I would dearly love to try and pinch an early Championship. We’re close, no doubt about it. I reckon we are just a player short but cannot put my finger on exactly what we need or who that player might be. Schreckengost is a waste for us and seems the obvious bait.
But for whom? is the $64,843 question.
John McGraw stands out but we can’t afford him, plus I hear he’s a bit toxic. Sam Crawford of the Reds and Baltimore’s Mike Donlin appeal, but both are Legacy Players and therefore off-limits. Jesse Tannehill is a possibility, as he could slot into our rotation and give us some bench pop to boot. But when I canvass the Superbas their demands are unreasonable.
The search intensifies when we have easily our poorest stretch of the season in the new month’s first week, losing six straight including four at home in a horror series with the Giants, pushing us six off the lead. The nature of the losses, as much as the losses themselves, is a real worry as we drop four of them by a run and the other two by a pair. In more lucid moments one might look at this optimistically – at least we’re not getting whipped, blahdy blah – but, in the heat of battle, all you feel is despair.
On such fadeouts are many a baseball season scuttled.
An absolutely crucial 13-game run for us follows. Anything shy of ten wins probably means we’re kaput.
We get three outs away from losing another one against the Beaneaters before walking it off with 2 in the 9th to win it 6-5. This marks a bit of a turnaround for us as we do indeed win ten from that stretch. What’s more, Chicago hits a rough patch as they go on a losing string of 6, minimising the overall damage of our rollercoaster form. The Reds take first place. We are 3 GB, still 4th, still in it.
In the middle of this, I get my man. Sort of.
TRADE 3/5: (07/10): 2B Jim Delahanty to Cleveland for RF Socks Seybold.
This was a tough one. Seybold is a gun, but only plays RF and is 30, 8 years older than Jim. Were Jim more of a reliable defender he would have been untouchable, but he isn’t, so he wasn’t. My other major hesitation with the trade was who plays where now? Seybold is our everyday in right, that’s obvious. But Danny Murphy has been sensational for us at that position. For now, the answer is this: we try Murphy at 1B, move Dexter to catcher in platoon with Maloney.
Apart from a couple of stumbles, we finish the month strongly for a 13-12 sectional that leaves us at 48-40 overall. The Reds still lead the NL by a half-game from the Giants, with us another 2½ back of them.
Hot- Jack Chesbro finally delivers with a 4-2 record and 2.07 ERA in 61 IP.
- Honus Wagner, leading by example: 356 BA / 2 HR / 15 RBI / 170 OPS+.
- Socks Seybold has been a fantastic addition for us, the missing piece we were seeking: 372 BA with 2 HR and 14 RBI, along with a wOBA of 421, second only to Honus.
- Danny Murphy: king of clutch with a WPA of 1.53, miles ahead of anyone else at our club.
- Charlie Dexter: proving to be the backbone of our group with his versatility and willingness to just get out there and do it.
Not- Billy Maloney. Seems like there a “Curse of the Catcher” going on here. 246 BA / 292 wOBA. Needs to be better than that.
- Defence. Another 54 errors for the month. 'Twill be the death of us, I fear.
Around the Leagues- The A’s are on the cusp of losing touch, which would make it a two-horse race between the White Sox and Orioles. Two really talented, very evenly matched squads so this looks like it is going down to the wire.
- Still plenty of chances in the NL, although the Orphans need to arrest their recent slide and the Superbas will need to get a move on.
- The Phillies break a bunch of records with a 29-hit 24-7 annihilation of Cincy as CF John Dobbs hits for the cycle and knocks in 5.
- Americans backstop Lou Criger’s season comes to an early end thanks to a torn labrum.
- The updated Top 100 Prospects list is released and Nick Altrock has been rated at Number 1. Obviously there’s not a huge pool of eligible players just yet, but this is still a great honour for him and us. Win Kellum comes in at #13.
Awards- 07/01 POTW: AL – Kip Selbach (Philadelphia) 560 / 8 RBI; NL – Jake Beckley (Philadelphia) 500 / 1 RBI.
- 07/08 POTW: AL – John McGraw (Milwaukee) 615 / 3 RBI; NL – Tom McCreery (Cincinnati) 467 / 10 RBI.
- 07/15 POTW: AL – Hobe Ferris (Baltimore) 480 / 4 RBI; NL – Christy Matthewson (New York) 2-0 / 0.53 / 14 K / 17 IP.
- 07/22 POTW: AL – Candy LaChance (Chicago) 455 / 6 RBI; NL – Tommy Dowd (New York) 542 / 1 HR / 10 RBI.
- 07/29 POTW: AL – Herm McFarland (Boston) 476 / 2 HR / 7 RBI; NL – Topsy Hartsel (Chicago) 524 / 1 HR / 2 RBI.
- AL Batter of the Month: Nap Lajoie (Philadelphia) 425 / 1 HR / 21 RBI.
- NL Batter of the Month: Elmer Flick (Philadelphia) 414 / 3 HR / 21 RBI.
- AL Pitcher of the Month: Joe McGinnity (Baltimore) 6-1 / 1.45 / 14 K / 62 IP.
- NL Pitcher of the Month: Noodles Hahn (New York) 6-0 / 2.51 / 48 K / 61 IP.
- AL Rookie of the Month: Eddie Plank (Philadelphia) 6-1 / 2.82 / 21 K / 60.2 IP.
- NL Rookie of the Month: Bob Wicker (New York) 5-3 / 3.50 / 37 K / 64.1 IP.