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
LeagueNational League (NL)
SportBaseball
DurationRegular season:
  • 1st half: April 12 – July 13, 1892
  • 2nd half: July 15 – October 15, 1892
World's Championship Series:
  • October 17–24, 1892
Games154
Teams12
Pennant winner
NL championsBoston Beaneaters
  NL runners-upCleveland Spiders
First-half championsBoston Beaneaters
  First-half runners-upBrooklyn Grooms
Second-half championsCleveland Spiders
  Second-half runners-upBoston Beaneaters
World's Championship Series
ChampionsBoston Beaneaters
  Runners-upCleveland Spiders
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 $4,837,500 in 2025) 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 Ballpark 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[A] Eastern Park 12,000 John Montgomery 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[B] 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
  1. ^
    In today's New York, New York.
  2. ^
    In today's Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Standings

National League

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

Tie games

18 tie games, which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again), occurred throughout the season. Values in parenthesis show first-half and second-half ties.

  • Baltimore Orioles, 5 (0, 5)
  • Boston Beaneaters, 2 (1, 1)
  • Brooklyn Grooms, 4 (1, 3)
  • Chicago Colts, 1 (1, 0)
  • Cincinnati Reds, 5 (2, 3)
  • Cleveland Spiders, 4 (1, 3)
  • Louisville Colonels, 2 (0, 2)
  • New York Giants, 2 (0, 2)
  • Philadelphia Phillies, 2 (1, 1)
  • Pittsburgh Pirates, 2 (0, 2)
  • St. Louis Browns, 5 (1, 4)
  • Washington Senators, 2 (0, 2)

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 (BRO) .335
OPS Dan Brouthers (BRO) .911
HR Bug Holliday (CIN) 13
RBI Dan Brouthers (BRO) 124
R Cupid Childs (CLE) 136
H Dan Brouthers (BRO) 197
SB John Montgomery Ward (BRO) 88
Pitching leaders[5]
Stat Player Total
W Bill Hutchinson (CHI)
Cy Young (CLE) 		36
L George Cobb (NYG) 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

Milestones

Batters

10+ RBIs in one game

See also: List of Major League Baseball single-game runs batted in leaders

Pitchers

No-hitters

See also: List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
  • Jack Stivetts (BSN):
    • Stivetts threw his first career no-hitter and the first no-hitter in franchise history, by defeating the Brooklyn Grooms 11–0 on August 6. Stivetts walked five and struck out six.[8]
  • Ben Sanders (LOU):
    • Sanders threw his first career no-hitter and the third no-hitter in franchise history, by defeating the Baltimore Orioles 6–2 on August 22. Sanders walked two and struck out none.[9]
  • Bumpus Jones (CIN):
    • The second player to accomplish this feat, Jones threw his first career no-hitter in his first major league appearance. Jones also threw the first no-hitter in franchise history, by defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 7–1 on October 15. Jones walked four and struck out three.[10]

Other pitching accomplishments

Home field attendance

Team name Wins %± Home attendance %± Per game
Cincinnati Reds[12] 82 46.4% 196,473 101.5% 2,456
Philadelphia Phillies[13] 87 27.9% 193,731 −10.8% 2,392
St. Louis Browns[14] 56 −34.1% 192,442 — 2,566
Brooklyn Grooms[15] 95 55.7% 183,727 1.2% 2,355
Pittsburgh Pirates[16] 80 45.5% 177,205 38.4% 1,991
Boston Beaneaters[17] 102 17.2% 146,421 −20.6% 1,927
Cleveland Spiders[18] 93 43.1% 139,928 6.0% 1,771
Louisville Colonels[19] 63 16.7% 131,159 — 1,874
New York Giants[20] 71 0.0% 130,566 −38.0% 1,653
Chicago Colts[21] 70 −14.6% 109,067 −39.9% 1,628
Washington Senators[22] 58 31.8% 128,279 — 1,833
Baltimore Orioles[23] 46 −35.2% 93,589 — 1,215

Venues

Having previously split their time in two ballparks for the 1891 season, the Chicago Colts permanently leave the site of West Side Park after playing there for seven seasons since 1885 in favor of South Side Park.

See also

References

  1. ^ "1892 Major Leagues Schedule". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ Blevins, Dave (December 23, 2011). The Sports Hall of Fame Encyclopedia: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Soccer. Scarecrow Press. p. 823. ISBN 9781461673705. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  7. ^ "Wilbert Robinson Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 11, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  8. ^ "Boston 11; Brooklyn 0". The Sun (New York). August 7, 1892.
  9. ^ "Louisville 6; Baltimore 2". The Sun (New York). August 23, 1892.
  10. ^ "Cincinnati 7; Pittsburgh 1". The Sun (New York). October 16, 1892.
  11. ^ Randhawa, Manny (May 10, 2020). "300-game winners in MLB history". MLB.com. Retrieved March 9, 2026.
  12. ^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  13. ^ "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  14. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  15. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  16. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  17. ^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  18. ^ "Cleveland Spiders Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  19. ^ "Louisville Colonels Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  20. ^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  21. ^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  22. ^ "Washington Senators Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  23. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
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