The1902Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished with a record of 70–70, fourth in theNational League,33+1⁄2games behind thePittsburgh Pirates. In August, principal ownerJohn T. Brush sold his interest in the Reds to a group headed byAugust "Garry" Herrmann.^[2]

After finishing in last place for the first time in team history with a 52–87 record in1901, the Reds were hoping to return to respectability in 1902.^{[citation needed]}

Despite the last-place finish, Cincinnati brought back managerBid McPhee to lead the club. The team was relatively quiet during the off-season, as the only major changes were thatHarry Steinfeldt returned to playingthird base, whileErve Beck, who spent the 1901 season with theCleveland Blues of theAmerican League, took over atsecond 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, whileJake 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, whileCy Seymour hit .340 with two home runs and 37 RBI after his mid-season arrival from theBaltimore 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, whileEd Poole, acquired by the Reds from thePittsburgh Pirates early in the season, went 12–4 with a 2.15 ERA in 16 starts.

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 thePittsburgh Pirates. The losses continued to pile up, and after a 27–37 start to the year, the Reds fired managerBid McPhee, and replaced him withFrank Bancroft on an interim basis. Bancroft had last managed in the major leagues with theIndianapolis Hoosiers in 1889, and he managed theProvidence Grays to aWorld Series title in 1884.

Cincinnati also began to make numerous player changes, asJohn Dobbs was sent to theChicago Orphans for cash, andErve Beck was released by the team. The Reds signed free agentCy 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 namedJoe 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 theNational League; however, they were 33.5 games behind the first-place Pirates.

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

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

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

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

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

• 1902 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference

• Cincinnati Reds seasons
• 1902 Major League Baseball season
• 1902 in sports in Ohio

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