[NYY #23]

It was a tough draft for me, as we drafted seventh overall, and I was forced to make a tough decision with our first round pick. I always like to take the best available player, but had a tough choice between outfielder Hank Bauer and catcher Stan Lopata. Lopata had an age and intelligence advantage, and plays a tougher position, so we made him our first round pick and resisted the temptation to pick Bauer and dangle Keller to fill a bigger need.

In the second round we selected first baseman Preston Ward and shortstop Roy Smalley in the third round. My scout was really high on catcher Rube Walker, so we took a flyer on another catcher in the fourth round and to round out the draft we picked up reliever Al 'Lefty' Porto.

With the addition of Lopata, 32 year old catcher Frankie Hayes had to go. Since he refused to be demoted I shopped him around and the Yankees were interested. They didn't offer much, but we netted starting pitcher Doyle 'Porky' Lade, who is 7-6 with a 3.97 ERA this season, coming off a year in which he lost 22 games. My scout thinks he is a minor league journeyman, but the plan was for him to serve as an emergency starter.

The Indians made us an offer for Lade and catcher Rube Walker, and offered second baseman Bobby Doerr. Spare parts for us in exchange for a two time All-Star second baseman. Doerr comes with question marks though, as his stats have steadily declined the past four seasons, and he is hitting .212 with a .302 on base percentage this year. Hopefully he needs a change of scenery, and hasn't suffered one back injury too many. His .400 batting average since the trade is an encouraging sign.

On the field we really heated up in June, going 21-7 to open up a 7 and a half game lead over the Senators, who had a losing record for the month.