2002 in baseball

Events

January-March

• January 8 - Ozzie Smith is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Smith, named on 91.7 percent of the ballots, is the 37th player to be elected in his first year.
• February 11 - Major League Baseball owners approve the sales of the Florida Marlins and Montreal Expos. Florida owner John Henry is selling the Marlins to Jeffrey Loria for $158.5 million, while Loria is selling the Expos to ??Baseball Expos LP??, a limited partnership owned by the other 29 teams, for $120 million.
• February 12 - Mets assistant general manager Omar Minaya becomes the first Hispanic GM by accepting the position with the Montreal Expos. Frank Robinson is also announced as the manager of the team, which will be run by Major League Baseball for the 2002 season.
• February 27 - The sale of the Boston Red Sox to a group headed by John Henry becomes official.
• March 1 - The Red Sox fire GM Dan Duquette and hire Mike Port, on an interim basis.
• March 11 - The Red Sox hire Grady Little as their new manager.

April-June

• April 2 - In beating the Padres, 9?0, the Diamondbacks became the first defending World Champions to open the season with back-to-back shutouts since the 1919 Red Sox. The Red Sox shutouts were thrown by Carl Mays and Sad Sam Jones. The last team to start the year with consecutive shutouts was the 1994 Giants. Curt Schilling is the winner today, following Randy Johnson's 2?0 two?hitter yesterday over the Padres.
• April 3:
• The Giants defeat the Dodgers, 12?0, as Barry Bonds hits a pair of home runs for the second day in a row. He becomes only the second player in history to begin a season with a pair of 2?HR games. Eddie Mathews was the other.
• At Oakland, the A's lose to Texas, 9?6, as the Rangers score three in the 8th. The loss snaps the A's strong of 20 straight wins at home stretching back to August 24. The A's move past the 1974?75 Cincinnati Reds for most consecutive home wins over two seasons; the Reds' mark was 17.
• April 5 - The Giants defeat the Padres, 3?1 in 10 innings on Barry Bonds' 5th home run of the year. In doing so, Bonds ties the mark for most home runs in the first four games of the season set by Lou Brock in 1967.
• April 7 - Arizona defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2?0, as Curt Schilling strikes out 17 batters in hurling a one?hitter. Raul Casanova's 2nd?inning single is the only Milwaukee hit.
• April 11 - The Orioles pound Tampa Bay, 15?6, scoring a franchise?high 12 runs in the 6th inning. They also collect a club?high 11 hits in 16 at bats.
• April 16 - Detroit Tigers win for the 1st time this season, defeating Tampa Bay, 9?3. The Tigers had lost its first 11 games for the 5th-worst start by a major league team.
• April 21:
• Rafael Furcal hit three triples to tie the modern major league record as the Atlanta Braves defeat the Florida Marlins, 4?2. The last player to accomplish the feat was Lance Johnson of the White Sox in 1995.
• The Diamondbacks trounce the Rockies, 7?1, as Randy Johnson strikes out 17 batters in becoming the first pitcher this year to win five games. It is the 6th time he has fanned 17 or more in a game.
• Making his first start in almost seven years, Cincinnati's José Rijo allows one unearned run in five innings as the Reds defeat the Cubs, 5?3. It is Rijo's first win since July 13, 1995.
• April 27 - Boston pitcher Derek Lowe hurls Fenway Park's 1st no-hitter since 1965, shutting out Tampa Bay, 10?0. It is the first career complete game for Lowe, who began last season as the Red Sox closer. In his first start this year, he hurled seven hitless innings against the Orioles.
• April 29 - Former major league outfielder Darryl Strawberry is sentenced to 18 months in prison for violating the terms of his probation six times.
• May 2 - Seattle Mariners rout the White Sox by a score of 15?4 as outfielder Mike Cameron becomes the 13th player in major league history to slug four home runs in a single game, all solo shots. Cameron is also hit by a pitch and flies out to deep right field in a bid for a 5th homer. Cameron and second baseman Bret Boone also become the first teammates in history to hit back?to?back home runs twice in the same inning, performing the feat in Seattle's 10?run 1st inning. The Mariners also tie a team record with seven homers in the game. James Baldwin is the easy winner, with seven innings pitched. There had only been 39 previous occasions of a player hitting two home runs in an inning, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Eric Karros was last to do it, on August 22, 2000, for the Dodgers in the National League. Mark McGwire was the previous American League player to do it, on September 22, 1996, for Oakland.
• May 4 - Barry Bonds hits his 400th home run as a Giants, leading his team to a 3?0 win over Cincinnati. Bonds is the first player to hit 400 homers for one team and 100 with another.
• May 10 - Anaheim Angels crushed the White Sox 19?0. The Angels join the 1923 Indians, 1939 Yankees and 1950 Red Sox as the only teams to beat two opponents by 19 or more runs in the same season. Earlier this year, the Angels beat the Indians, 21?2. The Anaheim calcimine of Chicago is just the 11th since 1901 in which a team scored 19 or more runs while shutting out its opponent, and the first such shutout in the American League since 1955 when Cleveland beat Boston, 19?0.
• May 23:
• At Miller Park, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Shawn Green became the 14th man in major league history to hit four home runs in a game and set a big league record with 19 total bases. He went 6-for-6, scored six runs (both Dodgers records), and got seven RBI in a 16-3 win over Milwaukee. Green is the second player this year to hit four home runs in a game. He also surpassed Joe Adcock's former mark of 18 total bases set in 1954. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, six players have produced 17 or more total bases in a game, with the last being Mike Schmidt in 1976. Green also is the first major league player to collect six hits while hitting four homers, and his four homers plus a double ties the National League mark for extra base hits. The Dodgers hit eight homers in the game, another franchise record. Before today's power display, Green had gone 0-for-15, and been benched May 18.
• Jeremi González earned his first major league victory in nearly five years as Tampa Bay beat Anaheim 3-1. González won for the first time since June 28, 1998, while with the Chicago Cubs. He had elbow surgery in 1998 and '99 before the Cubs released him in 2001.
• May 24 - The Dodgers lose to the Diamondbacks, 14?3, despite Shawn Green's 5th home run in two games, tying a major league record. Green also hits two singles to tie another mark with 25 total bases in the two games.
• May 25:
• Colorado Rockies beat the Giants, 6?3, as Barry Bonds takes over sole possession of 5th place on the all-time home run list with the 584th four-bagger of his career.
• The Dodgers top Arizona, 10?5, as Shawn Green hits two more home runs and drives home six runs. The seven home runs in three games is a new major league record.
• May 29 - In an article in Sports Illustrated magazine, former National League MVP Ken Caminiti says that about 50 percent of current major league players use some form of steroids.
• June 4 - Minnesota Twins score 10 runs in the 7th inning to close out the scoring in a 23?2 win over the Cleveland Indians, the most runs in franchise history, and strokes a franchise-record 25 hits (the Washington Senators hit 24 five times) in the contest and ties the American League record as four players have four or more hits -- Jacque Jones, Dustin Mohr, A.J. Pierzynski and Luis Rivas. The Twins is the 5th team to do it on the flip side; the Indians tie their team record for biggest loss, tying the mark set in a 21-0 loss to the Tigers, on September 15, 1901. Cleveland also becomes the first team since the 1969 San Diego Padres to lose two games in the same season by 19 or more runs.
• June 5 - The Giants batter the Padres, 12?2, as Barry Bonds hits his 587th home run to move him into 4th place on the all-time list ahead of Frank Robinson.
• June 20 - Florida beats Cleveland, 3?0, as Marlins Luis Castillo extends his hitting streak to 34 games, the longest ever by a second baseman.
• June 28 - Tampa Bay whips their cross state rival Marlins 4?0 behind Wilson Alvarez and two relievers. Kevin Millar of the Marlins hits a towering fly that lands on one of the catwalks that hang from the stadium's dome. It never comes down and it is ruled a double. It's the second time a ball has gotten stuck in a catwalk at Tropicana Field. In 1999, José Canseco hit a home run drive that lodged there. Millar joins Ruppert Jones, Ricky Nelson, Dave Kingman, Alvaro Espinoza and Canseco as the only players in major league history to hit a fair ball that got stuck in a stadium obstruction. Jones and Nelson both had hits get caught in the overhead speakers at the old Kingdome. The balls hit by Kingman and Espinoza were at the Metrodome, with Kingman's getting stuck in a drainage valve and Espinoza's lodging in an overhead speaker.

July-September

• July 2 - A combined total of 62 home runs are hit in today's games, breaking the old major league mark set on April 7, 2000. A record nine players have multiple home run games, breaking the previous mark of eight.
• July 9 - In a controversial finish, the 2002 All-Star Game held at Miller Park ends in a 7?7 tie after 11 innings as both the National and American leagues run out of pitchers. Both managers discuss it with commissioner Bud Selig, who calls the game.
• July 23 - Nomar Garciaparra hit three home runs with eight RBI on his birthday as the Red Sox edge Tampa Bay, 22?4, in the opener of a day?night doubleheader. The round?trippers give him five in two games to tie a major league record.
• August 7 - In a historic movement, Major League Baseball players end their long-held opposition to mandatory drug testing by agreeing to be tested for illegal steroids beginning in 2003.
• August 8 - Braves pitcher John Smoltz reaches 40 saves in a season faster than any pitcher in major league history.
• August 9 - Giants Barry Bonds hits the 600th home run of his career, but his team still fall to the Pirates by a score of 4?3. Bonds joins Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays in the exclusive 600-HR club.
• August 17 - The Yankees defeat the Mariners, 8?3, as Alfonso Soriano hit a home run to become the first second baseman ever to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a season.
• August 29 - First baseman switch-hitter Mark Bellhorn becomes the first player in National League history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same inning, doing so in the Cubs' 10?run 4th inning at Wrigley Field. Chicago won 13?10 over the Brewers. Bellhorn also ties a team record with five RBI in the inning.
• August 30 - Major league baseball players and owners agree to a historic contract that prevents the players from going out on strike.
• August 31 - The Mets are shutout by the Phillies, 1?0, to mark their 13th consecutive home defeat. In doing so, they become the first National League team to lose all their home games over the course of a month.
• September 1:
• Jeff Kent of the San Francisco Giants becomes the first second baseman in ML history to record 100 or more RBI for six consecutive years. The Giants lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7?6.
• Miguel Tejada of the Oakland Athletics hit his 30th home run of the season as Oakland beat the Minnesota Twins, 7?5. Tejada is just only the third shortstop in ML history with at least three seasons with 30 or more home runs and with 30 HR in three consecutive seasons. Alex Rodriguez leads in both categories with six such seasons, five in a row.
• Jim Thome of the Cleveland Indians became the only player in team history to earn 100 walks in consecutive seasons, and he did it twice. This was his fourth consecutive season and sixth overall with at least 100 free passes.
• September 3 - The Mets lose the first game of their doubleheader against the Marlins, 3?2, but bounce back to take the nightcap, 11?5. The loss in the opener sets a new National League record for consecutive home losses with 15.
• September 4:
• The Oakland Athletics set an American League record by defeating the Kansas City Royals, 12?11, for their 20th straight win. Oakland blows an 11?0 lead, but score in the bottom of the 9th for the victory. The old mark of 19 wins was shared between the 1906 White Sox and the 1947 Yankees.
• Aaron Myette, ejected yesterday for two pitches behind Melvin Mora, starts today's game. According to the New York Times, it is the first back-to-back start by a pitcher since Steve McCatty in 1980, though five pitchers ?Dennis Martínez, Bert Blyleven, Pete Vuckovich, Rick Langford and Juan Eichelberger? made their last start before the 1981 strike and their first start after.
• September 5 - In a Texas 11-2 victory over Baltimore, shortstop Alex Rodriguez becomes the fifth player in ML history to record successive 50?home run seasons.
• September 6:
• The Cardinals defeat the Cubs, 11?2, as brothers Andy Benes and Alan Benes oppose each other in the seventh matchup of brothers in major league history. Andy gets the win while Alan takes the loss. The Cardinals score all 11 of their runs in the third inning.
• The Oakland Athletics' 20-game winning streak was snapped as Brad Radke pitched the Minnesota Twins to a 6-0 victory at home. The Athletics fell short of matching the second-longest winning streak in baseball history. The Chicago Cubs of 1880 and 1935 both won 21 straight.
• September 8:
• The Atlanta Braves won their 11th straight NL division title when second-place Philadelphia lost to the Mets, 6-4.
• The Texas Rangers set a major-league record by homering in their 26th consecutive game as Texas falls to Tampa Bay, 6?3. Rafael Palmeiro's solo shot in the sixth inning is the record?breaker. The streak will be ended at 27 games two days later.
• September 9 - Pitcher Randy Johnson reaches 300 strikeouts for the fitth consecutive season, extending his major league record.
• September 14:
• Pitcher Derek Lowe get his 20 victory as the Red Sox beat the Orioles, 6?4. Lowe becomes the first pitcher in ML history to win 20 games the season after saving 20. He is also the first pitcher to record at least 40 saves and later win 20. Dennis Eckersley and John Smoltz did it the other way around.
• Barry Bonds ties Hank Aaron for the most 100-RBI seasons by a National League player as he drives in his 100th run of the season for the 11th time in his career. The major league record is 13, shared by Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth.
• Chin-Feng Chen becomes the first Taiwan-born player to appear in the major leagues as he walks and scores as a pinch-hitter for the Dodgers against the Rockies. The 24-year-old first baseman-outfielder played for the 1990 Taiwan team which won the Little League World Series.
• September 15 - Sammy Sosa joins Mel Ott and Willie Mays as the only National League players to post eight consecutive 100-RBI seasons.
• September 18 - Arizona defeat San Diego, 10-3,, as Greg Colbrunn is the first player to hit two home runs in a game while hitting for the cycle since George Brett (May 28, 1979).
• September 20 - Shortstop Mike Bordick sets a major league record with his 102nd consecutive errorless game at shortstop. He also extends his ML mark of errorless chances at SS to 504.
• September 22:
• Greg Maddux joins Cy Young as the only pitchers in major league history to win 15 or more games in 15 consecutive seasons.
• Fred McGriff becomes the first major league player to hit 30 homers for five different teams, and the first in homered in 42 different ballparks.
• September 29 - Albert Pujols becomes the fourth hitter in major leagues, and the first batter since Ted Williams in 1939?40, to collect more than 250 runs batted in in his first two seasons in the majors. Pujols drove in 257 runs in his first two campaigns. Joe DiMaggio holds the record with 292 RBI, Dale Alexander is second with 272, and Williams is third with 258.

October-December

• October 2 - Seibu Lions first baseman Alex Cabrera hits his 55th home run of the season, off Osaka pitcher Akira Okamoto, to tie the Japanese League record set by Sadaharu Oh in 1964 and matched by Tuffy Rhodes last year. Like Rhodes, Cabrera will see few good pitches for the remaining games.
• October 27 - The Anaheim Angels win their first World Series ever as they defeat the San Francisco Giants, 4?1, in Game 7. Rookie pitcher John Lackey gets the Series?clinching win. Garret Anderson's bases loaded double in the 3rd inning scores three runs for Anaheim. Troy Glaus is named Series MVP.
• November 22 - Astros right fielder Richard Hidalgo is shot in the left forearm during a carjacking in Venezuela. He is released from the hospital and is expected to go to Houston for more tests.
• November 25 - The Red Sox sign 28-year?old Theo Epstein as their new general manager. He becomes the youngest GM in major league history.
• December 2:
• In support of a national strike, the Venezuelan professional league suspends its games. Many of the eight teams in the league belong to news media owners opposed to President Hugo Chávez. When the strike continues, the league will cancel its season on January 13, 2004.
• In the biggest free agent signing this year, the Phillies sign Indians first baseman Jim Thome to a 6-year contract.