# 1894 Major League Baseball season

The 1894 major league baseball season began on April 19, 1894. The regular season ended on September 30, with the Baltimore Orioles as the pennant winner of the National League and the New York Giants as runner-up. The postseason began with Game 1 of the first Temple Cup on October 4 and ended with Game 4 on October 8. The Giants swept the Orioles, capturing their first Temple Cup.
The 1894 season saw the return of a postseason championship series, the Temple Cup, following the end of the World's Championship Series with the demise of the American Association in 1891 and the one-off, split-season 1892 World's Championship Series.

## Schedule

The 1894 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 in the previous season and would be used until 1898.
Opening Day took place on April 19 featuring eight teams. The final day of the season was on September 30, also featuring eight teams. The Temple Cup took place between October 4 and October 8.

## Rule changes

The 1894 season saw the following rule changes:
* Foul bunts are now classified as strikes.
* The sacrifice hit rule, which is when a batter deliberately gets out in an effort to advance a baserunner to another base, is implemented.
** Sacrifice hits, which exempt a batter from a time at bat (including sacrifice bunts), is implemented.

## Teams

An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at. Ballparks listed in backwards chronological order.
| 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 (II)* | 8,500* | Frank Selee |
| National League | Boston Beaneaters | Boston, Massachusetts | Congress Street Grounds* | 14,000* | Frank Selee |
| National League | Boston Beaneaters | Boston, Massachusetts | South End Grounds (III) | 5,000 | 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 | Charles Comiskey |
| National League | Cleveland Spiders | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park (Cleveland) | 9,000 | Patsy Tebeau |
| National League | Louisville Colonels | Louisville, Kentucky | Eclipse Park | 6,400 | 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 | Arthur Irwin |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania Athletic Field* | Unknown | Arthur Irwin |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds* | Unknown* | Arthur Irwin |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Allegheny, Pennsylvania | Exposition Park | 6,500 | Al Buckenberger |
| 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 | George Miller |
| National League | Washington Sentaors | Washington, D.C. | Boundary Field | 6,500 | Gus Schmelz |
* ^ Initial stadium of the season burned in a fire (Boston: May 16, Philadelphia: August 6)
* ^ Temporary stadium.
* ^ Makeshift stands built for remainder of the season, from August 18.

## Standings
### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 89 | 39 | .695 | — | 52‍–‍15 | 37‍–‍24 |
| New York Giants | 88 | 44 | .667 | 3 | 49‍–‍17 | 39‍–‍27 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 83 | 49 | .629 | 8 | 44‍–‍19 | 39‍–‍30 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 71 | 57 | .555 | 18 | 48‍–‍20 | 23‍–‍37 |
| Brooklyn Grooms | 70 | 61 | .534 | 20½ | 42‍–‍24 | 28‍–‍37 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 68 | 61 | .527 | 21½ | 35‍–‍24 | 33‍–‍37 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 65 | 65 | .500 | 25 | 46‍–‍28 | 19‍–‍37 |
| Chicago Colts | 57 | 75 | .432 | 34 | 35‍–‍30 | 22‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 56 | 76 | .424 | 35 | 34‍–‍32 | 22‍–‍44 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 55 | 75 | .423 | 35 | 37‍–‍28 | 18‍–‍47 |
| Washington Senators | 45 | 87 | .341 | 46 | 32‍–‍30 | 13‍–‍57 |
| Louisville Colonels | 36 | 94 | .277 | 54 | 24‍–‍38 | 12‍–‍56 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup | Temple Cup |
| NL1 | Baltimore Orioles | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| NL2 | New York Giants | 4 | 9 | 4 | 7 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Harry Wright | Arthur Irwin |
| St. Louis Browns | Bill Watkins | George Miller |
| Washington Senators | Jim O'Rourke | Gus Schmelz |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Al Buckenberger | Connie Mack |

## 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 | Hugh Duffy (BOS) | .440 |
| OPS | Hugh Duffy (BOS) | 1.196 |
| HR | Hugh Duffy (BOS) | 18 |
| RBI | Sam Thompson (PHI) | 149 |
| R | Billy Hamilton$^1$ (PHI) | 198 |
| H | Hugh Duffy (BOS) | 237 |
| SB | Billy Hamilton (PHI) | 100 |
$^1$ All-time single-season runs record
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Amos Rusie$^1$ (NY) | 36 |
| L | Pink Hawley (PIT) | 27 |
| ERA | Amos Rusie$^1$ (NY) | 2.78 |
| K | Amos Rusie$^1$ (NY) | 195 |
| IP | Theodore Breitenstein (STL) | 447.1 |
| SV | Tony Mullane (CLE/BAL) | 4 |
| WHIP | Amos Rusie (NY) | 1.410 |
$^1$ National League Triple Crown pitching winner

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| New York Giants | 88 | 29.4% | 387,000 | 33.4% | 5,451 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 71 | −1.4% | 352,773 | 20.4% | 4,969 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 89 | 48.3% | 328,000 | 129.4% | 4,896 |
| Chicago Colts | 57 | 1.8% | 239,000 | 6.9% | 3,515 |
| Brooklyn Grooms | 70 | 7.7% | 214,000 | −8.9% | 3,101 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 65 | −19.8% | 159,000 | −13.6% | 2,120 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 55 | −15.4% | 158,000 | −18.7% | 2,394 |
| St. Louis Browns | 56 | −1.8% | 155,000 | −20.5% | 2,348 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 83 | −3.5% | 152,800 | −21.0% | 2,425 |
| Washington Senators | 45 | 12.5% | 125,000 | 38.9% | 2,016 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 68 | −6.8% | 82,000 | −36.9% | 1,390 |
| Louisville Colonels | 36 | −28.0% | 75,000 | 39.7% | 1,210 |