Pittsburgh Prevails and Cleveland Caps Crown in 1902 Championship Season
The pennant chase, for the second consecutive year, came down to the final series between the National Leagues top two clubs, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. On September 27 the teams met at rain-soaked Exposition Park in Pittsburgh for the beginning of a 5-game set to determine the champion. Pittsburgh, at 81-54, needed just 2 wins to clinch the title whereas Cincinnati needed at least 4 wins just to tie. The game started badly for the Pirates, displaying a defense not suited for a champion. 5 errors within the first 3 innings staked the Redlegs to a 10-0 lead en route to a 12-1 drubbing.
Long Bob Ewing pitched masterfully in picking up the win, aided by Donlin’s 3-hit, 4 RBI performance. The next day the game was moved to Cincinnati and was a pitcher’s duel between Pirate stalwart Tannehill (22-8, 1.86 ERA) and Reds’ rookie Clarence Currie. Currie handled himself well until the sixth when Honus Wagner whalloped a 1-2 hanging curve in the seats in left-center field. Tannehill, coming off 2 consecutive shutouts, puzzled Sam Crawford in a number of at-bats and pitched a key scoreless eighth inning to hold off Cincinnati for a 7-4 win. Weather cleared up back in Pittsburgh for the decisive game on October 2. In the top of the ninth, starter
Bob Ewing again helped keep the Reds' chances alive with sharp 2-out single to center that scored two runs to tie the game. In the 10th, after allowing singles to Donlin and Crawford, Felix issued 3 walks to allow a go-ahead run to score. In the bottom frame, Sebring led off with a single and two costly errors by Beck and Ewing set the stage for consecutive scoring singles by Ginger Beaumont and Pop Foster to clinch it for the Pirates.
The Pirates were led by Honus Wagner, hitting an even .300 with 20 triples to lead the majors and 61 stolen bases. Tannehill (23-8, 4 shutouts) and crafty Felix (19-14, 2.41 ERA) were the stars of the best pitching corps in the National League. Despite having the best offense of the league, Cincinnati cooled since a hot record in June and lost numerous games by a shaky defense at key moments. Pitcher
Noodles Hahn led the league in wins, with 28 and ERA of 1.76, quickly earning a challenge for the title of best pitcher of the National League. New York’s Christy Mathewson finished a stingy 23-15, 1.97 ERA with 259 strikeouts in 349 innings. Beyond the top teams, the standings remained stagnant during the summer, with former champion St. Louis falling into the second division, just ahead of hapless Philadelphia where the future does not look bright.
Complete National Club Standings 1902
Code:
Club Won Lost Pct G.B. Avg. ERA
Pittsburgh 84 56 .600 - .277 2.51
Cincinnati 81 59 .579 3 .279 2.79
Chicago 74 66 .529 10 .259 2.86
New York 71 69 .507 11 .271 2.95
Boston 69 71 .493 15 .255 2.74
Brooklyn 64 76 .457 20 .248 2.90
St. Louis 62 78 .443 22 .247 2.95
Philadelphia 55 85 .393 29 .247 3.17
The pennant for the American League was decided by the league’s newcomers, the Browns of St. Louis, in the waning days of September. The Browns took 4 of 6 against the contending Chicago team, thanks to a hot-hitting Jesse Burkett and boxman Red Donahue (22 wins). Meanwhile, the eventual champions Cleveland capped a resurgent year by spanking the former champions Detroit four times out of 6 in the final series to take the flag. The free-agent acquisition of Nap Lajoie, top batsman of the American League (.370 average and .533 slugging percentage) in two-thirds of a season was the sparkplug to jettison the Bronchos from last place last year to the champions the next.. Cleveland lead all teams with 713 runs scored and sported 3 20-win pitchers:
Earl Moore (22 wins, 193 strikeouts to lead the league), Bill Hoffer (22), and Addie Joss (20). In Chicago, manager Fielder Jones (.343) squeezed everything he could out of young starters
George Winter (22 wins) and a confident but testy
Dusty Rhoads (2.40 ERA in spot-start action). After the hottest start in baseball, the Baltimore squad never recovered after their fiery team leader John McGraw broke the camels back and was released to sign with New York. Following the looting of the Oriole roster, Baltimore fell precipitously in the standings, going 29-50 in the remainder. The franchise’s future remains in doubt and is speculated to be the pawn in Ban Johnson’s revenge against McGraw’s signing with the Giants. In Boston, problems continue for 300-game winner Cy Young, who followed two straight 19-loss seasons with a poor 13-22 record this year. Young could never string victories together, either plagued by poor offensive support or shoddy defense. Philadelphia, once thought to have all the king’s gold, were poor bottom-feeders all season long matching their NL brothers with the same record. The Mack Men offered no support for rising star Eddie Plank (16-19, 2.67 ERA), leaving the manager wondering why he agreed with American League executives to give up Lajoie to Cleveland.
Complete American Club Standings 1902
Code:
Club Won Lost Pct G.B. Avg. ERA
Cleveland 82 58 .586 - .278 3.11
Chicago 80 60 .571 2 .279 3.05
Boston 72 68 .514 10 .287 2.99
Detroit 71 69 .507 11 .261 2.61
Washington 68 72 .486 14 .272 3.03
Baltimore 67 73 .479 15 .279 3.12
St. Louis 65 75 .464 17 .247 2.79
Philadelphia 55 85 .393 29 .256 2.95