1902 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1902 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1902 in baseball.

1902 MLB season
League	American League (AL) National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 19 – September 29, 1902 (AL) April 17 – October 5, 1902 (NL)
Games	140
Teams	16 (8 per league)
Pennant winners
AL champions	Philadelphia Athletics
AL runners-up	St. Louis Browns
NL champions	Pittsburgh Pirates
NL runners-up	Brooklyn Superbas
MLB seasons
← 1901 1903 →

Orioles

Americans

White Stockings

Bronchos

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1902 American League season
American League

Beaneaters

Superbas

Orphans

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1902 National League season
National League

The 1902 major league baseball season was contested from April 17 through October 5, 1902. It was the second season for the American League (AL), with the Philadelphia Athletics winning the AL pennant. In the National League (NL), in operation since 1876, the Pittsburgh Pirates won the NL pennant for the second consecutive season. There was no postseason.

Prior to the season, the Milwaukee Brewers moved and became the St. Louis Browns; the franchise would remain in St. Louis through 1953, and in 1954 moved again to become the modern Baltimore Orioles. This season would be the last of this season's Baltimore Orioles, who would fold following the conclusion of the season. The Cleveland Blues renamed as the Cleveland Bronchos.

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1902 schedule consisted of 140 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 20 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place for the 1901 season. This format would last until 1904, which saw an increase of games played.

National League Opening Day took place on April 17 with every team playing, while American League Opening Day did not take place until April 19, with a one-off game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Americans, with the rest of the season beginning April 23. The American League would see its final day of the season on September 29, while the National League would see its final day of the season on October 5.

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager [1]
American League	Baltimore Orioles	Baltimore, Maryland	Oriole Park	Unknown	John McGraw
					Wilbert Robinson
	Boston Americans	Boston, Massachusetts	Huntington Avenue Grounds	11,500	Jimmy Collins
	Chicago White Stockings	Chicago, Illinois	South Side Park	14,000	Clark Griffith
	Cleveland Bronchos	Cleveland, Ohio	League Park (Cleveland)	9,000	Bill Armour
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Bennett Park	8,500	Frank Dwyer
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Columbia Park	9,500	Connie Mack
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	8,000	Jimmy McAleer
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	American League Park	7,000	Tom Loftus
National League	Boston Beaneaters	Boston, Massachusetts	South End Grounds	6,600	Al Buckenberger
	Brooklyn Superbas	New York, New York	Washington Park	12,000	Ned Hanlon
	Chicago Orphans	Chicago, Illinois	West Side Park	13,000	Frank Selee
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	Palace of the Fans	12,000	Bid McPhee
					Frank Bancroft
					Joe Kelley
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	16,000	Horace Fogel
					Heinie Smith
					John McGraw
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	National League Park	18,000	Bill Shettsline
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Allegheny, Pennsylvania [A]	Exposition Park	16,000	Fred Clarke
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	League Park (St. Louis)	15,200	Patsy Donovan

Sunday games

Blue laws restricted Sunday activities in several localities, causing several teams to play at ballparks in a different locality.

Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Games played
Cleveland Bronchos [2]	Dayton, Ohio	Fairview Park	Unknown	1
	Fort Wayne, Indiana	Jail Flats	Unknown	2
	Canton, Ohio	Mahaffey Park	Unknown	1
	Columbus, Ohio	Neil Park	6,000	1
Detroit Tigers [3]	Springwells Township, Michigan [B]	Burns Park	3,700 [4]	10

1. ^
   In today's Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
2. ^
   In today's Detroit, Michigan.

Standings

American League

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Athletics	83	53	.610	—	56‍–‍17	27‍–‍36
St. Louis Browns	78	58	.574	5	49‍–‍21	29‍–‍37
Boston Americans	77	60	.562	6½	43‍–‍27	34‍–‍33
Chicago White Stockings	74	60	.552	8	48‍–‍20	26‍–‍40
Cleveland Bronchos	69	67	.507	14	40‍–‍25	29‍–‍42
Washington Senators	61	75	.449	22	40‍–‍28	21‍–‍47
Detroit Tigers	52	83	.385	30½	34‍–‍33	18‍–‍50
Baltimore Orioles	50	88	.362	34	32‍–‍31	18‍–‍57

National League

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Pittsburgh Pirates	103	36	.741	—	56‍–‍15	47‍–‍21
Brooklyn Superbas	75	63	.543	27½	45‍–‍23	30‍–‍40
Boston Beaneaters	73	64	.533	29	42‍–‍27	31‍–‍37
Cincinnati Reds	70	70	.500	33½	35‍–‍35	35‍–‍35
Chicago Orphans	68	69	.496	34	31‍–‍38	37‍–‍31
St. Louis Cardinals	56	78	.418	44½	28‍–‍38	28‍–‍40
Philadelphia Phillies	56	81	.409	46	29‍–‍39	27‍–‍42
New York Giants	48	88	.353	53½	24‍–‍44	24‍–‍44

Tie games

23 tie games (8 in AL, 15 in NL), which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again), occurred throughout the season.

American League

• Baltimore Orioles, 1
• Boston Americans, 1
• Chicago White Stockings, 4
• Cleveland Bronchos, 1
• Detroit Tigers, 2
• Philadelphia Athletics, 1
• St. Louis Browns, 4
• Washington Senators, 2

National League

• Boston Beaneaters, 5
• Brooklyn Superbas, 3
• Chicago Orphans, 6
• Cincinnati Reds, 1
• New York Giants, 5
• Philadelphia Phillies, 1
• Pittsburgh Pirates, 3
• St. Louis Cardinals, 6

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Boston Beaneaters	Frank Selee	Al Buckenberger
Chicago Orphans	Tom Loftus	Frank Selee
Cleveland Bronchos	Jimmy McAleer	Bill Armour
Detroit Tigers	George Stallings	Frank Dwyer
New York Giants	George Davis	Horace Fogel
St. Louis Browns	Hugh Duffy	Jimmy McAleer
Washington Senators	Jim Manning	Tom Loftus

In-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Baltimore Orioles	John McGraw	Wilbert Robinson
Cincinnati Reds	Bid McPhee	Frank Bancroft
	Frank Bancroft	Joe Kelley
New York Giants	Horace Fogel	Heinie Smith
	Heinie Smith	John McGraw

League leaders

Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.

Across both leagues, Sammy Strang tied as a leader in runs at 109 (108 with the Chicago White Stockings of the AL and 1 with the Chicago Orphans of the NL). ^[5]

American League

Hitting leaders ^[6]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Nap Lajoie (CLE/ PHA )	.378
OPS	Ed Delahanty (WSH)	1.043
HR	Socks Seybold (PHA)	16
RBI	Buck Freeman (BOS)	121
R	Topsy Hartsel (PHA) Dave Fultz (PHA)	109
H	Charlie Hickman (CLE/ BOS )	193
SB	Topsy Hartsel (PHA)	47

Pitching leaders ^[7]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Cy Young (BOS)	32
L	Bill Dinneen (BOS)	21
ERA	Ed Siever (DET)	1.91
K	Rube Waddell (PHA)	210
IP	Cy Young (BOS)	384.2
SV	Jack Powell (SLB)	2
WHIP	Bill Bernhard (CLE/ PHA )	0.942

National League

Hitting leaders ^[8]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Ginger Beaumont (PIT)	.357
OPS	Honus Wagner (PIT)	.857
HR	Tommy Leach (PIT)	6
RBI	Honus Wagner (PIT)	91
R	Honus Wagner (PIT)	105
H	Ginger Beaumont (PIT)	193
SB	Honus Wagner (PIT)	42

Pitching leaders ^[9]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Jack Chesbro (PIT)	28
L	Stan Yerkes (STL)	21
ERA	Jack Taylor (CHC)	1.29
K	Vic Willis (BSN)	225
IP	Vic Willis (BSN)	410.0
SV	Vic Willis (BSN)	3
WHIP	Jack Taylor (CHC)	0.953

Milestones

Pitchers

No-hitters

See also: List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

• Nixey Callahan (CWS):
  • Callahan threw his first career no-hitter and the first no-hitter in franchise history, by defeating the Detroit Tigers 3–0 in game 1 of a doubleheader on September 20. Fraser walked two and struck out two. ^[10]

Miscellaneous

• Dummy Hoy (CIN) / Dummy Taylor (NYG):
  • Hoy bats against Taylor on May 16, becoming the first deaf matchup in major league history. ^[11]
• Cleveland Bronchos:
  • Set a major league record in a game against the Baltimore Orioles on June 2, committing 6 errors in a single inning.

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Philadelphia Athletics [12]	83	12.2%	420,078	103.6%	5,754
Boston Americans [13]	77	−2.5%	348,567	20.4%	4,909
Chicago White Stockings [14]	74	−10.8%	337,898	−4.6%	4,693
New York Giants [15]	48	−7.7%	302,875	1.8%	4,266
Cleveland Bronchos [16]	69	27.8%	275,395	109.6%	4,237
St. Louis Browns [17]	78	62.5%	272,283	95.8%	3,730
Chicago Orphans [18]	68	28.3%	263,700	28.6%	3,663
Pittsburgh Pirates [19]	103	14.4%	243,826	−3.2%	3,434
St. Louis Cardinals [20]	56	−26.3%	226,417	−40.4%	3,235
Cincinnati Reds [21]	70	34.6%	217,300	5.6%	3,104
Brooklyn Superbas [22]	75	−5.1%	199,868	0.8%	2,897
Detroit Tigers [23]	52	−29.7%	189,469	−27.0%	2,828
Washington Senators [24]	61	0.0%	188,158	16.4%	2,767
Baltimore Orioles [25]	50	−26.5%	174,606	23.0%	2,728
Boston Beaneaters [26]	73	5.8%	116,960	−20.2%	1,624
Philadelphia Phillies [27]	56	−32.5%	112,066	−52.3%	1,624

Venues

The St. Louis Browns, newly relocated from their inaugural major league season in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as the Milwaukee Brewers, leave Lloyd Street Grounds and move into Sportsman's Park where they would play for 52 seasons through 1953 before again relocating to Baltimore, Maryland where they remain to this day as the Baltimore Orioles.

The Cincinnati Reds leave League Park (where they played for 18 seasons) and move to the Palace of the Fans, where they would go on to play for ten seasons through 1911.

Regarding games that were rescheduled to Sunday, and existing blue laws, the Cleveland Bronchos play five games across four parks: ^[2]

• Fairview Park in Dayton, Ohio (one game, June 8).
• Jail Flats in Fort Wayne, Indiana (two games, June 22 & August 31).
• Mahaffey Park in Canton, Ohio (one game, June 15).
• Neil Park in Columbus, Ohio (one game, August 3).

See also

• 1902 in baseball (Events, Births, Deaths)

References

1. "1902 Major League Managers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
2. "Cleveland Indians – Seamheads.com Ballparks Database". www.seamheads.com. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
3. "Detroit Tigers – Seamheads.com Ballparks Database". www.seamheads.com. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
4. "A new baseball park". Detroit Free Press. April 25, 1900. p. 6. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
5. "1902 Major League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
6. "1902 American League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
7. "1902 American League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
8. "1902 National League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
9. "1902 National League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
10. "American League". St. Paul Globe. September 21, 1902. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
11. Tom Schott, Nick Peters (2003). The Giants Encyclopedia . Sports Publishing LLC. p.  241. ISBN   9781582616933.
12. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
13. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
14. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
15. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
16. "Cleveland Guardians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
17. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
18. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
19. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
20. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
21. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
22. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
23. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
24. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
25. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
26. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
27. "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.

External links

• 1902 Major League Schedule at Baseball Reference
• 1902 in baseball history from ThisGreatGame.com