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Boston and Chicago both held onto their divisional leads in September to repeat as the American League’s champs. The Red Sox had the best record in all of Major League Baseball at 101-61 atop the AL East. Philadelphia (90-72), New York (89-73), Baltimore (86-76), and Cleveland (84-78) all had winning campaigns, but couldn’t keep up. Washington, who tied for second last year, was a distant last place at 69-93.

The reigning World Series champ White Sox held on in the West despite a lackluster September. Chicago at 88-74 was ahead of 82-80 Minnesota, while the remaining teams all had losing seasons. Kansas City was second in 1884, but tied for last with St. Louis in 1885 at 69-93.

AL Batter of the Month and Rookie of the Month was #1 pick Denny Lyons. The Milwaukee first baseman had a .376 average, 8 homers, 29 RBI, and 28 runs. Cleveland’s Fred Tenney was the top pitcher for September with a 4-0 record with 26 strikeouts in 50 innings. Boston had the best run differential at +177. Milwaukee had the most runs (903) and Chicago allowed the fewest (718).



Lyons is an MVP candidate as a rookie, finishing with the league lead in batting average (.367), and WAR (10.1). Red Sox RF Sam Thompson was the top slugger with the lead in home runs (45), RBI (137) and OPS (1.081). Defending MVP Charlie Ferguson with Boston has a shot again as a two-way guy. On the mound, he had 7.3 WAR over 271.2 innings with a 3.25 ERA, 19-11 record, and 208 strikeouts. He had a 3.3 WAR and .784 OPS offensively playing the outfield.

Pitcher of the Year is a competitive battle, although Chicago’s John Clarkson is the favorite. He led in strikeouts (252), wins (26-8) and was third in ERA (2.86). Minnesota’s Charlie Buffinton won the ERA title at 2.69, with New York’s Bert Dorr close behind at 2.71. Dorr was the WARlord at 8.3.