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July ended up with us flipping the script on Houston. We went 17-9 and went from 2 1/2 back to 2 1/2 games in front. Our pitching has gone from 9th to 6th and we are still hitting well, Dave Clark and Jack Clark are 1-2 in RBI.
Fred Lynn did get hurt on the 27th, a day to day injury for 1-2 weeks. I gave him 2 days off and played him once where he re-injured the hamstring on the 30th, the day before the trade deadline. I wasn't going to make any deals, but I decided to DL Lynn even though his status is just "unknown" and I dealt for a former player of mine in California, Ellis Valentine.
He has had such an odd career. By the age of 24 in Atlanta, he had 3 good seasons with an average OPS+ of 125 but then the Braves added another outfielder and he was the 4th guy for 5 years despite putting up numbers that showed he should start somewhere. I signed him when he was 31 and he promptly hit .299/.359/.490 with 25 HR and 118 RBI. He had another good year the next year when I dealt him to Toronto where he went right back to the bench. He was hitting .304 off the bench for the Expos so I dealt a minor leaguer for him and will play him off and on until Lynn comes back.
The Phillies and Pirates and now tied at first in the NL East with the Cards 5 back, so hopefully that will be a good race. The Orioles are 2 1/2 up on the Tigers while last years AL East winning Red Sox are 40-66. In the West, the White Sox are 5 1/2 up on both the Twins and A's.
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