After a decade of competing leagues, baseball fans were treated to a season without business-related drama in 1892. The first season of the Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues went off largely without a hitch, but was missing one critical element of William Whitney's peace plan: a postseason championship series. The good news was that the fans didn't yet know what they were missing - no one openly spoke about the championship series and there had never before been one, so ignorance was bliss (of a sort). The bad news was that both the rebranded circuits (the new Federal Association was seen - correctly - by fans as the old Century League with a few changes and the Continental Association was similarly seen as a continuation of the Border Association)... well, both had runaway champions and little drama in September's stretch run.
The reason there was no championship series was simply that Whitney had used every ounce of his influence in just getting the FABL up & running and had nothing left over when the other owners couldn't agree on specifics for the championship series. Some wanted a best-of-seven, others a shorter series, and a couple even wanted some kind of "total runs" business. They also bickered over revenue splits - should all the clubs get something? If so, how much? If not, how much did the visiting team get, or was it all to the home team? These questions were never answered and so there was no championship in 1892.
While neither circuit had much of a pennant race, both did have their usual share of excitement. In the Fed, there was the continued excellence of the Keystones' pair of greybeards: 42-year-old Lynwood Trease and 36-year-old Zebulon Banks. Both were "originals" from the first season of the Century League back in '76 and both continued to hit at an elite level. Trease hit .339 and played 120 of his team's 139 games while player-manager Banks hit .308 and played in every game for the third straight season. Their club also won the pennant with a 94-38 mark - thanks to the merger with the Peerless League's Philadelphia Maroons, they now had a stellar centerfielder named Fred Roby who led the league in hitting at .360, played great defense and stole 60 bases. And unlike Trease & Banks, he was a young man at 25 years of age.
The New York Gothams had taken their own infusion of talent from the PL's Imperials and finished second, 14 games back. They probably wished they hadn't traded Trease to Philadelphia before the season started. The Chiefs were third with a 68-66 mark as only three clubs were above .500 on the year. The Eagles (66-68), Dynamos (65-69), Brahmins (59-74), Miners (54-79) and St. Louis (46-86) rounded out the Federal Association standings.
The Continental Association champions were the Chicago Cougars. The club created for spite a few years earlier had grown into a true powerhouse with the best pitcher in baseball. His unlikely name was Allan Allen and his nickname was "Double Al" and though he had gone almost unnoticed outside Chicago in his first two seasons of 1890 & 91, he caught everyone's attention in '92. Allen led both leagues in ERA and victories (1.66 and 32, respectively) and though he didn't strike many out, he didn't walk many either. His philosophy boiled down to getting the hitter to make poor contact where his sure-handed fielders (by the standards of the time) could put them out on the bases. The fact that the Cougars also found another star pitcher - Ohio-born Jack Johnson (30-9, 1.96, league-leading 199 Ks) made them extremely difficult to score against. When coupled with an offense that led FABL in runs scored, this meant the Cougars were not a team anyone wanted to face.
Brooklyn finished second with Jacob Grey coming into his own with a CA-best .352 average. Philadelphia was third - they had one great hitter (Peter Hackett, .332) and an all-around average team otherwise, but that was good enough for the Sailors in 1892. The Stars, who had been third most of the year, took a late tumble into fourth with a 68-62 record. Baltimore (61-72), Montreal (58-73), Toronto (53-74) and Cleveland (44-91) rounded out the Continental standings.
At the League Meetings, Whitney - now a member of the FABL's governing Commission - put forth his proposal for a postseason Championship series between the FA and CA pennant-winners. His proposal was a best-of-seven series, with the pennant-winning teams splitting 90% of the proceeds and the other 10% going in an even split to the non-participating teams. The leagues would alternate "home field advantage" - or the extra home game in monetary terms - but with an even split, the money was secondary. After some back and forth debate, the proposal was accepted and FABL would have it's first World Championship Series the following fall.
Federal Association
Code:
Team W L WPct GB R RA
Philadelphia Keystones 94 38 .712 - 759 451
New York Gothams 81 53 .604 14 713 551
Chicago Chiefs 68 66 .507 27 533 525
Washington Eagles 66 68 .493 29 623 646
Detroit Dynamos 65 69 .485 30 563 589
Boston Brahmins 59 74 .444 35½ 627 747
Pittsburgh Miners 54 79 .406 40½ 610 682
St. Louis Pioneers 46 86 .348 48 506 743
Continental Association
Code:
Team W L WPct GB R RA
Chicago Cougars 96 40 .706 - 792 493
Brooklyn Kings 79 57 .581 17 713 578
Philadelphia Sailors 72 62 .537 23 609 595
New York Stars 68 62 .523 25 701 616
Baltimore Clippers 61 72 .459 33½ 660 721
Montreal Saints 58 73 .443 35½ 523 621
Toronto Provincials 53 74 .417 38½ 476 663
Cleveland Foresters 44 91 .326 51½ 542 729