1892 World Series

The 1892 World Series followed the first split season in National League history, with the first-half champion Boston Beaneaters (102–48) playing the second-half champion Cleveland Spiders (93–56) in a best-of-nine postseason series to determine the overall champion of the 1892 baseball season. After the first game ended in a 0–0 tie due to darkness, Boston won the next five games to win the championship.

1892 World Series
NL: Boston Beaneaters (5–0–1)
NL: Cleveland Spiders (0–5–1)
Pre-modern World Series
Boston Beaneaters
Cleveland Spiders

Contemporary newspaper reports referred to the games as the "world's championship series"[1] or "World's Series".[2] This was the last of the pre-modern-era World Series, and followed similar annual postseason competitions held from 1884 to 1890 between the champions of the National League and the American Association (which collapsed after the 1891 season). Later, the Temple Cup would be awarded to the winner of an annual postseason series between National League teams, from 1894 to 1897.

Background

Boston manager Frank Selee worried that late-October weather conditions would lead to postponements and low attendance. Cleveland's player-manager Patsy Tebeau suggested that "the [Boston] Beaneaters fear the humiliation of possible defeat." Tebeau told Sporting Life that the cold weather was a "dodge … simply an excuse to avoid playing Cleveland."[3]

Bookies had the Spiders as the favorite, due to their pitching staff. Cy Young had gone 36–12 in 49 starts, with a 1.93 earned-run average.[4] Meanwhile, Boston star Mike "King" Kelly had a batting average of only .189 for the year,[5] and was described as "one of the biggest failures of the base ball season."[3]

Series summary
Hugh Duffy

Boston won the series, 5–0–1.

GameDateScoreLocation
1October 17Boston – 0, Cleveland – 0 (11)League Park, Cleveland
2October 18Boston – 4, Cleveland – 3League Park, Cleveland
3October 19Boston – 3, Cleveland – 2League Park, Cleveland
4October 21Cleveland – 0, Boston – 4South End Grounds, Boston
5October 22Cleveland – 7, Boston – 12South End Grounds, Boston
6October 24Cleveland – 3, Boston – 8South End Grounds, Boston

Hugh Duffy of Boston batted .462 with nine runs batted in and six extra-base hits including a home run.[6]

Had the series required more than six games to complete, the remaining games would have been played in New York City.[7]

Game summaries

Game 1
Cy Young

The first game, which had started at three o'clock, had gone 11 scoreless innings when it was stopped at five o'clock due to darkness.

October 17 (Monday) at League Park, Cleveland
Team1234567891011RHE
Boston00000000000060
Cleveland00000000000041
Starting pitchers:
BOS: Jack Stivetts
CLE: Cy Young
Attendance: 5,800 to 6,000
Notes: Game duration 2:00
Game called on account of darkness.
Umpires: Pop Snyder and Bob Emslie[8][9]

Game 2
Harry Staley
October 18 (Tuesday) at League Park, Cleveland
Team123456789RHE
Boston1010100104102
Cleveland0011000013102
WP: Harry Staley (1–0)   LP: John Clarkson (0–1)
Attendance: 6,700 to 7,500
Notes: Game duration 1:35
Umpires: Jack McQuaid and John Gaffney[10][11]

Game 3
Jack Stivetts
October 19 (Wednesday) at League Park, Cleveland
Team123456789RHE
Boston110000010392
Cleveland200000000280
WP: Jack Stivetts (1–0)   LP: Cy Young (0–1)
Attendance: 7,500
Notes: Game duration 1:50
Umpires: Bob Emslie and Pop Snyder[12][13][14]

Game 4
Kid Nichols

After a travel day for the teams, the series moved to Boston with the Beaneaters leading, two games to none.

October 21 (Friday) at South End Grounds, Boston
Team123456789RHE
Cleveland000000000073
Boston00200200X460
WP: Kid Nichols (1–0)   LP: George Cuppy (0–1)
Home runs:
CLE: None
BOS: Hugh Duffy
Attendance: 6,547
Notes: Game duration 1:48
Umpires: John Gaffney and Jack McQuaid[15][16]

Game 5
John Clarkson

John Clarkson started for Cleveland in place of Cy Young, who complained of a "lame arm".

October 22 (Saturday) at South End Grounds, Boston
Team123456789RHE
Cleveland060010000794
Boston00032430X12143
WP: Jack Stivetts (2–0)   LP: John Clarkson (0–2)
Home runs:
CLE: John Clarkson
BOS: Tommy Tucker
Attendance: 3,400
Notes: Game duration 1:50
Umpires: Pop Snyder and Bob Emslie[17][18]

Game 6
Charlie Bennett

After an off-day (professional baseball games were not allowed on Sundays in Boston until 1929)[19] the Beaneaters won their fifth game of the series to capture the championship. The 13 players on their roster split $1000 prize money.

October 24 (Monday) at South End Grounds, Boston
Team123456789RHE
Cleveland0030000003104
Boston00221111X8115
WP: Kid Nichols (2–0)   LP: Cy Young (0–2)
Home runs:
CLE: None
BOS: Charlie Bennett
Notes: Game duration 1:55
Umpires: Jack McQuaid and John Gaffney[20][21]

Aftermath

The National League abolished the split season format for 1893,[3] and did not play another split season until 1981, which was caused by a players' strike.

Multiple participants in the series were later inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame:

John Clarkson had started the season with the Beaneaters, and signed with the Spiders after being released at the end of June. Pitcher Lee Viau also played for both Boston and Cleveland during 1892.

The Beaneaters were later known as the Doves (1907–1910) and the Rustlers (1911) before adopting the nickname of "Braves" in 1912. The franchise relocated to Milwaukee in 1953, and then moved to Atlanta in 1966, where they remain members of the National League as the Atlanta Braves. The Spiders' final season was 1899, when they compiled a record of 20–134 (establishing a longstanding record for the worst major league season) after ownership moved their best players to the St. Louis Cardinals, and were one of four teams contracted out of the National League when the league reduced its size to eight teams prior to the 1900 season.

See also

References
  1. "Base Ball Briefs". The Pittsburgh Press. October 20, 1892. p. 5. Retrieved April 5, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  2. "World's Series: Boston Gets First Blood". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 19, 1892. p. 2. Retrieved April 5, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  3. Gottschall, Terry. "October 1892: The Split-Season Playoff". SABR.
  4. "Cy Young Stats". Baseball-Reference.com.
  5. "King Kelly Stats". Baseball-Reference.com.
  6. "1892 World Series - Boston Beaneaters over Cleveland Spiders (5-0-1)". Baseball-Reference.com.
  7. "Baseball (column)". Los Angeles Times. October 14, 1892. p. 4. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  8. "A Great Baseball Game: Boston and Cleveland Played a "Tie" Contest". The New York Times. October 18, 1892. p. 9. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  9. "A Great Game: Contest For the League Baseball Championship". Newton Daily Republican. Newton, Kansas. October 18, 1892. p. 1. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  10. "By a Single Tally: Boston Secures the First Championship Contest". Chicago Tribune. October 19, 1892. p. 6. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  11. "The Bostons Win: A Close Game with the Clevelands at Cleveland". Brooklyn Citizen. October 19, 1892. p. 3. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  12. "Boston Wins Again". Los Angeles Times. October 20, 1892. p. 2. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  13. "Bostons Score Again". Tyrone Daily Herald. Tyrone, Pennsylvania. October 20, 1892. p. 1. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  14. "Looks Like Boston: The Bean Eaters Almost Sure of Winning the Championship". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 20, 1892. p. 2. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  15. "Baseball: Boston Has Won Three Games of the World's Championship Series". The Standard Union. Brooklyn. October 22, 1892. p. 8. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  16. "Baseball: Cleveland Whitewashed in the Match With Boston Yesterday". The Winnipeg Tribune. October 22, 1892. p. 7. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  17. "Downed Them Again: The Bostons Get Another Game From the Clevelands in Easy Style". Pittsburgh Dispatch. October 23, 1892. p. 6. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  18. "National League: Boston 12, Cleveland 8 (sic)". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans. October 23, 1892. p. 8. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  19. Ruzzo, Bob. "April 28, 1929: Red Sox fall in first official Sunday game in Boston". SABR. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  20. "The Boston Braves: They Beat the Clevelands in Five Straight Games and Win The World's Pennant". Pittsburgh Dispatch. October 25, 1892. p. 9. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  21. "Bostons Win: The Bean-eaters Take the Closing Game with Cleveland". Los Angeles Times. AP. October 25, 1892. p. 1. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
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