# 1893 Major League Baseball season

The 1893 major league baseball season began on April 27, 1893. The regular season ended on September 30, with the Boston Beaneaters as the pennant winner of the National League and therefore winner of the final Dauvray Cup.
The 1893 season saw no postseason championship series, unlike the split-season 1892 World's Championship Series. This would not last, as the following season would see the Temple Cup, which would be a championship series between the NL pennant winner and the runner-up.

## Schedule

The 1893 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 replaced the 154-game, 14-games-each format put in place in the previous season and would be used until 1898.
Opening Day took place on April 27 featuring eight teams. The final day of the season was on September 30, featuring six teams.

## Rule changes

The 1893 season saw the following rule changes:
* In place of a pitcher's box, a pitcher's plate at a size of 12 inches by 4 inches was instituted.
* Prior to throwing a pitch, a pitcher must keep their rear foot on the plate through coming set and the windup.
* The pitcher's plate was moved back from 50 feet from home plate to 60 feet 6 inches.
* The 1885 rule allowing flat bats was rescinded, reinstating the 1857 rule requiring round bats.
* Additionally, Softwoods (like pine) and bats that were sawed off at the end were banned; bats must wholly of hardwood.

## Teams

An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
| 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 | 8,500 | Frank Selee |
| National League | Brooklyn Grooms | Brooklyn, New York | Eastern Park | 12,000 | Dave Foutz |
| National League | Chicago Colts | Chicago, Illinois | West Side Park | 13,000 | Cap Anson |
| National League | Chicago Colts | Chicago, Illinois | South Side Park* | 6,450* | Cap Anson |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | League Park (Cincinnati) | 3,000 | Charles Comiskey |
| National League | Cleveland Spiders | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park (Cleveland) | 9,000 | Patsy Tebeau |
| National League | Louisville Colonels | Louisville, Kentucky | Eclipse Park (II) | 6,400 | Billy Barnie |
| National League | Louisville Colonels | Louisville, Kentucky | Eclipse Park (I)* | 5,860* | Billy Barnie |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 16,000 | John Ward |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds | 12,500 | Harry Wright |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Allegheny, Pennsylvania | Exposition Park | 6,500 | Al Buckenberger |
| National League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | New Sportsman's Park | 14,500 | Bill Watkins |
| National League | Washington Sentaors | Washington, D.C. | Boundary Field | 6,500 | Jim O'Rourke |

## Standings
### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Beaneaters | 86 | 43 | .667 | — | 49‍–‍15 | 37‍–‍28 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 81 | 48 | .628 | 5 | 54‍–‍19 | 27‍–‍29 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 73 | 55 | .570 | 12½ | 47‍–‍22 | 26‍–‍33 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 72 | 57 | .558 | 14 | 43‍–‍22 | 29‍–‍35 |
| New York Giants | 68 | 64 | .515 | 19½ | 49‍–‍20 | 19‍–‍44 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 65 | 63 | .508 | 20½ | 37‍–‍27 | 28‍–‍36 |
| Brooklyn Grooms | 65 | 63 | .508 | 20½ | 43‍–‍24 | 22‍–‍39 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 60 | 70 | .462 | 26½ | 36‍–‍24 | 24‍–‍46 |
| Chicago Colts | 56 | 71 | .441 | 29 | 38‍–‍34 | 18‍–‍37 |
| St. Louis Browns | 57 | 75 | .432 | 30½ | 40‍–‍30 | 17‍–‍45 |
| Louisville Colonels | 50 | 75 | .400 | 34 | 24‍–‍28 | 26‍–‍47 |
| Washington Senators | 40 | 89 | .310 | 46 | 21‍–‍27 | 19‍–‍62 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Brooklyn Grooms | John Ward | Dave Foutz |
| Louisville Colonels | Fred Pfeffer | Billy Barnie |
| New York Giants | Patrick Powers | John Ward |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Tom Burns | Al Buckenberger |
| St. Louis Browns | Bob Caruthers | Bill Watkins |
| Washington Senators | Danny Richardson | Jim O'Rourke |

## League leaders

Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Billy Hamilton (PHI) | .380 |
| OPS | Billy Hamilton (PHI) | 1.014 |
| HR | Ed Delahanty (PHI) | 19 |
| RBI | Ed Delahanty (PHI) | 146 |
| R | Herman Long (BOS) | 149 |
| H | Sam Thompson (PHI) | 222 |
| SB | Tom Brown (LOU) | 66 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Frank Killen (PIT) | 36 |
| L | Duke Esper (WSH) | 28 |
| ERA | Theodore Breitenstein (STL) | 3.18 |
| K | Amos Rusie (NY) | 208 |
| IP | Amos Rusie (NY) | 482.0 |
| SV | Mark Baldwin (NYG/PIT) Tom Colcolough (PIT) Frank Donnelly (CHI) Frank Dwyer (CIN) Tony Mullane (BAL/CIN) Cy Young (CLE) | 2 |
| WHIP | Kid Nichols (BOS) | 1.280 |

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 72 | −17.2% | 293,019 | 51.3% | 4,440 |
| New York Giants | 68 | −4.2% | 290,000 | 122.1% | 4,085 |
| Brooklyn Grooms | 65 | −31.6% | 235,000 | 27.9% | 3,507 |
| Chicago Colts | 56 | −20.0% | 223,500 | 104.9% | 3,062 |
| St. Louis Browns | 57 | 1.8% | 195,000 | 1.3% | 2,708 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 65 | −20.7% | 194,250 | −1.1% | 2,943 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 86 | −15.7% | 193,300 | 32.0% | 2,974 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 81 | 1.3% | 184,000 | 3.8% | 2,521 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 60 | 30.4% | 143,000 | 52.8% | 2,383 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 73 | −21.5% | 130,000 | −7.1% | 1,857 |
| Washington Senators | 40 | −31.0% | 90,000 | −29.8% | 1,837 |
| Louisville Colonels | 50 | −20.6% | 53,683 | −59.1% | 1,013 |