Highlighted Year: Fred Tenney, 1902

First Baseman, Boston Beaneaters

Age:  30

8^th season with Beaneaters

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 5’9”    Weight: 155 

Prior to 1902:

A native of Georgetown, Massachusetts, Tenney attended Brown University where he was a rare lefthanded catcher on the baseball team. Known for his aggressive playing style, he came to be nicknamed the “Soiled Collegian”, which was also something of a gibe from older teammates when he reached the major leagues. Following his graduation he joined the Beaneaters in 1894, who were in dire need of a catcher. After breaking a finger in his major league debut, Tenney rejoined the club upon his recovery and over the course of 27 games he batted .395 with 7 doubles, 2 home runs, 21 RBIs, and a .360 on-base percentage. In 1895 Tenney spent time in the minor New England League with the New Bedford Whalers. In 49 major league games with Boston he hit .272 with a .360 OBP. Again splitting time between the Beaneaters and, briefly, Springfield of the Eastern League in 1896 he further demonstrated that he could hit at the major league level as he batted .336 for Boston with 14 doubles, 3 triples, 2 home runs, 49 RBIs, a .400 OBP, and a .411 slugging percentage. Manager Frank Selee was unimpressed with his throwing arm from behind the plate and sought to utilize him in the outfield, also with unsatisfactory results. Placing him at first base in 1897 resolved the issue of where to put Tenney as he proved to be very adept defensively. As first baseman in a strong infield in 1897, Tenney hit .318 with 24 doubles, 3 triples, one home run, 85 RBIs, and a .376 OBP. Defensively, his 81 assists placed second among NL first sackers, as did his .988 fielding percentage, and his 1248 putouts ranked third. The Beaneaters won the NL pennant. The club repeated in 1898 and Tenney batted .328 with 25 doubles, 5 triples, 62 RBIs, a .370 OBP, and a .400 slugging percentage. He continued to rank among the league’s best fielding first basemen. Boston dropped to second place in 1899 but Tenney, the clever and talented batsman, hit .347 with 19 doubles, 17 triples, a home run, 67 RBIs, a .411 OBP, and a .439 slugging percentage. By 1900, he was a star player on a club that dropped further in the standings, as he batted .279 with 13 doubles, 5 triples, one home run, 56 RBIs, and a .346 OBP. Courted by the new American League in 1901, Tenney stayed put in Boston and hit .282 with 15 extra-base hits and a .340 OBP. By 1902 he was considered the league’s premier fielding first baseman as well as a reliable hitter and outstanding bunter with good speed on the basepaths.

1902 Season Summary

Appeared in 134 games

1B – 134

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 596 [10]

At Bats – 489

Runs – 88 [7]

Hits – 154 [12]

Doubles – 18 [19, tied with Sam Crawford & Tommy Corcoran]

Triples – 3

Home Runs – 2 [13, tied with thirteen others]

RBI – 30

Bases on Balls – 73 [3]

Int. BB – N/A

Strikeouts – 43

Stolen Bases – 21

Caught Stealing – N/A

Average - .315 [7, tied with Jimmy Slagle, Howie Peitz & Patsy Donovan]

OBP - .409 [2]

Slugging Pct. - .376 [11]

Total Bases – 184 [14]

GDP – N/A

Hit by Pitches – 5

Sac Hits – 29 [1]

Sac Flies – N/A

League-leading sac hits were +3 ahead of runners-up John Dobbs & Gene DeMontreville

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 9, HR - 2, RBI - 19, SB – 11, AVG - .347, OBP – .427, SLG - .441

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 4 AB) at Phila. Phillies 4/28, (in 5 AB) vs. Cincinnati 8/8, (in 4 AB) at St. Louis Cards 8/21, (in 5 AB) at Phila. Phillies 9/16

Longest hitting streak – 9 games

HR at home – 2

HR on road – 0

Most home runs, game – 1 (in 3 AB) vs. NY Giants 5/29, (in 3 AB) vs. Brooklyn 6/28

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 3 at Chi. Cubs 7/4, vs. Cincinnati 8/8

Pinch-hitting – No Appearances

Fielding

Chances – 1377

Put Outs – 1251

Assists – 105

Errors – 21

DP – 75

Pct. - .985 

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The Beaneaters (aka Nationals) went 73-64 to finish third in the NL, 30.5 games behind the pennant-winning Pittsburgh Pirates. The slow-starting Beaneaters finished May in fourth place at 15-19 before rallying in June and July to advance to third at 42-37. A lesser performance in August and September locked the club into its third-place finish.

After 1902:

In 1903, in recognition of his loyalty to the Beaneaters, Tenney was named team captain. He batted .313 with 22 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, 41 RBIs, and a .415 OBP. In the field he led NL first basemen in assists with 93 and he remained a premier fielder. In 1904 he hit .270 with a .351 OBP and again led the league’s first basemen in assists {115). Tenney was named player/manager of the Beaneaters in 1905 with a bonus incentive if the club didn’t lose money, which had him going into the stands to retrieve foul balls and led to a fracas with legendary umpire Bill Klem the following year over the return of unused baseballs after a game in Boston. Also, during the 1905 season Tenney considered signing William Clarence Matthews, who had been a star middle infielder at Harvard who happened to be African-American, but objections from other National League teams derailed the deal and Matthews continued his education on the way to entering into a distinguished legal career. The result was that the National and American Leagues remained segregated and the Beaneaters kept on losing and pinching pennies to stay afloat. For the 1905 season, Tenney batted .288 with a .368 OBP and he led NL first basemen in putouts (1556) and assists (152). The Beaneaters remained a cellar-dwelling club in 1906 and Tenney remained one of the few standouts on the roster, hitting .283 with 12 doubles, 8 triples, one home run, 28 RBIs, and a .357 OBP. He was suspended for two games as a result of the aforementioned altercation with umpire Bill Klem. Not typically given to fighting, particularly in light of the rough and tumble standards of the time, Tenney could stand up for himself if necessary. New ownership took over in 1907 and the franchise was renamed the Doves due to the Dovey brothers, the new owners, who gave Tenney a small ownership interest thanks to his helping to facilitate the sale. The Doves finished in seventh place and Tenney batted .273 with 18 doubles, 8 triples, 26 RBIs, and a .371 OBP. In the offseason he was fired as manager and traded to the New York Giants as part of an eight-player deal and despite his still owning stock in the Boston club. He proved to be a good veteran presence on the Giants in 1908 and led the NL with 101 runs scored while hitting .256 with 20 doubles, 2 home runs, 49 RBIs, and a .344 OBP. His performance dropped off significantly in 1909 as he batted .235 with a .333 OBP while appearing in only 101 games. Released following the season, Tenney played for the Lowell Tigers of the New England League in 1910 before returning to the National League and Boston, now called the Rustlers, in 1911, as a 39-year-old player/manager. The season did not go well for the club and Tenney batted .263 with a .352 OBP while playing in 102 games. Replaced as manager in 1912, both his playing and managerial careers came to an end. For his major league career, Tenney batted .294 with 2231 hits that included 270 doubles, 77 triples, and 22 home runs. He scored 1278 runs and compiled 688 RBIs, 285 stolen bases, a .371 OBP, and a .358 slugging percentage. With Boston he batted ..300 with 1134 runs scored, 1994 hits, 242 doubles, 74 triples, 17 home runs, 609 RBIs, 260 stolen bases, a .376 OBP, and a .367 slugging percentage. Tenney never appeared in the postseason. His managerial record was a disappointing 202-402. After baseball he worked for the Equitable Life Insurance Society and wrote about baseball for several newspapers and Baseball Magazine. He died at age 80 in 1952. In 2023 Tenney was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.