The biggest story of the 1902 season continues to be the surprising Cleveland Blues. The Cleveland nine has led the American League pennant race from the very beginning, maintaining a steady four-game edge over their competition. The St. Louis and Washington clubs are currently knotted just behind Cleveland as they hope to catch and pass the Blues with the season entering August.
In the National League, the New York Giants continue to dominate. The Gotham nine wins nearly three out of every four times they take the field and holds a commanding seventeen-and-a-half game lead over the second-place Brooklyn club. The hub-bub in New York isn't over whether the Giants will win the pennant, but whether they will set a new National League victory standard in doing so.
Harvey Cart, the former Brooklyn standout who jumped to the American Washington club in 1901, is leading the Junior loop in batting with a .385 average. This is nothing new for old "Dog & Pony" who has a .342 career mark, with his all-time high of .390 coming back in 1900 for the Brooklyns. His National League counterpart, also sporting a spiffy .385 average, is Milton Cumberledge. Cumby is a relative newcomer to the top of the batting charts, with a .317 career mark and a high of .321 which came in his debut season of 1899 with the old Batimore club.
The victory leaders in each respective league also have identical marks: 19. Aidan O'Day of the New York Giants tops the National League, while Victor Parson of St. Louis leads the American League.
Milton Cumberledge