1902 Cincinnati Reds
LeagueNational League
BallparkPalace of the Fans
CityCincinnati
OwnersJohn T. Brush, Garry Herrmann[1]
ManagersBid McPhee, Frank Bancroft, Joe Kelley
← 1901 Seasons 1903 →

The 1902 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished with a record of 70–70, fourth in the National League, 33+1⁄2 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates. In August, principal owner John T. Brush sold his interest in the Reds to a group headed by August "Garry" Herrmann.[2]

Regular season

After finishing in last place for the first time in team history with a 52–87 record in 1901, the Reds were hoping to return to respectability in 1902.[citation needed]

Despite the last-place finish, Cincinnati brought back manager Bid McPhee to lead the club. The team was relatively quiet during the off-season, as the only major changes were that Harry Steinfeldt returned to playing third base, while Erve Beck, who spent the 1901 season with the Cleveland Blues of the American League, took over at second base. Beck had hit .289 with six homers and 79 RBI with Cleveland.

Sam Crawford saw his production dip a bit after a breakout 1901 season, but he still batted .333 with three home runs and 78 RBI, while Jake Beckley continued his steady production, batting .330 with a team high five home runs and 69 RBI. Heinie Peitz had his best offensive season, hitting .315 with a homer and 60 RBI, while Cy Seymour hit .340 with two home runs and 37 RBI after his mid-season arrival from the Baltimore Orioles.

On the mound, Noodles Hahn was the ace of the staff once again, going 23–12 with an ERA of 1.77 in 36 starts, completing 35 of them. Bill Phillips went 16–16 with a 2.51 ERA in 33 starts, while Ed Poole, acquired by the Reds from the Pittsburgh Pirates early in the season, went 12–4 with a 2.15 ERA in 16 starts.

Season summary

Cincinnati got off to a rough start, going only 4–12 in their opening sixteen games to quickly find themselves in seventh place, 10.5 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates. The losses continued to pile up, and after a 27–37 start to the year, the Reds fired manager Bid McPhee, and replaced him with Frank Bancroft on an interim basis. Bancroft had last managed in the major leagues with the Indianapolis Hoosiers in 1889, and he managed the Providence Grays to a World Series title in 1884.

Cincinnati also began to make numerous player changes, as John Dobbs was sent to the Chicago Orphans for cash, and Erve Beck was released by the team. The Reds signed free agent Cy Seymour, who had been released by the Orioles after hitting .268 with three home runs and 41 RBI in 72 games with them. The Reds played better under Bancroft, as they went 9–7 when he was the manager, before the team named Joe Kelley as player-manager for the remainder of the season. Kelley was acquired by the Orioles during the season, where he hit .311 with a homer and 34 RBI in 60 games. With Kelley as the manager, the Reds finished the season strongly, going 34–26 in their last 60 games, to finish the year with a 70–70 record, good enough for fourth place in the National League; however, they were 33.5 games behind the first-place Pirates.

Season standings

National League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Pittsburgh Pirates 103 36 0.741 — 56–15 47–21
Brooklyn Superbas 75 63 0.543 27½ 45–23 30–40
Boston Beaneaters 73 64 0.533 29 42–27 31–37
Cincinnati Reds 70 70 0.500 33½ 35–35 35–35
Chicago Orphans 68 69 0.496 34 31–38 37–31
St. Louis Cardinals 56 78 0.418 44½ 28–38 28–40
Philadelphia Phillies 56 81 0.409 46 29–39 27–42
New York Giants 48 88 0.353 53½ 24–44 24–44

Record vs. opponents

1902 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BR CHI CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston — 8–12 11–9 11–9 16–3 11–9–1 6–14–1 10–8–3
Brooklyn 12–8 — 12–8 12–8 10–10 13–6 6–14–1 10–9–2
Chicago 9–11 8–12 — 12–8–1 10–10–4 10–10 7–13 12–5–1
Cincinnati 9–11 8–12 8–12–1 — 14–6 13–7 5–15 13–7
New York 3–16 10–10 10–10–4 6–14 — 6–12 6–13–1 7–13
Philadelphia 9–11–1 6–13 10–10 7–13 12–6 — 2–18 10–10
Pittsburgh 14–6–1 14–6–1 13–7 15–5 13–6–1 18–2 — 16–4
St. Louis 8–10–3 9–10–2 5–12–1 7–13 13–7 10–10 4–16 —


Roster

1902 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Bill Bergen 89 322 58 180 0 36
1B Jake Beckley 129 531 175 .330 5 69
2B Heinie Peitz 112 387 122 .315 1 60
3B Harry Steinfeldt 129 479 133 .278 1 49
SS Tommy Corcoran 138 538 136 .253 0 54
OF Sam Crawford 140 555 185 .333 3 78
OF John Dobbs 63 256 76 .297 1 16
OF Dummy Hoy 72 279 81 .290 2 20

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Cy Seymour 62 244 83 .340 2 37
Erve Beck 48 187 57 .305 1 20
George Magoon 45 162 44 .272 0 23
Joe Kelley 40 156 50 .321 1 12
Mike Donlin 34 143 41 .287 0 9
Billy Maloney 27 89 22 .247 1 7
Jack Morrissey 12 39 11 .282 0 3
Harry Bay 6 16 6 .375 0 1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Noodles Hahn 36 321.0 23 12 1.77 142
Bill Phillips 33 269.0 16 16 2.51 85
Henry Thielman 25 211.0 9 15 3.24 49
Ed Poole 16 138.0 12 4 2.15 55
Bob Ewing 15 117.2 5 6 2.98 44
Archie Stimmel 4 26.0 0 4 3.46 7
Rube Vickers 3 21.0 0 3 6.00 6
Len Swormstedt 2 18.0 0 2 4.00 3
Buck Hooker 1 8.0 0 1 4.50 0
Jake Beckley 1 4.0 0 1 6.75 2
Martin Glendon 1 3.0 0 1 12.00 0

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Clarence Currie 10 65.1 3 4 3.72 20
Crese Heismann 5 33.0 2 1 2.45 15

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Cy Seymour 1 0 0 0 9.00 2
Mike Donlin 1 0 0 0 0.00 0

References

  1. ^ "Reds owners". The Cincinnati Enquirer. November 3, 2005. p. 20. Retrieved September 14, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Reds Change Owners". Buffalo Courier. August 11, 1902. p. 9. Retrieved August 22, 2020 – via newspapers.com.

External links

1902 MLB season by team
Cincinnati Reds
Categories