# 1897 Major League Baseball season

The 1897 major league baseball season began on April 19, 1897. The regular season ended on October 3, with the Boston Beaneaters as the pennant winner of the National League and the Baltimore Orioles as runner-up. The postseason began with Game 1 of the fourth Temple Cup on October 4 and ended with Game 5 on October 11. The Orioles defeated the Beaneaters, four games to one, capturing their second consecutive Temple Cup.
Due to lack of enthusiasm from both players and fans, and the perception that the Temple Cup was more of an exhibition contest than a true championship contest, the 1897 Temple Cup would be the final version of the championship series. Aside from the 1900 Chronicle-Telegraph Cup, this would be the last championship series until the birth of the modern World Series in 1903.

## Schedule

The 1897 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 was the last season to use the format, which saw an extension of the schedule to 154 games the following season.
Opening Day took place on April 19 featuring a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Beaneaters. The final day of the season was on October 3, featuring four teams. The Temple Cup took place between October 4 and October 11, with two exhibition games breaking up the series played on October 7–8 between Games 3 and 4.

## Teams

| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| National League | Baltimore Orioles | Baltimore, Maryland | Union Park | 6,500 | Ned Hanlon |
| National League | Boston Beaneaters | Boston, Massachusetts | South End Grounds | 6,600 | Frank Selee |
| National League | Brooklyn Bridegrooms | Brooklyn, New York | Eastern Park | 12,000 | Billy Barnie |
| National League | Chicago Colts | Chicago, Illinois | West Side Park | 13,000 | Cap Anson |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | League Park (Cincinnati) | 9,000 | Buck Ewing |
| National League | Cleveland Spiders | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park (Cleveland) | 9,000 | Patsy Tebeau |
| National League | Louisville Colonels | Louisville, Kentucky | Eclipse Park | 6,400 | Jim Rogers |
| National League | Louisville Colonels | Louisville, Kentucky | Eclipse Park | 6,400 | Fred Clarke |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 16,000 | Bill Joyce |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | National League Park | 18,000 | George Stallings |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Allegheny, Pennsylvania | Exposition Park | 6,500 | Patsy Donovan |
| National League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | New Sportsman's Park | 14,500 | Tommy Dowd |
| National League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | New Sportsman's Park | 14,500 | Hugh Nicol |
| National League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | New Sportsman's Park | 14,500 | Bill Hallman |
| National League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | New Sportsman's Park | 14,500 | Chris von der Ahe |
| National League | Washington Sentaors | Washington, D.C. | Boundary Field | 6,500 | Gus Schmelz |
| National League | Washington Sentaors | Washington, D.C. | Boundary Field | 6,500 | Tom Brown |

## Standings
### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Beaneaters | 93 | 39 | .705 | — | 54‍–‍12 | 39‍–‍27 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 90 | 40 | .692 | 2 | 51‍–‍15 | 39‍–‍25 |
| New York Giants | 83 | 48 | .634 | 9½ | 51‍–‍19 | 32‍–‍29 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 76 | 56 | .576 | 17 | 49‍–‍18 | 27‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 69 | 62 | .527 | 23½ | 49‍–‍16 | 20‍–‍46 |
| Washington Senators | 61 | 71 | .462 | 32 | 40‍–‍26 | 21‍–‍45 |
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 61 | 71 | .462 | 32 | 38‍–‍29 | 23‍–‍42 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 60 | 71 | .458 | 32½ | 38‍–‍27 | 22‍–‍44 |
| Chicago Colts | 59 | 73 | .447 | 34 | 36‍–‍30 | 23‍–‍43 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 55 | 77 | .417 | 38 | 32‍–‍34 | 23‍–‍43 |
| Louisville Colonels | 52 | 78 | .400 | 40 | 34‍–‍31 | 18‍–‍47 |
| St. Louis Browns | 29 | 102 | .221 | 63½ | 18‍–‍41 | 11‍–‍61 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup |
| NL1 | Boston Beaneaters | 13 | 11 | 3 | 11 | 3 |
| NL2 | Baltimore Orioles | 12 | 13 | 8$^7$ | 12 | 9 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | Dave Foutz | Billy Barnie |
| Louisville Colonels | Bill McGunnigle | Jim Rogers |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Billy Nash | George Stallings |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Connie Mack | Patsy Donovan |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Louisville Colonels | Jim Rogers | Fred Clarke |
| St. Louis Browns | Tommy Dowd | Hugh Nicol |
| St. Louis Browns | Hugh Nicol | Bill Hallman |
| St. Louis Browns | Bill Hallman | Chris von der Ahe |
| Washington Senators | Gus Schmelz | Tom Brown |

## League leaders
### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Willie Keeler (BAL) | .424 |
| OPS | Willie Keeler (BAL) | 1.003 |
| HR | Hugh Duffy (BOS) | 11 |
| RBI | George Davis (NY) | 135 |
| R | Billy Hamilton (BOS) | 152 |
| H | Willie Keeler (BAL) | 239 |
| SB | Bill Lange (CHI) | 73 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Kid Nichols (BOS) | 31 |
| L | Red Donahue (STL) | 35 |
| ERA | Amos Rusie (NY) | 2.54 |
| K | Doc McJames (WSH) Cy Seymour (NY) | 156 |
| IP | Kid Nichols (BOS) | 368.0 |
| SV | Win Mercer (WSH) Kid Nichols (BOS) | 3 |
| WHIP | Kid Nichols (BOS) | 1.168 |

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| New York Giants | 83 | 29.7% | 390,340 | 42.5% | 5,136 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 76 | −1.3% | 336,800 | −9.7% | 4,953 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 93 | 25.7% | 334,800 | 39.5% | 4,997 |
| Chicago Colts | 59 | −16.9% | 327,160 | 3.0% | 4,883 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 55 | −11.3% | 290,027 | −18.8% | 4,329 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 90 | 0.0% | 273,046 | 9.5% | 3,957 |
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 61 | 5.2% | 220,831 | 9.9% | 3,155 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 60 | −9.1% | 165,950 | −15.8% | 2,553 |
| Washington Senators | 61 | 5.2% | 151,028 | −32.3% | 2,221 |
| Louisville Colonels | 52 | 36.8% | 145,210 | 9.2% | 2,135 |
| St. Louis Browns | 29 | −27.5% | 136,400 | −25.9% | 2,236 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 69 | −13.8% | 115,250 | −24.2% | 1,773 |