IN THE NEWS: Baltimore scores nine runs in the 3rd inning of a 14-1 victory, as Cleveland kicks in six errors, the most boots in one inning by any club in the 20th century.
The Senators unload three homers in the 3rd inning against the White Sox Clark Griffith as Ed Delahanty, Bill Coughlin and George Carey belt the Old Fox, though not consecutively. After Wyatt Lee doubles, Griffith takes himself out.
The Giants fire manager Horace Fogel and replace him 2B Heinie Smith. The change lasts six weeks before Smith goes back to the infield and John McGraw takes over.
IN THE NEWS: The Cardinals' Mike O'Neill, a pitcher and one of four ML brothers, hits the first pinch grand slam ever in the majors, against Boston Beaneater Togie Pittinger. It is an inside-the-park HR at Boston and scores his brother Jack. O'Neill becomes the first pitcher in the NL to hit a grand slam this century.
IN THE NEWS: In Boston, the Pilgrims score ten runs for the 3rd day in a row, beating Chicago, 10-2. The scoring is helped by special ground rules instituted because of the overflow crowd of 10,000.
IN THE NEWS: At Dayton, Ohio, 4,900 fans turn out to watch Baltimore top Cleveland, 6-2. The winning battery is Tom Hughes and Wilbert Robinson.
At St. Louis, the Pilgrims' Cy Young (13-1) wins 7-1 for his 10th win in a row.
IN THE NEWS: Bobby Wallace, slick-fielding St. Louis SS, handles an AL record 17 chances in a 9-inning game while losing 5-4 to Boston. Wallace, whose 25-year career will place him in the Hall of Fame, has 11 assists and six putouts, but makes two errors.
IN THE NEWS: Connie Mack signs Rube Waddell, who was pitching in the Pacific Coast League. He will go 24-7 during the remainder of 1902.
IN THE NEWS: Corsicana (Texas League) shows no mercy in beating Texarkana, 51-3. Due to Sunday laws forbidding baseball, the game is shifted to a smaller park in Ennis, where the RF fence is only about 210'. The team's 53 hits include 21 HRs, mostly over the short RF fence. Nig Clarke, later to play in the ML, is perfect going 8-for-8-all home runs, collecting 16 RBIs and 32 total bases, all organized baseball records. Clarke is a switch-hitter but bats lefty against a righty pitcher, who is not one of the regular players but the son of part-owner C. B. DeWitt. Allegedly, at the urging of the crowd, the Texarcana pitchers lay it in for Nig in his last three at bats. He collects $185 from the appreciative fans. Two others are 8-for-8, including 2B William Alexander who has three home runs and a double. Manager Michael O'Conner is 7-for-8 with three HRs. Corsicana still strands 15 runners while scoring in every inning. Despite leading 17-1 after three innings, Corsicana steals five bases and "as was the custom of the day, took their last at bats even though they were the home team." They score eight more times in the final inning. The game is detailed in "The Man Who Stole First Base" by Eric Nadel & Craig R. Wright.
In Canton, Ohio, Cleveland loses to Boston, 5-2, before a crowd of 6,000 ringing the outfield. Balls hit into the crowd are doubles, and 10 are collected today. Buck Freeman has a pair.
IN THE NEWS: At the Polo Grounds, the Reds rattle Mathewson for 12 hits to beat the Giants, 6-4. Matty strikes out just one.
At Boston, the Pirates are leading 4-0, in the 4th inning when the Boston hurler attempts to stall by holding on to the ball longer than the 20 seconds allowed. The fans run out of patience before the ump does and they rush the field. A forfeit is called against Boston.
IN THE NEWS: Cleveland plays its 3rd straight Sunday game in a minor park, this time in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Cleveland beats Washington, 6-4, behind Addie Joss.
IN THE NEWS: A federal court judge rules that Brooklyn has no claim on C Deacon McGuire, who jumped to Detroit. Two weeks later, another U.S. judge denies jurisdiction to stop Nap Lajoie from playing for Cleveland, thus ending the Phillies' chances of regaining him legally.
The Phillies beat New York and Christy Mathewson, 3-1. The Quakers SS Rudy Hulswitt kills a New York rally in the 8th inning by picking off Steve Brodie with a hidden ball trick.
IN THE NEWS: Jim Jones, Giants LF, throws three base runners out at home in an 8-0 loss to Boston. His three assists at home ties the major-league record set by Dummy Hoy on June 19, 1889. It'll be tied again in 1905.
Cleveland is the first AL team to hit three consecutive HRs in one inning as Nap Lajoie, Piano Legs Hickman, and Bill Bradley connect in the sixth off St. Louis, with all the hits ending in the LF bleachers at St. Louis. The last two come on the first pitch thrown. Jack Harper tees up the gopher balls in the 17-2 loss. It was last done on May 10, 1894.