The 1883 Major League baseball season was contested from May 1 through September 30, 1883. It was the second season for the American Association (AA) and eighth season for the National League (NL). The Philadelphia Athletics won the AA pennant, while the Boston Beaneaters won the NL pennant. There was no postseason, although there was a canceled exhibition series between the two pennant winners.
Prior to the season, the Boston Red Caps and St. Louis Brown Stockings renamed as the Boston Beaneaters and St. Louis Browns, respectively.
The American Association and the National League, along with the Northwestern League, sign the Tripartite Agreement (also known as the National Agreement). This agreement binds the leagues to respect each other's valid player contracts as well as increasing the size of the reserve list from 6 to 11 players.
The 1883 schedule consisted of 98 games for all teams in the American Association and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 14 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This format was unique to the 1883 season. Previously, the National League had played an 84-game schedule, with 12 games against each team being played, while a pre-expansion six-team American Association had played an 80-game schedule, with 16 games against each team being played. The following season would see the National League play a 112-game schedule (increase of 14 to 16 games each), while the American Association would expanded again, this time to twelve teams, for a 110-game schedule (of 10 games against each of the other eleven teams).
Opening Day took place on May 1 featuring all sixteen teams. American Association would see its final day of the regular season on September 30 featuring four teams, while the National League would see its final day of the regular season on September 29, featuring all eight teams.
Rule changes
The 1883 season saw the following rule changes:
Championships were to be decided on a percentage basis.[1]
All throws except for overhand throws are legal. The American Association further specified this rule, and considered all overhand throws a balk, which resulted in both any runner on base and batter to be awarded an extra base (balks today do not advance the batter).[2]
The National League abolishes the "foul bound catch" rule, which was when a fielder caught a foul ball on its first bounce. The American Association would follow this abolition in 1885.[3]
Teams
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
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