1892 in baseball
Champions
The National League played a split season schedule, with the teams that had the best record in each half of the season meeting in a postseason best-of-nine series, known at the time as the "World's Championship Series".
Events
- March 4 – Following the collapse of the American Association, the National League holds its first meeting. They decide on a split season for 1892, with the winners from each half to meet in a championship series following the regular season.
- June 6 – Benjamin Harrison becomes the first U.S. president to attend a game while in office, when he watches the Cincinnati Reds defeat the Washington Senators, 7–4 in 11 innings.
- July 13 – The final games of the first half are played.
- July 15 – Play resumes for the second half of the season after a one-day break.
- July/August – After the Boston Beaneaters cut some players, they begin the second half slowly and the Cleveland Spiders take the lead. Some fans accuse the Boston club of purposely playing poorly "in order to force a playoff at the end of the season"—that is, to generate extra revenue.
- August 6 – Jack Stivetts throws a no-hitter for the Boston Beaneaters in an 11–0 victory over the Brooklyn Grooms.
- August 22 – Louisville Colonels pitcher Ben Sanders hurls a no-hitter in a 6–2 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
- September 21 – Pitcher John Clarkson of the Cleveland Spiders records his 300th career win.
- October 15 – On the last day of the season, Bumpus Jones of the Cincinnati Reds makes his major league debut with a 7–1 no-hitter against Pittsburgh, becoming the second pitcher to hurl a no-hitter in his first start.
- October 17 – The first-half champion Boston Beaneaters and second-half champion Cleveland Spiders begin a best-of-nine "World's Championship Series" to determine an overall champion. The first game, pitched by Jack Stivetts for the Beaneaters and Cy Young for the Spiders, ends in a 0–0 tie after 11 innings.
- October 24 – The Beaneaters win their fifth consecutive game over the Spiders to capture the championship.
- November 1 – Statistics for the first 154-game season show that Dan Brouthers of the Brooklyn Grooms was the top hitter with a.335 batting average, and Cy Young of the Cleveland Spiders the best pitcher with a 36–11 record and a.766 winning percentage.
- November 17 – National League magnates conclude a four-day meeting in Chicago where they agree to shorten the 1893 schedule to 132 games and drop the split season schedule. They also pledge to continue to reduce player salaries and other team expenses.
Births
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Deaths
- January 14 – Silver Flint, 36, catcher with the Chicago White Stockings for eleven seasons who batted.310 for 1881 champions
- February 10 – Ed Glenn, 31, outfielder for three major league seasons; 1884, 1886, 1888.
- March 11 – Cinders O'Brien, 24, pitcher for four seasons. Won 22 games for the 1889 Cleveland Spiders.
- March 18 – Phil Tomney, 28, shortstop for Louisville Colonels from 1888 to 1890.
- March 29 – Adam Rocap, 38?, outfielder for the 1875 Philadelphia Athletics.
- April 18 – Ned Bligh, 27, catcher for four seasons, died of Typhoid fever.
- May 21 – Hub Collins, 28, second baseman for the 1889–90 champion Brooklyn teams who led league in doubles and runs once each
- July 12 – Alexander Cartwright, 72, pioneer of the sport who formulated the first rules in 1845, developing a new sport for adults out of various existing playground games; established distance between bases at 90 feet, introduced concept of foul territory, set the number of players at nine per team, and fixed the number of outs at three per side and innings at nine; founded Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, the sport's first organized club, in New York City, and spread the sport across the nation into the 1850s.
- October 5 – Dickie Flowers, 42?, shortstop for two seasons in the National Association, 1871–72.
- November 3 – Edgar Smith, 30, played in four seasons with four teams from 1883 to 1885, and 1890.
- December 20 – John Fitzgerald, 26, pitcher for the 1890 Rochester Broncos.