{"id":106973,"date":"2025-09-11T15:08:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T19:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=106973"},"modified":"2025-09-11T15:08:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T19:08:52","slug":"pirates-won-1902-worlds-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/09\/11\/pirates-won-1902-worlds-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Won 1902 \u201cWorld\u2019s Series;\u201d That\u2019s No Misprint"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before they played in the first World Series in 1903, the Pittsburgh Pirates won the \u201cWorld\u2019s Series\u201d of 1902. These games aren\u2019t recognized as official games by Major League Baseball. But it\u2019s clear the teams, fans, and media took them seriously.<\/p>\n

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May 6, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; The Honus Wagner statue outside PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Pirates Were 1902 Champions<\/h2>\n

The Pirates easily finished the 1902 season as National League champions for the second consecutive season. \u201cThe Champion Pirates Finish the Season of 1902 by Breaking the World\u2019s Record of Games Won,\u201d said the headline of the October 5 Pittsburg Post<\/em>. (Pittsburgh was spelled without the \u201ch\u201d in those halcyon days.) Indeed, the Pirates finished with a record of 103-36, 27 \u00bd games ahead of the second-place Brooklyn Superbas. The Pirates dominated the NL in all facets of the game. Pittsburgh’s .286\/.344\/.374 slash line led the league. Their 2.30 ERA was second to the NL team known simply as \u201cChicago.\u201d Their .958 fielding percentage \u2013 the only real defensive measure that existed in 1902 \u2013 was just .001 behind the leading Boston Nationals.<\/p>\n

Today, Pittsburgh sports fans will tell you that the city has seen 16 major league sports champions: five World Series, six Super Bowls, and five Stanley Cups. However, three other championships where the team went as far as it could go in a professional league should be recognized. Two of those were, as noted, the NL championships of 1901 and 1902. The third was the ABA title won by the Pittsburgh Pipers, led by Connie Hawkins<\/a> and Art Heyman<\/a>, in 1968. The ABA and NBA champions never met in a series to determine the overall champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cChampionship of World Will Be [at] Stake\u201d<\/h3>\n

So said the headline (with my minor edit in brackets) in the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette<\/em> (sometimes it was spelled with the \u201ch,\u201d too) announcing the series that would pit the Pirates against the All-Americans, an all-star team comprised of the best players in the American League. Arrangements were hammered out between Pirates owner Barney Dreyfus and AL umpire Joe Cantillon<\/a>. (Why this was any of Cantillon\u2019s business is lost to history.) The Pirates were expected to employ their regular lineup. It was announced as a four-game series. The first two games would be played at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. Then the series would move to Cleveland for two games.<\/p>\n

If the series were tied after four games, a fifth game would be scheduled at a neutral site to be determined. (That sounds like a best-of-five series to me, but what do I know?) The paper said, \u201cThis series will no doubt be one of the most interesting ever played.\u201d<\/p>\n

The umpires were Hank O\u2019Day<\/a> of the NL and Silk O\u2019Laughlin of the AL, each regarded as the best in his league. O\u2019Day, a former player, would become forever famous as the umpire in the \u201cBonehead Merkle\u201d game of 1908<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The All-Americans<\/h3>\n

The All-Americans roster that opposed the Pirates for the 1902 championship was as follows. Their apparent strategy was to overwhelm the Pirates with second basemen.<\/p>\n

Boston Americans: <\/strong>Cy Young<\/a>, P<\/p>\n

Chicago White Sox:<\/strong> Fielder Jones<\/a>, CF; Billy Sullivan<\/a>, C<\/p>\n

Cleveland Blues:<\/strong> Bill Bernhard<\/a>, P; Bill Bradley<\/a>, 3B; Addie Joss<\/a>, P; Nap Lajoie<\/a>, 2B<\/p>\n

Detroit Tigers: <\/strong>Dick Harley<\/a>, RF; Win Mercer<\/a>, P<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Athletics: <\/strong>Monte Cross<\/a>, SS; Harry Davis<\/a>, 1B; Topsy Hartsel<\/a>, LF<\/p>\n

St. Louis Browns:<\/strong> Dick Padden<\/a>, 2B; Bobby Wallace<\/a>, 2B<\/p>\n

Washington Senators: <\/strong>George Carey<\/a>, 2B; Wyatt Lee<\/a>, P<\/p>\n

Joss, Lajoie, Wallace, and Young were inducted into the Hall of Fame after their careers were over. Bernhard and Lajoie didn\u2019t play in Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court enjoined<\/a> them from playing baseball in the state for any team other than the Philadelphia Phillies. They were former Phillies who jumped to the upstart AL despite having signed contracts with reserve clauses. Thus, Padden and Young replaced them for the games in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

The 1902 Pirates<\/h3>\n

The star-studded Pirates had one of the best rosters in baseball history. They sported three future Hall-of-Famers of their own in shortstop<\/a> Honus Wagner<\/a>, left fielder\/manager<\/a> Fred Clarke<\/a>, and pitcher Jack Chesbro<\/a>. Clarke and Frank Chance<\/a> are the only two members of the Hall of Fame who could have been inducted as either a player or a manager. \u00a0Pittsburgh\u2019s pitching staff had three 20-game winners in Chesbro, Deacon Phillippe<\/a>, and Jesse Tannehill<\/a>. Center fielder Ginger Beaumont<\/a> won the NL batting title with a .357 average. Speedy Tommy Leach<\/a>, the third baseman, led the NL with six home runs and all baseball with 22 triples. Wahoo Sam Crawford<\/a> of the Tigers called Leach \u201ca beautiful ballplayer to watch\u201d in Lawrence Ritter\u2019s The Glory of Their Times<\/em>. Crawford should know. Leach gave his Tigers fits in the 1909 World Series when he hit .360\/.429\/.520.<\/p>\n

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The size of Honus Wagner\u2019 hands were pretty much the same size as his glove pic.twitter.com\/QeZL2yZPvc<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) January 13, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n