1895 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1895 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1895 in baseball.
1895 MLB season
LeagueNational League (NL)
SportBaseball
DurationRegular season:
  • April 18 – September 30, 1895
Temple Cup:
  • October 2–8, 1895
Number of games132
Number of teams12
Pennant winner
NL championsBaltimore Orioles
  NL runners-upCleveland Spiders
Temple Cup
ChampionsCleveland Spiders
  Runners-upBaltimore Orioles
Locations of teams for the 1893–1895 National League seasons
National League

The 1895 major league baseball season began on April 18, 1895. The regular season ended on September 30, with the Baltimore Orioles as the pennant winner of the National League and the Cleveland Spiders as runner-up. The postseason began with Game 1 of the second Temple Cup on October 2 and ended with Game 5 on October 8. The Spiders defeated the Orioles, four games to one, capturing their first Temple Cup.

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1895 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 continued the format put in place since 1893 and would be used until 1898.

Opening Day took place on April 18 featuring ten teams. The final day of the season was on September 30, featuring six teams.[1] The Temple Cup took place between October 2 and October 8.

Rule changes

The 1895 season saw the following rule changes:

  • A held foul tip is now classified as a strike.[2][3]
  • The size of baseball bats were regulated to be at most 2¾ inches in diameter (an increase from 2½) and no longer than 42 inches.[2][3]
  • The infield fly rule is adopted, which is enforced when:[2][3]
    • A fly ball is hit in the infield.
    • There is a force play at third base.
    • The infield fly rule shall be called by the umpire if they judge that the fly ball can be caught with ordinary effort.
  • The pitcher's plate was enlarged from 12 inches by 4 inches, to 24 inches by 6 inches.[2][3]
  • Aside from catcher and first basemen's mitts and the size of gloves for all other position players were limited to 10 ounces and no more than 14 inches in circumference.[2][4][3]
  • Each incident of a player using indecent, obscene, or abusive language on the field resulted in a fine between $25 and $100 (equivalent to $945 and $3780 in 2024), and that the money would be forwarded to Secretary Nicholas Young within five days or the player would be suspended until the fine was paid.[3]
  • A rule requiring umpires to "enforce the playing rules as written" was adopted, imposing a $25 fine on the respective umpire for the first such failure in a game, and doubling that to $50 for a second failure (equivalent to $945 and $1890 in 2024, respectively).[3]

Teams

League Team City Stadium Capacity Manager[5]
National League Baltimore Orioles Baltimore, Maryland Union Park 6,500 Ned Hanlon
Boston Beaneaters Boston, Massachusetts South End Grounds 6,600 Frank Selee
Brooklyn Grooms Brooklyn, New York Eastern Park 12,000 Dave Foutz
Chicago Colts Chicago, Illinois West Side Park 13,000 Cap Anson
Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati, Ohio League Park (Cincinnati) 9,000 Buck Ewing
Cleveland Spiders Cleveland, Ohio League Park (Cleveland) 9,000 Patsy Tebeau
Louisville Colonels Louisville, Kentucky Eclipse Park 6,400 John McCloskey
New York Giants New York, New York Polo Grounds 16,000 George Davis
Jack Doyle
Harvey Watkins
Philadelphia Phillies Philadelphia, Pennsylvania National League Park 18,000 Arthur Irwin
Pittsburgh Pirates Allegheny, Pennsylvania Exposition Park 6,500 Connie Mack
St. Louis Browns St. Louis, Missouri New Sportsman's Park 14,500 Al Buckenberger
Chris von der Ahe
Joe Quinn
Lou Phelan
Washington Senators Washington, D.C. Boundary Field 6,500 Gus Schmelz

Standings

National League

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Baltimore Orioles 87 43 .669 — 54‍–‍12 33‍–‍31
Cleveland Spiders 84 46 .646 3 49‍–‍13 35‍–‍33
Philadelphia Phillies 78 53 .595 9½ 51‍–‍21 27‍–‍32
Chicago Colts 72 58 .554 15 43‍–‍24 29‍–‍34
Brooklyn Grooms 71 60 .542 16½ 43‍–‍22 28‍–‍38
Boston Beaneaters 71 60 .542 16½ 48‍–‍19 23‍–‍41
Pittsburgh Pirates 71 61 .538 17 44‍–‍21 27‍–‍40
Cincinnati Reds 66 64 .508 21 42‍–‍22 24‍–‍42
New York Giants 66 65 .504 21½ 40‍–‍27 26‍–‍38
Washington Senators 43 85 .336 43 31‍–‍34 12‍–‍51
St. Louis Browns 39 92 .298 48½ 25‍–‍41 14‍–‍51
Louisville Colonels 35 96 .267 52½ 19‍–‍38 16‍–‍58

Postseason

Bracket

Temple Cup
       
NL1 Baltimore Orioles 4 2 1 5 2
NL2 Cleveland Spiders 5* 7 7 0 5

*Denotes walk-off

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team Former Manager New Manager
Cincinnati Reds Charles Comiskey Buck Ewing
Louisville Colonels Billy Barnie John McCloskey
New York Giants John Ward George Davis
St. Louis Browns George Miller Al Buckenberger

In-season

Team Former Manager New Manager
New York Giants George Davis Jack Doyle
Jack Doyle Harvey Watkins
St. Louis Browns Al Buckenberger Chris von der Ahe
Chris von der Ahe Joe Quinn
Joe Quinn Lou Phelan

League leaders

National League

Hitting leaders[6]
Stat Player Total
AVG Jesse Burkett (CLE) .405
OPS Ed Delahanty (PHI) 1.117
HR Sam Thompson (PHI) 18
RBI Sam Thompson (PHI) 165
R Billy Hamilton (PHI) 166
H Jesse Burkett (CLE) 225
SB Billy Hamilton (PHI) 97
Pitching leaders[7]
Stat Player Total
W Cy Young (CLE) 35
L Theodore Breitenstein (STL) 30
ERA Al Maul (WSH) 2.45
K Amos Rusie (NY) 201
IP Pink Hawley (PIT) 444.1
SV Ernie Beam (PHI)
Tom Parrott (CIN) 		3
WHIP Cy Young (CLE) 1.185

Home field attendance

Team name Wins %± Home attendance %± Per game
Philadelphia Phillies[8] 78 9.9% 474,971 34.6% 6,506
Chicago Colts[9] 72 26.3% 382,300 60.0% 5,706
Baltimore Orioles[10] 87 −2.2% 293,000 −10.7% 4,373
Cincinnati Reds[11] 66 20.0% 281,000 77.8% 4,323
Boston Beaneaters[12] 71 −14.5% 242,000 58.4% 3,559
New York Giants[13] 66 −25.0% 240,000 −38.0% 3,582
Brooklyn Grooms[14] 71 1.4% 230,000 7.5% 3,433
Pittsburgh Pirates[15] 71 9.2% 188,000 18.2% 2,806
St. Louis Browns[16] 39 −30.4% 170,000 9.7% 2,500
Washington Senators[17] 43 −4.4% 153,000 22.4% 2,217
Cleveland Spiders[18] 84 23.5% 143,000 74.4% 2,306
Louisville Colonels[19] 35 −2.8% 92,000 22.7% 1,559

References

  1. ^ "1895 Major Leagues Schedule". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e "MLB Rule Changes | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 28, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Johnson, Bill. "1894 Winter Meetings: The Empire Strikes Back – Society for American Baseball Research". Retrieved March 26, 2025.
  4. ^ "#GoingDeep: The evolution of baseball gloves | Baseball Hall of Fame". baseballhall.org. Retrieved January 28, 2025.
  5. ^ "1895 Major League Managers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  6. ^ "1895 National League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  7. ^ "1895 National League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  8. ^ "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  9. ^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  10. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  11. ^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  12. ^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  13. ^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  14. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  15. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  16. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  17. ^ "Washington Senators Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  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.
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