Losing 2 of 3 to both St Louis and New York is not entirely unexpected. The Pioneers are 8-1 in June as they try to separate from the pack. The Chiefs next 17 games are at home (this week--4 with Washington and 2 with Philadelphia). We need to make some hay--as the expression goes--if we want to stay in the race.
6/4 @ St Louis, L, 6-17
6/5 @ St Louis, L, 4-6
6/6 @ St Louis, W, 11-4
6/7 vs New York, L, 1-3
6/8 vs New York, L, 3-4
6/9 vs New York, W, 9-3
Top Performers:
*
Mose Christopher, .300/.417/1.200, 3 home runs
*
Cliff Moss, .368/.429/.526, 1 home run, 5 runs scored
*
Len Jones, .333/.370/.500, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 5 runs batted in
*
Max Plourde, 1-0, 9 innings, 8 hits, 1 earned run, 7 strikeouts
I haven't been entirely satisfied with the situation at short stop. I still think--and scout Rube Carter agrees--that
Bill White has the potential to be a long term answer, but right now he's providing negative value with his bat--he has -6.3 BattingRuns, which is worst among the regulars.
Tom Aiello is the other regular with a negative value (-5.6). With that in mind, we've made a deal with Detroit. The Chiefs will send class C pitching prospects
Art Brandon and
Harvey Gaines to the Dynamos in exchange for short stop
Bob Barringer. The 29-year-old Barringer has always had a strong glove, and he's been swinging the bat well this season--hitting .322/.363/.422 with 36 runs scored and 9 stolen bases while batting lead-off for Detroit. OSA has Barringer ranked as the 6th best short stop so far this season (White was ranked 14th).
Bob Barringer
Max Plourde followed up his good initial start with another one against St. Louis. He has 2 wins on the road against both St. Louis and New York--not easy assignments. After some reassessment, the scouting staff now considers Plourde as the Chiefs 3rd best pitching option--behind
Ron Coles and
Jim Crawford.
So where did Max Plourde come from? In 1927, he was pitching out of his high school team's bullpen and had a 1.73 WHIP in his final season. And while he struck out 67 batters in 57 innings, his fast ball topped out at an unimpressive 87 mph. And so he went undrafted in December of 1927, and rather than go to college, he signed with the Springfield Hustlers of the Heartland League (at the time the Hustlers were an independent club). The next season he worked on adding a forkball to his pitches (giving him 5 total pitches), and as he filled out his 6' frame, he was adding juice to his fastball. At the end of 1931, his fast ball was topping out at 98 mph. In January of 1932, the Chiefs acquired Plourde from Springfield in exchange for pitcher
Don Attaway. In 1933, Plourde pitched for class AAA Fort Wayne, fashioning a 13-6 record with a 3.54 ERA (126 ERA+). He had brief stints with the Chiefs at the end of 1933 and the end of 1934, but this is his first extended look.