Shin-Soo Choo Named The American League Player of the Month for September
Texas Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo has been voted the Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month for September. Budweiser, the official beer sponsor of Major League Baseball and sponsor of 23 of 30 clubs, is also the presenting sponsor of the National League Player of the Month Award.
Choo batted .404 (42-for-104) with 26 runs scored, six doubles, a triple, five home runs and 20 RBI over 28 games to claim his second career AL Player of the Month Award, last winning with the Cleveland Indians in September 2008. Among his AL counterparts, the 33-year-old finished first in batting average and on-base percentage (.515), tied for first in games played, runs scored and hits, second in walks (21), tied for fourth in RBI and tied for seventh in slugging percentage (.625).
In 28 games played in September, the Busan, South Korea native delivered a hit in all but five games, recording 11 multi-hit games along the way. Choo's .515 on-base percentage for September is the highest single-month OBP by a Texas batter since Mike Napoli in September 2011 (.518). Through the end of September, the Rangers' outfielder produced a post All-Star break OBP of .460, good for the second-highest in club history behind Napoli's .466 mark in 2011. Moreover, with a .404 average, the 11-year-veteran became the first Rangers player to hit .400 in September and raised his season batting line by 25 points to a .274 mark, while finishing the season at .276 (153-for-555). Leading the Majors in OBP and batting average, while also tying for the league lead in hits and runs, Choo is the first MLB player to lead the Majors in those four categories in September since Hall of Famer Willie Mays did so for the San Francisco Giants in 1958, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. On Saturday, September 26th against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, Choo hit his 20th home run on the season en route to his fourth season with more than 20 homers. During his award-winning month of September, the Rangers went 18-10, propelling them to their first AL West division title since 2011 and first Postseason appearance since their Wild Card berth in 2012.
Others receiving votes included Choo's teammate Adrian Beltre (.327, 18 R, 10 2B, 29 RBI); Chris Davis (.684 SLG, 22 R, 10 HR, 20 RBI) of the Baltimore Orioles; Jose Bautista (.652 SLG, 18 R, 9 HR, 25 RBI) of the Toronto Blue Jays; Mookie Betts (.389, 26 R, 12 2B, 13 RBI) and Xander Bogaerts (.357, 23 R, 8 2B, 20 RBI) of the Boston Red Sox; Mike Trout (.316, 19 R, 8 HR, 15 RBI) of the Los Angeles; and Francisco Lindor (.362, 8 2B, 4 3B, 20 RBI) of the Cleveland Indians.
The Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month, Shin-Soo Choo, will receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, for his accomplishment.