We lose George Grantham to a long-term knee injury which may well mean his career here is done. He is a FA after this year and we won’t be renewing his contract.
While Spurgeon was great earlier this season when the same thing happened, I suspect we might need reinforcements. I call utility Eddie Moore up from AAA because I just feel we are one OF short and he plays both infield and out, send Heinie Sand down, then do my first trade of the year.
TRADE 1 OF 2 (07/18/31): P General Crowder traded to Philadelphia (AL) for IF Jack Rothrock.
This may well only be a stopgap measure, as Jack is FA eligible at the end of the season and seems intent on testing the waters, but we’ll have a chat to him and try and keep him on. He is a handy type who defends at a variety of IF and OF slots with varying degrees of capability. General possibly has a couple good years in him down the track, but at 32 I am happy to risk missing out on them, especially with our pitching stocks in pretty good shape.
Not that I think Jack’s arrival has anything to do with it, but it nevertheless coincides with an ugly turnaround to finish the month as we lose our last six games – including being shut out twice in quick succession – to end up with a 16-14 record for the sectional.
The bats are still humming along OK without being spectacular. Wells, Foxx and Traynor are the pick.
It's a case of shuffling deckchairs in the pitching, however. Trent remains as steady as always and Foster finally seems to be getting his arm back. But Derringer is really struggling at this level and McCall has basically imploded. The pen has done an admirable job thus far of keeping us in games, but once again it is yet to be seen how much of a toll this has taken.
Both of the New York clubs make a serious move, with each now sitting in second place and well within reach of the lead. The Yanks post a 22-8 month, while the Giants' 20-9 July includes a 13-game win streak including four at Forbes against us.
Here are the Top 20 players by WAR to this point:
News, awards, leaders. Herb Pennock gets his 200th win, John Beckwith his 250th home run. George Scales and Turkey Stearnes are each making a serious run at hitting 400.
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