# 1900 Major League Baseball season

The 1900 major league baseball season began on April 19, 1900. The regular season ended on October 14, with the Brooklyn Superbas as the regular season champion of the National League. The Superbas and runner-up Pittsburgh Pirates competed in the Chronicle-Telegraph Cup, a precursor to the current World Series, over four days, with Game 1 on October 15 and ended with Game 4 on October 18. The Superbas defeated the Pirates in the best-of-five series in four games.
The 1900 season saw the return of a postseason championship series (albeit as a one-off), the Chronicle-Telegraph Cup, following the end of the Temple Cup in 1897.
The 1900 season saw the aftermath of the National League contracting from 12 to 8 teams, eliminating the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Spiders, Louisville Colonels, and Washington Senators. The elimination of major-league baseball from these cities prompted the minor league American League to declare themselves as a major league the following year.
The St. Louis Perfectos renamed as the St. Louis Cardinals.

## Schedule

The 1900 schedule consisted of 140 games for the eight teams of the National League. Each team was scheduled to play 20 games against the other seven teams in the league. This format had previously been used by the National League during their 1888–1891 seasons. This format would last until 1904, which saw an increase of games played.
Opening Day took place on April 19 featuring all eight teams. The final day of the season on October 14. The Chronicle-Telegraph Cup, a precursor to the current World Series, took place between October 15 and October 18.

## Rule change

The 1900 season saw the following rule change:
* Home plate is changed from a square to a five-sided figure, as developed by Robert M. Keating.

## Teams

| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| National League | Boston Beaneaters | Boston, Massachusetts | South End Grounds | 6,600 | Frank Selee |
| National League | Brooklyn Superbas | New York, New York | Washington Park | 12,000 | Ned Hanlon |
| National League | Chicago Orphans | Chicago, Illinois | West Side Park | 13,000 | Tom Loftus |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | League Park (Cincinnati) | 9,000 | Bob Allen |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 16,000 | Buck Ewing |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 16,000 | George Davis |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | National League Park | 18,000 | Bill Shettsline |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Allegheny, Pennsylvania | Exposition Park | 16,000 | Fred Clarke |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | League Park (St. Louis) | 15,200 | Patsy Tebeau |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | League Park (St. Louis) | 15,200 | Louie Heilbroner |

## Standings
### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Superbas | 82 | 54 | .603 | — | 43‍–‍26 | 39‍–‍28 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 79 | 60 | .568 | 4½ | 42‍–‍28 | 37‍–‍32 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 75 | 63 | .543 | 8 | 45‍–‍23 | 30‍–‍40 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 66 | 72 | .478 | 17 | 42‍–‍29 | 24‍–‍43 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 65 | 75 | .464 | 19 | 40‍–‍31 | 25‍–‍44 |
| Chicago Orphans | 65 | 75 | .464 | 19 | 45‍–‍30 | 20‍–‍45 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 62 | 77 | .446 | 21½ | 27‍–‍34 | 35‍–‍43 |
| New York Giants | 60 | 78 | .435 | 23 | 38‍–‍31 | 22‍–‍47 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| Chronicle-Telegraph Cup | Chronicle-Telegraph Cup | Chronicle-Telegraph Cup | Chronicle-Telegraph Cup | Chronicle-Telegraph Cup | Chronicle-Telegraph Cup |
| NL1 | Brooklyn Superbas | 5 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| NL2 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 2 | 2 | 10 | 1 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Baltimore Orioles | John McGraw | Team folded |
| Chicago Orphans | Tom Burns | Tom Loftus |
| Cincinnati Reds | Buck Ewing | Bob Allen |
| Cleveland Spiders | Joe Quinn | Team folded |
| Louisville Colonels | Fred Clarke | Team folded |
| New York Giants | Fred Hoey | Buck Ewing |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Patsy Donovan | Fred Clarke |
| Washington Senators | Arthur Irwin | Team folded |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| New York Giants | Buck Ewing | George Davis |
| St. Louis Cardinals | Patsy Tebeau | Louie Heilbroner |

## League leaders
### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Honus Wagner (PIT) | .381 |
| OPS | Honus Wagner (PIT) | 1.007 |
| HR | Herman Long (BOS) | 12 |
| RBI | Elmer Flick (PHI) | 110 |
| R | Roy Thomas (PHI) | 132 |
| H | Willie Keeler (BKN) | 204 |
| SB | Patsy Donovan (STL) George Van Haltren (NY) | 45 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Joe McGinnity (BKN) | 28 |
| L | Bill Carrick (NY) | 22 |
| ERA | Rube Waddell (PIT) | 2.37 |
| K | Noodles Hahn (CIN) | 132 |
| IP | Joe McGinnity (BKN) | 343.0 |
| SV | Frank Kitson (BKN) | 4 |
| WHIP | Rube Waddell (PIT) | 1.107 |

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 75 | −20.2% | 301,913 | −22.4% | 4,313 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 65 | −22.6% | 270,000 | −27.8% | 3,750 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 79 | 3.9% | 264,000 | 4.8% | 3,771 |
| Chicago Orphans | 65 | −13.3% | 248,577 | −29.4% | 3,228 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 66 | −30.5% | 202,000 | 0.8% | 2,767 |
| New York Giants | 60 | 0.0% | 190,000 | 56.5% | 2,676 |
| Brooklyn Superbas | 82 | −18.8% | 183,000 | −32.1% | 2,507 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 62 | −25.3% | 170,000 | −34.5% | 2,698 |