In the month of September dreams can come true, or they can just as easily be broken.
Right now for any fan of baseball, the month of September has been extremely entertaining. While two division races have been locked up and both the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals have punched their postseason tickets, there are still several teams vying for that playoff berth.
With every passing baseball season a new story is told, often times one that fans never expected. The 2011 St. Louis Cardinals are evidence of that. Nobody thought they were going to make the playoffs, let alone win the World Series and alas, they accomplished both.
In September and October, Lance Berkman and Albert Pujols powered the offense, combining for a .365 batting average and a .425 OBP.
In other words, they got the job done.
It is those September stars that help propel a team into the playoffs and into baseball lore. While certainly all bets are off once the postseason rolls around, it takes a star in September to ensure the possibility of accomplishing the greater goal—a World Series victory.
There are a couple of caveats to this list. First, I wanted to keep things limited to the modern era of baseball. Therefore, this list only dates back to 1974. Far too many lists are made with the same names upon them.
Second, quantifying a great player is difficult. As noted with Berkman and Pujols, batting average and OBP may be the most readily comparable split statistics available.
It is also necessary for a control to be evident. For consideration, batters must have a minimum of 500 plate appearances in September.
With that in mind, here is a look at 20 men who would become the greatest performers in the month of September in all of Major League Baseball history.