1898 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1898 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1898 in baseball.

The 1898 major league baseball season began on April 15, 1898. The regular season ended on October 15, with the Boston Beaneaters as the pennant winner of the National League. Due to lack of enthusiasm from both players and fans, the Temple Cup which had taken place in the four previous seasons was not held, nor was there any other form of a postseason.

1898 MLB season
League	National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 15 – October 15, 1898
Number of games	154
Number of teams	12
Pennant winner
NL champions	Boston Beaneaters
NL runners-up	Baltimore Orioles

Orioles

Beaneaters

Bridegrooms

Orphans      

Reds

Spiders       

Colonels

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Browns

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1898 National League season
National League

The Chicago Colts renamed as the Chicago Orphans.

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1898 schedule consisted of 154 games for the twelve teams of the National League. Each team was scheduled to play 14 games against the other eleven teams in the league. This format saw an increase to the previously used format, which had each team play 12 games against each other, and had resulted in a total of 132 games. The 154-game format had previously been used by the National League during in 1892.

Opening Day took place on April 15 featuring six teams. The final day of the season was on October 15, featuring eight teams.^[1]

Rule changes

The 1898 season saw the following rule changes:

• Umpires are now allowed to suspend a player for up to three games (including the one which he was ejected) for "kicking."^[2]
• Uniformed players who were not in-game could not sit with spectators.^[2]

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager[3]
National League	Baltimore Orioles	Baltimore, Maryland	Union Park	6,500	Ned Hanlon
	Boston Beaneaters	Boston, Massachusetts	South End Grounds	6,600	Frank Selee
	Brooklyn Bridegrooms	New York, New York	Washington Park	12,000	Billy Barnie
					Mike Griffin
					Charles Ebbets
	Chicago Orphans	Chicago, Illinois	West Side Park	13,000	Tom Burns
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	League Park (Cincinnati)	9,000	Buck Ewing
	Cleveland Spiders	Cleveland, Ohio	League Park (Cleveland)	9,000	Patsy Tebeau
	Louisville Colonels	Louisville, Kentucky	Eclipse Park	6,400	Fred Clarke
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	16,000	Bill Joyce
					Cap Anson
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	National League Park	18,000	George Stallings
					Bill Shettsline
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Allegheny, Pennsylvania	Exposition Park	6,500	Bill Watkins
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	New Sportsman's Park	14,500	Tim Hurst
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	Boundary Field	6,500	Tom Brown
					Jack Doyle
					Deacon McGuire
					Arthur Irwin

Standings

National League

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Beaneaters	102	47	.685	—	62‍–‍15	40‍–‍32
Baltimore Orioles	96	53	.644	6	58‍–‍15	38‍–‍38
Cincinnati Reds	92	60	.605	11½	58‍–‍28	34‍–‍32
Chicago Orphans	85	65	.567	17½	58‍–‍31	27‍–‍34
Cleveland Spiders	81	68	.544	21	36‍–‍19	45‍–‍49
Philadelphia Phillies	78	71	.523	24	49‍–‍31	29‍–‍40
New York Giants	77	73	.513	25½	45‍–‍28	32‍–‍45
Pittsburgh Pirates	72	76	.486	29½	39‍–‍35	33‍–‍41
Louisville Colonels	70	81	.464	33	43‍–‍34	27‍–‍47
Brooklyn Bridegrooms	54	91	.372	46	30‍–‍41	24‍–‍50
Washington Senators	51	101	.336	52½	34‍–‍44	17‍–‍57
St. Louis Browns	39	111	.260	63½	20‍–‍44	19‍–‍67

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Chicago Orphans	Cap Anson	Tom Burns
Pittsburgh Pirates	Patsy Donovan	Bill Watkins
St. Louis Browns	Chris von der Ahe	Tim Hurst

In-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Brooklyn Bridegrooms	Billy Barnie	Mike Griffin
	Mike Griffin	Charles Ebbets
New York Giants	Bill Joyce	Cap Anson
Philadelphia Phillies	George Stallings	Bill Shettsline
Washington Senators	Tom Brown	Jack Doyle
	Jack Doyle	Deacon McGuire
	Deacon McGuire	Arthur Irwin

League leaders

National League

Hitting leaders^[4]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Willie Keeler (BKN)	.385
OPS	Billy Hamilton (BOS)	.933
HR	Jimmy Collins (BOS)	15
RBI	Nap Lajoie (PHI)	127
R	John McGraw (BAL)	143
H	Willie Keeler (BKN)	216
SB	Ed Delahanty (PHI)	58

Pitching leaders^[5]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Kid Nichols (BOS)	31
L	Jack Taylor (STL)	29
ERA	Clark Griffith (CHI)	1.88
K	Cy Seymour (NY)	239
IP	Jack Taylor (STL)	397.1
SV	Kid Nichols (BOS)	4
WHIP	Kid Nichols (BOS)	1.034

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Chicago Orphans[6]	85	44.1%	424,352	29.7%	4,768
Cincinnati Reds[7]	92	21.1%	336,378	−0.1%	3,780
New York Giants[8]	77	−7.2%	265,414	−32.0%	3,492
Philadelphia Phillies[9]	78	41.8%	265,414	−8.5%	3,277
Boston Beaneaters[10]	102	9.7%	229,275	−31.5%	2,902
St. Louis Browns[11]	39	34.5%	151,700	11.2%	2,298
Pittsburgh Pirates[12]	72	20.0%	150,900	−9.1%	2,012
Louisville Colonels[13]	70	34.6%	128,980	−11.2%	1,633
Baltimore Orioles[14]	96	6.7%	123,416	−54.8%	1,624
Brooklyn Bridegrooms[15]	54	−11.5%	122,514	−44.5%	1,656
Washington Senators[16]	51	−16.4%	103,250	−31.6%	1,291
Cleveland Spiders[17]	81	17.4%	70,496	−38.8%	1,237