1886 Major League Baseball season

Schedule

The 1886 schedule consisted of 140 games for all American Association teams and 126 games for all National League, each of which had eight teams. Each AA team was scheduled to play 20 games against the other seven teams, while each NL team was scheduled to play 18 games against the other seven teams. Both the AA's 140-game format and NL's 126-game format were newly-implementation for the 1886 season, each replacing the 112-game, 16 games against the other seven teams format that both leagues had from 1884 and 1885. The NL would adopt the AA's format in , and each league would use this 140-game format until .

American Association Opening Day took place on April 17 featuring six teams, while National League Opening Day took place on April 29, also featuring six teams. The American Association would see its final day of the regular season on October 15 with a doubleheader between the New York Metropolitans and Philadelphia Athletics, while the National League would see its final day of the season on October 11 with a game between the Kansas City Cowboys and Washington Nationals. The 1886 World's Championship Series took place between October 18 and October 23.

Rule changes

The 1886 season saw the following rule changes:

• Stolen bases became an official statistic.
• In the American Association, six balls became a base on balls, down from eight, while in the National League, seven balls became a base on balls, up from six.
• The pitcher's box was extended by one foot in the direction of second base, from six to seven feet.
  • In the American Association, a one-foot-long by four-foot-wide smooth flat stone was placed in front of the pitcher's box.
• In the American Association the batter's box was extended by one foot in width, on either side of home plate, expanding from three feet wide and one foot from home plate to four feet wide and six inches from home plate, copying the change the National League did the previous season.
• The American Association allowed home plate to be made out of white stone.
• The reserve rule was expanded to cover 12 players on each team, up from 11 established in .

Teams

Sunday games

Blue laws restricted Sunday activities in several localities, causing the Brooklyn Grays of the American Association (which was informally referred to as the "Beer & Whiskey League" due to its openness on alcohol, compared to the National League) to play at ballparks in a different locality.

Standings

American Association

National League

Postseason

Bracket

| RD1-seed1=AA | RD1-team1=St. Louis Browns | RD1-score1-1=0 | RD1-score1-2=128 | RD1-score1-3=4 | RD1-score1-4=87 | RD1-score1-5=107 | RD1-score1-6=410* | RD1-seed2=NL | RD1-team2=Chicago White Stockings | RD1-score2-1=6 | RD1-score2-2=0 | RD1-score2-3=118* | RD1-score2-4=5 | RD1-score2-5=3 | RD1-score2-6=3

Managerial changes

Off-season

In-season

League leaders

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

American Association

1 All-time single-season strikeouts record

National League

References

References

1. "1886 Major Leagues Schedule".
2. "MLB Rule Changes {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
3. Pestana, Mark. "1885 Winter Meetings: A Temporary Stability – Society for American Baseball Research".
4. "Baseball History: 19th Century Baseball: The Field: The Pitcher's Area".
5. "Baseball History: 19th Century Baseball: The Field: Evolution of the Batter's Area".
6. "1886 Major League Managers".
7. "Brooklyn Dodgers – Seamheads.com Ballparks Database".
8. "1886 American Association Batting Leaders".
9. "1886 American Association Pitching Leaders".
10. "1886 National League Batting Leaders".
11. "1886 National League Pitching Leaders".