Year In Review : 1893 National League

Off the Field…

A group of unemployed American workers nicknamed "Coxey’s Army" marched on Washington D.C. to protest the unemployment caused by the "Panic of 1893" and to lobby for the government to create jobs building roads and other public works improvements. Led by the populist reformer Jacob Coxey, it was the first significant popular protest at the capital city in U.S. history, and spawned the expression "Enough food to feed an Army".

In the National League…

The National League owners established a new post-season contest for a best-of-seven playoff series known as the Temple Cup (named after Pittsburgh Pirates president Chase Temple). It was determined that the winning team would be awarded a two-foot tall silver cup valued at $800 dollars after winning the series a minimum of three times.

The pitcher’s mound was moved to sixty feet, (plus six inches after an error on the handwritten instructions) in response to the alleged speed of Amos Rusie "The Hoosier Thunderbolt". A distance of ninety-three feet between the bases was also proposed along with a 12x4 inch slab of rubber to replace the pitcher’s box.

On August 16^th, Bill Hawk of the Baltimore Orioles became the first pitcher ever to toss a no-hitter (over the Washington Senators) from the new sixty foot-six inch mound distance.