Taking the Pennant by Storm
1902 Pittsburgh PiratesHome Field: Exposition Park
N.L. ChampionsHit: #1 R, BA
W - 103 L - 36Pitch: #1 OR; #2 ERA
Manager: Fred ClarkeDef: #2 FA

The Pirates defended their 1901 pennant without a sweat. By posting a 103-36 record, Pittsburgh won the National League crown by 27 1/2 games, the widest margin of victory in league history. They dominated the statistics, as one would expect.

Honus Wagner, the best known member of this club, displayed his versatility by playing 61 games in the outfield, 44 at shortstop, and 32 at first base. He also played second base one game, and even pitched five innings without allowing an earned run. The offense was balanced with Ginger Beaumont won the batting title, Tommy Leach won the home run championship, while Wagner and Leach were one-two in runs batted in. Pittsburgh also claimed the top four run scorers, the order reading Wagner, Clarke, Beaumont, and Leach. Pittsburgh scored 142 more runs than any other team in the league.

The pitching was led by Jack Chesboro's 28-6 mark, making him the leader in both wins and victory percentage. In fact, Pirate pitchers owned the league's five best winning percentages. Joining Chesboro with 20 wins were Jesse Tannehill and Deacon Phillippe.

The American League was only in its second year of existence in 1902, and the National League was still at war with the new circuit. A year later, however, "peace" was made between the leagues, and the first World Series was played. Pittsburgh, who had lost Chesboro and Tannehill to the American League by then, won a third straight pennant. They were expected to defeat the upstart Boston Pilgrims, but lost the series five games to three.


Exposition Park c. 1902


Pos Player Bats AB H R HR RBI BA    NL Rank
C Harry Smith R 185 35 14 0 12 .189  
1B Kitty Bransfield R 417 127 50 1 69 .305  
2B Claude Ritchey B 405 112 54 2 55 .277  
SS Wid Conroy R 365 89 55 1 47 .244  
3B Tommy Leach R 514 144 97 6 85 .280    #1 HR; #2 RBI; #4 R
LF Fred Clarke L 461 148 104 2 53 .321    #2 R
CF Ginger Beaumont L 544 194 101 0 67 .357    #1 BA; #3 R
RF-SS-1B Honus Wagner R 538 177 105 3 91 .329    #1 R, RBI; #5 BA
                   
OF Lefty Davis L 232 65 52 0 20 .280  
2B-OF-3B Jimmy Burke R 203 60 24 0 26 .296  
C Jack O'Connor R 170 50 13 1 28 .294  
P-OF Jesse Tannehill B 148 43 27 1 17 .291  
C Chief Zimmer R 142 38 13 0 17 .268  
OF Jimmy Sebring L 80 26 15 0 15 .325  
                   
TOTAL: Team:   4976 1410 775 19 660 .283  
  League Average   38146 9866 4476 99 3670 .259  


Pitcher Throw G IP W L ERA PCT    NL Rank
  Jack Chesboro R 35 286 28 6 2.17 .824    #1 W
  Deacon Phillippe R 31 272 20 9 2.05 .690  
  Jesse Tannehill L 26 231 20 6 1.95 .769    #3 ERA
  Sam Leever R 28 222 16 7 2.39 .696  
  Ed Doheny L 22 188 16 4 2.54 .800  
                   
TOTAL: Team       103 36 2.30    
  League Average           2.78    

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