1893 Major League Baseball season

The 1893 schedule consisted of 132 games for the twelve teams of the National League. Each team was scheduled to play 12 games against the other eleven teams in the league. This replaced the 154-game, 14-games-each format put in place in the previous season and would be used until 1898.

Opening Day took place on April 27 featuring eight teams. The final day of the season was on September 30, featuring six teams.^[1]

The 1893 season saw the following rule changes:

• In place of a pitcher's box, a pitcher's plate at a size of 12 inches by 4 inches was instituted.^[2]
• Per new Rule 27, prior to throwing a pitch, a pitcher must keep their rear foot on the plate through coming set and the windup.^[2][3]
• The pitcher's plate was moved back from 50 feet from home plate to 60 feet 6 inches.^[2]
• Changes were made to baseball bats, as described in new Rule 13, stating: "the bat must be made round and of hardwood and may have twine on the handle or granulated substance applied not to exceed 18 inches from the end. No bat shall exceed 42 inches in length."^[3]
  • This rescinded the 1885 rule allowing flat bats, reinstating the 1857 rule requiring round bats.^[2][4]
  • Softwoods, like pine, and bats that were sawed off at the end were banned.^[2][4]
• The balk rule was clarified to state that motions to deceive a baserunner would be declared a balk, but "when the pitcher feigns to throw the ball to a base" he must resume his former position before delivering the ball to the plate.^[3]
• On-field mingling between opposing players was prohibited.^[3]
• A sacrifice hit would no longer result in hitters being charged with an at bat, though the question on whether this counted for outfield fly balls was an open question^[3] (the "sacrifice hit" was not a formal rule until the following season).

An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at

Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.

The St. Louis Browns leave Sportsman's Park (where they played for 11 seasons) and move to New Sportman's Park, where they would go on to play for 28 seasons through part of 1920.

The ballpark for the Louisville Colonels, Eclipse Park was largely destroyed in a fire towards the end of the previous season, though the team continued to play in its remains. In the 1893 season, the Colonels played only one home game on May 4 at the still destroyed ballpark. They would move one block south at a new ballpark, also named Eclipse Park, when they returned home for their next home game on May 22.^[24]

When the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago opened in May, the Chicago Colts wanted to break with their no-Sundays tradition and start playing Sunday games to attract Fair visitors, but their South Side Park lease forbade Sunday ball. They sought a new location, which turned out to be West Side Park. After drawing well on their two May Sunday games, the club abandoned their three-season tenure at South Side Park after only eight games (their last being on May 24) and moved to the West Side on a full-time basis from their next home game on Sunday, June 18.^[24]

• 1893 in baseball (Events, Births, Deaths)