1902 Cleveland Bluebirds season

1902 Cleveland Bluebirds
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1900)
Location
League Park (since 1900)
Cleveland, Ohio (since 1900)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles Somers
Manager(s)	Bill Armour
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The 1902 Cleveland Bluebirds season was a season in American baseball. The team, unofficially known during this season as the Bronchos (or Broncos), finished in fifth place in the American League with a record of 69–67, 14 games behind the Philadelphia Athletics.

Regular season

The Cleveland team in 1902

In 1902, the National League's Philadelphia Phillies obtained an injunction, effective only in Pennsylvania, barring Nap Lajoie from playing baseball for any team other than the Phillies.^[1] The American League responded by transferring Lajoie's contract to the Cleveland Indians, then known unofficially as the Bronchos and subsequently renamed the "Naps" in Lajoie's honor for several seasons.

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

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	—

Notable transactions

• May 31, 1902: Nap Lajoie was signed as a free agent by the Bronchos.^[2]

Roster

1902 Cleveland Bronchos
Roster
Pitchers Bill Bernhard Ginger Clark Gus Dorner Otto Hess Addie Joss Dummy Leitner Jack Lundbom Earl Moore Lou Polchow Charlie Smith Oscar Streit Dummy Taylor Dike Varney Cal Vasbinder Ed Walker Gene Wright		Catchers Harry Bemis George Starnagle Bob Wood Infielders Frank Bonner Bill Bradley John Gochnaur Peaches Graham Charlie Hickman Nap Lajoie Hal O'Hagan Ossee Schreckengost Jack Thoney		Outfielders Harry Bay Elmer Flick Zaza Harvey Charlie Hemphill Jack McCarthy Ollie Pickering		Manager Bill Armour

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
1B	Hickman, CharlieCharlie Hickman	102	426	161	.378	8	94
2B	Lajoie, NapNap Lajoie	86	348	132	.379	7	64

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
Wood, BobBob Wood	81	258	76	.295	0	40

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
Bernhard, BillBill Bernhard	27	217	17	5	2.20	57
Hickman, CharlieCharlie Hickman	1	8	0	1	7.88	1

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
Hess, OttoOtto Hess	7	43.2	2	4	5.98	13

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
Clark, GingerGinger Clark	1	1	0	0	6.00	1

Notes

1. Nap Lajoie Obituary
2. Nap Lajoie page at Baseball Reference

References

• 1902 Cleveland Bluebirds season at Baseball Reference
• Snyder, John (2008). Indians Journal: Year by Year & Day by Day with the Cleveland Indians since 1901. Cincinnati, Ohio: Clerisy Press. ISBN 978-1-57860-308-4.
• Schneider, Russell (2005). The Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia (3 ed.). Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-58261-840-1.