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Major League Baseball
in
1902
Includes summary, standings, rosters,
chronology and leaderboards
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SUMMARY
The N.L. -- Another year of war with the American League brought an element of battle fatigue to the National League in 1902. A three-man Executive Committee, chaired by John T. Brush, directed the war effort during the season, chalking up its greatest triumph when it purchased the Baltimore American League team and sabotaged it by releasing its better players to sign National League contracts ....
A hollow victory was won when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules that Nap Lajoie, Bill Bernhard, and Chick Fraser had to leave the Philadelphia Athletics to return to the rival Phillies, to whom they were bound by the reserve clause. Fraser returned, but Lajoie and Bernhard evaded the court order by joining the Cleveland American team and keeping out of Pennsylvania all season. In addition to not retaining these two, the Phillies lost Elmer Flick, Ed Delahanty, Red Donahue and Al Orth to further American League raids. Outside of Pennsylvania, state courts generally ruled against the reserve clause and, thus, in favor of the new loop.
The Pittsburgh Pirates managed to avoid any losses to the American League's raiding tactics for the second consecutive year, and the strong Buc squad trounced all the weakened competition in waltzing to a repeat championship by a margin of 27 1/2 games over distant runner-up Brooklyn. The Pirate total of 103 wins topped any team's record in the 27-year history of the league .... League batting champion Ginger Beaumont, manager Fred Clarke, and Honus Wagner all swung hot bats through the year, and Jack Chesbro, Jesse Tannehill, and Deacon Phillippe gave the Bucs three 20-win aces, with Chesbro's 28 wins topping the league's hurlers. In addition, third sacker Tommy Leach led the circuit in home runs with six clouts.
Brooklyn's second-place finish was due in good measure to Willie Keeler's .338 batting and good pitching by Frank Kitson and Wild Bill Donovan. After losing its entire offense and top pitchers to the new league in two years, Philadelphia dropped into seventh place. The New York Giants got off to a dismal start, and even the infusion of Baltimore talent could not stop a basement finish; nevertheless, new manager John McGraw, Joe McGinnity, Roger Bresnahan, and Don McGann would all serve the Giants well in the years to come.
....Events followed each other rapidly after the conclusion of the playing season. New raids by the American League stripped Brooklyn of Wee Willie Keeler, Frank Kitson, and Wild Bill Donovan, relieved Pittsburgh of Jesse Tannehill and Jack Chesbro, and took Sam Crawford off Cincinnati's hands. The controlling ownership of the New York Giants was pirchased by John T. Brush, and his position as head of the Executive Committee was rendered obsolete by the election of Harry Pulliam of Pittsburgh as President of the National League in December.
The A.L. -- Midway through its second season, the American League found its Baltimore outpost in the hands of the enemy, making the completion of the loop schedule a muddy issue. Baltimore manager John McGraw was constantly running afoul of League President Ban Johnson. Several times during the 1901 and 1902 seasons he was suspended by Johnson for harassing the league umpires and when the Little Napoleon continued his arbiter-baiting, Johnson dry-docked him indefinitely in July. McGraw decided not to take such treatment lying down and started negotiations which resulted in the Orioles being bought by John T. Brush, Chairman of the National League Executive Committee. With the enemy within its walls, the American League suffered a severe body blow; the new owner released McGraw, Joe McGinnity, Roger Bresnahan, Dan McGann, Cy Seymour, Joe Kelley, and Jack Cronin to sign with the National League clubs, leaving Baltimore with a skeleton crew. When, on July 17, the Orioles could not field a team to meet St. Louis, Johnson used a league regulation to revoke the Baltimore franchise. He planned to operate the team for the rest of the season on league funds, arranged for each team to contribute players to stock the sabotaged team, and appointed local hero Wilbert Robinson to manage the reconstructed squad. The Orioles finished last, but that they finished the schedule at all represented a triumph of American League resiliency and solidarity....
St. Louis replaced Milwaukee in the 1902 circuit, and the new club raided the St. Louis Cardinals, of the old league, for several top players, luring Jesse Burkett, Bobby Wallace, Dick Padden, Snags Heidrick, Jack Harper, and Jack Powell into its fold. St. Louis represented the fourth city in which the two leagues both fielded teams and, in every instance, the new team outdrew the National League team. High salaries continued to induce stars to join the American League teams....
Connie Mack won his first pennant by directing the Athletics to a good second half, which gave them the championship over the new St. Louis Browns. Even with the loss of Lajoie, Mack could field a hard-hitting lineup led by third baseman Lave Cross, and rightfielder Socks Seybold; six .300 hitters dotted the Athletics scorecard, making Lajoie's loss less noticeable. The pitching staff survived the loss of Bernhard when Mack purchased lefty Rube Waddell in May from Los Angeles of the California League. Daffy to a fault and colorful to an extreme, the brash Waddell used a blazing fastball to post a 24-7 season mark with a league-leading 210 strikeouts. Steady Eddie Plank developed into a star in his second season by chalking up 20 victories. St. Louis, Boston and Chicago pursued hotly but could not catch the stretch-running A's. Washington's Ed Delahanty led all batters with a .376 average, while Cy Young of Boston again paced the pitchers with 32 wins.
At the season's end, the Baltimore situation was settled by transferring the franchise to New York, where players for the new squad were pirated from the senior loop. This move, along with the other calamities during the season, convinced the National League [that] peace was cheaper than war and in January 1903 the National League proposed to sit down and talk to the American League. The senior circuit first proposed a merger, which Johnson wisely refused. After many words and abandoned strategies, the final treaty recognized both leagues as majors, agreed to respect the contracts and reserve clauses of all teams, and allowed the American League to keep practically all the players it had corralled from the National League. When the negotiations were over, the senior circuit was not certain what it had won, but only that it had neutralized the enemy. And that was a victory.
--David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen, Michael L. Neft
The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball (22nd ed.)
 The Chicago Daily News coins the nickname "Cubs" for the Chicago NL team.
Pittsburgh's Jack Chesbro leads the NL in wins (28) and winning percentage (.824). He sets a record with 41 consecutive scoreless innings.
Vic Willis of the Boston Beaneaters sets the modern NL record for complete games with 45 and leads the senior circuit in saves with three.
Jack Taylor of the second-division Cubs leads the NL in ERA (1.33) and posts a dazzling 23-11 record.
Cy Young again leads the AL in wins with 32.
Philly's Rube Waddell goes 24-7 and leads the AL in K's with 210.
Cleveland rookie Addie Joss tops the AL with five shutouts.
Detroit's Ed Siever tops the AL in ERA (1.91) and becomes the first ERA leader with a below .500 winning percentage.
Pittsburgh's Tommy Leach leads the NL with six homers, fewest by a leader in the 20th century.
Washington's Ed Delahanty wins the AL batting title (.376) after winning the NL title in 1899.
Honus Wagner leads the NL in runs (105), doubles (30), SA (.463) and steals (42).
Baltimore's Jimmy Williams again tops the AL in triples with 21.
Pirate Ginger Beaumont leads the NL in batting (.357) and hits (193).
Philly's Socks Seybold leads the AL with 16 homers.
Cleveland's Piano Legs Hickman leads the AL in hits (193) and total bases (289).
Pittsburgh and Brooklyn lead the NL with 19 homers; every AL team but Chicago has more.
George Davis of the White Sox has a .951 fielding average, a new record for shortstops. Davis is also the first switch-hitter to collect 2,000 hits.
In his AL debut, Danny Murphy of the A's goes 6-for-6 against Cy Young.
Cubs Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance first play together in a September 15 game.
The Pirates are 56-15 at home, the best home record ever in the NL.
Jack and Mike O'Neill of the Cardinals form the NL's first brother battery.
White Sox Sam Mertes plays all nine positions during the season.
CHRONOLOGY
1.4--Boston Beaneater pitcher Bill Dinneen defects to Boston's AL Franchise, the Somersets.
1.26--Chick Stahl's former girlfriend is arrested in Ft. Wayne, IN and charged with attempting to murder the Boston Somersets outfielder.
3.12--Cincinnati outfielder "Turkey Mike" Donlin is arrested for assaulting actress Minnie Fields. He will plead guilty and serve a six-month sentence.
4.3--Club owners John T. Brush, James Hart and Arthur Soden are named to an interim committee that will, for all intents and purposes, run the NL.
4.17--In the first game ever played at Cincinnati's Palace of the Fans ballpark, the Reds lose to Chicago 6-1.
4.19--In his ML debut with Cincinnati, RHP Bob Ewing ties a NL record when he walks seven batters in a single inning.
4.21--The Pennsylvania Supreme Court grants a permanent injunction which prohibits Nap Lajoie, Chick Fraser and Bill Bernhard from playing for any team other than the Phillies. The three had previously jumped to the Philadelphia Athletics. The decision reverses a lower court ruling.
4.23--St. Louis Cardinals owner Frank D. Robinson proffers a wager of $10,000 that the Pittsburgh Pirates will not repeat as NL champs. The Pittsburgh players pool their resources and accept the wager. (The Pirates will go on to win the 1902 NL pennant.)
4,26--Cleveland's Addie Joss pitches a one-hitter in his ML debut, a 3-0 victory over the Browns.
4.28--Jimmy Sheckard is the first player to leave the AL and return to the NL when he abandons the Baltimore Orioles and returns to his former team (Brooklyn Superbas).
5.1--New York Giants pitcher Christy Mathewson not only notches his second shutout of the season, but also hits his first ML home run.
5.7--Pitcher Jack Taylor leads the Chicago Cubs to a 4-0 win over the New York Giants. But, following a New York protest that Taylor pitched in front of the rubber, the game will eventually be ruled invalid.
5.8--Chicago defeats the Giants 10-8, but at the urging of Cubs manager Frank Selee the distance from the mound to home plate is measured and found to be fifteen inches short. The games of 5.7 and 5.8 will be replayed at a future date.
5.16--For the first time in the ML, two deaf-mute hurlers, Cincinnati's Dummy Hoy and Dummy Taylor of the Giants, compete in the same game. (The Reds win, 5-3.)
5.22--New York Giants star George Van Haltren snaps a bone in his ankle while attempting to steal a base and will not play again this season.
5.23--Cleveland financier Charlies Somers offers Nap Lajoie a four-year contract at $7,000/year to play for the Cleveland Bronchos. (Next year, Cleveland fans will rename the team the Naps in honor of Lajoie.)
5.24--Cleveland third baseman Bill Bradley becomes the first AL player to hit a homer in four consecutive games. (Babe Ruth will match this feat in 1918.)
6.2--Cleveland commits six errors in one inning during a 14-1 drubbing administered by the Baltimore Orioles. It's the most errors in an inning by any club in the 20th century.
6.2--Heinie Smith takes over as skipper of the New York Giants when Horace Fogel is fired. Six weeks later, John McGraw becomes manager and Smith returns to being a full-time player.
6.3--Mike O'Neill of the Cardinals hits the first-ever grand slam by a pitcher in the majors, an inside-the-park homer at the expense of Boston's Togie Pittinger.
6.10--Cardinals shortstop and future Hall-of-Famer Bobby Wallace handles 17 chances in a nine inning game, setting an AL record.
6.11--Connie Mack plucks Rube Waddell out of the Pacific League, and Waddell will go 24-7 for the Athletics this year.
6.15--Corsicana of the Texas League hands Texarkana a 51-3 drubbing in which Nig Clarke goes 8-for-8, with all eight hits being home runs. Clarke collects 16 RBIs and 32 total bases -- records in organized baseball. The game is immortalized in "The Man Who Stole First Base" by Eric Nadel and Craig Wright.
6.25--A federal judge rules against the Phillies, who have tried to prevent Nap Lajoie from playing for Cleveland.
6.30--New York Giants outfielder Jim Jones throws out three baserunners at home, a ML record set by Dummy Hoy in 1889, and one that will be tied in 1905.
6.30--Cleveland becomes the first AL team with three consecutive homers in a single inning. Nap Lajoie, Piano Legs Hickman and Bill Bradley go deep against St. Louis hurler Jack Harper in the 6th. Cleveland wins the game 17-2.
7.1--In winning his first game for the Athletics, defeating Baltimore 2-0, Rube Waddell strikes out the side three times, in the 3rd, 6th and 9th innings, facing the same three batters -- Billy Gilbert, Harry Howell and John Cronin -- each time.
7.6--Corsicana of the Texas League wins its 27th game in a row and will finish the season with a 57-9 mark.
7.8--John McGraw accuses Ban Johnson of trying to destroy the Baltimore club, negotiates his release, and signs on with the New York Giants as manager.
7.8--Rookie second baseman Danny Murphy has a memorable debut with the Athletics as he goes 6-for-6 (including a grand slam against Cy Young) as Philadelphia defeats Boston 22-9.
7.11--Cincinnati manager Bid McPhee resigns and is replaced by Frank Bancroft.
7.16--New York Giants owner Andrew Freedman, having purchased a controlling interest in the Baltimore Orioles, releases Roger Bresnahan, Dan McGann and Jack Cronin, who sign with New York. Mike Donlin, Joe Kelley and Cy Seymour are also released and go to Cincinnati.
7.17--Ban Johnson has the decimated Orioles club transfused with players from other AL teams, and the takes over the operation of the Baltimore franchise for the remainder of the season.
7.19--The Giants lose their first game under new manager John McGraw and will finish the year in last place.
7.25--Cincinnati's Cy Seymour hits four sac flies -- a ML record -- as the Reds defeat Chicago 6-1.
8.13--Pittsburgh's Honus Wagner steals first, second and home in the 7th inning of a game in Boston -- a feat he had accomplished once before, in 1899.
8.14--Tommy Leach hits two of his league-leading six homers, in a game in Boston. (There will be only 99 home runs hit in the NL this year.)
8.16--The Athletics beat Chicago 2-1 and move into first place in the NL, where they will remain the rest of the season.
8.18--The first unassisted triple play recorded in a professional game is credited to first baseman Hal O'Hagan of the International League's Rochester Broncos.
8.19--Baltimore outfielder Albert Selbach commits four errors, an AL record that will be tied by Fred Nicholson of the Boston Braves in 1922.
8.25--Ban Johnson announces that the AL's Baltimore franchise will be moved to New York for the 1903 season.
8.26--Christy Mathewson notches his seventh shutout of the year as the New York Giants beat Cincinnati 6-0.
8.31--Cy Young and Addie Joss square off in a game at Jailhouse Flats. Boston beats Cleveland 3-1.
9.4--Chicago Orphans rookie Alex Hardy becomes the first pitcher in the 20th century to toss a shutout in his first game -- a 1-0 victory over Brooklyn.
9.4--Dave Fultz steals second, third and home as his Philadelphia Athletics pummel Detroit 13-3.
9.6--Cy Young gets his 30th win of the year as Boston beats St. Louis 6-5.
9.9--John T. Brush sells the Cincinnati Reds to Julius and Max Fleischmann, George Cox and August Herrmann for $150,000 -- then buys a controlling interest in the New York Giants.
9.10--Rube Waddell of the Philadelphia Athletics pitches eight innings of relief in the first game of a doubleheader and then two innings in the nightcap.
9.13--Tinkers, Evers and Chance play for the first time as shortstop, second baseman and first baseman for Chicago. They'll turn their first double play in a September 15 win over Cincinnati.
9.20--Nixey Callahan of the Chicago White Stockings pitches a no-hitter in a 3-0 win over Detroit.
9.29--The Boston Somersets defeat Baltimore in the last game to be played in Baltimore's Oriole Park.
9.29--Socks Seybold's sixteen home runs tops the AL and will be the highest total recorded until Babe Ruth's 29 in 1919.
10.4--When Pittsburgh owner Barney Dreyfuss insists on playing a game despite soggy field conditions, Cincinnati fields its team with position players pitching and pitcher Rube Vickers catching -- or trying to. Vickers sets a modern ML record with six passed balls. Dreyfuss is forced to placate angry fans by refunding their money.
12.9--The AL announces the purchase of land for a stadium in New York.
12.10--The NL says it desires to make peace with the AL.
12.12--Harry Pulliam becomes president of the NL.
Thomas High in OBP
The mystery surrounding Roy Thomas that may never be satisfactorily answered centers on the frequency with which opposing pitchers walked him: The league's leader in bases on balls seven out of 13 years, Thomas totaled 1,042 walks. His on-base percentage in 1902 (best in the National League) topped his slugging percentage by nearly 100 points.
 George Davis
Davis Hits a Record
Many historians believe that George Davis is unequivocally the best player not in the Hall of Fame. After reaching the 2,000-hit mark in 1902 -- a record for switch-hitters -- Davis went on to collect over 600 more (Pete Rose surpassed his 2,660-career hit record in 1976). Davis excelled at every phase of the game and still holds the marks for both the most triples (27, in 1893) and the most RBI (134, in 1897) in a season by a switch-hitter. Like Rose, Davis was extremely versatile defensively. Rose began as a second baseman before moving to the outfield and then to third; Davis started as an outfielder before moving to third and then to short.
Tinker Makes His Debut
After starring for Portland in the Pacific Northwest league the previous year, Joe Tinker took over the Cubs' [Orphans'] shortstop post in 1902 to lead the National League in both assists and errors. One of the immortal trio (Johnny Evers and Frank Chance were the other two), he gave the Bruins the most service -- 11 full seasons as a regular before he joined the Reds in 1913.
--The Baseball Chronicle
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