Existing comment:
The Temple Cup
Created by Pittsburgh Pirates president William Chase Temple during the years when the National League was the only professional baseball league, the Temple Cup series attempted to capture some of the post-season excitement generated by previous World Series matchups. The Temple Cup trophy was awarded to the winner of a best of seven, post-season series between the first and second place teams. The 1894 Temple Cup series featured the pennant-winning Baltimore Orioles and second place New York Giants who swept the birds, earning them the Cup and this musical tribute [image 1]. The Baltimore Orioles received their own team anthem, "Our Orioles March," [image 2] despite their loss to the New York Giants in the Temple Cup. It was, in fact, the second place teams that won three of the four series titles from 1894 to 1897, results that seemed to undermine the regular season's outcome and created an aura of artificiality to the post-season event. By 1897, the series folded due to lack of interest. Temple's family later sold the trophy to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, where it remains today. |