Big business took the witness stand in 2002 as Enron, WorldCom and Xerox were all exposed in major accounting scandals. The total cost of corporate fraud in the United States was estimated at more than five trillion dollars, coming in plunging stocks, loss of investments and tax revenue.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed with U.S. President George W. Bush in Moscow a nuclear disarmament treaty and a strategic partnership agreement. Under the treaty, the two countries pledged to slash their nuclear arsenals by two-thirds.
On September 11, tributes around the nation showcased American emotion and patriotic pride on the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States. Major League Baseball held special opening ceremonies in every ballpark operating that day.
The Anaheim Angels dethroned the perennial American League Champion New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins to face the San Francisco Giants in their first Fall Classic since entering the league forty-two years earlier. The victory was sweetened by overcoming a 5-0 seventh-inning deficit in Game 6, fittingly the greatest elimination-game comeback in Classic history. The Angels went on to win the contest four games to three.
From August 13th to September 4th, Most Valuable Player Miguel Tejada and the Oakland Athletics set an American League record of twenty straight wins.
Seattle's Mike Cameron hit four homers in Comiskey Park on May 2nd, becoming the first Major Leaguer in nine years (Mark Whiten, 1993) to manage the feat. He was outdone twenty-one days later in Milwaukee as the Los Angeles Dodgers' Shawn Green totaled a six-for-six, nineteen total base spectacle and finished the week with nine home runs of his own.
Barry Bonds continued to chase Babe Ruth as the most dominant player in MLB history. The San Francisco Giants outfielder tallied his 600th home run off the Pittsburgh Pirates' Kip Wells on August 9th and won his first batting title (.370) before falling to the Anaheim Angels in Game 7 of the World Series.
The Arizona Diamondbacks continued to dominate on the mound as Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling went 47-12 and ranked 1-2 in the Majors with a combined total of six-hundred fifty strikeouts. The lethal 1-2 combination also boasted thirteen complete games, more than any other big-league team.
No one demonstrated more resolve than the Cardinals, who experienced the untimely deaths of longtime announcer Jack Buck and pitcher Darryl Kile. The team, though mourning, went on to dominate the National League Central dedicating the season in the memory of their departed comrades.
Major League owners and players, inevitably heading toward a ninth play stoppage over labor issues, reached accord virtually minutes before the first feared cancellation. It was the first time a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was struck without the loss of a single inning.
For only the second time in the History of the Midsummer Classic, the 2002 All-Star Game was called at a 7-7 tie after eleven innings due to both teams running out of available pitchers.
The West was the best as six of the nine West Division teams won ninety-two-plus games (more teams than the other four divisions combined) and West players dominated the individual awards including the Cy Young, Most Valuable Player and eight of the nine American League Gold Gloves.
Baseball bid farewell to some of the greatest ever to lace up a pair of cleats including Ted Williams, Jim Spencer, Al Cowens, Minnie Rojas, Joe Black, Wes Westrum, Darrell Porter, Enos Slaughter, John Roseboro, Hoyt Wilhelm and Darryl Kile.
Hitting Statistics League Leaderboard
Base on Balls
Cleveland
122
Batting Average
Boston
.349
Doubles
Anaheim
56
Boston
Hits
New York
209
Home Runs
Texas
57
On Base Percentage
Boston
.450
RBI
Texas
142
Runs
New York
128
Slugging Average
Cleveland
.677
Stolen Bases
New York
41
Total Bases
Texas
389
Triples
Boston
11
Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard
Complete Games
Kansas City
7
ERA
Boston
2.26
Games
Oakland
84
Saves
Minnesota
45
Shutouts
New York
3
Strikeouts
Boston
239
Winning Percentage
Boston
.833
Wins
Oakland
23
2002 American League Team Standings |
||||||
East | Team [Click for roster] | Wins | Losses | WP | GB | Payroll |
103 | 58 | .640 |
-- |
$125,928,583 | ||
93 | 69 | .574 |
|
$108,366,060 | ||
78 | 84 | .481 |
25½ |
$76,864,333 | ||
67 | 95 | .414 |
36½ |
$60,493,487 | ||
55 | 106 | .342 |
48 |
$34,380,000 | ||
Central | Team [Click for roster] | Wins | Losses | WP | GB | Payroll |
94 | 67 | .584 | -- | $40,225,000 | ||
81 | 81 | .500 |
13½ |
$57,052,833 | ||
74 | 88 | .457 |
20½ |
$78,909,448 | ||
62 | 100 | .383 |
32½ |
$47,257,000 | ||
55 | 106 | .342 |
39 |
$55,048,000 | ||
West | Team [Click for roster] | Wins | Losses | WP | GB | Payroll |
103 | 59 | .636 | -- | $39,679,746 | ||
99 | 63 | .611 | 4 | $61,721,667 | ||
93 | 69 | .574 | 10 | $80,282,668 | ||
72 | 90 | .444 | 31 | $105,302,124 |
Hitting Statistics League Leaderboard
805
117
993
110
944
80
952
75
1,000
52
1,035
65
921
140
1,089
79
1,171
100
1,008
46
1,003
137
1,115
102
2,558
1,055
62
1,142
71
2002 American League Hitting Statistics League Leaderboard
Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard
99
63
7
14
999
67
95
8
3
967
93
69
5
17
1,157
81
81
7
7
945
74
88
9
4
1,058
55
106
11
7
794
62
100
12
6
909
94
67
8
9
1,026
103
58
9
11
1,135
103
59
9
19
1,021
93
69
8
12
1,063
55
106
12
3
925
72
90
4
4
1,030
78
84
6
6
991
2002 American League Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard
The 2002 Anaheim Angels set a new Major League record for most players (they had nine) on one team with one-hundred or more hits during a single season.
Did you know that Carlos Beltran of the Kansas City Royals set the American League record for most extra base hits (eighty) by a switch-hitter in 2002?
One of the longest "streaks" in Major League baseball belongs to the New York Yankees who through 2002 have played forty-four seasons without being held hitless during a game - the pitcher who last accomplished this feat was Hoyt Wilhelm on September 20, 1958.