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Cincinnati finished with the National League’s best record at 101-61 for their second NL West Division title in three years. Indianapolis ended up second at 88-74 and had a similar run differential to the Reds (+187 to +167). However, the Clowns underperformed their expected win/loss by eight games and were 19-28 in one-run contests. Indy was the top scoring team in the majors at 929 runs. The Clowns set an NL team record for hits (1654) and batting average (.291) and had the second-best OBP (.356) and second-most stolen bases (563).

Louisville (85-77) and New Orleans (82-80) both had respectable seasons. It ended a four-year stretch of losing seasons by the Colonels. The Pelicans posted their sixth winning season in seven years, although they had only one playoff berth to show for it. Chicago (65-97) and St. Louis (60-102) had the worst records in the NL. It was a massive collapse by the Cardinals, last year’s NL West champ. Both posted the worst record in franchise history. The Cubs offense meanwhile set an all-time MLB worst with 1007 strikeouts. Their pitching also allowed an NL-worst 1768 hits and a 10.99 H/9.

The one division with a chance to be competitive in September was the NL East. However, Philadelphia went 14-4 to start the month to put it out of reach for both Brooklyn and Buffalo. The Phillies even ended the season on a five-game losing streak (including getting swept by the Bisons), but they still prevailed at 95-67. The Dodgers took second at 90-72 and Buffalo was 87-75.

It was back-to-back division titles for Philadelphia, who had a +235 run differential. They underperformed their expected win/loss by nine, as that differential was the fourth-best in MLB history. The Phillies allowed the fewest runs in the NL at 637. They also broke the MLB season attendance record at 840,272. Attendance spiked overall as three other NL teams sold 700k tickets (Indianapolis, Buffalo, Cincinnati).

Brooklyn set a franchise wins record and finally broke out of perpetual mediocrity; they had wins in the 70s for the prior nine seasons. Buffalo got its sixth consecutive winning season. Boston notably was last at 70-92, the first losing season for the Braves in a decade.

NL Batter of the Month in September was Philadelphia 1B Joe Kelley with a .414 average, 7 home runs, 23 RBI, and 22 runs. Kelley also had a 20-game hitting streak ended in September, as did New Orleans’ Frank Grant. Brooklyn’s Jim Gardner was Pitcher and Rookie of the Month with an 0.87 ERA over 51.2 innings, 5-0 record, and 47 strikeouts.



Reds RF Kip Selbach absolutely dominated the leaderboard in his third season with the second-ever Triple Crown win, joining Mike Tiernan’s 1889 effort. Selbach led in runs (130), hits (229), doubles (57), homers (40), RBI (154), total bases (420), triple slash (.399/.469/.732), OPS (1.201), wRC+ (224), and WAR (12.8).

He’s a lock for MVP with one of the greatest seasons in MLB history. On the record board, Selbach’s WAR was the 2nd-best by a position player behind only Tiernan’s 13.05. Selbach’s triple slash was 3rd/2nd/5th and his OPS 4th among qualified batters. His hits were also the 7th-most and RBI 6th-most in a season.

Pitcher of the Year is a wide open race in the NL as different players lead in each of the major categories. Philadelphia’s Silver King won his second ERA title at 2.60. Like in the AL, the NL had several standout rookie aces. New York’s Joe Corbett led in strikeouts (268) while Pittsburgh’s Jerry Nops was the WARlord (9.0) and was one of three tied for the most wins at 20. Nops’ WAR was the 5th-best single-season by a pitcher.

In milestones, Philadelphia’s Barney McLaughlin and Bug Holliday both reached 1000 runs scored, as did Boston’s Chicken Wolf. Brooklyn’s Billy Sunday reached 300 home runs and Chicago’s John Reilly got to 1000 RBI. Buffalo’s Adonis Terry reached 2000 strikeouts on the mound.