1919 AL - Ruth's chase for the all-time home run record

Player	Year	Team	GP	HR
Ruth, Babe	1919	Boston AL	119	35
Williamson, Ed	1884	Chicago NL	107	27
Freeman, Buck	1899	Washington NL	155	25
Pfeffer, Fred	1884	Chicago NL	112	25
Cravath, Gavvy	1915	Philadelphia NL	150	24
Dalrymple, Abner	1884	Chicago NL	111	22
Anson, Cap	1884	Chicago NL	112	21
Schulte, Frank	1911	Chicago NL	154	21
Thompson, Sam	1889	Philadelphia NL	128	20

1919 AL - Games of Thursday, 18 September

Tigers 5, Red Sox 4: Three 9th-inning walks proved fatal to Boston's chances as Detroit took advantage of the charity to score twice in the final inning and hold on for a narrow victory in The Hub. Babe Ruth extended his single-season home run record to 35 with a solo shot in the bottom of the 8th that tied the game at two runs apiece, but Sam Jones (11-17) didn't have the gas, or the support, to hold on in the 9th. Eddie Ainsmith led off with a little dribbler toward third base which the slick-fielding Ossie Vitt should have just eaten, but his wild heave to first allowed Ainsmith to take second. Jones then, unforgivably, walked pitcher Howard Ehmke to put himself in real trouble. Donie Bush sacrificed the runners into scoring position and, again, Jones issued four wide ones to one of the weaker hitters in the League (this time, it was Ralph Young) to load the bases with Ty Cobb, Bobby Veach and Harry Heilmann coming to bat. Ed Barrow came to the mound, and Jones left with him as Bob McGraw trotted to the slab to try to dig the Sox out of the big hole in which they found themselves. But McGraw walked Cobb to force in the go-ahead run and then Wally Schang let a bender get through him for a passed ball that provided an insurance marker for Detroit, before he managed to escape from the inning. Boston put Ehmke (13-15) under pressure in the home 9th, scoring once on Frank Gilhooley's pinch-hit double, but the tall Tiger right-hander got Vitt to tap back to the box for the final out. Veach had three hits for the Tigers, including his League-pacing 40th double, while Stuffy McInnis had two hits and two RBI for Boston. [box]

1919 AL - Games of Wednesday, 17 September

Yankees 26, White Sox 4: New York scored ten times in the the bottom of the 1st inning and that was only the appetizer, as they continued to circle the bases to the tune of twenty-six runs which embarrassed the League champions-elect at the Polo Grounds. "A top-flight ball club should just never put in a performance like that, regardless of whether the games mean anything towards the flag," said Kid Gleason. "Apparently, we've got a fair bit of work to do before the World's Series begins." The opening-inning explosion featured eight hits, two walks, a hit batsman and a Chicago error, with the crowning blow being Duffy Lewis' three-run homer to make the score 6-0. After two more runs in the 2nd, the floodgates were reopened in the 3rd - four bases on balls and five hits led to nine more runs, with Del Pratt administering the coup de grâce with a grand slam home run. Of course this was all plenty for Jack Quinn (19-11) who managed to allow four runs on only four hits, when all four Sox scores crossed the plate on something other than base hits, before setting down seventeen of the final eighteen men to face him. Among the gaudiest of boxscore numbers were Frank Baker's six runs scored and Pratt's seven runs batted in. [box]

1919 AL - Games of Tuesday, 16 September

Indians 4, Athletics 1: Joe Harris' two-run, two-out triple put some distance between Cleveland and Philadelphia. and Stan Coveleski made that edge last until the end at Shibe Park. The Indians led 1-0 through six on a two-out bases-loaded wild pitch by Bob Hasty (0-1) in the 4th, but the visitors immediately threatened in the 7th. Coveleski singled, and both runners were then safe when the As failed to force him at second on a sacrifice bunt by Jack Graney. Ray Chapman bunted them both into scoring position, but Tris Speaker popped out on the infield for the second out. This brought up the dangerous (.382) Harris, but Connie Mack decided to pitch to him with the veteran lefty Gardner on deck, and "Moon" drilled one beyond the reach of Frank Welch for three bases and a pair of runs. Coveleski (15-15) gave one back in the 8th on Ivy Griffin's three-bagger, and allowed singles to the first two batters in the 9th, but got Cy Perkins to bounce into a 6-4-3 twin killing to end the game. [box]

1919 AL - Pitching Leaders through 15 September

Pitching leaderboards in the American League as the campaign enters its final fortnight . . .