![]() Owner/manager Ned 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), and John McGraw (1873–1934). 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 18. The Baltimore Orioles appeared in every Temple Cup series, winning the last two and thus coming the closest to gaining permanent possession of the trophy. However, after that 1894 series, the New York Giants cheated some Baltimore Orioles players out of their money, tainting the Cup and prompting Temple to sell the Pirates in disgust. 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. ![]() If any team had won three titles, that team would have gained permanent possession of the Cup. Much like the long running Stanley Cup of the National Hockey League and the Temple Cup's baseball predecessor, the Dauvray Cup (awarded 1887–1893), there was only one actual Temple Cup to be passed along to each baseball season's winning team and city. As a result, Temple had an $800 trophy minted and he donated it to the league. The Pirates' president, William Chase Temple, felt that his team should have the option of having a playoff series to claim the title. In 1893, the Pittsburgh Pirates finished second to the Boston Beaneaters. In 1892, the National League played split season followed by a postseason championship series, but then abandoned split season. In the 1880s, there had been postseason play between the winners of the National League and the American Association, but following the 1891 season, the National League absorbed the Association, becoming a 12-team league. The Temple Cup is now in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. ![]() The approximately 30-inch-high (76 cm) silver cup cost $800 (equivalent to $26,000 in 2022) and was donated by coal, citrus, and lumber baron William Chase Temple (1862–1917), a part-owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates at the time. The series played for the Temple Cup was also known as the "World's Championship Series". There was only one major league at the time, following the folding of the American Association after the 1891 season, and the series was played between the first and second-place teams of the surviving National League. Competing teams were exclusively from the National League, which had been founded in 1876 as the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. The Temple Cup was a cup awarded to the winner of an annual best-of-seven postseason championship series for American professional baseball from 1894 to 1897.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |