Temple Cup

Temple Cup, as shown on 1894 sheet music
Sport	Baseball
League	National League
Awarded for	Postseason champion
Sponsored by	William Chase Temple
Country	United States
History
First award	1894
Editions	4
Final award	1897
First winner	New York Giants (1894)
Most wins	Baltimore Orioles (2)
Most recent	Baltimore Orioles (1897)

TheTemple Cup was a cup awarded to the winner of an annual best-of-seven postseason championship series for Americanprofessional baseball from 1894 to 1897. Competing teams were exclusively from theNational League, which had been founded in 1876 as the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. There was only one major league at the time, following the folding of theAmerican Association after the 1891 season, and the series was played between the first and second-place teams of the surviving National League. The series played for the Temple Cup was also known as the "World's Championship Series".^[1]

The approximately 30-inch-high (76 cm) silver cup cost $800 (equivalent to $28,000 in 2024) and was donated by coal, citrus, and lumberbaronWilliam Chase Temple (1862–1917), a part-owner of thePittsburgh Pirates at the time.^[2] The Temple Cup is now in the collection of theNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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In the 1880s, there had been postseason play between the winners of the National League and theAmerican Association, but following the 1891 season, the National League absorbed the Association, becoming a 12-team league. In 1892, the National League playedsplit season followed by a postseasonchampionship series, but then abandoned split season. In 1893, thePittsburgh Pirates finished second to theBoston Beaneaters. The Pirates' president,William Chase Temple, felt that his team should have the option of having a playoff series to claim the title. As a result, Temple had an $800 trophy minted and he donated it to the league.

Much like the long runningStanley Cup of theNational Hockey League and the Temple Cup's baseball predecessor, theDauvray Cup (awarded 1887–1893), there was only one actual Temple Cup to be passed along to each baseball season's winning team and city. If any team had won three titles, that team would have gained permanent possession of the Cup.

Revenue from the Temple Cup series was to be split 65% to 35% between the winner and the loser, but the players of the first series agreed to split the money evenly. However, after that 1894 series, theNew York Giants cheated someBaltimore Orioles players out of their money, tainting the Cup and prompting Temple to sell the Pirates in disgust.^[3]

TheBaltimore Orioles appeared in every Temple Cup series, winning the last two and thus coming the closest to gaining permanent possession of the trophy. Having moved over to the National League with several other strong American Association franchises, the powerful, scrappy Baltimore teams continued their winning ways from the old Association, capturing three National League pennants in a row (1894–1896) and winning the Temple Cup in 1896 and 1897. Owner/managerNed Hanlon (1857–1937), a Baltimorean and one of the most talented baseball men of the sport's early era, ran the team with talented players like"Wee Willie" Keeler (1872–1923),Wilbert Robinson (1863–1934), andJohn McGraw (1873–1934).

Lack of enthusiasm on the part of the players doomed the series; their apathy spread to the fans, few of whom attended Temple Cup games in later years. Interest in the series faded quickly, as it seemed artificial, with the second-place team winning three of the four series. The last Temple Cup series was played in 1897, although the concept was revived in 1900 with theChronicle-Telegraph Cup. After the Temple Cup series ended, the National League returned the trophy to Temple, whose Pirates team never finished higher than sixth place in the standings during the Cup's existence.

John McGraw of the Temple Cup-winning Orioles was later player/manager/owner with another franchise also known as theBaltimore Orioles, one of the eight original franchises of theAmerican League upon its founding in 1901 and the third franchise to carry the Orioles name, prior to folding after two seasons. In 1903, a "peace pact" between the National League and American League resulted in each recognizing the other as equal in stature. The leagues accepted a joint policy on player contracts, and initiated a postseason series between their champions, beginning the modern interleagueWorld Series.

In 1939,The Sporting News tracked down the Temple Cup, finding it in the possession of Temple's daughter inWinter Park, Florida.^[4] That year, the Cup was included in a large display of sports trophies at theNew York World's Fair.^[5] In 1951, Temple's daughter donated the Cup to theNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum,^[6] where it remains today inCooperstown, New York.

Winning team is denoted inbold font. The regular season record of each team is noted in parentheses.

• 
  1894 New York Giants
• 
  1895 Cleveland Spiders
• 
  1896 Baltimore Orioles
• 
  1897 Baltimore Orioles

• List of pre-World Series baseball champions

• Olbermann, Keith (2009–2010)."Tagged: Temple Cup".Baseball Nerd. RetrievedApril 6, 2021.
• M.Willis (July 13, 2020)."Major League Baseball, COVID-19, and the Temple Cup".mwillis.com. RetrievedApril 6, 2021.

• Notated Music: The Temple Cup atLibrary of Congress

• Major League Baseball postseason
• Major League Baseball trophies and awards
• Baltimore Orioles (1882–1899)
• Cleveland Spiders
• New York Giants (baseball)
• Pittsburgh Pirates

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