The 1893 major league baseball season began on April 27, 1893. The regular season ended on September 30, with the Boston Beaneaters as the pennant winner of the National League and therefore winner of the final Dauvray Cup.
| 1893 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | April 27 – September 30, 1893 |
| Games | 132 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Pennant winner | |
| NL champions | Boston Beaneaters |
| NL runners-up | Pittsburgh Pirates |
The 1893 season saw no postseason championship series, unlike the split-season 1892 World's Championship Series. This would not last, as the following season would see the Temple Cup, which would be a championship series between the NL pennant winner and the runner-up.
Schedule
The 1893 schedule consisted of 132 games for the twelve teams of the National League. Each team was scheduled to play 12 games against the other eleven teams in the league. This replaced the 154-game, 14-games-each format put in place in the previous season and would be used until 1898.
Opening Day took place on April 27 featuring eight teams. The final day of the season was on September 30, featuring six teams.
Rule changes
The 1893 season saw the following rule changes:
- In place of a pitcher's box, a pitcher's plate at a size of 12 inches by 4 inches was instituted.
- Per new Rule 27, prior to throwing a pitch, a pitcher must keep their rear foot on the plate through coming set and the windup.
- The pitcher's plate was moved back from 50 feet from home plate to 60 feet 6 inches.
- Changes were made to baseball bats, as described in new Rule 13, stating: "the bat must be made round and of hardwood and may have twine on the handle or granulated substance applied not to exceed 18 inches from the end. No bat shall exceed 42 inches in length."
- This rescinded the 1885 rule allowing flat bats, reinstating the 1857 rule requiring round bats.
- Softwoods, like pine, and bats that were sawed off at the end were banned.
- The balk rule was clarified to state that motions to deceive a baserunner would be declared a balk, but "when the pitcher feigns to throw the ball to a base" he must resume his former position before delivering the ball to the plate.
- On-field mingling between opposing players was prohibited.
- A sacrifice hit would no longer result in hitters being charged with an at bat, though the question on whether this counted for outfield fly balls was an open question (the "sacrifice hit" was not a formal rule until the following season).
Teams
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National League | Baltimore Orioles | Baltimore, Maryland | Union Park | 6,500 | Ned Hanlon |
| Boston Beaneaters | Boston, Massachusetts | South End Grounds | 8,500 | Frank Selee | |
| Brooklyn Grooms | Brooklyn, New York | Eastern Park | 12,000 | Dave Foutz | |
| Chicago Colts | Chicago, Illinois | West Side Park | 13,000 | Cap Anson | |
| South Side Park* | 6,450* | ||||
| Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | League Park (Cincinnati) | 3,000 | Charles Comiskey | |
| Cleveland Spiders | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park (Cleveland) | 9,000 | Patsy Tebeau | |
| Louisville Colonels | Louisville, Kentucky | Eclipse Park (II) | 6,400 | Billy Barnie | |
| Eclipse Park (I)* | 5,860* | ||||
| New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 16,000 | John Ward | |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds | 12,500 | Harry Wright | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Allegheny, Pennsylvania | Exposition Park | 6,500 | Al Buckenberger | |
| St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | New Sportsman's Park | 14,500 | Bill Watkins | |
| Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | Boundary Field | 6,500 | Jim O'Rourke |
Standings
National League
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Beaneaters | 86 | 43 | .667 | — | 49–15 | 37–28 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 81 | 48 | .628 | 5 | 54–19 | 27–29 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 73 | 55 | .570 | 12½ | 47–22 | 26–33 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 72 | 57 | .558 | 14 | 43–22 | 29–35 |
| New York Giants | 68 | 64 | .515 | 19½ | 49–20 | 19–44 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 65 | 63 | .508 | 20½ | 37–27 | 28–36 |
| Brooklyn Grooms | 65 | 63 | .508 | 20½ | 43–24 | 22–39 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 60 | 70 | .462 | 26½ | 36–24 | 24–46 |
| Chicago Colts | 56 | 71 | .441 | 29 | 38–34 | 18–37 |
| St. Louis Browns | 57 | 75 | .432 | 30½ | 40–30 | 17–45 |
| Louisville Colonels | 50 | 75 | .400 | 34 | 24–28 | 26–47 |
| Washington Senators | 40 | 89 | .310 | 46 | 21–27 | 19–62 |
Managerial changes
Off-season
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Grooms | John Ward | Dave Foutz |
| Louisville Colonels | Fred Pfeffer | Billy Barnie |
| New York Giants | Patrick Powers | John Ward |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Tom Burns | Al Buckenberger |
| St. Louis Browns | Bob Caruthers | Bill Watkins |
| Washington Senators | Danny Richardson | Jim O'Rourke |
League leaders
Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.
National League
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Billy Hamilton (PHI) | .380 |
| OPS | Billy Hamilton (PHI) | 1.014 |
| HR | Ed Delahanty (PHI) | 19 |
| RBI | Ed Delahanty (PHI) | 146 |
| R | Herman Long (BSN) | 149 |
| H | Sam Thompson (PHI) | 222 |
| SB | Tom Brown (LOU) | 66 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Frank Killen (PIT) | 36 |
| L | Duke Esper (WAS) | 28 |
| ERA | Theodore Breitenstein (STL) | 3.18 |
| K | Amos Rusie (NYG) | 208 |
| IP | Amos Rusie (NYG) | 482.0 |
| SV | Mark Baldwin (NYG/PIT) Tom Colcolough (PIT) Frank Donnelly (CHC) Frank Dwyer (CIN) Tony Mullane (BAL/CIN) Cy Young (CLE) | 2 |
| WHIP | Kid Nichols (BSN) | 1.280 |
Home field attendance
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Phillies | 72 | −17.2% | 293,019 | 51.3% | 4,440 |
| New York Giants | 68 | −4.2% | 290,000 | 122.1% | 4,085 |
| Brooklyn Grooms | 65 | −31.6% | 235,000 | 27.9% | 3,507 |
| Chicago Colts | 56 | −20.0% | 223,500 | 104.9% | 3,062 |
| St. Louis Browns | 57 | 1.8% | 195,000 | 1.3% | 2,708 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 65 | −20.7% | 194,250 | −1.1% | 2,943 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 86 | −15.7% | 193,300 | 32.0% | 2,974 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 81 | 1.3% | 184,000 | 3.8% | 2,521 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 60 | 30.4% | 143,000 | 52.8% | 2,383 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 73 | −21.5% | 130,000 | −7.1% | 1,857 |
| Washington Senators | 40 | −31.0% | 90,000 | −29.8% | 1,837 |
| Louisville Colonels | 50 | −20.6% | 53,683 | −59.1% | 1,013 |
wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about 1893 Major League Baseball season, What is 1893 Major League Baseball season? What does 1893 Major League Baseball season mean?