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The Oakland Telegraph
1 August 2033
Dalton wins second rookie of the month award as Oakland narrow the gap on Texas
By A. Ward, prizes correspondent
Oakland centre fielder Ray Dalton was last night honoured as the American League rookie of the month for July. The 23-year-old switch hitter hit .287 with 3 home runs and 21 RBIs. After winning the award previously for May, Dalton must now be considered a candidate for rookie of the year. Two A's rookies have previously taken that crown: outfielder Alex Hassan in 2015 and catcher Devon Fisher in 2020. Sadly for Dalton, that's not exactly a roll-call of greatness.
Dalton has now firmly established himself as starting centre fielder for the A's, ousting long-time starter Juan Torres, who is rotting in the minors and will surely not have his contract renewed after this season. Boosted by Dalton's fine form, Oakland now stand at 66-34, and have closed the gap on American League West division leaders Texas to just 2 games.
It continues to be a fabulously exciting divisional race for most observers, but that is not a sentiment shared by A's GM Paulie Beane. "I don't want an exciting, tense pennant chase that entertains the fans", he said yesterday. "I want a boring race, devoid of excitement, where we dominate the opposition utterly and win easily. Erm, please do turn up and watch our games, though", he added hastily, after seeing the expression of horror that had taken up residence on the face of club beancounter Dee Loite.
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