# 1896 Major League Baseball season

The 1896 major league baseball season began on April 16, 1896. The regular season ended on September 26, with the Baltimore Orioles as the pennant winner of the National League and the Cleveland Spiders as runner-up. In a rematch of the previous season, the postseason began with Game 1 of the third Temple Cup on October 2 and ended with Game 4 on October 8. The Orioles swept the Spiders, capturing their first Temple Cup.
The 1896 Temple Cup was the only one of four Temple Cups which saw the NL pennant winner win the championship series.

## Schedule

The 1896 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 16 featuring all twelve teams. The final day of the season was on September 26, featuring ten teams. The Temple Cup took place between October 2 and October 8.

## 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 | Dave Foutz |
| 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 | John McCloskey |
| National League | Louisville Colonels | Louisville, Kentucky | Eclipse Park | 6,400 | Bill McGunnigle |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 16,000 | Arthur Irwin |
| 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 | Billy Nash |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Allegheny, Pennsylvania | Exposition Park | 6,500 | Connie Mack |
| National League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | New Sportsman's Park | 14,500 | Harry Diddlebock |
| National League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | New Sportsman's Park | 14,500 | Arlie Latham |
| National League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | New Sportsman's Park | 14,500 | Chris von der Ahe |
| National League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | New Sportsman's Park | 14,500 | Roger Connor |
| National League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | New Sportsman's Park | 14,500 | Tommy Dowd |
| National League | Washington Sentaors | Washington, D.C. | Boundary Field | 6,500 | Gus Schmelz |

## Standings
### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 90 | 39 | .698 | — | 49‍–‍16 | 41‍–‍23 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 80 | 48 | .625 | 9½ | 43‍–‍19 | 37‍–‍29 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 77 | 50 | .606 | 12 | 51‍–‍15 | 26‍–‍35 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 74 | 57 | .565 | 17 | 42‍–‍24 | 32‍–‍33 |
| Chicago Colts | 71 | 57 | .555 | 18½ | 42‍–‍24 | 29‍–‍33 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 66 | 63 | .512 | 24 | 35‍–‍31 | 31‍–‍32 |
| New York Giants | 64 | 67 | .489 | 27 | 39‍–‍26 | 25‍–‍41 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 62 | 68 | .477 | 28½ | 42‍–‍27 | 20‍–‍41 |
| Washington Senators | 58 | 73 | .443 | 33 | 38‍–‍29 | 20‍–‍44 |
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 58 | 73 | .443 | 33 | 35‍–‍28 | 23‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 40 | 90 | .308 | 50½ | 27‍–‍34 | 13‍–‍56 |
| Louisville Colonels | 38 | 93 | .290 | 53 | 25‍–‍37 | 13‍–‍56 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup |
| NL1 | Baltimore Orioles | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| NL2 | Cleveland Spiders | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| New York Giants | Harvey Watkins | Arthur Irwin |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Arthur Irwin | Billy Nash |
| St. Louis Browns | Lou Phelan | Harry Diddlebock |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Louisville Colonels | John McCloskey | Bill McGunnigle |
| New York Giants | Arthur Irwin | Bill Joyce |
| St. Louis Browns | Harry Diddlebock | Arlie Latham |
| St. Louis Browns | Arlie Latham | Chris von der Ahe |
| St. Louis Browns | Chris von der Ahe | Roger Connor |
| St. Louis Browns | Roger Connor | Tommy Dowd |

## 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 | Jesse Burkett (CLE) | .410 |
| OPS | Ed Delahanty (PHI) | 1.103 |
| HR | Ed Delahanty (PHI) Bill Joyce (NY/WSH) | 11 |
| RBI | Ed Delahanty (PHI) | 126 |
| R | Jesse Burkett (CLE) | 160 |
| H | Jesse Burkett (CLE) | 240 |
| SB | Joe Kelley (BAL) | 87 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Frank Killen (PIT) Kid Nichols (BOS) | 30 |
| L | Bill Hart (STL) | 29 |
| ERA | Billy Rhines (CIN) | 2.45 |
| K | Cy Young (CLE) | 140 |
| IP | Frank Killen (PIT) | 432.1 |
| SV | Cy Young (CLE) | 3 |
| WHIP | Billy Rhines (CIN) | 1.231 |

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Cincinnati Reds | 77 | 16.7% | 373,000 | 32.7% | 5,652 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 62 | −20.5% | 357,025 | −24.8% | 5,174 |
| Chicago Colts | 71 | −1.4% | 317,500 | −17.0% | 4,669 |
| New York Giants | 64 | −3.0% | 274,000 | 14.2% | 4,152 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 90 | 3.4% | 249,448 | −14.9% | 3,723 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 74 | 4.2% | 240,000 | −0.8% | 3,582 |
| Washington Senators | 58 | 34.9% | 223,000 | 45.8% | 3,279 |
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 58 | −18.3% | 201,000 | −12.6% | 3,092 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 66 | −7.0% | 197,000 | 4.8% | 2,985 |
| St. Louis Browns | 40 | 2.6% | 184,000 | 8.2% | 2,968 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 80 | −4.8% | 152,000 | 6.3% | 2,375 |
| Louisville Colonels | 38 | 8.6% | 133,000 | 44.6% | 2,078 |