1892 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1892 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1892 in baseball.

1892 MLB season
League	National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	Regular season: 1st half: April 12 – July 13, 1892 2nd half: July 15 – October 15, 1892 World's Championship Series: October 17–24, 1892
Number of games	154
Number of teams	12
Pennant winner
NL champions	Boston Beaneaters
NL runners-up	Cleveland Spiders
First-half champions	Boston Beaneaters
First-half runners-up	Brooklyn Grooms
Second-half champions	Cleveland Spiders
Second-half runners-up	Boston Beaneaters
World's Championship Series
Champions	Boston Beaneaters
Runners-up	Cleveland Spiders
MLB seasons
← 1891 1893 →

Orioles

Beaneaters

Grooms

Colts

Reds

Spiders

Colonels

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Browns

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1892 National League season
National League

The 1892 major league baseball season began on April 12, 1892. Unique to National League history, the season was organized into a split season format, with July 14 being the split date between the two half seasons. The regular season ended on October 15, with the Boston Beaneaters as the pennant winner of the National League overall, as well as the first-half champions, with the Cleveland Spiders as second-half champions. The postseason began with Game 1 of the eighth and final World's Championship Series on October 17 and ended with Game 6 on October 24. Aside from a tie game, the Beaneaters swept the Spiders with five wins in the best-of-nine playoff, and therefore winner of the final Dauvray Cup. This was Boston's only pre-modern championship.

The 1892 season saw the return of a postseason championship series (albeit a one-off of this format), following the demise of the American Association. The one-off was the first since the 1890 World's Championship Series. The next championship series would take place in 1894 via the Temple Cup.

The demise of the American Association saw four of its teams merged into the National League, including the Baltimore Orioles, Louisville Colonels, St. Louis Browns, and Washington Statesmen (renamed as the Washington Senators). The four other American Association clubs active at the end of the previous season, the Boston Reds, Columbus Solons, Milwaukee Brewers, and Philadelphia Athletics), saw their owners paid $135,000 (equivalent to $4,724,500in 2024) and their players dispersed to the surviving clubs.

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1892 schedule consisted of 154 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 140-game, 20-games-each against seven-teams format previously used by the National League since 1888 and defunct-American Association since 1886. The 140-game format would return in 1900.

Opening Day took place on April 12 featuring all twelve teams. Each half of the season was split by an off day on July 14. The final day of the season was on October 15 and also featured all twelve teams. ^[1] The 1892 World's Championship Series took place between October 17 and October 24.

Rule changes

The 1892 season saw the following rule changes:

• Players' benches must be at least 25 feet from the baseline. ^[2]
• Umpires now have discretion to declare a forfeit if teams engaged in “dilatory practices” to get a game called on account of rain or darkness. ^[2]
• Umpire are now stated to be the "absolute judge of the plays" and that only the captain may approach the umpire to seek an interpretation of the playing rules. ^[2]
• A batter would be entitled to only two bases if the ball cleared a fence less than 235 feet from home plate. Otherwise, the batter would be credited with a home run. ^[2]
• A baserunner would be credited with a stolen base when he advanced more than one base on a single or infield out and when he advanced a base on a fair or foul fly out, "provided there is a possible chance and a palpable effort made to retire him." ^[2]
• A batter was to be called out if he attempted to hinder the catcher from catching or throwing the ball "by stepping outside the lines of his position or otherwise obstructing or interfering with that player." ^[2]
• Rules modifying hit by pitch were made; a batter was to be allowed first base if "his person or clothing" was hit by a pitched ball "excepting hands or forearms, which makes it a dead ball." ^[2]
• A baserunner was now declared out for hindering a fielder, and all runners had to return to the bases last held. ^[2]

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager [3]
National League	Baltimore Orioles	Baltimore, Maryland	Union Park	6,500	George Van Haltren
					John Waltz
					Ned Hanlon
	Boston Beaneaters	Boston, Massachusetts	South End Grounds	6,800	Frank Selee
	Brooklyn Grooms	Brooklyn, New York	Eastern Park	12,000	John Ward
	Chicago Colts	Chicago, Illinois	South Side Park	6,450	Cap Anson
	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	5,860	Jack Chapman
					Fred Pfeffer
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	16,000	Patrick Powers
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds	12,500	Harry Wright
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Allegheny, Pennsylvania	Exposition Park	6,500	Al Buckenberger
					Tom Burns
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	12,000	Jack Glasscock
					Cub Stricker
					Jack Crooks
					George Gore
					Bob Caruthers
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	Boundary Field	6,500	Billy Barnie
					Arthur Irwin
					Danny Richardson

Standings

National League

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Beaneaters	102	48	.680	—	54‍–‍21	48‍–‍27
Cleveland Spiders	93	56	.624	8½	54‍–‍24	39‍–‍32
Brooklyn Grooms	95	59	.617	9	51‍–‍24	44‍–‍35
Philadelphia Phillies	87	66	.569	16½	55‍–‍26	32‍–‍40
Cincinnati Reds	82	68	.547	20	45‍–‍32	37‍–‍36
Pittsburgh Pirates	80	73	.523	23½	54‍–‍34	26‍–‍39
Chicago Colts	70	76	.479	30	36‍–‍31	34‍–‍45
New York Giants	71	80	.470	31½	42‍–‍36	29‍–‍44
Louisville Colonels	63	89	.414	40	37‍–‍31	26‍–‍58
Washington Senators	58	93	.384	44½	34‍–‍36	24‍–‍57
St. Louis Browns	56	94	.373	46	37‍–‍36	19‍–‍58
Baltimore Orioles	46	101	.313	54½	29‍–‍44	17‍–‍57

National League First-half standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
Boston Beaneaters	52	22	.703	—
Brooklyn Grooms	51	26	.662	2½
Philadelphia Phillies	46	30	.605	7
Cincinnati Reds	44	31	.587	8½
Cleveland Spiders	40	33	.548	11½
Pittsburgh Pirates	37	39	.487	16
Washington Senators	35	41	.461	18
Chicago Colts	31	39	.443	19
St. Louis Browns	31	42	.425	20½
New York Giants	31	43	.419	21
Louisville Colonels	30	47	.390	23½
Baltimore Orioles	20	55	.267	32½

National League Second-half standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
Cleveland Spiders	53	23	.697	—
Boston Beaneaters	50	26	.658	3
Brooklyn Grooms	44	33	.571	9½
Pittsburgh Pirates	43	34	.558	10½
Philadelphia Phillies	41	36	.532	12½
New York Giants	40	37	.519	13½
Chicago Colts	39	37	.513	14
Cincinnati Reds	38	37	.507	14½
Louisville Colonels	33	42	.440	19½
Baltimore Orioles	26	46	.361	25
St. Louis Browns	25	52	.325	28½
Washington Senators	23	52	.307	29½

Postseason

Bracket

	World's Championship Series
	NL1	Boston Beaneaters	011	4	3	4	12	8
	NL2	Cleveland Spiders	011	3	2	0	7	3

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Baltimore Orioles	Billy Barnie	George Van Haltren
Boston Reds	Arthur Irwin	Team folded
Cincinnati Reds	Tom Loftus	Charles Comiskey
Columbus Solons	Gus Schmelz	Team folded
Milwaukee Brewers	Charlie Cushman	Team folded
New York Giants	Jim Mutrie	Patrick Powers
Philadelphia Athletics	George Wood	Team folded
Pittsburgh Pirates	Bill McGunnigle	Al Buckenberger
St. Louis Browns	Charles Comiskey	Jack Glasscock
Washington Senators	Sandy Griffin	Billy Barnie

In-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Baltimore Orioles	George Van Haltren	John Waltz
	John Waltz	Ned Hanlon
Louisville Colonels	Jack Chapman	Fred Pfeffer
Pittsburgh Pirates	Al Buckenberger	Tom Burns
St. Louis Browns	Jack Glasscock	Cub Stricker
	Cub Stricker	Jack Crooks
	Jack Crooks	George Gore
	George Gore	Bob Caruthers
Washington Senators	Billy Barnie	Arthur Irwin
	Arthur Irwin	Danny Richardson

League leaders

National League

Hitting leaders ^[4]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Dan Brouthers (BKN)	.335
OPS	Dan Brouthers (BKN)	.911
HR	Bug Holliday (CIN)	13
RBI	Dan Brouthers (BKN)	124
R	Cupid Childs (CLE)	136
H	Dan Brouthers (BKN)	197
SB	John Ward (BKN)	88

Pitching leaders ^[5]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Bill Hutchinson (CHI) Cy Young (CLE)	36
L	George Cobb (NY)	37
ERA	Cy Young (CLE)	1.93
K	Bill Hutchinson (CHI)	314
IP	Bill Hutchinson (CHI)	622.0
SV	Gus Weyhing (PHI)	3
WHIP	Cy Young (CLE)	1.062

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Cincinnati Reds [6]	82	46.4%	196,473	101.5%	2,456
Philadelphia Phillies [7]	87	27.9%	193,731	−10.8%	2,392
St. Louis Browns [8]	56	−34.1%	192,442	—	2,566
Brooklyn Grooms [9]	95	55.7%	183,727	1.2%	2,355
Pittsburgh Pirates [10]	80	45.5%	177,205	38.4%	1,991
Boston Beaneaters [11]	102	17.2%	146,421	−20.6%	1,927
Cleveland Spiders [12]	93	43.1%	139,928	6.0%	1,771
Louisville Colonels [13]	63	16.7%	131,159	—	1,874
New York Giants [14]	71	0.0%	130,566	−38.0%	1,653
Chicago Colts [15]	70	−14.6%	109,067	−39.9%	1,628
Washington Senators [16]	58	31.8%	128,279	—	1,833
Baltimore Orioles [17]	46	−35.2%	93,589	—	1,215

References

1. "1892 Major Leagues Schedule". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
2. Bauer, John; Pajot, Dennis. "1891 Winter Meetings: The Making of the Big League – Society for American Baseball Research" . Retrieved March 26, 2025.
3. "1892 Major League Managers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
4. "1892 National League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
5. "1892 National League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
6. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
7. "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
8. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
9. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
10. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
11. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
12. "Cleveland Spiders Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved January 22, 2025.
13. "Louisville Colonels Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved January 22, 2025.
14. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
15. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
16. "Washington Senators Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved January 22, 2025.
17. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved January 22, 2025.

External links

• 1892 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference