1896 Temple Cup

1896 Temple Cup
Team (Wins) Manager(s) Season Baltimore Orioles (4) Ned Hanlon 90–39 (.698), GA: 9½ Cleveland Spiders (0) Patsy Tebeau 80–48 (.625), GA: —
Dates	October 2–8
Venue(s)	Union Park (Baltimore) League Park (Cleveland)
Umpires	Bob Emslie, Jack Sheridan
Hall of Famers	Orioles: Ned Hanlon (manager) Hughie Jennings Willie Keeler Joe Kelley John McGraw† Wilbert Robinson† Spiders: Jesse Burkett Bobby Wallace Cy Young † elected as a manager.
←  1895 Temple Cup 1897  →

The 1896 Temple Cup was an end-of-the-year best-of-seven playoff between the National League champion Baltimore Orioles and runner-up Cleveland Spiders. The rematch of the previous year's Temple Cup began on October 2 and ended on October 8 with the Orioles sweeping in four games.

In this third iteration of the Temple Cup, the Baltimore Orioles, who were also in their third Temple Cup, became the only team in the four-season Temple Cup to both win the National League pennant and win the Cup. Each winning player received $200, ^[1] equal to $7,559 in 2024 dollars ^[2] .

Summary

Baltimore won the series, 4–0.

Game	Date	Score	Location
1	October 2	Cleveland Spiders – 1, Baltimore Orioles – 7	Union Park [3]
2	October 3	Baltimore Orioles – 7, Cleveland Spiders – 2	Union Park [4]
3	October 5	Baltimore Orioles – 6, Cleveland Spiders – 2	Union Park [5]
4	October 8	Cleveland Spiders – 0, Baltimore Orioles – 5	League Park [6]

Game summaries

Game 1

Friday, October 2, 1896 at Union Park in Baltimore, Maryland ^[3]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cleveland	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	5	4
Baltimore	0	0	2	0	0	1	3	1	0	7	13	1
Starting pitchers: CLE: Cy Young BAL: Bill Hoffer WP: Bill Hoffer (1–0)   LP: Cy Young (0–1) Attendance: 3,995 Notes: Game duration 1:40 The game was initially scheduled for October 1. [7]

Game 2

Saturday, October 3, 1896 at Union Park in Baltimore, Maryland ^[4]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Baltimore	4	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	X	7	10	3
Cleveland	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	X	2	7	3
Starting pitchers: BAL: Joe Corbett CLE: Bobby Wallace WP: Joe Corbett (1–0)   LP: Bobby Wallace (0–1) Attendance: 3,100 Notes: Game duration 2:00 Game called on account of darkness. Two runs scored by Baltimore in 9th inning not counted.

Game 3

Monday, October 5, 1896 at Union Park in Baltimore, Maryland ^[5]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Baltimore	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	3	0	6	8	2
Cleveland	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	10	2
Starting pitchers: BAL: Bill Hoffer CLE: George Cuppy WP: Bill Hoffer (2–0)   LP: George Cuppy (0–1)

Game 4

Thursday, October 8, 1896 at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio ^[6]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cleveland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
Baltimore	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	X	5	11	1
Starting pitchers: CLE: George Cuppy BAL: Joe Corbett WP: Joe Corbett (2–0)   LP: George Cuppy (0–2)

See also

• 1896 in baseball
• List of pre-World Series baseball champions

References

1. Pomrenke, Jacob. "October 5, 1896: Baltimore's Birds building to sweep the Temple Cup from Cleveland – Society for American Baseball Research" . Retrieved January 24, 2025.
2. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024.
3. "ORIOLES WIN THE FIRST; Temple Cup Series Begins at Baltimore. Young, Cleveland's Pitcher, Hit Freely". New York Journal . October 3, 1896. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
4. "BALTIMORE STILL A WINNER; Second Game of the Temple Cup Series Much Like the First. CLEVELAND UNABLE TO BAT SAFELY; Joe Corbett's Pitching Beautifully Backed Up by the Whole Team, While Wallace Was Hit Hard and Poorly Supported". Omaha Daily Bee . October 4, 1896. ISSN   2169-7264 . Retrieved January 24, 2025.
5. "BALTIMORE TAKES THE THIRD; One More Game Will Win the Temple Cup" . The New York Times . October 6, 1896. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1896/10/06/108252838.pdf. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 24, 2025.
6. "THE TEMPLE CUP WON; Baltimore Takes the Fourth Game and the Prize" . The New York Times . October 9, 1896. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1896/10/09/108253776.pdf. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 24, 2025.
7. "Postponed the Game". The Rocky Mountain News (Daily) — Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. October 2, 1896. Retrieved January 24, 2025.