# 1891 Major League Baseball season

The 1891 major league baseball season was contested from April 8 through October 6, 1891. It was the final season for the American Association (AA), with the Boston Reds winning the AA pennant. In the National League (NL), in operation since 1876, the Boston Beaneaters won the NL pennant. There was no postseason. The Reds, following the 1890 Brooklyn Bridegrooms consecutive pennant wins 1889–1890 in different leagues, also followed such a feat, winning the since folded Players' League's 1890 pennant and becoming the second and last team to win consecutive pennants in different leagues.
This was the first season since 1883 which saw no postseason, due to a breakdown in relations between the American Association and National League prior to the start of the season. The next championship series would take place the following season in a unique split season format, due to negotiations during the merger of the AA into the NL.
The 1891 season saw the aftermath of the single-season Players' League disbanding during the offseason, with most teams either folding or merging with existing American Association and National League teams; the Boston Reds and Philadelphia Athletics would join the AA for the 1891 season, with the latter replacing the financially struggling original AA Philadelphia Athletics.
The unstable American Association would see that 1891 would be its final season, before merging into the National League the following season; the four clubs that would continue on were the Baltimore Orioles, Louisville Colonels, St. Louis Browns, and Washington Statesmen. The other four AA clubs, the Boston Reds, Columbus Solons, Milwaukee Brewers, and Philadelphia Athletics), saw their owners paid $135,000 (equivalent to $4,724,500 in 2024) and their players dispersed to the surviving twelve clubs.

## Schedule

The 1891 schedule consisted of 140 games for all teams in the American Association and National League, each of which had eight active teams (the Milwaukee Brewers would finish the Cincinnati Kelly's Killers' schedule once they folded following their last game on August 16). Each team was scheduled to play 20 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place by the American Association since the 1886 season and by the National League since the 1888 season, and was the last season this format would be used until the National League contracted from twelve to eight teams in 1900.
American Association Opening Day took place on April 8 featuring all eight teams, while National League Opening Day would not take place for another two weeks on April 22, also featuring all eight teams. The American Association would see its final day of the regular season on October 6, while the National would see its final day of the season on October 3.

## Rule changes

The 1891 season saw the following rule changes:
* Substituting players could now happen at any point in the game.
* Large, padded mitts were allowed for catchers.

## Teams

An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at A dagger (†) denotes a team that folded mid-season A double dagger (‡) denotes a team joined mid-season
| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| American Association | Baltimore Orioles | Baltimore, Maryland | Union Park | 6,500 | Billy Barnie |
| American Association | Baltimore Orioles | Baltimore, Maryland | Oriole Park* | 7,000* | Billy Barnie |
| American Association | Boston Reds | Boston, Massachusetts | Congress Street Grounds | 14,000 | Arthur Irwin |
| American Association | Cincinnati Kelly's Killers† | Cincinnati, Ohio | Pendleton Park | 5,000 | King Kelly |
| American Association | Columbus Solons | Columbus, Ohio | Recreation Park | 6,500 | Gus Schmelz |
| American Association | Louisville Colonels | Louisville, Kentucky | Eclipse Park | 5,860 | Jack Chapman |
| American Association | Milwaukee Brewers‡ | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Brewer Field | 10,000 | Charlie Cushman |
| American Association | Philadelphia Athletics | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Forepaugh Park | 5,000 | Bill Sharsig |
| American Association | Philadelphia Athletics | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Forepaugh Park | 5,000 | George Wood |
| American Association | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 12,000 | Charles Comiskey |
| American Association | Washington Statesmen | Washington, D.C. | Boundary Field | 6,500 | Sam Trott |
| American Association | Washington Statesmen | Washington, D.C. | Boundary Field | 6,500 | Pop Snyder |
| American Association | Washington Statesmen | Washington, D.C. | Boundary Field | 6,500 | Dan Shannon |
| American Association | Washington Statesmen | Washington, D.C. | Boundary Field | 6,500 | Sandy Griffin |
| National League | Boston Beaneaters | Boston, Massachusetts | South End Grounds | 6,800 | Frank Selee |
| National League | Brooklyn Grooms | Brooklyn, New York | Eastern Park | 12,000 | John Ward |
| National League | Chicago Colts | Chicago, Illinois | South Side Park | 6,450 | Cap Anson |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | League Park (Cincinnati) | 3,000 | Tom Loftus |
| National League | Cleveland Spiders | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park (Cleveland) | 9,000 | Robert Leadley |
| National League | Cleveland Spiders | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park (Cleveland) | 9,000 | Patsy Tebeau |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 16,000 | Jim Mutrie |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds | 12,500 | Harry Wright |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Allegheny, Pennsylvania | Exposition Park | 6,500 | Ned Hanlon |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Allegheny, Pennsylvania | Exposition Park | 6,500 | Bill McGunnigle |

## Standings
### American Association

vteAmerican Association :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Reds | 93 | 42 | .689 | — | 51‍–‍17 | 42‍–‍25 |
| St. Louis Browns | 85 | 51 | .625 | 8½ | 52‍–‍21 | 33‍–‍30 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 71 | 64 | .526 | 22 | 44‍–‍24 | 27‍–‍40 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 73 | 66 | .525 | 22 | 43‍–‍26 | 30‍–‍40 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 21 | 15 | .583 | 22½ | 16‍–‍5 | 5‍–‍10 |
| Cincinnati Kelly's Killers | 43 | 57 | .430 | 32½ | 24‍–‍21 | 19‍–‍36 |
| Columbus Solons | 61 | 76 | .445 | 33 | 33‍–‍29 | 28‍–‍47 |
| Louisville Colonels | 54 | 83 | .394 | 40 | 39‍–‍32 | 15‍–‍51 |
| Washington Statesmen | 44 | 91 | .326 | 49 | 28‍–‍40 | 16‍–‍51 |

### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Beaneaters | 87 | 51 | .630 | — | 51‍–‍20 | 36‍–‍31 |
| Chicago Colts | 82 | 53 | .607 | 3½ | 43‍–‍22 | 39‍–‍31 |
| New York Giants | 71 | 61 | .538 | 13 | 39‍–‍28 | 32‍–‍33 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 68 | 69 | .496 | 18½ | 35‍–‍34 | 33‍–‍35 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 65 | 74 | .468 | 22½ | 40‍–‍28 | 25‍–‍46 |
| Brooklyn Grooms | 61 | 76 | .445 | 25½ | 41‍–‍31 | 20‍–‍45 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 56 | 81 | .409 | 30½ | 26‍–‍41 | 30‍–‍40 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 55 | 80 | .407 | 30½ | 32‍–‍34 | 23‍–‍46 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Boston Reds | King Kelly | Arthur Irwin |
| Brooklyn Grooms | Bill McGunnigle | John Ward |
| Brooklyn Ward's Wonders | John Ward | Team folded |
| Buffalo Bisons | Jay Faatz | Team folded |
| Chicago Pirates | Charles Comiskey | Team folded |
| Cleveland Infants | Patsy Tebeau | Team folded |
| Columbus Solons | Pat Sullivan | Gus Schmelz |
| New York Giants (PL) | Buck Ewing | Team folded |
| Philadelphia Athletics (original AA team) | Bill Sharsig | Team folded |
| Philadelphia Athletics (formerly PL team) | Charlie Buffinton | Bill Sharsig |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Bob Allen | Harry Wright |
| Pittsburgh Burghers | Ned Hanlon | Team folded |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Guy Hecker | Ned Hanlon |
| Rochester Broncos | Patrick Powers | Team transferred to minor league Western League |
| St. Louis Browns | Joe Gerhardt | Charles Comiskey |
| Syracuse Stars | Wallace Fessenden | Team folded |
| Toledo Maumees | Charlie Morton | Team folded |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Cincinnati Kelly's Killers | King Kelly | Team folded |
| Cleveland Spiders | Robert Leadley | Patsy Tebeau |
| Milwaukee Brewers | Team transferred from minor league Western Association | Charlie Cushman |
| Philadelphia Athletics | Bill Sharsig | George Wood |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Ned Hanlon | Bill McGunnigle |
| Washington Statesmen | Sam Trott | Pop Snyder |
| Washington Statesmen | Pop Snyder | Dan Shannon |
| Washington Statesmen | Dan Shannon | Sandy Griffin |

## League leaders

Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season. Any team shown in italics indicates a team a player was on from a different league. Any stat from said different league is not calculated to determine the league leader.

### American Association

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Dan Brouthers (BSR) | .350 |
| OPS | Dan Brouthers (BSR) | .983 |
| HR | Duke Farrell (BSR) | 12 |
| RBI | Hugh Duffy (BSR) Duke Farrell (BSR) | 110 |
| R | Tom Brown (BSR) | 177 |
| H | Tom Brown (BSR) | 189 |
| SB | Tom Brown (BSR) | 106 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Sadie McMahon (BAL) | 35 |
| L | Kid Carsey (WSH) | 37 |
| ERA | Ed Crane (CIN/CKK) | 2.45 |
| K | Jack Stivetts (STL) | 259 |
| IP | Sadie McMahon (BAL) | 503.0 |
| SV | Joe Neale (STL) | 3 |
| WHIP | Charlie Buffinton (BSR) | 1.163 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Billy Hamilton (PHP) | .340 |
| OPS | Mike Tiernan (NY) | .882 |
| HR | Harry Stovey (BSB) Mike Tiernan (NY) | 16 |
| RBI | Cap Anson (CHI) | 120 |
| R | Billy Hamilton (PHP) | 141 |
| H | Billy Hamilton (PHP) | 179 |
| SB | Billy Hamilton (PHP) | 111 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Bill Hutchinson (CHI) | 44 |
| L | Silver King (PIT) | 29 |
| ERA | John Ewing (NY) | 2.27 |
| K | Amos Rusie (NY) | 337 |
| IP | Bill Hutchinson (CHI) | 561.0 |
| SV | John Clarkson (BSB) Kid Nichols (BSB) | 3 |
| WHIP | Harry Staley (BSB/PIT) | 1.213 |

## Home field attendance

Only records for National League teams are available.
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 68 | −12.8% | 217,282 | 46.4% | 3,149 |
| New York Giants | 71 | 12.7% | 210,568 | 247.1% | 3,052 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 87 | 14.5% | 184,472 | 25.0% | 2,527 |
| Brooklyn Grooms | 61 | −29.1% | 181,477 | 49.5% | 2,521 |
| Chicago Colts | 82 | −1.2% | 181,431 | 76.9% | 2,708 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 65 | 47.7% | 132,000 | 178.0% | 1,913 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 55 | 139.1% | 128,000 | 696.8% | 1,939 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 56 | −27.3% | 97,500 | −26.1% | 1,455 |