The Bucs Start Here - A Pirates Do-Over

[luckymann]

It has been a slow but steady progress for Martin and he, too, looks ready to kick down some doors...

[luckymann]

His 242 BA is well under where you'd expect so far, although he does have 9 HR to his name. and this is another milestone checked off for the big guy. He becomes a FA at season end, so it will be very interesting to see where he ends up and how much that club pays for the privilege.

[luckymann]

All in all I think Honus would be happy with how 1929 has started for the Bucs, as a 17-12 May sets them up nicely at 25-18 and only a slight fadeout toward the end of the month knocks them out of top spot.





Among the bats, both Lloyd Waner and Lefty O'Doul look set for breakout years, while Pie Traynor and Curt Walker have each started slowly. Still feel they are just one big bat away from having the lineup as it needs to be.




For once in the pitching ranks it is Dave Brown having a poor one, and this worsens when he is forced for a stint on the IL. With Streeter's form continuing to freefall, it is Willie Foster and the surprising Ed Rile who hold things together.




Only early, but this already looks like it may be a close-run thing this season with plenty of quality squads right now.




Awards, news, leaders.






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[luckymann]

Master Melvin has a fun day at the old ballpark against our trusty Bucs...

[luckymann]

Every so often this game - OOTP, that is - reminds you just how brilliant it is in the smallest ways. The ability to use two-way players has come on leaps and bounds over recent versions and patches, but I really thought it might struggle with the concept of one of the game's - baseball, that is - most unique figures.

I'm referring to Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe, who earned that moniker by both pitching and catching (although not in the same motion, which would really be something, wouldn't it...). I guess in the end he's just another two-way player just as if he was an outfielder, but still I liked it when I saw this at his AAA San Antonio Bullets.




As you can see, he is doing the business at both ends, including this fine game today, and I hope to see him up in the Show before too long.

[luckymann]

[luckymann]

Another sturdy season in progress for Chick, who adds to his ever-growing HR tally in a nice bunch.




Meanwhile Rajah also goes deep just the once, but it brings up a milestone.




The HR leaderboard currently looks like this:

[luckymann]

A June of two halves for the Bucs, who go back into top spot after a string of strong performances early in the month, only to lose that winning feeling late and slip back into mid-pack.




The team is still hitting well as a unit (276 BA, 3rd in the NL), but that 6th-best (or 3rd-worst) total of just 38 HR sticks out like the proverbials, with no individual player into double figures. Pie Traynor finally wakes up, hitting 385 for the month and Little Poison Lloyd Waner continues to excel.




The pitching, on the other hand, is barely hanging in there. When 4.62 is the lowest ERA for the month among your starters, you know you have problems.




Still plenty of jockeying for positions in both leagues and my belief that this will be a season featuring two tight races remains unaltered.




Awards, news, leaders. John Beckwith and Lou Gehrig are both currently top 3 in all TC stats, as is Chuck Klein over in the NL.






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[luckymann]

A pretty steady career for Harry "Beans" Salmon, who has sort of flown under the radar with little recognition or awards for his efforts. This is a nice milestone for him.

[luckymann]

Great to see one of the league's less heralded players having a nice moment.

[luckymann]

... but if my team held their opponents scoreless for 18 innings, only to blow a lead in the 20th, I'd be starting to think someone up there doesn't like me...

[luckymann]

... for the Bucs as they lose their ace and one of the best they've had to a career-ending injury. Unfortunately Dave isn't one of the 100 NeLers afforded protection under the MLE rule so this has to stick.




He ends his career with 220 wins - 109 of them with the Bucs - along with 4 Championships and 3 Waddell Medals.




The injury has an immediate flow-on effect as Honus has to offload the franchise's top prospect to cover the hole.

[luckymann]

Meanwhile the big fella goes down with the first serious injury of his career, a loss the Yanks could well do without.

[luckymann]

Tubby has been slowly but steadily improving with each season and this is set to be his best yet.

[luckymann]

Well the tragic loss of Dave Brown is obviously the standout news from the month, but the Bucs still manage a solid 17-12 July despite that shock. All the same, they now find themselves 5 1/2 GB of the Giants, who go an even better 18-11.






There are certainly no shortage of great individual performances, with both Paul Waner and Willie Foster winning the monthly awards. But that pitching now looks paper-thin and I'm not sure it will be able to hold off all the big bats with enough regularity to get them the requisite number of wins to remain competitive. Streeter's swan dive continues as he posts an 8.36 ERA for the sectional.

The trade deadline has come and gone with only the Force addition, so Honus has obviously decided to suck it and see with the players he has.






The Reds are in between the Bucs and Giants, and look set to give it their best tilt in a long time. Over in the AL, the Tigers have snuck ahead of the BoSox thanks to a stirring 20-8 month, with the Yanks once again struggling to hold on to the leading bunch.




Just to mix things up, here are the Top 20 position players and pitchers by WAR thru July.






Awards, news and leaders.






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[luckymann]

Still in just his age-29 season and really hitting his straps, so one would think this number should get a fair bit higher before he's through.

(...and, yes, I'll admit it hurts to see him doing so while not in a Pittsburgh uniform.)

[luckymann]

A magnificent performance from Cleveland's Chet Brewer comes to naught against the Senators, as he fans 12 over 13 (for a GSc of 103) only to lose the game on an unearned run.

[luckymann]

A big day for Double X as he hits for the cycle against the A's.




FYI The Bucs have fallen in a hole and out of contention, so apart from these sorts of updates I'm just going to go through to the end of the season with no big monthly recaps. I'm itching to get back in charge but am not prepared to do so until the opportunity presents itself organically (read, Honus gets fired...). Until then I want to keep things zipping along - within reason - as much as I can. Then normal programming will resume. Also, I'm finding it increasingly hard not to be critical of what's going on at Pittsburgh, but don't want to start wailing.

[luckymann]

Back after his IL stint, the big guy seems to be better for the rest and has come back strongly. This one stretches his all-time HR mark to a new milestone.

I'm still thinking 600 is around where he'll land.

[luckymann]

The Robins were in this one right until the moment the ump yelled "Play Ball!!"

Hubbard gets the headline but for me the story is the outright beastliness of Chuck Klein. 54 dingers in his rook year, 39 so far in this one with an outside chance of beating Gehrig's season-record of 58. And he just goes on his merry way with a club record 7 ribeyes here.

Chick Hafey's not far behind him, but the Phils' pitching is woeful - 4.64 Starter ERA second-worst in the NL, 5.05 Bullpen ERA one rung below that - and so at double-digit GB the Giants they are facing another dry season. Not once have they made the playoffs.