2009 Major League Baseball season

The defeated the Detroit Tigers in a one-game playoff to earn the AL Central division title.

Minnesota Twins

All "postseason games and games added to the regular season to determine qualifiers for the postseason" become if they are called before nine innings are played, regardless of whether the game would otherwise qualify as an official game, or the score at the time the game is called. The game is resumed when conditions permit at the same location from the point of suspension. This rule change codifies the controversial interpretation of the official rules made by MLB commissioner Bud Selig during Game 5 of the 2008 World Series.^[1][2]

suspended games

will no longer be used to determine home-field advantage for one-game tiebreakers held to determine division champions or wild card teams. Instead, "performance-based criteria" — starting with head-to-head record between the tied clubs — will be used to determine home-field advantage.^[1][2] This came into play for the first time when the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins tied for the lead of the American League Central at the end of the regular season (October 4); the one-game playoff was played on October 6 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome as the Twins won the season series, 11–7. The game cannot be played on October 5 because of a scheduling conflict with the Minnesota Vikings, who hosted the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football that night.

Coin tosses

then with the San Diego Padres, became the first player to open a new ballpark with a leadoff home run, as the Padres beat the New York Mets 6–5 at Citi Field on April 13.

Jody Gerut

teammates Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko both hit their 300th career home runs in back-to-back plate appearances against the Detroit Tigers in the second inning at Comerica Park on April 13, the first time that historic home runs were hit consecutively.

Chicago White Sox

of the New York Mets became the 25th member of the 500 home run club on April 17 against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field. The historic home run came in the bottom of the seventh inning as a pinch hitter, the first time a player has reached 500 home runs in this way.

Gary Sheffield

who at the time was with the New York Mets, wins his 150th game on May 10.

Liván Hernández

then of the Houston Astros, hit his 300th career home run in a game against the Chicago Cubs on May 17 at Wrigley Field. On June 17, Rodríguez played in his 2,227th game as a catcher, breaking the record for all-time games caught previously held by Carlton Fisk. He finished the season as a member of the Texas Rangers.

Iván Rodríguez

of the Milwaukee Brewers accomplished his 2,000th career hit in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 18 at Busch Stadium.

Jason Kendall

of the Colorado Rockies got his 2,000th career hit and his 500th career double (on July 22).

Todd Helton

then of the Oakland Athletics, recorded his 400th career home run. He finished the season as a member of the Colorado Rockies.

Jason Giambi

of the Philadelphia Phillies notched his 250th career victory on May 31 against the Washington Nationals.

Jamie Moyer

of the New York Yankees got his 2,600th hit and 1,500th run on June 2 against the Texas Rangers. The Yankees' captain would then pass Luis Aparicio for most hits by a shortstop on August 16. Jeter also became the all-time hit leader in Yankees history with a single in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles on September 11. He broke the record of 2,721 hits that was held by Lou Gehrig.

Derek Jeter

of the San Francisco Giants became the 24th member of the 300 win club, defeating the Nationals on June 4 in the first game of a makeup doubleheader, earning the win in a 5–1 triumph. Johnson became the sixth southpaw to reach the milestone.

Randy Johnson

of the Chicago Cubs wins his 100th career game against the Cincinnati Reds defeating the Reds on June 5.

Carlos Zambrano

and Bobby Abreu have reached 2,000 career hits as well.

Miguel Tejada

passed the 1,500 RBIs and the 400-double milestone as a member of the Chicago White Sox. He finished the season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Jim Thome

The celebrated their 500th consecutive sellout at Fenway Park on June 18. Sox pitcher Brad Penny also got his 100th career win.

Boston Red Sox

Cardinals manager won his 2,500th game in his managerial career defeating the Kansas City Royals June 21 at Kaufmann Stadium, 12–5.

Tony La Russa

passed Luis Aparicio for most hits by a native-born Venezuelan.

Omar Vizquel

of the Houston Astros hit his 300th career home run and passed the 1,000 RBI mark.

Lance Berkman

of the Texas Rangers wins his 150th game on June 26.

Kevin Millwood

becomes the second pitcher in MLB history to record 500 career saves on June 29 in a 4–2 victory against their crosstown rivals, the New York Mets. He also saved his major league record fourth All-Star Game.

Mariano Rivera

of the St. Louis Cardinals reached the 1,000 RBI list and the 1,000-run list. On June 30 at Busch Stadium, Pujols became the 32nd player to hit 30 home runs before the All-Star break. He is also the seventh player to hit 30 home runs before the month of July. He would later become the second player in history to record at least 100 RBI in each of his first nine seasons on a 3-run double in the sixth inning at Pittsburgh on August 8, and also hit his 350th career home run after nine seasons.

Albert Pujols

hit his 300th career home run on July 3.

Adam Dunn

of the Atlanta Braves hit his 500th career double on June 27. He also got his 2,500th career hit with a single in the second inning against the Washington Nationals on October 1. He became the 90th player in major league history to reach this mark.

Garret Anderson

of the Boston Red Sox reached the 300 home run plateau on July 9. He also got his 1,000th career hit as a member of the team on July 11. On September 15, Ortiz set the record for most home runs for a designated hitter by hitting his 270th against the Los Angeles Angels.

David Ortiz

of the San Francisco Giants pitched baseball's first no-hitter of the season on July 10 as he defeated the San Diego Padres, 8–0 at AT&T Park. It was the first no-hitter hurled at "The Phone Booth".

Jonathan Sánchez

of the Chicago Cubs won his 100th game on July 11.

Ted Lilly

of the Boston Red Sox won his 100th game on July 12.

Josh Beckett

of the Chicago White Sox pitched the 16th perfect game in baseball's modern era on July 23, beating the Tampa Bay Rays at U.S. Cellular Field, 5–0. Buehrle became the sixth pitcher to hurl both a no hitter and a perfect game in his career, joining Hall of Famers Addie Joss, Cy Young, Sandy Koufax and Jim Bunning, and also Randy Johnson. Buehrle did this in the midst of setting a Major League record by retiring 45 consecutive batters over three games.

Mark Buehrle

of the Washington Nationals became the 13th player in history to hit two grand slams in one game on July 27 against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Josh Willingham

of the Houston Astros hits his 300th career home run in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers on August 8. He becomes the 125th person in major league baseball history to reach this mark.

Carlos Lee

of the Los Angeles Angels hits his 400th career home run in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 10. He becomes the 45th player in major league history to reach this mark. Guerrero would later single in the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers on August 26, and by doing so, became the 13th player to get over 1,000 hits for more than one franchise.^[3]

Vladimir Guerrero

Also on August 10, hit for the cycle against the Chicago Cubs, and became the second player in baseball history to have hit for the cycle and have an unassisted triple play in their career. His unassisted triple play came on April 24, 2007, against the Atlanta Braves. John Valentin is the other player to have done both.

Troy Tulowitzki

a reserve second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, pulled off baseball's fifteenth unassisted triple play against the New York Mets at Citi Field on August 23, 2009. It ended a Major League Baseball game for the first time since 1927, as the Phils beat the Mets, 9–7. The only other player to turn an unassisted triple play to complete a game was Johnny Neun, who did it for the Detroit Tigers on May 31, 1927, against the Cleveland Indians. The game also featured an inside-the-park home run by Ángel Pagán, the second such game to see both an inside-the-park homer and a triple play since July 4, 1988, when the Red Sox played at Kansas City where Dwight Evans hit an inside-the-park homer and Jim Rice hit into a triple play. Bruntlett was playing second base for regular starter Chase Utley, who was given a day of rest by manager Charlie Manuel.

Eric Bruntlett

of the Los Angeles Angels won his 100th game on August 30.

John Lackey

of the New York Yankees collected his 2,500th hit with a single in the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles on September 2. He became the 89th player in MLB history to reach this mark. He also set a new American League record at seven, for most RBI in one inning by a single player by hitting a 3-run home run, and a grand slam later in the inning on October 4.

Alex Rodriguez

of the Los Angeles Dodgers won his 100th game on September 5.

Randy Wolf

of the Seattle Mariners collected his 2,000th hit with a double in the first inning against the Oakland Athletics on September 6. Ichiro reached this mark in 1,402 games, which is the second fastest in history. (Al Simmons reached the mark in 1,390 games.) He then broke Willie Keeler's record of eight consecutive 200-hit seasons (1894–1901) with a single in the second inning of the nightcap of a make-up doubleheader on September 13 against the Texas Rangers.

Ichiro Suzuki

The reached a new low in futility on September 7, losing to the Chicago Cubs, 4–2 clinching their seventeenth consecutive losing season, breaking the all-time low set by the Philadelphia Phillies between 1933 and 1948.

Pittsburgh Pirates

of the Oakland Athletics won his 100th game on September 14.

Brett Tomko

the third baseman of the Arizona Diamondbacks, broke his own record for most strikeouts in a season by fanning for the 205th time against the San Francisco Giants on September 22 at Chase Field. He finished the season striking out 223 times.

Mark Reynolds

of the New York Yankees won his 100th game on October 4.

A. J. Burnett

passed John McGraw for second-most games managed in baseball with his 4,770th game managed (2,552–2,214–4) on October 1. La Russa gets three more games (October 4) to extend his managed games to 4,773 (2,552–2,217–4) by the end of 2009.

Tony La Russa

broke Bill Buckner's 1985 major-league record for assists by a first baseman, with his 185th on October 4.

Albert Pujols

: Aaron Hill (TOR, American); Chris Carpenter (STL, National).

Comeback Players of the Year

(Best designated hitter): Adam Lind (TOR)

Edgar Martínez Award

: Derek Jeter (NYY, American); Albert Pujols (STL, National).

Hank Aaron Award

(Humanitarian): Derek Jeter, NYY.

Roberto Clemente Award

: Joe Nathan (MIN, American); Mariano Rivera (NYY, American); Heath Bell (SD, National).

Rolaids Relief Man Award

(Best Reliever): Mariano Rivera, NYY.

Delivery Man of the Year

(Best left-handed pitcher): CC Sabathia (NYY)

Warren Spahn Award

Clutch Performer of the Year: , LAD.

Andre Ethier

2009 Korea Professional Baseball season

2009 Nippon Professional Baseball season

2009 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference