| 1889 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American Association (AA) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Games | 140 |
| Teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| Pennant winner | |
| AA champions | Brooklyn Bridegrooms |
| AA runners-up | St. Louis Browns |
| NL champions | New York Giants |
| NL runners-up | Boston Beaneaters |
| World's Championship Series | |
| Champions | New York Giants |
| Runners-up | Brooklyn Bridegrooms |
| MLB seasons | |
The1889 major league baseball season began on April 17, 1889. The regular season ended on October 15, with theNew York Giants and theBrooklyn Bridegrooms as regular season champions of theNational League andAmerican Association, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of thesixth World's Championship Series on October 18 and ended with Game 9 on October 29, in what was abest-of-eleven-playoff. The Giants defeated the Dodgers, six games to three, capturing their second consecutive World's Championship Series.
Over the offseason, the National League'sDetroit Wolverines folded, and saw them replaced by the American Association's Cleveland Blues, renamed to theCleveland Spiders. In Cleveland's AA place, theColumbus Solons were enfranchised. This was the final season of the NL'sIndianapolis Hoosiers &Washington Nationals, and the AA'sKansas City Cowboys.
The 1889 schedule consisted of 140 games for all teams in the American Association and National League, each of which had eight teams. 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 the1886 season and by the National League since theprevious season. This format would last until1892.
American Association Opening Day took place on April 17 featuring four teams, while National League Opening Day took place on April 24, featuring all eight teams. The American Association would see its final day of the regular season on October 15 with four teams playing, while the National League would see its final day of the season on October 5, featuring all eight teams.[1] The1889 World's Championship Series took place between October 18 and October 29.
The 1889 season saw the following rule changes:
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
Blue laws restricted Sunday activities in several localities, causing several teams of the American Association (which was informally referred to as the "Beer & Whiskey League" due to its openness onalcohol, compared to the National League) to play at ballparks in a different locality.
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Games played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms[5] | Ridgewood,New York[A] | Ridgewood Park | 10,000 | 14 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[6] | Gloucester City,New Jersey | Gloucester Point Grounds | Unknown | 14 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 93 | 44 | .679 | — | 50–19 | 43–25 |
| St. Louis Browns | 90 | 45 | .667 | 2 | 51–18 | 39–27 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 75 | 58 | .564 | 16 | 46–22 | 29–36 |
| Cincinnati Red Stockings | 76 | 63 | .547 | 18 | 47–26 | 29–37 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 70 | 65 | .519 | 22 | 40–24 | 30–41 |
| Columbus Solons | 60 | 78 | .435 | 33½ | 36–33 | 24–45 |
| Kansas City Cowboys | 55 | 82 | .401 | 38 | 35–35 | 20–47 |
| Louisville Colonels | 27 | 111 | .196 | 66½ | 18–46 | 9–65 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 83 | 43 | .659 | — | 47–15 | 36–28 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 83 | 45 | .648 | 1 | 48–17 | 35–28 |
| Chicago White Stockings | 67 | 65 | .508 | 19 | 37–30 | 30–35 |
| Philadelphia Quakers | 63 | 64 | .496 | 20½ | 43–24 | 20–40 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 61 | 71 | .462 | 25 | 40–28 | 21–43 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 61 | 72 | .459 | 25½ | 33–35 | 28–37 |
| Indianapolis Hoosiers | 59 | 75 | .440 | 28 | 32–36 | 27–39 |
| Washington Nationals | 41 | 83 | .331 | 41 | 24–29 | 17–54 |
| World's Championship Series | ||||||||||||
| AA | Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 12 | 2 | 88 | 106 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 2 | ||
| NL | New York Giants | 10 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 211 | 11 | 16 | 3 | ||
Any team shown insmall text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Tommy Tucker (BAL) | .372 |
| OPS | Tommy Tucker (BAL) | .934 |
| HR | Bug Holliday (CIN) Harry Stovey (PHA) | 19 |
| RBI | Harry Stovey (PHA) | 119 |
| R | Mike Griffin (BAL) Harry Stovey (PHA) | 152 |
| H | Tommy Tucker (BAL) | 196 |
| SB | Billy Hamilton (KC) | 111 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Bob Caruthers (BRO) | 40 |
| L | Mark Baldwin (COL) | 34 |
| ERA | Jack Stivetts (STL) | 2.25 |
| K | Mark Baldwin (COL) | 368 |
| IP | Mark Baldwin (COL) | 513.2 |
| SV | Tony Mullane (CIN) | 5 |
| WHIP | Jack Stivetts (STL) | 1.153 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Dan Brouthers (BSN) | .373 |
| OPS | Fred Carroll (PIT) | .970 |
| HR | Sam Thompson (PHI) | 20 |
| RBI | Roger Connor (NYG) | 130 |
| R | Mike Tiernan (NYG) | 147 |
| H | Jack Glasscock (IND) | 205 |
| SB | Jim Fogarty (PHI) | 99 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | John Clarkson1 (BSN) | 49 |
| L | Harry Staley (PIT) | 26 |
| ERA | John Clarkson1 (BSN) | 2.73 |
| K | John Clarkson1 (BSN) | 284 |
| IP | John Clarkson (BSN) | 620.0 |
| SV | Bill Sowders (PIT/BSN) | 3 |
| WHIP | John Clarkson (BSN) | 1.277 |
1 National LeagueTriple Crown pitching winner
