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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 20 general entries.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 MLB in the 1890s
| In the 1890s, there were only two Championship Series (later World Series) during the decade. The first in 1890 saw the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (later Dodgers) defeat the Louisville Colonels. The second in 1892, saw the Boston Beaneaters (later Braves) defeat which team led by the great Cy Young? | Decade in a Box: 1890s
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Cleveland Spiders. No other team existed in 1892. Young went 36-12 for the Spiders in the season, good enough for a second place finish behind the Beaneaters. Boston won the series five games to none with one tie. 36 wins was a career high for Young who was later inducted into the Hall of Fame, and had the Cy Young pitching award named after him.
| This 1966 Hall of Fame inductee was born on July 30, 1890. He played in 14 seasons, then later in life he managed the Yankees to 10 World Series appearances in a 12-year span. Who was he? | Decade in a Box: 1890s
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Casey Stengel. The others never managed the Yankees. Nicknamed the 'Old Perfessor', Casey played mostly for Brooklyn and New York of the National League. The later 60-year old took the Yankees to 10 of 12 World Series between 1949-1960 as a manager. His induction to the hall was 11 years before his death in 1975.
| This 1899 player led all players in the decade when he blasted 25 home runs in the season. Which slugger was this? | Decade in a Box: 1890s
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Buck Freeman. The others were not born yet. Freeman hit 25, which was a monsterous total in the early baseball. He did this for his Washington Senators, but they still finished in 11th place of 12 teams in the standings. The pitcher and outfielder played for 11 seasons and retired with 82 home runs.
| The owner of the first professional baseball team in history died in 1892. Who was this who wrote the first set of baseball rules? | Decade in a Box: 1890s
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Alexander Cartwright. The others weren't even born yet. Cartwright owned the Knickerbocker Baseball Club of New York in 1846, then played the first professional game against the New York Nines. Cartwright umpired the game but his team still lost by over 15 runs. He was inducted into the hall in 1938 for being a baseball pioneer.
Federal League. There were three leagues in the 1890s. The Players League folded after their only season in 1890, and the American Association which began in 1882, folded after the 1891 season. The National League began in 1876, and continued consistently throughout the 20th century. The Federal League existed for only two seasons from 1914-1915 and tried to become the third major league. It did not pan out.
| Throughout the 1890s, there were 13 teams that played in the National League at some time. How many teams played throughout the entire decade in the league? | Decade in a Box: 1890s
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8. The eight teams were the Boston Beaneaters (later Braves), Chicago Colts/Orphans (later Cubs), Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Spiders, Brooklyn Bridegrooms/Grooms/Superbas (later Dodgers), Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Alleghenys/Pirates, and the New York Giants.
| Which team in 1899 folded, then had their all-stars join the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1900? | Decade in a Box: 1890s
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Louisville Colonels. The other teams were all members of the 1914 Federal League. The Colonels were not a good team during the time they spent with the National League in the 1890s. They finished no better than eighth place in their eight NL seasons. The team rostered Dummy Hoy, Fred Clarke, Honus Wagner, and Tommy Leach. The Pirates were rewarded with the new talent by winning three consecutive NL pennants from 1901-1903.
| The worst team in the 1890s decade set a baseball record for losing 134 games in a season, a record never likely to be duplicated. Which miserable team received this distinction? | Decade in a Box: 1890s
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Cleveland Spiders. The other teams were all part of the 1875 National Association League that went defunct. The Spiders folded after their horrendous season in 1899. They went 20-134. Cleveland finished in last place (12th), 84 games behind the pennant-winning Brooklyn Superbas. The Spiders rostered Chief Louis Sockalexis in his third season. He was the first Indian to play, which who the Cleveland Indians were named after in 1901.
| In 1897, baseball lost a great pitcher who set a record for winning 59 games in the 1884 season. Who was this Hall of Fame pitcher nicknamed 'Old Hoss'? | Decade in a Box: 1890s
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Charley Radbourn. The others were not born yet. Radbourn went an amazing 59-12 in 1884 with the Providence Grays. Although with rules changes for the season, and it was made for the pitchers, Radbourn set a mark not likely to be met. Even before those major rules changes in 1884, Charley went 48-25 in 1883. He died on February 5, 1897, and was inducted into the hall in 1939 with a 309-195 career record.
| The decade of the 1890s began with controversy. Before the 1890 season even began, many upset baseballers including Ned Hanlon, talked a Cleveland railroad magnate into loaning a new coalition of players money. Those players had eight new stadiums built for the 1890 season in hopes of shutting down the National League and American Association. What was this new league called? | Decades on the Diamond: 1890s
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Players League. Hanlon was a player/manager on the 1889 Pittsburgh Alleghenys. Then with his new team and league, he was the player/manager of his new Pittsburgh Burghers. The Players League folded after only 128 games in the season, and all eight teams and players were without a job. The Boston Reds won the only Players League pennant in 1890.
| While the 1891 season saw the birth of future Boston great Rabbit Maranville and pitching wonder Carl Mays, the 1891 National League season saw a Pittsburgh player fined for refusing to have spikes on his shoes. This was a major uniform violation in the National League. Which player was it? | Decades on the Diamond: 1890s
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Pete Browning. The others listed never played for at least another 15 seasons. Browning who was an outfielder for the Alleghenys was in his 10th season of professional baseball. After the incident, Browning was traded to the Cincinnati Reds where he upped his batting average over .050 points. He retired after 13 seasons in 1894.
| On June 2, 1892, President Benjamin Harrison became the first U.S. President to attend a professional baseball game. The National League also expanded to how many teams in 1892 and began a 154-game season schedule? | Decades on the Diamond: 1890s
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12. The teams included in order of finish in 1892 were the Boston Beaneaters (later Atlanta Braves) who won the NL pennant, the Cleveland Spiders, Brooklyn Grooms, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Colts, New York Giants, Louisville Colonels, Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, and finally the Baltimore Orioles who finished 54.5 games back.
| 1893 saw the pitchers mound moved back from 50 feet after an earlier decade of pitchers dominating the game. What was the distance of the mound in 1893? | Decades on the Diamond: 1890s
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60 feet 6 inches. Nobody could figure out why the "6 inches" until months later when the league realized that they read the surveyors blueprints incorrectly, but let the distance stand. Billy Hamilton of the Philadelphia Phillies the league in batting with a .380 average, .045 above the previous seasons leader, while the pitching leaders won seven less games to lead the league compared to the previous seasons. The pitcher who led the league was Frank Killen of the Chicago Colts with 36 wins.
| In 1894, the Baltimore Orioles were fined for conspiring with a groundskeeper to leave the grass high at Union Park for certain games that they played against bunters and base stealers. The season also saw a major batting rule changed mid-season. What was the new regulation? | Decades on the Diamond: 1890s
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That batters would be charged with a strike for a foul ball. The foul tip/strike rule was driven by Wee Willie Keeler of the Baltimore Orioles. Keeler would continually poke balls fouls until he received a pitch that he wanted. Keeler had 219 hits in the season (third in the league) and a .371 batting average.
| 1895 saw the birth of future Hall of Famer, George Herman Ruth. It also saw which Cleveland Spider pitcher lead the league with 35 wins? | Decades on the Diamond: 1890s
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Cy Young. The others were not born until the 1930s. Young was in his sixth season of baseball with the Spiders. He went 35-10 in the season. He led the league over Pink Hawley of the Pirates and Bill Hoffer of the Orioles who both won 31. Young would go on to win 511 career games.
| 1896 saw a professor at Princeton patent the first pitching machine, consisting of a breech-loading cannon mounted on two wheels. The season also saw the Baltimore Orioles win their third consecutive National League pennant. At the same time, which National League team finished last in their third consecutive season? | Decades on the Diamond: 1890s
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Louisville Colonels. The other teams listed were all in the 1884 Union League which went defunct after only one season. 1896 saw the Colonels finish 53 games behind the front-running Orioles. Under these three seasons, Louisville averaged under 37 wins per season. The team folded after the 1899 season.
Italy. The 1890s was a sensitive decade as many African-Americans tried to pass themselves off as other 'colors' and being from other countries. Abbaticchio was a rookie in 1897 with the Philadelphia Phillies. He played for only nine seasons before retiring.
| 1898 saw the first balk rule instituted into the books of baseball. It was intended to allow more base stealing with the likes of Billy Hamilton who led his league five times in stealing, and stole 100+ bases in a season three times. Ed Delahanty of the Phillies led the league in 1898 with how many stolen bases? | Decades on the Diamond: 1890s
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58. Some unknown reasons, the new balk rule took away the head start from runners. From 1900-1902, the NL leader stole in the 40s. In 1910, the stolen base count began to climb into the 70s, then 80s, and finally Ty Cobb who stole 96 in 1915.
Cleveland Spiders. The other teams listed were in the Federal League in 1914 and 1915 before the league went defunct. The Spiders owner sold most of their star players after the 1898 season to the St. Louis Perfectos, leaving bush-leaguers to play for the Spiders in 1899. At one point in the season, all the Spiders' home games were cancelled because no fans would show up, so most of the season was played on the road. The only famous name on the Spiders in 1899 was Chief Zimmer, but at age 38, Wilson was past his prime, but still left the team after only 20 games for the Louisville Colonels.
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