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Defending American League champ Milwaukee opened September by winning three of four at Minnesota to build up some cushion in the AL West race. The Brewers rattled off a 12-game winning streak mid-month and was 21-5 for the month, taking the division title and top seed at 102-60. It is the fifth AL West crown for Milwaukee and their third in four years.

The Brewers led the majors in run differential (+188) and had the fewest runs allowed in the AL at 677. They also set the AL season attendance record of 802,618. The Twins had the AL’s second-best record at 95-67 but missed the cut with no wild cards. Kansas City (82-80) and St. Louis (81-81) were next, then Chicago (71-91) and Detroit (69-93).

On September 18, Philadelphia and Cleveland were tied for the AL East lead at 80-73 while Boston (76-76) and New York (75-87) were both still alive. The Athletics went on a ten-game winning streak, including a critical four-game home sweep of the Spiders. Three of the wins were walk-offs, allowing Philadelphia to finish strong for their first-ever division title at 88-74.

Boston ended up in second at 82-80, followed by Cleveland at 81-81 and New York at 78-84. Baltimore was last in the division at 69-93 to end a four-year run of winning seasons. The Athletics led MLB with 892 runs scored and their .354 team on-base percentage was the second-best in AL history. The Yankees’ 206 home runs were also the second-best in AL history. This leaves the Royals and New York Giants as the only teams yet to earn a playoff berth through 14 MLB seasons.

Browns LF Jimmy Sheckard was the final AL Batter of the Month with a .333 average, 11 home runs, 26 RBI, and 27 runs. Chicago’s Amos Rusie was Pitcher of the Month on a 0.76 ERA in 35.1 innings, 4-0 record, and 31 strikeouts. Yankees RF Danny Green was Rookie of the Month with a .355 average, 2 doubles, 8 homers, 19 runs, and 18 RBI.



Green finished as the MLB leader in home runs with 42. Brewers RF Willie Keeler is the MVP favorite as the leader in batting average (.395), OBP (.440), WAR (9.5), hits (242), and runs (123). The 242 hits were the second-most in MLB history behind Dave Orr’s 252 from 1884. Keeler won his fifth batting title in six years as has three of the top five qualifying single-season batting averages. Wee Willie remarkably has a career .393 average in six seasons. He also earned his first cycle on September 22 against the Browns.

Cleveland rookie Sam Leever is the Pitcher of the Year favorite in the AL with the ERA title (2.69), along with a second place in WAR (7.2) and third in strikeouts (234). Leever notably had a no-hitter on September 12 against the Yankees, giving up one walk with eight strikeouts over 97 pitches. Washington’s Ed Doheny had the most Ks at 235, followed by Kansas City’s Walter Thornton one behind. Thornton was the WARlord at 8.0.



In milestones, Cleveland’s George Van Haltren reached 1000 runs scored, Milwaukee’s Lee Viau got to 200 career wins, and St. Louis’s Larry McKeon reached 2000 strikeouts.