Every 2002 MLB race charted day by day: AL East, AL Central, AL West, AL Wild Card, NL East, NL Central, NL West and NL Wild Card. Final standings, from a season that ran March 31 to September 29, 2002.
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AL East standings, 2002
Team
W
L
Pct
GB
L10
Streak
New York Yankees (NYY)
103
58
.640
-
8-2
W5
Boston Red Sox (BOS)
93
69
.574
10.5
7-3
W1
Toronto Blue Jays (TOR)
78
84
.481
25.5
8-2
W7
Baltimore Orioles (BAL)
67
95
.414
36.5
0-10
L12
Tampa Bay Devil Rays (TB)
55
106
.342
48
5-5
L1
Final standings.
Turning points
The lead changed hands 9 times.
The New York Yankees trailed by as many as 5 games on May 6, 2002.
The New York Yankees took first place for good on June 28, 2002.
The Boston Red Sox won 9 games in a row from April 30, 2002 to May 9, 2002, the longest run of the race.
The Boston Red Sox led by 5 games as late as May 9, 2002.
The New York Yankees went 24-14 from June 6, 2002 to July 21, 2002, turning a deficit of 3.5 games into a lead of 4 games.
The top two ended the day within one game of each other on 42 of the 175 days played.
Five teams held first place.
The New York Yankees spent 107 of the season's 183 charted days in first place.