[FuzzyRussianHat]

The Red Sox remained the American League’s best team through May 1904 and took over the best record in the majors at 37-18. However, the second-best record is right behind them in the AL East with the 35-20 Nationals. Both New York and Cleveland are eight back at 29-26. Detroit holds the AL West lead at 32-22, but Kansas City (30-25), St. Louis (29-26), and Minnesota (27-28) each aren’t too far away. Chicago still has the worst record at 14-41, but their May was ‘regular bad’ instead of historically bad like their 3-24 April.

Defending World Series champ New Orleans had an impressive 20-9 month to move into the National League’s top spot narrowly at 33-22. The Pelicans are four games up in the NL West on the 29-26 Cubs, followed by the 28-27 Cardinals. Buffalo ended the month on a five-game losing streak, but still holds the NL East lead at 32-22. Pittsburgh is 1.5 back at 31-24, while the rest of the division is within fewer than eight games from first.

Royals LF Mike Donlin took AL Batter of the Month on a .388 average, 6 home runs, 17 RBI, and 26 runs. Cardinals RF/P Charlie Hickman was the best NL bat with a .402 average, 5 home runs, 17 RBI, and 27 runs. Hickman is having a banner year ranking second in average (.357), homers (10), and RBI (45) while also leading the majors on the mound with a 1.80 ERA.

Cleveland’s Addie Joss was AL Pitcher of the Month with a 6-0 record, 1.59 ERA, and 34 strikeouts in 51 innings. Clowns veteran Tom Vickery won in the NL on a 5-0 record, 1.71 ERA, and 27 Ks in 52.2 innings. The best AL rookie was Nationals RHP Orval Overall with a 4-1 record, 2.32 ERA, and 26 Ks in 42.2 innings. NL Rookie of the Month was Indianapolis RF Ty Cobb with a .343 average, 10 doubles, 4 homers, 17 runs, and 10 RBI.

The first cycle of the season came May 25 by Brooklyn’s John Titus facing Chicago. In milestones, Buffalo’s Denny Lyons reached 1100 career stolen bases; the third in MLB history behind Jim Fogarty (1147) and Billy Hamilton (1137). Minnesota’s Hugh Duffy and Indy’s Bob Pettit both reached 900 steals. Hamilton notably scored his 1500th run with the Clowns. Giants 3B Charlie Irwin reached 2000 hits. Pitchers earning strikeout #2000 in May was the Braves’ Rube Waddell and Yankees’ Jim Gardner.

Elsewhere in the world, United States Army engineers began work on the Panama Canal. In sports, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was formed to oversee international soccer competition.