60 feet 6 inches, that is how far they put the mound from the plate in 1893 and that is where it has stayed ever since.  Sure, they have lowered it and raised it but the distance is still the same.  This season they also did away with the pitchers box and put in a white rubber plate 12 inches long and 4 inches wide.  Rule changes were brought into being for pitchers that are still in effect to this day. The game had brought its pitchers into the modern era.

The split season was done, thank goodness, so that now for this season the NL Pennant winner was the NL Champion.  At the end of this season that would again change.... in a way that Baseball to this day must wonder what those in charge were thinking.

More pieces of the puzzle were coming together for the Orioles this year with the arrival of several more players who were to make Baltimore the terror of the NL  But, the growing pains were still working themselves out as Ned Hanlon led the Orioles at Union Park.  The Orioles went 60-70 .462 -26.5 in 8th out of 12 places in the NL. 

The Orioles this year had the following record against the rest of the NL:

Boston 2-10, Pittsburgh 1-11, Cleveland 8-4, Philadelphia 5-7, New York 4-8, Brooklyn 10-2, Cincinnati 4-8, Chicago 5-7, St. Louis 9-3, Louisville 5-5 and Washington 7-5.  So, while the Orioles could clearly compete with the league as a whole they were creamed by Boston and Pittsburgh the two best teams of the NL.

The Orioles as a team hit .275 which was 7th in the League and the team ERA was 4.97 which was 10th.  The hightlight of 1893 was on August 16th when Bill Hawke no hit the Washington Nationals 5-0.

Wilbert Robinson led the team with a .334 BA.  Heinie Reitz 2b led the team with 130 G, 76 RBI (tied with Joe Kelley CF), Joe Kelley CF also led the team with 9 HR, 16 3B, 27 2B, and a .476 SA.  John McGraw SS was the O's leader with 154 H, 101 BB and 38 SB.  Billy Shindle 3b led the club with 521 AB.

On the pitching side Sadie McMahon continued to be the team ace leading the team in W and L with 23-18, 79 Ks, 40 GS, 346.3 IP, 43 G, 4.37 ERA.  Billy Hawke's no-hitter was the only shutout this year for the Orioles.

While not a good year this was the turning point for the Orioles. In the spring the final pieces would show up for the Orioles, especially in the persons of Willie Keeler, Hughie Jennings and Dan Brouthers who would help the Birds to soar.

But, in the meantime the Oriole fans had no idea of what was about to happen and the NL was unaware at what was about to be unleashed upon them.  But, they were about to experience something never seen before in baseball. This team  would beat you in any way possible  through hitting, fielding, pitching, great base running, agressiveness not only in play but in all ways pertaining to the game, bullying, breaking rules, using rules to create runs, badgering umpires into submission, intimidating the opposition and just plain running roughshod over the rest of the League in any way possible with no mercy given to anyone. Yes, the NL was about to be sacked, rampaged and pillaged by a team of rough and colorful characters who together would become a legend that to this day draws respect and awe from fans who know their baseball history. 

Many rules would come into effect to counter the Orioles and their brilliant innovations.  Umpires would experience fear, opposing teams would be intimidated or get so angry they would blow plays and the Baltimore fans would have the times of their lives watching the Birds lay ruin rest of the League.  But, who would have known that as winter set in during late 1893 and people sat around the Hot Stove talking about baseball.