1994 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1994 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1994 in baseball.

1994 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 3, 1994 – August 11, 1994
Regular season
Season MVP	NL: Jeff Bagwell (HOU) AL: Frank Thomas (CHW)

A ticket for the 1994 Opening Day game between the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs.

The 1994 Major League Baseball season ended on August 11, 1994 with the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike. It was the first season played under the current three-division format in each league. It was also the first with an Opening Night game involving two National League teams, which did not become permanent until 1996.

Strike

Main article: 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike

As a result of a players’ strike, the MLB season ended prematurely on August 11, 1994. No postseason (including the World Series) was played. Minor League Baseball was not affected. Over 260 players were scheduled to exceed $1 million in compensation in 1994.^[1]

Awards and honors

Most Valuable Player
- Frank Thomas, Chicago White Sox (AL)
- Jeff Bagwell, Houston Astros (NL)
Cy Young Award
- David Cone, Kansas City Royals (AL)
- Greg Maddux, Atlanta Braves (NL)
Rookie of the Year
- Bob Hamelin, Kansas City Royals (AL)
- Raúl Mondesí, Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)
Manager of the Year Award
- Buck Showalter, New York Yankees (AL)
- Felipe Alou, Montreal Expos (NL)

Statistical leaders

	American League		National League
Type	Name	Stat	Name	Stat
AVG	Paul O'Neill NYY	.359	Tony Gwynn SD	.394
HR	Ken Griffey, Jr. SEA	40	Matt Williams SF	43
RBI	Kirby Puckett MIN	112	Jeff Bagwell HOU	116
Wins	Jimmy Key NYY	17	Ken Hill MTL Greg Maddux ATL	16
ERA	Steve Ontiveros OAK	2.65	Greg Maddux ATL	1.56
SO	Randy Johnson SEA	204	Andy Benes SD	189
SV	Lee Smith BAL	33	John Franco NYM	30
SB	Kenny Lofton CLE	60	Craig Biggio HOU	39

Major league baseball final standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	70	43	0.619	—	33–24	37–19
Baltimore Orioles	63	49	0.562	6½	28–27	35–22
Toronto Blue Jays	55	60	0.478	16	33–26	22–34
Boston Red Sox	54	61	0.470	17	31–33	23–28
Detroit Tigers	53	62	0.461	18	34–24	19–38

AL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago White Sox	67	46	0.593	—	34–19	33–27
Cleveland Indians	66	47	0.584	1	35–16	31–31
Kansas City Royals	64	51	0.557	4	35–24	29–27
Minnesota Twins	53	60	0.469	14	32–27	21–33
Milwaukee Brewers	53	62	0.461	15	24–32	29–30

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Texas Rangers	52	62	0.456	—	31–32	21–30
Oakland Athletics	51	63	0.447	1	24–32	27–31
Seattle Mariners	49	63	0.438	2	22–22	27–41
California Angels	47	68	0.409	5½	23–40	24–28

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Montreal Expos	74	40	0.649	—	32–20	42–20
Atlanta Braves	68	46	0.596	6	31–24	37–22
New York Mets	55	58	0.487	18½	23–30	32–28
Philadelphia Phillies	54	61	0.470	20½	34–26	20–35
Florida Marlins	51	64	0.443	23½	25–34	26–30

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	66	48	0.579	—	37–22	29–26
Houston Astros	66	49	0.574	½	37–22	29–27
Pittsburgh Pirates	53	61	0.465	13	32–29	21–32
St. Louis Cardinals	53	61	0.465	13	23–33	30–28
Chicago Cubs	49	64	0.434	16½	20–39	29–25

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	58	56	0.509	—	33–22	25–34
San Francisco Giants	55	60	0.478	3½	29–31	26–29
Colorado Rockies	53	64	0.453	6½	25–32	28–32
San Diego Padres	47	70	0.402	12½	26–31	21–39

On September 14, the remainder of the major league season was canceled by acting commissioner Bud Selig after 34 days of the players' strike.

Events

January 12 – Steve Carlton is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, receiving almost 96% of the vote. Orlando Cepeda falls seven votes short of the 75% required for election.
February 7 – Basketball superstar Michael Jordan signs a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox. He is invited to spring training with the team as a non-roster player.
February 25 – The Veterans Committee elects Phil Rizzuto and Leo Durocher to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
April 1–3 – BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia hosted an exhibition tournament with the Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, Toronto Blue Jays, and the Montreal Expos participating.^[2]
April 4 – At Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs outfielder Tuffy Rhodes blasts three home runs on Opening Day, defeating New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden. Rhodes becomes the first player in major league history to hit home runs in his first three at-bats of the season. In spite of Rhodes' unexpected home run barrage, the Cubs lose the game, 12–8.
April 8 – Kent Mercker of the Atlanta Braves pitches a 6–0 no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, striking out 10 in the process. For Mercker, it is his first complete game in the Major Leagues. In the first half of the ninth inning, Chan Ho Park comes on to pitch for the Dodgers, becoming the first Korean player to appear in a Major League game.^[3]
July 12 – Moisés Alou's double in the 10th inning gives the National League an 8–7 victory over the American League in the All-Star Game. The NL is now a perfect 9–0 in extra-inning contests. John Hudek of the Houston Astros becomes the first pitcher in major league history to appear in an All-Star Game before recording a major league victory. Fred McGriff, whose two-run home run in the 9th inning tied the score, takes MVP honors.
July 28 – Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers throws the fourteenth perfect game in Major League history.
August 11 – The final games of the Major League season are played on this date. The next day, the players' strike begins. Minor League Baseball games are not affected.
September 14 – The remainder of the major league season (along with the postseason) is canceled by acting commissioner Bud Selig after 34 days of the players' strike. There will be no World Series for the first time since 1904.

Movies

The following are baseball movies released in 1994:

Major League II
Little Big League
Angels in the Outfield
Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns (TV documentary)
The Scout
Cobb

Deaths

January 8 – Harvey Haddix, 68, All-Star pitcher best remembered for a 1959 game with the Pirates in which he threw 12 perfect innings before losing in the 13th; won 20 games for 1953 Cardinals and earned three Gold Gloves. Member of 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates, who won the World Series.
January 9 – Johnny Temple, 66, All-Star second baseman, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds, who batted .300 three times
January 10 – Chub Feeney, 72, National League president from 1970 to 1986
February 12 – Ray Dandridge, 80, Hall of Fame third baseman of the Negro Leagues who often batted over .350
March 16 – Eric Show, 37, pitcher who won 100 games for the San Diego Padres and surrendered Pete Rose's record 4,192nd hit
May 9 – Ralph Brickner, 69, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in the 1950s
June 12 – Jim Brock, 57, coach at Arizona State since 1972 who led the school to two College World Series titles
June 23 – Marv Throneberry, 62, first baseman for the Yankees, Orioles, Mets, and Kansas City A's
July 14 – César Tovar, 54, outfielder for the Minnesota Twins who in 1968 became the second major leaguer to play all nine positions in a game; had his team's only hit on five occasions
September 5 – Hank Aguirre, 63, All-Star pitcher who led AL in ERA in 1962 with the Detroit Tigers
December 26 – Allie Reynolds, 77, 6-time All-Star pitcher, mainly with the Yankees, who led AL in ERA in 1952 and in strikeouts and shutouts twice; in 1951 was first AL pitcher to throw two no-hitters in same year, and was MVP runnerup in 1952; career .630 winning percentage

References

↑ "Baseball's millionaires". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. August 14, 1994. p. B-5.
↑ "Baseball in B.C. Place: a thing of the past?". Vancouver Courier. August 18, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
↑ Box Score of Kent Mercker No Hitter Baseball Almanac. Retrieved on May 18, 2015.

1994 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Detroit New York Toronto

AL Central	Chicago Cleveland Kansas City Milwaukee Minnesota

AL West	California Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Atlanta Florida Montréal New York Philadelphia

NL Central	Chicago Cincinnati Houston Pittsburgh St. Louis

NL West	Colorado Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

Major League Baseball seasons

Pre-modern era

Beginnings	1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881

Competition	1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891

NL monopoly	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900

Modern era

Deadball era	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920

Liveball era	1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941

World War II	1942 1943 1944 1945

Postwar	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960

First expansion	1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968

Birth of division play	1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993

Wildcard begins	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Wildcard expansion	2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017