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On September 11, defending World Series champ Indianapolis finally passed Cincinnati for the National League West Division lead, but the Reds got back ahead on the 18th. On the 22nd, they were tied with six games to go, including a four-game series against each other to close the season. The Clowns ended their penultimate series with two more wins over St. Louis, while the Reds lost both of their games to Chicago. Indy then took three of four at home over Cincinnati to repeat as division champ at 97-65.

Indianapolis earned its fourth division title and led the NL in run differential (+161) and runs scored (887). The Reds finished four back at 93-69, losing what was a nine-game lead on the Clowns at the all-star break. Indy was 55-26 after the break, the best in the majors. Louisville (81-81) and St. Louis (80-82) were next in the division while New Orleans had MLB’s worst record at 62-100.

At the start of September, Pittsburgh earned a four-game road sweep over Philadelphia to take control of the NL East. The Pirates never relinquished the lead after that, although the Phillies never were more than three behind. That was the final margin with Pittsburgh at 89-73 and Philadelphia at 86-76. This ended the Phillies’ three-year reign atop the NL East and was the second-ever division title for the Pirates (1888).

Brooklyn and Buffalo both finished as competitive third placers at 84-78. The Bisons have posted eight consecutive winning seasons, the longest active such streak in MLB. Philadelphia is on a seven-year run of winning campaigns. New York was last at 71-91 and the Giants are the only NL team yet to earn a playoff trip.



New Orleans 3B Jimmy Williams was the final NL Batter and Rookie of the Month with a .418 average, 8 home runs, 25 RBI, and 22 runs. Indianapolis veteran Sadie McMahon was Pitcher of the Month on a 1.61 ERA, 5-0 record, and 31 strikeouts in 44.2 innings.

The record-setting hitting streak for Dodgers 1B Jake Beckley continued until September 6, snapped by Louisville at 38 games. His on-base streak was likewise 38 games. Another batting record that fell was the single-season doubles mark with New York 1B Mike Grady getting 69, blowing by the previous best of 61 by three players.



Even with Cincinnati’s fall, RF Kip Selbach is the most likely candidate for NL MVP as the leader in triple slash (.379/.436/.625), OPS (1.060), hits (210), and runs (113). His 8.1 WAR was just behind Indy CF Bill Lange’s 8.3 for the most among batters. Phillies CF Charlie Duffee led in homers for the third time in four years, but he only needed 31. Last year, Duffee’s 32 homers were the fewest by a league leader.

Louisville’s Arlie Pond had a historic effort on the mound with a 2.00 ERA and 10.8 WAR, both the second-best in MLB history for a pitcher. He’s technically the second to post a sub-two ERA as it was rounded up from 1.998. Pond actually wasn’t the WARlord though as Boston rookie Rube Waddell set the pitching record at 10.96. Waddell’s 299 strikeouts were the third-best single season in MLB history, but his 3.14 ERA likely gives Pond the edge in Pitcher of the Year voting.

For milestones, Brooklyn’s Buster Hoover was the sixth to 2500 hits while teammate Jake Beckley reached 2000 hits. Five NL players reached 1000 runs scored; Emmett Seery, Cliff Carroll, Frank Grant, Billy Hamilton, and Beckley. Buffalo’s Jimmy Ryan reached 700 stolen bases and the Cardinals’ Jim Manning got to 600 swipes.