SEPTEMBER'S BEST

SEPTEMBER'S TEAM
From 1969 through '83, the Orioles' record in Greater September was 295-160, for a .648 percentage. Take away last season's 8-24 finish, and Earl Weaver's managerial record was 301-181 in the season's final month.

SULTANS OF THE STRETCH

1) Carl Yastrzemski, Red Sox, 1967. Batted .419 with nine homers and 26 RBIs in 27 September-October games. Said Boston manager Dick Williams, "For one month he was the greatest player who ever lived."

2) Babe Ruth, Yankees, 1927. Hit 17 homers in September to finish with 60.

3) Pete Rose, Reds, 1979. Hit .421, with 51 hits in the final month—even though faced with both a paternity suit and divorce proceedings.

HOTTEST STREAK
The 1916 Giants won 26 consecutive games (all of them at home), from Sept. 7 to 30, before finally losing. Still, they finished fourth—seven games behind the Dodgers. Talk about this year's Brewers being streaky: That year New York also had a 17-game winning streak (all on the road); that means half of its 86 wins came in two streaks.

BEST HOME RUNS

1) Bobby Thomson, Giants, 1951. The Shot Heard 'Round the World.

2) Gabby Hartnett, Cubs, 1938. His Homer in the Gloamin'—a shot in the dark in the bottom of the ninth against Pittsburgh on Sept. 28—put the Cubs in first to stay.

3) Bucky Dent, Yankees, 1978. Hello, Wall.

4) Hank Green berg, Tigers, 1945. His ninth-inning grand slam on Sept. 30—two months after he had returned from four years' Army service—clinched the pennant in the season finale.

5) Dick Sisler, Phillies, 1950. Saved the Whiz Kids from becoming the Fizz Kids.

BEST PITCHING PERFORMANCES

1) Addie Joss, Indians, 1908. Threw a perfect game on Oct. 2 against the White Sox when Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit were all within half a game of one another.

2) Dizzy and Paul Dean, Cardinals, 1934. Dizzy threw a three-hitter and Paul a no-hitter in a Sept. 21 doubleheader against the Dodgers to move St. Louis up on the Giants. The Cards won the pennant on the final day.

3) Mike Scott, Astros, 1986. No-hit San Francisco to clinch the National League West title on Sept. 25. "If we'd had 23 innings," said Giant Greg Minton, "we still wouldn't have gotten a hit."

4) Allie Reynolds, Yankees, 1951. Pitched a no-hitter against Boston in the first game of a Sept. 28 doubleheader. Yanks sewed up the pennant in the nightcap.

5) Sal Maglie, Dodgers, 1956. Purchased from the Indians in May after 6½ years as a Giant, the Barber won 13 games for erstwhile archrival Brooklyn, including a Sept. 25 no-hitter against Philadelphia. The Dodgers beat out the Braves for the pennant by one game.

BEST PLAYER PICKUPS

1) Woody Fryman, Pirates, 1972. Bought from the Phillies and went 10-3 for Pittsburgh over the last two months of the season.

2) Pedro Ramos, Yankees, 1964. Came from the Indians for Ralph Terry, Bud Daley, and $75,000 and gave the Yanks a win and seven saves in September.

3) Cesar Cedeno, Cardinals, 1985. Acquired by St. Louis on Aug. 29 in exchange for Mike Jackson. Homered in his first at bat and hit .400 for September.

PHOTO

REUTERS/BETTMANN NEWSPHOTOS

ILLUSTRATION

September 21, 1934

In a doubleheader at Brooklyn, Dizzy Dean (left) beat the Dodgers on a three-hitter, and brother Paul had a no-hitter in the nightcap.