1902 Boston Americans season

The 1902 Boston Americans season was the second season for the professional baseball franchise that later became known as the Boston Red Sox. The Americans finished third in the American League (AL) with a record of 77 wins and 60 losses, ​6 ¹⁄₂ games behind the Philadelphia Athletics. The team was managed by Jimmy Collins and played their home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds.

1902 Boston Americans
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Huntington Avenue Grounds (since 1901) Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles Somers
Manager(s)	Jimmy Collins
< Previous season     Next season >

Opening Day starting pitcher Cy Young

Regular season

Prior to the regular season, the team held spring training in Augusta, Georgia.[1]

• April 19: The season opens with a 7–6 home win over the Baltimore Orioles.[2]
• June 28: A forfeit is declared in Boston's favor during a road game against the Orioles.[2] With Boston leading, 9–4 in the eighth inning, umpire Tom Connolly called a Baltimore runner out for missing second base.[3] The call was argued by Baltimore manager John McGraw, resulting in his ejection.[4] After McGraw refused to leave the field, Connolly forfeited the game to Boston.[5]
• July 8: In their highest-scoring game of the year, Boston loses at home to the Philadelphia Athletics, 22–9.[2]
• July 9: The team's longest game of the season ends as a 4–2 loss in 15 innings to the visiting Athletics.[2]
• July 19: The team's longest losing streak of the season, six games between July 12 and 18, comes to an end with a victory over the visiting Chicago White Stockings.[2]
• July 29: The team's longest winning streak of the season, eight games between July 19 and 28, comes to an end with a loss to the visiting Detroit Tigers.[2]
• September 29: The season ends with a 9–5 road win over the Orioles.[2] This was the last game the Orioles played at Oriole Park in Baltimore; in 1903, they relocated to New York City as the Highlanders, then in 1913 became known as the New York Yankees.

Statistical leaders

The offense was led by Buck Freeman, who hit 11 home runs and had 121 RBIs, and Patsy Dougherty with a .342 batting average. The pitching staff was led by Cy Young, who made 45 appearances (43 starts) and pitched 41 complete games with a 32–11 record and 2.15 ERA, while striking out 160 in ​384 ²⁄₃ innings.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Athletics	83	53	0.610	—	56–17	27–36
St. Louis Browns	78	58	0.574	5	49–21	29–37
Boston Americans	77	60	0.562	6½	43–27	34–33
Chicago White Stockings	74	60	0.552	8	48–20	26–40
Cleveland Bronchos	69	67	0.507	14	40–25	29–42
Washington Senators	61	75	0.449	22	40–28	21–47
Detroit Tigers	52	83	0.385	30½	34–33	18–50
Baltimore Orioles	50	88	0.362	34	32–31	18–57

The team had one game end in a tie; August 18 vs. Detroit Tigers.[2] Tie games are not counted in league standings, but player statistics during tie games are counted.[6]

Record vs. opponents

1902 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	PHI	STL	WSH
Baltimore	—	4–16	8–11–1	9–11	10–10	6–13	2–18–1	11–9–1
Boston	16–4	—	12–8	6–14	11–7–1	9–11	15–5	8–11
Chicago	11–8–1	8–12	—	12–7	12–7–1	10–10	9–9–1	12–7–1
Cleveland	11–9	14–6	7–12	—	8–10	8–12	9–10–1	12–8
Detroit	10–10	7–11–1	7–12–1	10–8	—	4–16	5–15	9–11
Philadelphia	13–6	11–9	10–10	12–8	16–4	—	9–10–1	12–6
St. Louis	18–2–1	5–15	9–9–1	10–9–1	15–5	10–9–1	—	11–9
Washington	9–11–1	11–8	7–12–1	8–12	11–9	6–12	9–11	—

Opening Day lineup

Freddy Parent	SS
Chick Stahl	CF
Jimmy Collins	3B
Buck Freeman	RF
Charlie Hickman	LF
Candy LaChance	1B
Hobe Ferris	2B
Lou Criger	C
Cy Young	P

Source: [7][8]

Roster

1902 Boston Americans
Roster
Pitchers Doc Adkins Nick Altrock Pep Deininger Bill Dinneen Tom Hughes Bert Husting Fred Mitchell George Prentiss Tully Sparks Dave Williams George Winter Cy Young		Catchers Lou Criger Jack Warner Infielders Jimmy Collins Hobe Ferris Harry Gleason Candy LaChance Freddy Parent Gary Wilson		Outfielders Patsy Dougherty Buck Freeman Charlie Hickman Chick Stahl		Manager Jimmy Collins

Player stats

Batting

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

Starters by position

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Lou Criger	83	266	68	.256	0	28
1B	Candy LaChance	138	541	151	.279	6	56
2B	Hobe Ferris	133	496	121	.244	8	63
SS	Freddy Parent	138	567	156	.275	3	62
3B	Jimmy Collins	108	429	138	.322	6	61
OF	Patsy Dougherty	108	438	150	.342	0	34
OF	Buck Freeman	138	564	174	.309	11	121
OF	Chick Stahl	127	508	164	.323	2	58

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Harry Gleason	71	240	54	.225	2	25
Jack Warner	65	222	52	.234	0	12
Charlie Hickman	28	108	32	.296	3	16
Gary Wilson	3	11	2	.182	0	1
all pitchers		485	94	.194	1	35

Pitching

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

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Cy Young	45	​384 ^2⁄3	32	11	2.15	160
Bill Dinneen	42	​371 ^1⁄3	21	21	2.93	136
George Winter	20	​168 ^1⁄3	11	9	2.99	51
Tully Sparks	17	​142 ^2⁄3	7	9	3.47	37

Other pitchers

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Doc Adkins	4	20	1	1	4.05	3
Nick Altrock	3	18	0	2	2.00	5
Pep Deininger	2	12	0	0	9.75	2
Tom Hughes	9	49.1	3	3	3.28	15

References

1. "Captain Collins Developing a Team of Heavy Hitters". The Boston Post. April 7, 1902. p. 8. Retrieved November 4, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
2. "The 1902 Boston Americans Regular Season Game Log". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
3. "Forfeits". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
4. "John McGraw". Retrosheet. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
5. "M'Graw Shows Yellow Again". Chicago Tribune. June 29, 1902. p. 11. Retrieved November 3, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
6. "Tie". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
7. Murnane, T. H. (April 20, 1902). "Two Boston Clubs Win". The Boston Globe. p. 4. Retrieved November 13, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
8. Murnane, T. H. (April 20, 1902). "Box Score". The Boston Globe. p. 4. Retrieved November 13, 2018 – via newspapers.com.

External links

• 1902 Boston Americans team page at Baseball Reference
• 1902 Boston Americans season at baseball-almanac.com