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The power in the American League remains concentrated in the West Division. Milwaukee remains the leader at 38-15, but Kansas City (35-21) made gains after going 19-9 in May. Defending champ Minnesota remains eight back at 30-26. Baltimore at 29-26 is the only AL East team with a winning record. However, they’re only 2.5 games up on both New York and Washington with Cleveland three back.

AL Batter of the Month for May was Kansas City 3B Jimmy Collins with a .352 average, 8 home runs, 31 RBI, and 25 runs. Milwaukee’s Lee Viau was Pitcher of the Month with a 5-1 record, 1.70 ERA, and 35 strikeouts over 53 innings. St. Louis SS Jimmy Sheckard repeated as Rookie of the Month with a .376 average, 5 home runs, 12 RBI, and 19 runs.

A 21-7 record in May has pushed Buffalo to the National League’s best record at 38-18; tied for the best in all of MLB. Defending NL champ Philadelphia matched the pace to stay two back on the Bisons in the NL East at 36-20. Brooklyn had a noticeable drop to 26-30 after a 10-18 May. Indianapolis still holds the NL West lead at 36-20, followed by Louisville (32-24) and St. Louis (29-27). The Colonels were 19-9 in May, while defending division champ Cincinnati fell to fourth at 26-30.

Bisons RF Jimmy Ryan repeated as NL Batter of the Month with a .436 average, 8 home runs, 30 RBI, and 26 runs in May. After dealing with injuries in his first two seasons in Buffalo, Ryan is finally living up to the hype after the big trade in November 1893 with Louisville. So far in 1896, he had 5.1 WAR, 1.307 OPS, and 249 wRC+.

Buffalo also had Pitcher of the Month in veteran Charlie Sweeney with a 5-0 record, 1.27 ERA, and 23 strikeouts in 42.2 innings. #9 pick Jack Powell of the New York Giants took Rookie of the Month with a 3.17 ERA over 48.1 innings, 2-3 record, and 24 strikeouts.



On May 7 against the Giants, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tiernan made history as the first player to 500 career home runs. He rebounded from a weak April with nine homers in May. He also reached 2000 career hits earlier in the month. Elsewhere, Baltimore LF Tuck Turner set the record for longest hitting streak, beating Billy Taylor’s 29 from 1884. Turner got to 31 games before it was snapped on May 24 by the Royals. He also had a 40-game on-base streak.



Turner’s Orioles teammate Jack O’Connor also notably hit for the cycle on May 1 against the Browns. O’Connor became the third player to achieve the cycle twice in a career along with George Van Haltren and Frank Grant. In other milestones, Browns 2B Ed McKean became the first player to 800 career stolen bases. Cincinnati’s Billy Hamilton was the sixth to 700 swipes. Baltimore 1B Dan Brouthers became the first to 4000 total bases. Brouthers (2470) and Cleveland’s Dave Orr (2469) are battling to become the first to 2500 career hits.

Joining the 2000 hit club was Red Sox LF Henry Larkin and Braves 1B Cap Anson. Anson is the oldest active player in the game at age 44. Brooklyn 2B Fred Pfeffer, Royals 1B Otto Schomberg, and White Sox 1B Duke Farrell reached 1000 RBI. Scoring their 1000th run in May were Louisville 1B Joe Flynn and Red Sox 1B Tommy Tucker.

In injury news, 40-year old pitcher Guy Hecker suffered a partially torn UCL, ending his season after six starts for the Phillies. It is uncertain if Hecker will continue on considering his age and the severity. He is MLB’s career wins leader at 229-129 and the leader in complete games with 265. Hecker has a career 3.20 ERA over 3166.1 innings, 1709 strikeouts, 130 ERA+, 86 FIP-, and 66.3 WAR.