Hoosiers | Jack Glasscock | Frank Bancroft |
| Louisville Colonels | Dude Esterbrook | Jimmy Wolf |
| Jimmy Wolf | Dan Shannon | |
| Dan Shannon | Jack Chapman | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Horrace Phillips | Fred Dunlap |
| Fred Dunlap | Ned Hanlon | |
| Washington Statesmen | John Morrill | Arthur Irwin |
League leaders
Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.
American Association
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Tommy Tucker (BAL) | .372 |
| OPS | Tommy Tucker (BAL) | .934 |
| HR | Bug Holliday (CIN) Harry Stovey (PHA) | 19 |
| RBI | Harry Stovey (PHA) | 119 |
| R | Mike Griffin (BAL) Harry Stovey (PHA) | 152 |
| H | Tommy Tucker (BAL) | 196 |
| SB | Billy Hamilton (KC) | 111 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Bob Caruthers (BRO) | 40 |
| L | Mark Baldwin (COL) | 34 |
| ERA | Jack Stivetts (STL) | 2.25 |
| K | Mark Baldwin (COL) | 368 |
| IP | Mark Baldwin (COL) | 513.2 |
| SV | Tony Mullane (CIN) | 5 |
| WHIP | Jack Stivetts (STL) | 1.153 |
National League
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Dan Brouthers (BSN) | .373 |
| OPS | Fred Carroll (PIT) | .970 |
| HR | Sam Thompson (PHI) | 20 |
| RBI | Roger Connor (NYG) | 130 |
| R | Mike Tiernan (NYG) | 147 |
| H | Jack Glasscock (IND) | 205 |
| SB | Jim Fogarty (PHI) | 99 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | John Clarkson1 (BSN) | 49 |
| L | Harry Staley (PIT) | 26 |
| ERA | John Clarkson1 (BSN) | 2.73 |
| K | John Clarkson1 (BSN) | 284 |
| IP | John Clarkson (BSN) | 620.0 |
| SV | Bill Sowders (PIT/BSN) | 3 |
| WHIP | John Clarkson (BSN) | 1.277 |
1 National League Triple Crown pitching winner
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