- Temple Cup
The Temple Cup was a
trophy awarded to the winner of a best-of-seven, post-seasonMajor League Baseball championship series that was conducted for four seasons in theNational League , from 1894-1897. The Temple Cup was also known as the "World's Championship Series". If one team won three titles, that team would have possession of the trophy in perpetuity. The idea failed to gain fan support, partly because the second place team won three of the four series.The 30-inch-high silver cup was donated by coal, citrus, and
lumber baron William Chase Temple , the owner of thePittsburgh Pirates at the time. There was only one major league at the time, so the Series was played between the first- and second-place teams. [http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/history/2005/050520.htm]The revenue was to be split 65% to 35%; however, the players of the first series (1894) decided to evenly split the money. However, after the series the Giants cheated some Oriole players out of their money, tainting the Cup and prompting Temple to sell the Pirates in disgust.
Interest in the Series faded quickly, as it seemed artificial, with the second-place team winning three of the four series. It would be nearly 100 years before a non-first place team would be allowed to participate in a baseball post-season series, with the introduction of the wild card qualifiers in 1995.
In 1939, the Cup itself was tracked down by
The Sporting News . It was in the possession of a Temple family member in Florida. The Cup was displayed at the1939 New York World's Fair . The Temple family sold the Cup for $750 to theNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum , where it resides today.Summary of Temple Cup Series:
*1894: Baltimore 1st, New York 2nd - New York won Series, 4 games to 0
*1895: Baltimore 1st, Cleveland 2nd - Cleveland won Series, 4 games to 1
*1896: Baltimore 1st, Cleveland 2nd - Baltimore won Series, 4 games to 0
*1897: Boston 1st , Baltimore 2nd - Baltimore won Series, 4 games to 1References
*"Glory Fades Away", by Jerry Lansche, 1991, Taylor Publishing, ISBN 0-87833-726-1
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/submit/Ceresi_Frank1.stm The Temple Cup Championship Games by Frank Ceresi BaseballLibrary.com]
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