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APBL 1902: SAINTS CRUISE TO FINAL BEFORE INJURY STOPS THEM
MB’S KELLER NEARLY WINS TRIPLE CROWN; KEARNS BRILLIANT IN 1ST APBL SEASON

Preseason predictions for the APBL had the baseball establishment picking two clear favorites: the Providence Saints in the Colonial Conference and the retooled Brooklyn Kings in the Metropolitan Conference. In the end, the 1902 American Professional Baseball League season was more of the same: the Providence Saints ruled the Colonial and there was a knock-down, drag-out pennant fight in the Metropolitan.

In the Colonial, up until early June it looked like the almighty Saints would have some stiff competition as the trio of Buffalo, Boston, & Washington were all roughly a handful of games back. However, from mid-June to mid-July Providence went 20-5 and, thanks to some disastrous baseball from the rest of the pack, increased their conference lead from three games to a whopping fourteen. From there they never looked back, winning the Colonial by those same fourteen games thanks to the 48-21 baseball they played after the fateful Ides of June.

Over in the Metropolitan, early on it became evident that Brooklyn wouldn’t just waltz their way to the pennant as the usual suspects – Manhattan, New York, & Pennsylvania – proved up to the task of giving the most talented team in the league a challenge. At the season’s halfway point Brooklyn were the Metropolitan leaders, but by just a single game over Manhattan and four over New York & Pennsylvania. Unlike what happened over in the Colonial, the competition didn’t wilt. Over the next month Brooklyn played .500 ball while Manhattan went 20-6, leaving the Knicks in front by five games. By the latter half of August, the Kings were able to pull within a game and from there it set up a hectic sprint to the finish. Brooklyn was never able to pull level, and Manhattan came out as Metropolitan champions.

Brooklyn led the APBL in runs, average, on-base, OPS, and Batting WAR while having Hurler of the Year Martin Kearns (28-11, 2.44 ERA, 221 K’s) as their pitching ace, but mediocre defense and lack of quality at the back end of the rotation tripped them up. Meanwhile, the Knicks had a rotation that was second in the league in Starters’ ERA and they could boast of a trio of 20-game winners age 25 or younger. It was a classic case of defense and pitching holding the winning hand over dominant offense.

As per the annual standard, Providence was waiting and ready to take on the Metropolitan’s finest. However, disaster struck on the final day of the season when eight-time MVP shortstop Charley Rankin injured his back while warming up with his teammates:

Although Rankin received around-the-clock care from the finest physicians New England had to offer, relief for the spasms in his back proved elusive. This left him unable to field or throw without major discomfort, and as a result Rankin missed the final series for the Doc Adams Trophy.

In the past, setbacks and personnel changes were things that Providence treated like small anthills to be stomped into the ground. However, having to play for the APBL championship without the sport’s most successful player was simply too much, and Manhattan took the APBL title by shutting out Providence twice over five games:

It should also be noted that thanks to runs scored after errors the Knicks pitching staff only allowed five Earned Runs during the five-game series, while the Saints allowed fifteen. Homer Wyatt took a well-earned Doc Adams Trophy MVP as he allowed just ten baserunners over 19 innings, winning twice, earning one save, and allowing zero earned runs.

The biggest surprise of the season had to be Massachusetts Bay first baseman James Keller (.360, 12 HR, 115 RBI, 6.2 oWAR). Bought from Vermont in the NEBA ahead of 1901 play, Keller was considered an outstanding young talent but performed barely above replacement level in his first APBL season. In year two he started the season strong and only improved from there, ending up as the league leader in Home Runs & RBI while being just four points of Batting Average from taking the Triple Crown. His 115 RBI were an APBL & ABA record, and as a result he took home the APBL Batsman of the Year Award over some awe-inspiring competition.

Lindsey Christianson of Brooklyn (.356, 9 HR, 104 RBI, 7.4 WAR) finished a close second in the Batsman of the Year voting in addition to barely missing out on postseason play, but he did earn his eighth Team of the Year nomination and his fourth Golden Glove.

The man who barely beat Keller to the batting average title, New York’s Avery White at .363 (7 HR, 88 RBI, 7.1 oWAR), became the youngest ABA Batting Champion at the age of 21. 24-year-old Gilles Joubert, in third place at .358 (2 HR, 72 RBI, 6.1 oWAR), needed just six more points to win his fifth straight batting title between the Canadian Baseball League and the APBL.

There was other young talent in the hunt for major awards, as New York’s 22-year-old ace Homer Dabry nearly won Hurler of the Year thanks to a 24-11 record and 2.32 ERA. He didn’t win the major individual award but was named in the Team of the Year, and through four years as a pro he’s 96-54 with a 2.40 ERA and 31.1 WAR.

To the surprise of nobody, Charley Rankin (.319, 3 HR, 65 RBI, 8.6 WAR) won Most Valuable Player award number eight after leading the APBL in Position Player WAR for the eleventh time over the past thirteen seasons. He was also named to his tenth Team of the Year, although it’s likely none of that will take the sting out of missing the postseason due to injury.

The sale of Pittsburgh’s team to Bradley Clay and its subsequent rebranding, combined with a new stadium, still left the team struggling on the field. They finished 44-88, but that did represent an eight-game improvement over 1901. They also managed to trade for a hidden gem in the New York Athletics reserves: two-way left fielder & pitcher Milton Royce (.294, 1 HR, 31 RBI, 13-15, 3.28 ERA, 120 K’s), who was named Rookie of the Month four times in a row while cruising to a unanimous Newcomer of the Year Award.

Finally, the era of the Buffalo Blues playing Second Fiddle to Providence appeared to come to an end in 1902. At the halfway mark they were above .500 and four games back of Providence in the Colonial, but over the second half of the season the Blues were 25-41 and fell from second to sixth place. After the season was over, legend Charles Wilkerson (415 wins, 6x champ, 3x HotY) and rotation #2 Ed Millard, who’s won 353 games in a Blues uniform, both filed for Free Agency, and unless somehow the Blues can find like-for-like replacements they’ll find themselves down in the middle of the pack going forward.