The Bucs Start Here - A Pirates Do-Over

[luckymann]

The most subdued offseason trade market I can remember as most clubs seem pretty settled at the moment. Here’s the most noteworthy of the few that did take place:

• 2B Chino Smith: Yankees, 6 years / $109200
• 2B Newt Allen: Braves, 6 years / $92800
• OF Jimmy Welsh: Tigers, 4 years / $61000
• P Jesse Hubbard: Yankees, 3 years / $46800
• C Shanty Hogan: Giants, 3 years / $46400
• P Willis Flournoy: Indians, 3 years / $46800

• OF Danny Taylor from Cubs to Red Sox for 1B Dale Alexander
• 3B Buster Chatham and OF Tom Winsett from Senators to Browns for P Si Johnson
• OF Roy Carlyle from Cardinals to Tigers for 1B Gus Dugas and 2B Dib Williams
• 1B Sam Leslie from Browns to Indians for OF Bruce Campbell and OF Cowan Hyde
• OF Jimmy O’Connell from Giants to Cubs for 3B Pinky Whitney and P Ed Baecht
• OF Buzz Arlett from Browns to Cubs for OF Woody Jensen

ALL TRANSACTIONS


We lock down a 12-6 ST with only niggles to Combs and O’Doul to worry about. Both will be right a few days in.

The pundits are heartily buying into what we’re selling, predicting us to win 102 and win the NL handily, with Detroit the pick across in the junior circuit.


FULL PRESEASON PREDICTIONS

[luckymann]

Our team page can be accessed HERE.

Our Opening Day squad will look like this:

Catchers

• C Charlie Berry (R)
• C Ray Hayworth (R) v LHP and when Berry needs a rest

These boys were both really handy last season and we are looking for more of the same. Lerian is ready for duty if needs be.

Infielders

• 1B Jimmie Foxx (R)
• 2B Willie Wells (R)
• 3B Martin Dihigo (R)
• SS Arky Vaughan (R)

• Gus Suhr (L)
• George Grantham (L)
• Howard Freigau (R)

If there has been a better starting infield on paper than this in the history of the game, I am unaware of it. Then again, the only games that have ever been won on paper are hangman and tic-tac-toe, so we are taking nothing for granted. Our biggest concern is injuries. Martin has a history of going down for sizeable chunks and Arky is only 19 and unused to the rigours of major league baseball. So we’ll be nursing both as much as possible. We are especially vulnerable at 3B, despite a concerted effort on my part to reinforce the position. In the end, we’ll have to be reactive rather than proactive – a strategy of which I am not a fan – as the price is simply too high for suitable backups. Grantham is an option there but it would mean a porous defence for sure.

Outfielders

• LF Lefty O’Doul (L)
• CF Earl Combs (L)
• RF Paul Waner (L)

• Lloyd Waner (L)
• Maurice Archdeacon (L)
• Denny Sothern (R)

Looking for more from O’Doul and Little Poison this year.

Rotation

1. LHP Willie Foster
2. RHP Ted Trent
3. RHP Paul Derringer
4. LHP Bill McCall

A tough year last year, let’s hope they can bounce back. We locked down Ted Trent until 1936, so all under team control for the next few years.

Bullpen

• RHP Slim Harriss (MR)
• LHP Walter Anderson (MR)
• LHP Lloyd Brown (MR)
• LHP Nip Winters (LR)
• RHP Ray Benge (ST)

We’ll be transitioning here over the next season or two. Plenty of live young arms at AAA awaiting the call, with Harriss, Winters and Anderson almost certainly on their last tour of duty with us.

Not sure we’re there yet but we are certainly on the right track.

[luckymann]

A big first week of the 1932 season for Mr Stearnes, who racks up his 200th homer and then puts this nice little game together against the dreaded enemy.

[luckymann]

Let's hope our rather spotty start to the season is all it takes to serve as a reminder that Championships need to be won, they don't just fall into your lap.

April is easily summarised in just four words: pitching good, hitting bad. We are currently well toward the bottom in most offensive metrics, near the top for pitching. While Wells, Vaughan, Foxx and Paul Waner have begun strongly, the top of our order has struggled with Combs hitting 227 and Dihigo 185, the latter including a late rally after a 1-for-19 start.

Unhappy with our balance and flexibility as I have mentioned already, I make the following trade on the 30th:

TRADE 1 OF 2 (04/30/32)
C Walt Lerian and minor league OF Wally Shaner traded to Brooklyn for 3B Randy Moore and C Earl Grace.


Randy plays the corner IF spots as well as all three OF. Earl is a nice youthful flip-down for Walt, and will stay in AAA for now. Gus Suhr heads to Wilkes-Barre to make room.





The Cubs have got a flyer, while the Tigers also look strong. The poor old Trolley Dodgers, however, lose their first 13 games and already have a -53 RD. Ouch.




I neglected to mention that the Babe was injured during the pre-season. He's due back anytime soon. A few milestones to report: Lou Gehrig and Gabby Hartnett 1500 hits; Chick Hafey 250 HR, Turkey Stearnes 200, Freddie Lindstrom 100.

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[luckymann]

A couple of outstanding performances with wildly different outcomes for New York players.

Key offseason signing Chino Smith goes berserk with 4 hits including a tater and 7 ribbies as the Yanks stomp the Sens 15-1...




... while Hal Schumacher pitches superbly over 10, allowing just one hit, and yet still somehow loses 2-1 to Brooklyn. That hit - a single in the 10th - is wedged between a walk and an error that gives the Dodgers a go-ahead run that holds up. Their other score was in the 1st and came via a two-base error / groundout / sac fly combo.

This game'll kill ya, won't it?

[luckymann]

[luckymann]

A big couple days for The Iron Horse, as he collects his 1000th career RBI the game immediately after he does this, becoming just the 4th player after Ruth, Hornsby and Heavy Johnson to pass 300.

[luckymann]

It’s all a bit of a struggle for us at the moment as we put together another streaky month. It starts promisingly enough with 9 wins from our first 11 but then we completely lose our winning ways and drop six straight including four to Brooklyn, three of which are at home, and it takes a walkoff 10-inning decision to snap the string. We then proceed to lose two more to the last-placed Cards before the bats finally awaken from their stupor with back-to-back 15-2 and 11-2 wins. Matters aren’t helped when Vaughan picks up a niggle and then Wells needs a minimum IL stint due to back stiffness and then McCall, going great guns in the SP4 slot, does a hamstring that will sideline him for 5 weeks. To cover this last one, we move Benge into the spin and recall Bob Steele. I just don’t feel that Hildebrand, Swift or Weaver are quite up to the bigs yet.

Things, of course, could be far worse. We end May with a 17-14 record to sit at 28-21 and are still well in contention. That said, any regression would put us under a lot of pressure.





There's not a heck of a lot going wrong at the individual level. After his slow start, Dihigo is coming around and his versatility is a crucial, yet unquantifiable, benefit. The pitching looks stronger again so far after last season's struggles, with Foster looking like he is getting back to his best. It's just that we're having trouble consistently putting it all together. Time, hopefully, will cure that ill.





If the first six weeks are any guide, this looks set to be one of the tightest seasons yet with a whole host of clubs right in the mix.




Plenty happening around the traps. I've posted about Lou Gehrig. Lefty Williams reaches 250 wins, Rap Dixon 100 homers. The Giants lose Travis Jackson for 3 months with a partially torn labrum, the Phillies will be without Hack Wilson for 7 weeks courtesy of a hamstring strain.

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[luckymann]

All-time leader: Eddie Collins 3312

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We lose veteran reliever Walter Anderson early in the month with bone spurs that have likely ended his season, although there is some chance he’ll make it back right toward the end. We weren’t planning on renewing his contract and will use this “opportunity” to prematurely blood some new talent, namely Oral Hildebrand. A hamstring strain to Derringer that will sideline him for about a month further stretches our pitching resources and leaves me with another decision to make. In the end, I give Hildebrand a shot in the spin and promote Milt Gaston. I also just tinker with our lineups a bit, swapping out O’Doul for Little Poison and putting Arky into the leadoff spot.

All the while we are hitting our straps nicely. A 17-7 month gets us just where we need to be.





The lineup looks much more settled after that spot of tinkering. Vaughan wins the monthly RoY award, slashing 392/490/557 which gives us the requisite spark for Foxx and company, all of whom have fine months. Waiver claim Kiddo Davis has been a nice pickup for us as well, especially given O'Doul's continued underperformance.




A really admirable performance from the pitchers given the injury-related flux. Foster continues his turnaround and Trent is his usual reliable self, while both Benge and Hildebrand do better than expected. McCall's return has been delayed and in all likelihood Duke will be back before him. Either way, I still see Benge as our closer and he'll return there, while I think OH will stay up now at the expense of one of the veterans who are on the way out anyway.




The Yanks and Tigers have pinched a small break from the pack in the AL, while the Phils hold sway by a narrow margin from ourselves and the Braves in the senior circuit.




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[luckymann]

A no-no by Jesse Winters of Amarillo down in AAA.

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Babe sure is making up for that time lost through injury at the start of the season, cracking 24 dingers so far in just 209 AB including this milestone one.

[luckymann]

Positively pouring down with no-nos at AAA.

[luckymann]

The pitching merry-go-round continues as we lose Benge for the season on the same day Derringer returns. We also pick up Hank Johnson off waivers and he comes in as a reliever in place of Milt Gaston. We finally get McCall back in mid-month but I decide to ease him in slowly with a stint as stopper.

When we host the Phils toward the end of the month, we are two back of them. After we win three of four, we are tied. Our final two games of the month are a DH in Philly, with us trailing again by a game and them just having received news that pitcher Johnny Allen has been lost for the season. We split them and that’s how we finish the sectional. We go 22-9 for July and have ding-dong battle on our hands against the defending champs.





The bats heat right up. Dihigo has one of the best months of his career, slashing 382/476/706 with 8 HR and 28 RBI to deservedly win the monthly award, the first he has ever won. Foxx isn't far behind and almost all others have excellent months.




The pitching, though not quite as dominant, cannot be accused of not pulling its weight. Foster continues to rebound, while Derringer has really hit his straps. Trent, however, struggles a bit and Hildebrand will definitely be heading back to the BP fairly soon.




This looks set to be an unbelievable stretch run. The Phillies, as I said, are such a good side and we'll need to be at our best to match them. In the AL, the Tigers, Yanks and Red Sox appear ready to take it down to the wire, with little separating three fantastic squads.




Here are the Top 20s by WAR for hitters and pitchers to this point:





More milestones, as Jimmy Dykes reaches 2000 hits, while Dick Lundy and Rev Cannady each get to 1500. Al Simmons pops his 250th HR, Chuck Klein his 200th. On the topic of Chuck, he is handily leading all three TC categories as we enter August.

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[luckymann]

A rare highlight in a fairly mundane season for the 55-55 Jints.

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A big day for the Tribe's gun OF.

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ALL-TIME LEADER: Tris Speaker, 721

[luckymann]

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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[luckymann]

I must admit to having mixed emotions about what the big guy has been doing this year. One the one hand, he now - after this monumental game - has 48 HR in just 386 AB. On the other, that early-season injury may well have cost him the chance for something even more special. Had he been given the chance to get his career 162G average of 511 AB, his pro-rata projects to about 63, which would have been a new all-time record.

Oh, well, never mind.