[Bub13]

Twenty-eight games remaining (counting one in October too), twelve on the road and sixteen at home. Our last twelve games are at home, the first series against Texas. With the roster expansion, we only call up two players to start the month: IF Jake Moore and RP Yoshi Watanabe. Both started the season with us, but couldn't stick. As for the division race, for what it's worth here's one stat to consider: winning pct. of Texas' opponents is .468; winning pct. of our opponents is .491. Okay then.

September 1 vs MILWAUKEE
Closing out this series. Then we get a day off and hit the road for nine games.

HAW pitcher: LH Daniel Croft (12-9, 4.18)
MIL pitcher: RH Pat Karahalios (10-9, 4.69)

#135: LOSS 1-6 ... nothing to see here...Croft is terrible, and we manage just two hits...Hagemann does tie a team record with 4 walks, however

At least Texas also lost, so we maintain our four-game deficit. Moving on.... ELSEWHERE: The National League has announced that starting with the 2057 season, the designated hitter will be used for all teams. Welcome to the dark side, NL.... New Orleans inches closer to Cincy, now only a game out of first. That's been a fun race for several years now.


September 3-5 @ TAMPA BAY
A wild 22-6 surge in August has put them just 3 games behind the division-leading Marlins, and into a tie (with us) at the #1 wildcard spot. They're getting good offense (5th in runs) and better (2nd!) pitching; they hit for power and average, and are getting good stuff from the rotation and the bullpen. The only bummer here is injuries, with starting pitchers Carlos Munoz and Phil Spickler out for the year, along with a trio of decent relievers. The lineup is healthy, however, with 33-year-old OF Jose Taveras (.280/27/89) building on his HoF-to-be dossier. The two-time MVP and nine-time all-star is closing in on 2300 hits and 600 home runs. The only thing missing from his resume is a World Series title, and if the Rays keep playing like they have of late, there's no reason why they can't reach the finals for the first time since 2030. (They lost to Atlanta, but did beat Richmond in '24 for their only title.)

HAW pitchers: LH John Loeb (15-5, 3.21) / LH Matt Waugh (18-5, 2.80) / Jose Rivera (11-15, 3.82)
TBR pitchers: RH Harold Harnisch (4-4, 5.53) / LH Jon Jemison (16-7, 4.27) / LH Ricardo Villalobos (2-1, 3.42)

#136: LOSS 1-3 ... Loeb tosses a solid 8 IP but we muster only six hits, all singles, and fan eleven times
#137: WIN 4-3 ... 3-run HR for Calderin and 3 hits for Kolb, bringing his average up to .200 for the first time...8 IP from Waugh, and the win
#138: WIN 12-4 ... odd how we only outhit them 15-14...but we add 5 home runs, including Kolstad's first in the bigs

We needed this one, and it was good to see some offense again after some recent chilliness.... Still four games behind the Rangers.... Supposed mega-slugger-to-be Jose Villalpando hit just his third AAA home run, and his first since June 18th. My scouts SWEAR his power stroke is there, and he is just 20, so I'm not out of hope yet.... The AA regular season is over and Beau Collins finished with 79 dingers. Just outrageous. Eureka ended up winning the North Division by a game and will play the San Jose Giants for a chance at the California League championship.... ELSEWHERE: Someone in the NL finally has 100 RBI, and it's LA's Gerardo Nieto.... Philadelphia is still looking good for a wildcard, but a raft of injuries to key players has hurt and put them to 8 games behind Richmond in the divisional race. Richmond winning 9 out of 10 hasn't helped either.... When you're done you're done: 3000-hit club member Juan Garcia (SF) is 38 and has pretty much lost his hitting mojo, batting just .229 in 340 at bats, "earning" just -1.2 WAR. He's 13th on the all-time hit parade, just 9 behind Willie Mays, but at the rate he's going he probably won't reach him.


September 6-8 @ OAKLAND
At 58-80 and playing out the string on another futile season. So it looks like they took some of my advice and brought up a few promising kids. And what happened? SP Rodolfo de la Paz (21 yrs old) made 4 starts then tore up his elbow and will miss 8 months. SP Steve Hansen (22) made 3 starts and hurt his rotator cuff, costing him the next 3 months. Sorry guys, my bad. At least OF Matt Hall and Phil Edmunds haven't gotten hurt (yet), but then they haven't batted much at all. And they got an early look at OF Henry Uhlman, bringing him up three weeks ago; he's gone .328/.379/.410 in 61 AB. Small sample, but promising. Ditto for C Bruce Corrigan, who's batted just .200 but isn't as far along the development curve as is Uhlman. Give these guys a chance! And stop chasing 35-HR power hitters who can't hit better than .210. They kill your offense stone dead. And please please put Glen Marler and Josh Foggie--currently toiling in the pen to no avail--into the rotation, and let old and decrepit Jim Schwartz die already. The 35-year-old former ace has made 27 starts this year, the most since '51 for him, but he hasn't been very good; all of his stats have trended solidly in the wrong direction. He makes $34M and will go to free agency this fall, if he doesn't retire first. If they re-sign him for any amount, so help me god I'll---

HAW pitchers: RH Josh Irvin (13-9, 3.49) / LH Daniel Croft (12-10, 4.33) / LH John Loeb (15-6, 3.21)
OAK pitchers: RH Jaden Sales (5-12, 5.58) / RH Jaden Bartholomew (8-9, 5.43) / RH Jeff "Jaden" Robinson (6-2, 3.08)

#139: WIN 9-4 ... Calderin smacks two more outta the park, and Gamboa adds a tying shot in the 9th, then we score 5 in the 10th to win...Medici gets hurt tho
#140: LOSS 5-10 ... another late-inning collapse, this time it's 6 runs in the 8th...Hassell and Gamboa homer, but we're otherwise kinda flat with Medici out
#141: WIN 7-1 ... Loeb allows a 9th-inning HR, but no total collapse tonight...3 H and a HR for Lynn, 3 H and 2 RBI for Matson

Up-and-down series but we keep pace with Texas and stay two ahead of Tampa Bay in the wildcard.... Bad news re Medici, as he'll miss 3-4 weeks with plantar fascitis. So we call up OF Eric Sayward, a supplemental round pick from '54. He's blitzed through our system in just two+ seasons, and hit .310 with 14 HR in AAA this year. He doesn't do anything at an elite level, but is pretty decent everywhere except speed. He has some pop, and with a good showing this month he'll definitely be in the outfield mix next spring.... ELSEWHERE: Cincinnati is still holding on to a 4-game lead over New Orleans, but losing 2/3 of their starting OF for the season won't help over these last few weeks. Jake Glowski and Mike Knapp are done; now it's time for Ken Berman and Adam Durst to step up. Neither of the latter two have shown much in their careers, so take care Reds fans.... Richmond's lead over Philly is now ten games.... Detroit is 26-9 since August 1, and is a mortal lock to win their tenth division crown (in their last 12 seasons). Now if only they can just turn that regular season success into any kind of post-season glory, they might make their first Series since 2041.... How have those MLB pre-season predictions held up? New Orleans was predicted to win just 73 games but currently sits at 82-59; while the Yankees figured to win 86 and vie for the division, but are 62-79 and on the verge of official elimination.


September 9-11 @ HOUSTON
Another team just trying to get to the finish line, they've actually been .500 since August 1, but are 62-79 overall. Not much is happening anywhere for them, at 15th in offense and 13th in pitching. The ongoing rebuild has been slow and largely ineffective, as I've documented earlier. I'm not sure what they'll be able to do this off-season either, as there isn't much money around to spend. At any rate, if they can at least keep their top two SP and their CL healthy all of next season, they'll at least be ahead of this year's curve. At any rate, their September call-ups don't move the needle much, but do include 39-year-old former Isles OF Ian McGowan, last seen patrolling our turf in 2043. He's since seen action for ten other MLB clubs, and was last a regular for the Rays in '51. We may also see 21-year-old SP Felipe Torres, who looks like a mid-rank starter with really nice control and movement. Not your future staff ace, but definitely part of a growing rotation, once Winton Jones and Mat Caldwell are healthy again in the spring.

HAW pitchers: LH Matt Waugh (19-5, 2.74) / RH Jose Rivera (12-15, 3.88) / RH Josh Irvin (13-9, 3.52)
HOU pitchers: RH Jason Knight (9-10, 4.42) / RH Robbie Camp (10-15, 4.31) / RH Chris James (9-15, 6.28)

#142: LOSS 5-6 ... we give up a 3-1 lead late, score 2 in the 8th, but blow it in the bottom half...only 8 hits, so it's nice we score 5 from that, but we need more
#143: WIN 6-4 ... Gamboa breaks his slump with a 3-run HR and a single...Rivera gives up all 4 runs but takes the win anyway
#144: WIN 11-6 ... Pederson and Calderin slug 2 HR each, and Hagemann adds one...Matson and Simmons each add 3 hits

Two wins plus a Texas sweep means we're just TWO games behind the Rangers now.... A pile of home runs (8 in all) here puts us into 14th in the AL. Such lofty heights.... Hassell, Tipping, and Calderin each suffer 2-4 day minor injuries, but all are back now.... Three weeks until Medici returns, 4 for Bennetsen.... Eureka won three straight to take their five-game series from San Jose. They'll play High Desert next for the California League crown.... ELSEWHERE: The Dodgers clinch the NL West for the fifth year running. With 94 wins already, they'll be the front runners from the senior circuit to return to the World Series and seek their 10th title.... It took a while, but Milwaukee's Manny Ayala finally reached 50 HR; he's at 51 currently, one behind last year's total.... Cincy has pulled out a 6-game lead in the NL Central, going 7-3 of late while New Orleans has lost 4 in a row.... Going 29-9 since August 1 has given the Tigers a large 15-game lead in the AL Central. Second-place Milwaukee lags six games behind Tampa Bay for the #2 wildcard slot.


September 13-15 vs CHICAGO
Boy did things fall apart fast for the Sox. After winning 112 games in '54 and 92 last year, they're 55-89 and comfortably in last in the Central. Everything is to blame: offense ranks 16th, pitching 18th and last. There's still some pop in the lineup, with T.J. Walsh, Zeke de la Rosa, Ben Usilton, and Elijah Pass are still a solid 4-part punch in the middle of the order. Raul Madera is a nice 2B/DH option, but needs to be far away from the leadoff spot, and rookie OF Robert Herbold looked decent early on before breaking his elbow, sidelining him for the season. But the pitching needs an overhaul; or maybe an exorcist, as the rotation looks okay on paper, but has wildly underperformed all year. You might also think having seven pitchers on the DL has hurt too, but then none of them have a) pitched well this year, and b) pitched well in MLB of late anyway. Some good news here is that $25M (mostly in pitching) is coming off the books this fall, so they've got room to go out and grab some guys if they can muster the will. And there's help from the farm that's ready too: SP Owen Cumming (already in the MLB pen), RP Ken Pike, and 2B Scott Moran should all be regulars next season, and pitchers Willie Ramos and Kien Chia should get long looks. The team profile says they're rebuilding, but I don't think this team is that far away from competing again, despite that ugly record. Just call this a hangover season, take some aspirin and forget all about it soon enough.

HAW pitchers: LH Daniel Croft (12-11, 4.45) / LH John Loeb (16-6, 3.11) / LH Matt Waugh (19-5, 2.78)
CHW pitchers: RH Mike Walsh (8-7, 4.00) / RH Luke Weaver (11-13, 4.25) / RH Earl Dobrowolski (3-12, 6.77)

#145: WIN 7-4 ... we score 6 early and hold on for the win...3 hits for Hassell and Simmons, and 2 RBI for Pederson and Collins
#146: WIN 11-4 ... a sharp wind helped us smack 6 HR tonight, almost all of them solo shots...Calderin hits 2, driving in 5 runs thanks to two additional hits
#147: WIN 8-0 ... 3-hitter from Waugh, fanning 10...3 more HR, two from Hassell and amazingly another one from Simmons, giving him two on the season

And with that sweep, ladies and gents, WE ARE IN FIRST PLACE. Texas has lost six straight to help us out a bit, and so now we've got a nose out in front. How long will it last.... In player news, Waugh won his 20th for the fourth time in four seasons; Calderin is still blisteringly hot, with 8 HR in 12 games; and JJ Simmons has more than one HR for only the 4th time in his 14 seasons. Wondrous tidings, all.... A ball Eurkeka dropped their first two games to High Desert; meanwhle Short A Poughkeepsie starts their playoffs against Hudson Valley; AAA Santa Barbara has clinched their division with ten to play.... ELSEWHERE: Texas is cold with 6 straight losses, while Miami is hot with 5 wins and a now 8-game lead over Tampa Bay. Detroit's magic number is one. In the NL, Richmond and Cincinnati lead their respective divisions by five games.... Pitching is up this year, and there are three guys with shots at 300 K: KC's Steve Scibek (281); and in the NL Nick Light (WAS) and Conor MacLeod (NYM), both with 287.... MacLeod is also sliding up the all-time K list, in 43rd with 2830. Three more and he passes Mickey Lolich.... CHAOS in the Windy City, as the Cubs fire second-year manager Devin Reyes and five-year GM Will Diederich. Then just two days later they waive/DFA their ace pitcher Jeffrey Foley, a lone bright spot in a bad year with a 2.51 ERA and a 5.3 WAR. Yes, Foley is 37 and making $21M for another season, but he is obviously still a solid contributor and should be worth at least a prospect on the open market, no?

......

TL;DR Version: A 9-4 start to the month, prettied up by a current 5-game winning streak. And prettied up even more when coupled with Texas' falterings. All of our team stats are trending up right now, so let's hope for once in our recent history we're actually getting better in September and not slowing down. Fingers crossed. Depending on where we are after another week or so, I may bring up #1 prospect Jose Villalpando for a quick taste of the bigs. He's hit 2 HR in the last week in AAA, which doesn't sound like much but may mean that he's finally on the verge of finding his long-vaunted power stroke. Again: fingers crossed. To wrap up the season we'll play 12 of our last 15 games at home, and all of those dozen games to close the season. Quite an odd scheduling quirk.