Another utterly riveting August. Five quality baseball teams just going at it hammer-and-tongs, with quarter neither being sought nor given.
A couple early losses to the Phils get us off on the wrong foot to fall 3 back, and despite Dihigo continuing his sparkling run, the early part of the month is a struggle. Thankfully, we lose no further ground to the Fightin’s as they encounter some headwinds of their own and, in fact, close the gap right up again with a 4-game home sweep of the Dodgers.
Then disaster strikes, as we lose Vaughan for 6 weeks to a wrist fractured by an errant pitch.
McCall is put back into the spin, with Hildebrand off to the pen, but then Trent is hurt and needs a stint on the IL, so Oral slots straight back in.
The jockeying continues into the final week, with the Phils still up by a game-and-a-half when they come to Forbes Field for three. Three that turn out ugly indeed, with 51 runs scored all up by the two sides, although we win two of those to close within a half-game.
We briefly get our noses in front as the month nears its end but then lose Derringer and get reports back that Trent will be out longer than first thought, then McCall goes down yet again the very next day, leaving our pitching in tatters at precisely the wrong time.
The Derringer news is nothing short of devastating – torn flexor tendon, out at least 11 months. No Legacy protection, either, so he has to cop the lot. The sadomasochistic proclivities of this baseball gig are sometimes simply too much to bear.
It feels almost incidental to tell you we go 17-10 for August and enter the season’s final month a game-and-a-half in front.
it would be both unfair and inaccurate to say Martin Dihigo has carried us this month. But not wildly so. His absolutely superb 410/473/720 with 8 HR and 19 RBI wins him the monthly award again. The fact that we've lost Arky and our other big guns generally having a slightly down month make it even more important. The obvious option for us with regard to our pitching dramas is to call on him to fill in. But I am simply unwilling to endanger him for what I think would be a poor risk-reward profile. It's a no-decision decision.
So then, what is the decision? It is made even tougher by the fact that Wilkes-Barre has also taken a battering with injuries to pitchers. In fact, you could even suggest this renders it also no decision at all by the simple matter of how few options we have. Presuming the diagnosis on McCall comes back as feared and he's out for some time, Carl Fischer will get first crack at SP3 (scarily - and I say that with all due respect - Hildebrand is now our SP2). Hank Johnson, who was claimed on waivers and has been operating in the pen, will fill the last rotation spot, at least to begin with.
Strap yourselves in nice and tight - this will be quite the ride.
Lou Gehrig puts together one of the best months the game has seen, hitting 398 with 14 HR and 34 RBI. Teammate Babe Ruth reaches the 2500 career hit mark, Rev Cannady belts his 100th homer. Detroit's Andy Cooper is right in the hunt for a pitching Triple Crown.
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