[ayaghmour2]

Team Record
April: 2-23
May: 2-27
Overall: 4-50

Transactions
4/10: Placed RHP Herm Wehmeier on the 10-Day DL with a tired arm. In his only start, he went 2.2 innings with just a single hit.

4/19: Activated LHP Herm Wehmeier from the DL, sending RP Ron Moeller to the reserve roster. Moeller appeared in 6 games, going 8 innings with 21 hits, 9 runs, and 2 strikeouts, although no walks. Wehmeier will pitch out of the pen.

4/23: Placed CF Eddie Haas on the 10-Day DL with an elbow strain. Haas was hitting .211/.250/.289 with 9 RBI's in 76 at bats.

4/29: Placed LHP Lefty Hayden on the 10-Day DL with a strained back. Hayden was roughed up in 7 innings, allowing 15 hits and 9 runs with 5 walks. Fellow LHP Ron Moeller returned to the active roster. The 19-year-old allowed 21 hits in 8 innings with 9 runs and 2 strikeouts.

5/9: Placed C Jay Porter on the 10-Day DL with a quadriceps strain. Porter was hitting .250/.256/.323 with 14 RBI's.

5/11: Placed LHP Bill Wright on the 10-Day DL with a sore shoulder. The 36-year-old was having a solid season, working to a 3.80 ERA in 21.1 innings. He had a high 2.06 WHIP though, and walked more (6) then he struck out (4). RHP Don Erickson would join him on the DL as well, although he suffered from an elbow strain. Erickson had a 7.71 ERA and 2.66 WHIP in 11.2 innings pitched.

5/17: LHP Lefty Hayden was activated from the DL, with LHP Ron Moeller heading to the reserve roster. Moeller pitched 9.2 innings with a 13.03 ERA, 2.90 WHIP, and 2 walks and strikeouts.

5/21: Activated LHP Bill Wright from the DL,sending LHP Lefty Hayden to the reserve roster. Hayden appeared in 11 games, going 9 innings with a 9.00 ERA, 2.44 WHIP, and 5 walks with no strikeouts.

5/22: Activated CF Eddie Haas from the DL, sending CF Danny Morejon to the reserve roster. Morejon was hitting just .148/.162/.174 with 10 runs driven in.

5/26: Placed RHP Roger Craig on the DL with a finger blister. It's been a nightmare season for Craig, who's 0-8 with a 8.44 ERA, 2.21 WHIP, and 10 strikeouts in 11 starts. Lefty Hayden will rejoin the big league roster.

New Acquisitions
RHP Joel Davis, 21, (1986): When Herm Wehmeier went down, we added RHP Joel Davis. In 1986, Davis earned the magical 0.0 WAR. It was his second career season, and the 21-year-old went 4-5 with a 4.70 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in 19 starts with the Chicago White Sox. He was with them his whole career, tallying 247.2 career innings in 41 starts and 8 relief appearances from 1985-1988. He was 8-14 with a 4.91 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, and 126 strikeouts. Davis will enter the #4 spot in our rotation.

LF Al "Red" Wingo, 26, (1924): With the Haas injury, we needed another outfielder. In '24, Wingo appeared in his first game since 1919 when he debuted with the Athletics. It was his first of 5 seasons with the Tigers, and he hit .287/.372/.413 with 1 homer and 26 RBI's. He finished his 493 game career with a .308/.402/.423 line to go with 9 homers and 191 RBI's. The lefty swingning Wingo will leadoff and start in left field.

C Roy Graham, 27, (1922): Not many catcher options this year, and I had to go with a guy who made just 5 plate appearances, going 0-for-3 with two hit by pitches as a rookie with the White Sox. He got a little more time the next season, hitting .195/.290/.220 with 6 RBI's in 36 games for the Chi Sox. It was his last season in a short lived major league career. He will be Joe Ginsberg's backup in the mean time.

LHP Joe Grzenda, 26, (1964): It was his second big league season, as Joe Grzenda pitched out of the pen for Kansas City. He worked to a 5.40 ERA with a 1.88 WHIP and 17 strikeouts in 25 innings pitched. He appeared in 219 big league games, going 14-13 with 14 saves, a 4.00 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, and 173 strikeouts with Detroit, Kansas City, Minnesota, Washington, and St. Louis. The lefty will pitch middle relief for us.

RHP Roy Wilkinson, 27, (1921): It his second straight season of 140+ innings, as the White Sox starter went 4-20 with a 5.13 ERA and 1.70 WHIP in 23 starts and 9 relief outings. He had a quick cup of coffee with Cleveland in 1918, but pitched the next four seasons with the White Sox before playing his last big league game in 1922. He finished his career 12-31 with a 4.66 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 88 strikeouts compared to 142 walks, and 6 saves. He won't start for us, but instead pitch the 8th inning.

Monthly Awards
April Batter of the Month: Houston 1B Frank Chance (.440, 0 HR, 17 RBI's)
April Pitcher of the Month: Boise SP Johnny Ponders (4-0, 1.67 ERA, 5 K)
April Rookie of the Month: Houston 3B Dick Gray (.419, 0 HR, 35 RBI's)

May Batter of the Month: Houston 1B Frank Chance (.419, 0 HR, 26 RBI's)
May Pitcher of the Month: Boise SP Danny McDevitt (5-0, 2.52 ERA, 3 K)
May Rookie of the Month: Boise RF Dave Parker (.392, 1 HR, 45 RBI)

League Note
I realized the modifiers were all messed up, and I think I fixed the situation, setting everything back to the 2010 settings. Hopefully, this will normalize the stats in the second half, and eventually become the norm.

Team Summary
Well, we are on pace for 8 wins! Just 1 below our preseason predictions! Interesting enough, our Pythagorean is 12-42, much better then our actual record. We sit 8th in every offensive category except homers (3rd) and 8th in every pitching category except homers allowed (7th) and strikeouts (2nd).

There are a few bright spots, including Preston Ward who is hitting .284/.290/.344 with 23 RBI's and Joe Ginsberg who's hitting .233/.252/.325 with 2 homers and 19 RBI's. Dick Schofield has been alright, hitting .263/.276/.358 with 31 RBI's of his own. Offensively, however, only Irv Noren, who's hitting .264/.287/.350 with 25 RBI's has been worth a positive WAR, checking in at 0.2. No hitter is exactly worth 0.0 WAR on offense.

On the pitching side, we've actually had some productive starters. Despite being 0-8, Joel Davis has been worth 1.0 WAR, working to a 6.04 ERA and 1.94 WHIP with 6 strikeouts in 10 starts. Roger Craig checks in at 0.9, also 0-8, but with a 8.44 ERA, 2.21 WHIP, and 10 strikeouts. Sal Magile, who announced his retirement, is also at 0.9. He's 0-8 in 9 starts with a respectable 4.47 ERA and high 1.75 WHIP. The best pitcher has been Moe Drabowsky, going 2-9 with a 3.05 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, and 5 strikeouts. Somehow, he is worth less then the first three, sitting at 0.8 in his 11 starts. Joe Grzenda (7.2 IP, 3.52 ERA, 2.74 WHIP) and Lefty Hayden (11.2 IP, 10.80 ERA, 2.83 WHIP, 1 K) have both been worth exactly 0.0 WAR.

Around the League
Boise and Albuquerque are tied at the top of the league, both sitting at 33-21, a game ahead of the 32-22 Dayton Dragons and Houston Buffaloes. Reading is 31-23, just 2 games behind. Norwich is 1 game farther down, sitting at 21-33. Just Portland, at 21-33, joins us below .500.

Boise has been lead by strong rookie RF Dave Parker, who's hitting .336/.368/.508 with a homer, 45 RBI's, and 7 stolen bases. The pitching has been elite, with Jack Pfester (2.67), Johnny Podres (2.19), Danny McDevitt (2.78), and Kenny Rogers (2.36) all owning sub 3 ERA's. Just young southpaw Sandy Koufax (3.05) has an ERA above 3 in the rotation. Podres is tied for the league lead with 12 strikeouts.

The Isotopes don't have the pitching of the Hawks, but their offense is much more potent. Harry Stienfeldt and Charlie Neal both lead the team with .363 RBI's, with 42 and 40 RBI's respectively. Manny Sanguillen has launched 2 homers with 44 RBI's and a .322 average. Chuck Klien (.327), Ed Roush (.303), George W. Harper (.383), Don Hurst (.314), and Charley Bassett (.299) fill the rest of the lineup. On the pitching side, Eppa Rixey (6-6, 2.68 ERA) is carrying the load, with much higher ERA's behind him.

The Dragons are in striking distance, mostly in part to two-way star Old Hoss Radbourn. He's hitting .353 with a homer and 23 RBI's as the leadoff hitter, and is 3-2 with a 2.92 ERA in the rotation. Bernie Williams (.325, 1 HR, 33 RBI) and Dick Bartell (.352, 32 RBI) have produced big numbers, and Gli Hodges paces the team with 45 RBI's. The pitching has been good, with quality numbers from Dolf Luque (8-2, 3.13 ERA), Jerry Reuss (4-3, 3.05 ERA), and Bob Wicker (4-5, 2.66 ERA) giving solid numbers as well.

The favorites at the beginning of the year, Houston, struggled out of the gate, but have made things interesting as well. Frank Chance has been by far the best player in the league, hitting .428 with 43 RBI's. Slugger Fred Schulte has launched 4 homers and driven in 55 RBI's, most of those Chance who bats above him in the three hole. Spud Davis (.358, 45 RBI) and Don Demeter (.340, 1 HR, 15 RBI) have helped as well. Mordecai Brown (9-2, 2.89 ERA) has been the ace of the staff, with lefties Andy Pettitte (3-4, 3.14 ERA) and Jim Rooker (7-4, 2.44 ERA) pitching well behind him. Righty Sam Kimber (5-3, 2.69 ERA) has been an excellent 4.

The Phillies are in striking distance, powered by superstar Richie Zisk and his .429 batting average to go with 29 RBI's. There isn't much offense after, with no other batter hitting above .300. Tino Martinez has drove in 49, however, and owns a respectable .284 average. The pitching hasn't been great either. Pete Donohue has underperformed (4-6, 4.31 ERA) as they expected him to be a second ace behind Don Drysdale (5-4, 2.97 ERA). They have, however, gotten results from Dock Ellis (6-4, 3.21 ERA) and Jumbo Elliot (6-2, 2.55 ERA).

Norwich is the last team in the hunt. Strong seasons from Al Oliver (.361, 1 HR, 45 RBI), Willie Stargell (.353, 3 HR, 52 RBI), and Derek Jeter (.368, 53 RBI) help them produce a ton of runs and a deadly one-two punch of David Cone (6-2, 2.37 ERA) and Jack Scott (6-5, 2.21 ERA) make it hard for opponents to score. Vets Wade Boggs (.310, 40 RBI) and Dwight Gooden (5-4, 3.21 ERA) have also played their part.

The only other team out of it, Portland, has been far from successful. Duke Snider (.341, 37 RBI), Jimmy Sheckard (.322, 36 RBI), and Mickey Mantle (.322, 2 HR, 49) make up a solid outfield, but the infield is shaky at best. Bobby Murcer has really struggled, hitting just .155 in 103 at bats. Al Downing (2-6, 2.31 ERA) has been unlucky, but the only starter with an ERA below the 3.50 mark. Fred Beebe, the #2 overall pick has not lived up to the hype, just 6-5 with a 3.84 ERA in 12 starts and a below average 95 ERA+.