# 1895 Major League Baseball season

The 1895 major league baseball season began on April 18, 1895. The regular season ended on September 30, with the Baltimore Orioles as the pennant winner of the National League and the Cleveland Spiders as runner-up. The postseason began with Game 1 of the second Temple Cup on October 2 and ended with Game 5 on October 8. The Spiders defeated the Orioles, four games to one, capturing their first Temple Cup.

## Schedule

The 1895 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 18 featuring ten teams. The final day of the season was on September 30, featuring six teams. The Temple Cup took place between October 2 and October 8.

## Rule changes

The 1895 season saw the following rule changes:
* A held foul tip is now classified as a strike.
* The size of baseball bats were regulated to be at most 2¾ inches in diameter and no longer than 42 inches.
* The infield fly rule is adopted, which is enforced when:
** A fly ball is hit in the infield.
** There is a force play at third base.
** The infield fly rule shall be called by the umpire if they judge that the fly ball can be caught with ordinary effort.
* The pitcher's plate was enlarged from 12 inches by 4 inches, to 24 inches by 6 inches.
* Aside from catcher and first basemen's mitts and the size of gloves for all other position players were limited to 10 ounces and no more than 14 inches in circumference.

## 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 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 | 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 | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 16,000 | George Davis |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 16,000 | Jack Doyle |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 16,000 | Harvey Watkins |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | National League Park | 18,000 | Arthur Irwin |
| 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 | Al Buckenberger |
| 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 | Joe Quinn |
| National League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | New Sportsman's Park | 14,500 | Lou Phelan |
| 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 | 87 | 43 | .669 | — | 54‍–‍12 | 33‍–‍31 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 84 | 46 | .646 | 3 | 49‍–‍13 | 35‍–‍33 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 78 | 53 | .595 | 9½ | 51‍–‍21 | 27‍–‍32 |
| Chicago Colts | 72 | 58 | .554 | 15 | 43‍–‍24 | 29‍–‍34 |
| Brooklyn Grooms | 71 | 60 | .542 | 16½ | 43‍–‍22 | 28‍–‍38 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 71 | 60 | .542 | 16½ | 48‍–‍19 | 23‍–‍41 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 71 | 61 | .538 | 17 | 44‍–‍21 | 27‍–‍40 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 66 | 64 | .508 | 21 | 42‍–‍22 | 24‍–‍42 |
| New York Giants | 66 | 65 | .504 | 21½ | 40‍–‍27 | 26‍–‍38 |
| Washington Senators | 43 | 85 | .336 | 43 | 31‍–‍34 | 12‍–‍51 |
| St. Louis Browns | 39 | 92 | .298 | 48½ | 25‍–‍41 | 14‍–‍51 |
| Louisville Colonels | 35 | 96 | .267 | 52½ | 19‍–‍38 | 16‍–‍58 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup |
| NL1 | Baltimore Orioles | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| NL2 | Cleveland Spiders | 5* | 7 | 7 | 0 | 5 |
*Denotes walk-off

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Cincinnati Reds | Charles Comiskey | Buck Ewing |
| Louisville Colonels | Billy Barnie | John McCloskey |
| New York Giants | John Ward | George Davis |
| St. Louis Browns | George Miller | Al Buckenberger |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| New York Giants | George Davis | Jack Doyle |
| New York Giants | Jack Doyle | Harvey Watkins |
| St. Louis Browns | Al Buckenberger | Chris von der Ahe |
| St. Louis Browns | Chris von der Ahe | Joe Quinn |
| St. Louis Browns | Joe Quinn | Lou Phelan |

## League leaders
### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Jesse Burkett (CLE) | .405 |
| OPS | Ed Delahanty (PHI) | 1.117 |
| HR | Sam Thompson (PHI) | 18 |
| RBI | Sam Thompson (PHI) | 165 |
| R | Billy Hamilton (PHI) | 166 |
| H | Jesse Burkett (CLE) | 225 |
| SB | Billy Hamilton (PHI) | 97 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Cy Young (CLE) | 35 |
| L | Theodore Breitenstein (STL) | 30 |
| ERA | Al Maul (WSH) | 2.45 |
| K | Amos Rusie (NY) | 201 |
| IP | Pink Hawley (PIT) | 444.1 |
| SV | Ernie Beam (PHI) Tom Parrott (CIN) | 3 |
| WHIP | Cy Young (CLE) | 1.185 |

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 78 | 9.9% | 474,971 | 34.6% | 6,506 |
| Chicago Colts | 72 | 26.3% | 382,300 | 60.0% | 5,706 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 87 | −2.2% | 293,000 | −10.7% | 4,373 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 66 | 20.0% | 281,000 | 77.8% | 4,323 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 71 | −14.5% | 242,000 | 58.4% | 3,559 |
| New York Giants | 66 | −25.0% | 240,000 | −38.0% | 3,582 |
| Brooklyn Grooms | 71 | 1.4% | 230,000 | 7.5% | 3,433 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 71 | 9.2% | 188,000 | 18.2% | 2,806 |
| St. Louis Browns | 39 | −30.4% | 170,000 | 9.7% | 2,500 |
| Washington Senators | 43 | −4.4% | 153,000 | 22.4% | 2,217 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 84 | 23.5% | 143,000 | 74.4% | 2,306 |
| Louisville Colonels | 35 | −2.8% | 92,000 | 22.7% | 1,559 |