From Worst to First

[NYY #23]

1/1/1906 -

The journey begins in 1906 in Boston, Massachusetts. My home state, taking the position of General Manager for the Boston Americans, who in two years will become the Boston Red Sox. As a Yankee fan the Red Sox have been my enemy for as long as I can remember, so I thought it would be a good place to start. My goal is to win a World Series with the Americans/Red Sox, as the first stop on a 30 team journey where the goal is to win a World Series in each stop.

Why 1906? Well, I wanted to start early because I think I'll need as much time as possible. Even though in 1905 the Americans finished 78-74 in 1906 the Americans finished 49-105, with the fourth worst winning percentage in franchise history. After we complete our goal in Boston we'll move on to the worst team in the league, as long as I have never managed that team before.

The ground rules, trading set to hard. I'll be posting monthly updates, and either using the shop around feature or accepting trade proposals. No minors yet, just a reserve roster. No free agency or DH until that time comes. I'll be acting as a general manager only, so I'll leave managing duties up to the AI. Coaches will be on, as a way to act on my inner-Steinbrenner instinct if things get too bad, and scouts will be on. That should give me plenty of options for people to fire. I'll be running an amateur draft and I'll rely heavily on my scouting director for my draft picks, rather than knowledge of how a player really performed in real life. I also turned off recalc for that added element of surprise. Its been a long time since I played as a GM, so in reality I'll need every advantage I can get, but I'd also like to make it as realistic as possible and not make too many trades per season, unless they make sense. So without further ado, meet the Americans…..

[NYY #23]

My first day on the job in Boston and time to get acquainted with the team. First my head scout, Jose Polanco (how is that for an era appropriate scout), who hails from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and on a 0-20 scale as follows:
Scout Major Leagues - 14
Scout Minor Leagues - 17
International Scouting - 16
Scout Amateurs - 17
Projection - Favor Tools

No minors and hidden players are off, so he has two primary functions, one of which he isn't really rated too well.

My manager is Tim Thompson, who's ratings range from teaching pitching - 19 to teaching fielding - 12. He ratings for handling players is 16, with veterans at 16 and rookies at 15. My bench coach is Kurt Fairchild, hitting coach is Luis Vega, pitching coach is Alberto Ramos, and the all important team trainer is Antonio Lucero. My initial reaction is that I need a new pitching coach, who has a rating of 8 for teaching pitching.

Rotation:
Cy Young (18-19, 1.82 ERA - 38 years old)
Jesse Tannehil (22-9, 2.48 ERA - 31 years old)
George Winter (16-17, 2.96 ERA - 27 years old)
Joe Harris (1-2, 2.35 ERA - 23 years old)

Other pitchers:
Bill Dinneen (12-14, 3.73 ERA)
Norwood Gibson (4-7, 3.69 ERA)
Ed Hughes (3-2, 4.59 ERA)
Ed Barry (1-2, 2.88 ERA)
Ralph Glaze - 23 years old
Len Swormstedt - 27 years old
Rube Kroh - 19 years old **Reserve Roster
Frank Oberlin - 29 years old **Reserve Roster

It doesn't seem like the worst team in the league pitching staff, maybe because the '05 Americans were 78-74. Mr. Young isn't young anymore, so it may be worthwhile to take a hit with the fans by trading our most popular player for someone who will help us longer term.

Lineup:
RF - Jack Hayden - didn't play last year
3B - Jimmy Collins - .276
CF - Chick Stahl - .258
1B - Buck Freeman - .240
2B - Hobe Ferris - .220
LF - Jack Hoey - didn't play last year
SS - Freddy Parent - .234
C - Charlie Graham - didn't play last year

Bench:
C - Lou Criger - .198
1B - Myron Grimshaw - .239
2B - Chet Chadbourne - didn't play
3B - Red Morgan - didn't play
3B - John Godwin - .326
SS - Heinie Wagneer - didn't play
LF - Kip Selbach - .246

Reserve roster:
A quarter of catchers - Tom Doran (.155), Charlie Armbruster (.198), Bill Carrigan (didn't play), Bob Peterson (didn't play).

I expect they'll be beating down my door with offers for my offense.

How Boston did in real life:
1906: 49-105 - last place
1907: 59-90 - last place
1908: 75-59 - 5th place
Next World Series win = 1912 (looks like I've got 7 years to match what the real life team did)

The '06 and '07 both finished last offensively. The '06 team was shutout 28 times. In '07 manager Chick Stahl committed suicide and the team had five managers in the season.

[NYY #23]

While it is probably a little unfair to judge a team before seeing them play, I did a little exploratory shopping during the month to see how the other GMs viewed my players.

Cy Young - nobody likes him

Jesse Tannehill - nobody likes him

And on, and on, and on, and on. At least I know where I stand.

I did get one offer though, for 23 year old middle reliever Ralph Glaze from the Detroit Tigers. Their offer, a 19 year old who's nickname is 'The Georgia Peach'. Of course, the trade would be great for me long term. However, I just can't bring myself to pull the trigger on the deal because even if Cobb never develops like he should, he is still very highly rated. Glaze isn't poorly rated, and even though he is listed as a middle reliever he could be a starter, but maybe it is just because of the names I couldn't do this deal.

[NYY #23]

We got off to a much better start than I expected, winning 6 of our first 7 games. We came back down to earth after that, going 3-5, but still finishing the month of April with a respectable 9-6, good enough for first place. Maybe this will be easier than I thought.

The good - we are third in the AL with a .287 batting average, and lead the league in runs scored with 62. The rumored Ty Cobb trade must have struck fear in our outfielders, as Chick Stahl (.310, 5 RBI), Kip Selbach (.365, 12 RBI), and Jack Hayden (.300, 18 RBI) got off to a good start.

The immortal Ralph Glaze is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA, absolutely dominating in those 2 1/3 innings, except for those 3 hits and walk he gave up. Ty Cobb has only hit .240 to start the season in Detroit. I have a hunch those numbers won't hold up though.

The bad - our ERA is 3.66 (seventh in the league), and we have given up 59 runs, also 7th in the league. Cy Young hasn't been great (2-1, 3.25 ERA). Bill Dinneen got hurt running up the stairs, and since he came back he is 0-1 with a 7.72 ERA.

I received my first trade proposal from the New York Giants - wanting to send an old, overpriced outfielder for an old, overpriced pitcher. I didn't see much point so I politely declined.

The owner expects me to make the playoffs.

Sell High? What to do when a 32 year old outfielder is hitting 65 points higher than his career average? It might be a good time to shop him around. There were a couple of takers, the Tigers offering some middle relievers, and the Highlanders offering a couple of 25 year old catchers. My scout thinks Ira Thomas is a little bit better than Boss Schmidt, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger on my first trade -

LF - Kip Selbach traded to the New York Highlanders for C - Ira Thomas. Good news for 24 year old Jack Hoey as he becomes our starting left fielder and we'll see what he can do. Thomas is much younger than one of our catchers, 34 year old Lou Criger, who is hitting .200 and last year hit .198. In the end I think I'm trading our starting outfielder for a young catcher who could be a decent backup catcher, maybe more. We'll see how this one works out.

[NYY #23]

The Americans should have come with a warning -



It seemed like every other day I got a notice that one of my players was hurt. Cy Young, 2B - Hobe Ferris, LF - Jack Hoey, RF - Jack Hayden, SS - Freddy Parent, 3B - John Goodwin.

Luckily none of the players were hurt too bad, mostly day to day injuries, but Ferris is out for four weeks, and my backup 2B Chad Chadbourne is 2 for 30 since he became the starter.

Buck Freeman, hitting a whopping .238 isn't happy that he is on the bench. My take, hit better and you won't be.

Our record for the month of May - 12-16.
Season record: 21-22, 4 1/2 games back
Runs - 161 (2nd in league)
Runs allowed - 159 (7th in league)

Who's hot: Chick Stahl is leading the team with .338 batting average, and has hit 4 home runs and driven in 21. Jesse Tannehill and George Winter each have 6 wins. Jimmy Collins is hitting .467 with 1 home run in last 8 games.

Who's not: It would be easy enough to say everyone else. Jack Hoey has hit .193 in left field. My shortstops - Freddy Parent and Heinie Wagner are hitting .223 and 228 respectively. We need some help, but there isn't anyone out there we can sign, and we don't need any more pitchers or catchers, which is all we've got on our reserve roster.

The amateur draft is coming up, and the 1907 class features some big names, including Tris Speaker, Fred Merkle, Walter Johnson, and Heinie Zimmerman. We select eighth, so we'll see what is out there.

Trade Log:
Traded LF Kip Selbach to the New York Highlanders for C Ira Thomas

Since the deal:
Selbach - 17-76, .224 AVG
Thomas - 4-17, .235 AVG

By the way, that Cobb kid has started to heat up, hitting .335 for the season.

[NYY #23]

My first amateur draft, and as expected the big names were off the board with our first pick.

CF - Clyde Milan - we needed outfield help, and he was the best outfielder on the board. My scout wanted to pick a starting pitcher in the first round, Farmer Bell, but I didn't listen to him. With three outfielders on our roster we needed someone who could play outfield more than a pitcher, in my opinion
1B - Fred Merkle - I went with my scout's recommendation in the second round and we took Merkle, who I was surprised to still see available. I'm hoping he can be our first baseman of the future.
CF - John Kane -I again went with my scout's recommendations, as I did for the rest of the draft. Nothing special, but a warm body in the outfield.
2B - Harry Hinchman - I made room on the roster for Hinchman immediately, as I did for the first three players I drafted. Hinchman went down during his first at bat and will be out for five weeks.
SS - Tony Smith - not much hope for this pick
C - Joe Knotts - not much hope for this pick either

After the draft we sent the following to the reserve roster:
MR - Norwood Gibson - hasn't pitched this season yet
MR - Ed Hughes - hasn't pitched this season yet
C - Bob Peterson - 0-5 this season, but is 22 years old with potential (according to my scout)
3B - John Goodwin - 2-14 this season
SS - Tony Smith
C - Joe Knotts

I received a trade offer from the Cardinals -
2B - Pug Bennett for MR Ed Hughes that I declined. Pug is having a good season, but Hughes is a young pitcher. I'm not going to buy high with the current state of the team

Injuries:
OF - Jack Hoey - day to day injury
2B - Harry Hinchman out for six weeks after his first at bat -SP Frank Oberlin was recalled from reserve list
CF - Clyde Milan suffered a day to day injury

Our record for the month of June - 11-14.
Season record: 32-36, 11 games back
Runs - 244 (2nd in league)
Runs allowed - 248 (7th in league)

Who's hot:
SP - Joe Harris - 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in last 3 games
CF - Clyde Milan - .367 in 13 games
1B - Fred Merkle - .538 in June
C - Ira Thomas - .342 in June

Who's not:
SS - Freddy Parent - .184 in June
3B - Jimmy Collins - .189 in June
LF - Jack Hoey - .214 in June
SP - George Winter - 0-5 4.88 ERA in June

With the amateur draft done it is much harder to move some of the older players on the roster, which shouldn't be a surprise. We are doing much better than I expected us to do, and better than the real life Americans did. I'm trying to keep a wait and see and not do too much except explore what is out there, but I am cautious to do too much until I get a better feel for my players and the league.

I know I need help in certain areas though, and looking at our positional needs here is our rankings -
Cather - 8th (1st overall)
1B - 10th (10th overall)
2B - 14th (14th)
3B - 14th (15th)
SS - 13th (13th)
LF - 15th (15th)
CF - 3rd (2nd)
RF - 15th (15th)
SP - 8th (8th)
RP - 4th (8th)
CL - 11th (9th)

I guess you could say we are definitely over performing, but I think that will even out in the end. We are 2 1/2 games above the Highlanders, and 1 game above the White Sox, and a 1/2 game above the Pirates and Cardinals in the bottom of the teams in baseball.

Trade Log:
Traded LF Kip Selbach to the New York Highlanders for C Ira Thomas

Since the deal:
Selbach - 32-124, .258 AVG
Thomas - 17-55, .309 AVG

Cobb is now hitting .360 for the season. Ralph Glaze has moved into the rotation and is 4-5 with a 3.44 ERA.

[HGVoyager]

I'm following along. Good luck!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by HGVoyager

I'm following along. Good luck!

Thanks for following along. I'm going to need all the luck I can get!

[NYY #23]

I could have at least made some money off the guys on my team. During the dog days of summer the Boston Americans suffered from a case of well, everything. Cy Young sprained his ankle, CF John Kane bruised his knee, RF Jack Hayden hurt his thumb, C Ira Thomas hurt his back, SS Freddy Parent hurt his oblique, wrist and had gout. 3B Jimmy Collins also hurt his knee, and last but not least 2B Hobe Ferris hurt his elbow.

I've had a busy month placing guys on the disabled list, recalling guys from the reserved list, and even taking guys off the disabled list. Through it all we really didn't fare that bad considering...

Our record for the month of July - 13-14.
Season record: 45-50, 10 1/2 games back
Runs - 317 (4th in league)
Runs allowed - 330(6th in league)

Who's hot:
SP - Joe Harris - 6-1, 1.16 ERA
CF - John Kane - .295 in 25 games before his injury
1B - Buck Freeman - .347
C - Ira Thomas - .385, but just 5 games due to injury

Who's not:
SS - Freddy Parent - .091
SS- Heinie Wagner - .190
CF - Clyde Milan - .248
SP - George Winter - 2-4, 4.31 ERA

Our updated positional rankings -
Cather - 7th (1st overall)
1B - 9th (9th overall)
2B - 12th (13th)
3B - 14th (14th)
SS - 15th (15th)
LF - 15th (15th)
CF - 2nd (1st)
RF - 15th (15th)
SP - 8th (8th)
RP - 2nd (8th)
CL - 10th (8th)

Power Rankings:
10th

I continue to shop some players around, and I don't continue to find any takers. I'm happy with how Joe Harris is pitching, and at 24 I'm hoping we can build around him. Long term I feel good at catcher and center field, but we have a lot of problems and not a lot of solutions. Even though we are doing better than I expected it still feel like my journey in Boston will take some time. That feeling of being 6-1 is long gone and reality is setting in.

Trade Log:
Traded LF Kip Selbach to the New York Highlanders for C Ira Thomas

Since the deal:
Selbach - 36-140, .257 AVG and injured
Thomas - 22-68, .324 AVG and injured

Cobb's established himself as a star, so I'm going to stop focusing on him knowing that I made the right decision passing on the trade.

[NYY #23]

Our record for the month of August - 14-13
Season record: 59-63, 11 games back
Runs - 401 (4th in league)
Runs allowed - 423 (6th in league)

Who's hot:
1B - Fred Merkle - .300, 16 RBI, 10 R
SP - George Winter - 5-1, 2.03 ERA

Who's not:
3B - Red Morgan- .146
C - Charlie Graham - .224
3B - Jimmy Collins - .158
SS- Heinie Wagner - .198
2B - Harry Hinchman - .211

Our updated positional rankings -
Cather - 6th (1st overall)
1B - 10th (10th overall)
2B - 12th (13th)
3B - 14th (14th)
SS - 14th (14th)
LF - 16th (16th)
CF - 1st (1st)
RF - 15th (15th)
SP - 8th (8th)
RP - 4th (11th)
CL - 11th (9th)

Power Rankings:
12th (Last Month 10th)

Financials:
Fan Interest - 72
Project Balance - $21,198

As the season winds down our upside appears to break even with a good month. There are four teams with a worse record in the AL, and two in the NL. We've already surpassed the Americans 49 wins by 10 games, but we are far from a championship caliber team.

Trade Log:
Traded LF Kip Selbach to the New York Highlanders for C Ira Thomas

Since the deal:
Selbach - 38-152, .250 AVG
Thomas - 34-112, .304 AVG

[NYY #23]

We started the month well, and it looked like we just might reach .500 for the season, but a six game losing streak to end the month means we will definitely finish under .500 with just five games remaining.

Our record for the month of September - 11-16.
Season record: 70-79, 15 1/2 games back
Runs - 498 (4th in league)
Runs allowed - 517 (6th in league)

Who's hot:
1B - Fred Merkle - .300, 16 RBI, 10 R
SS- Heinie Wagner - .293

Who's not:
CF - Chick Stahl- .143
C - Charlie Graham - .164
3B - Red Morgan - .189
C - Ira Thomas - .212

Our updated positional rankings -
Cather - 8th (1st overall)
1B - 10th (10th)
2B - 13th (13th)
3B - 15th (15th)
SS - 12th (12th)
LF - 16th (16th)
CF - 1st (1st)
RF - 14th (14th)
SP - 8th (8th)
RP - 3rd (4th)
CL - 11th (15th)

Power Rankings:
15th (Last Month 12th)

Financials:
Fan Interest - 70 (Last Month 72)
Project Balance - $19,674

Trade Log:
Traded LF Kip Selbach to the New York Highlanders for C Ira Thomas

Since the deal:
Selbach - 46-183, .251 AVG
Thomas - 41-145, .283 AVG

[Big Six]

You need to sign Pat O'Farrell.

This one will be a lot of fun to read. Good luck with it!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by Big Six

You need to sign Pat O'Farrell.

This one will be a lot of fun to read. Good luck with it!

Thanks Big Six! I'm not sure Pat O'Farrell would want to play for my team, but I sure could use him!

[NYY #23]

Our record for the month of September - 4-1
Season record: 74-80, 15 games back
Runs - 515 (5th in league)
Batting Average - .261 (6th in league)
Runs allowed - 528 (6th in league)
ERA - 3.00 (7th in league)

Team Leaders -
HR: Chick Stahl - 5
RBI: Myron Grimshaw - 55
W: Joe Harris - 19
ERA: Jesse Tannehill - 2.35
K: Cy Young - 119

Our updated positional rankings -
Cather - 7th (1st overall)
1B - 10th (10th)
2B - 14th (14th)
3B - 15th (15th)
SS - 12th (12th)
LF - 16th (16th)
CF - 1st (1st)
RF - 15th (15th)
SP - 7th (7th)
RP - 3rd (4th)
CL - 11th (15th)

Power Rankings:
10th (Last Month 15th)

Financials:
Fan Interest - 68 (Last Month 70)
Project Balance - $19,317

Season score: 6 (ouch…)

Where to begin, my first year is done, and while it was nothing spectacular it was better than expected. We've got some holes to fill, I'd like to replace 3/4 of my infield, 2/3 of my outfield, and maybe add a pitcher. Of course we don't have much to work with, except maybe trading from a position of strength like catcher of center fielder and seeing what we can land to plug some holes. I'll see what we can develop over the offseason, and look forward to the amateur draft to plug some holes, and I'd love to move some of my aging "stars", or former stars at least.

Chick Stahl informed me he wants out. Buck Freeman has wanted out all season, and my pitching coach didn't want to come back. I didn't really want my pitching coach back anyway, so no big loss. We've already filled our pitching coach role with Mac Wright, who is rated at 18 in teaching pitching. I took a look at some of the available personnel and nobody really was rated much better than what we've got already, so we'll stick with what we've got for next year at least.

At look at how our highest paid players did last season -
1) CF Clyde Milan, $7610 - .334, 35 RBI, 45 R - our top draft pick this season
2) SP Cy Young, $6967 - 13-19, 3.30 ERA - 39 years old and going downhill
3) CF Chick Stahl, $6426 - .296, 35 RBI, 45 R - 33 years old and wants out, but it will be tough to find a taker
4) SP Jesse Tannehill, $4804 - 14-11, 2.35 ERA - 32 years old, and while he had a good year I would move him if I could
5) CF John Kane, $4380 - .283, 29 RBI, 49 R - our third round pick, maybe I need to find out how draft pick salaries get set

World Series:
The Detroit Tigers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 4 games to 2. The Tigers record was 89-65 this season, and finished a game up on the Cleveland Naps.

Trade Log:
Traded LF Kip Selbach to the New York Highlanders for C Ira Thomas

Since the deal:
Selbach - 46-187, .246 AVG
Thomas - 43-149, .289 AVG

[NYY #23]

It was a pretty quiet offseason, as our owner cut our budget, putting us about $20,000 over the budget, which severely hampered any potential trades since they had to be one for one in salary. It looks like all of the teams are now in the red, so we are not alone. (I bumped up the cash max, I'm not sure if things will work themselves out or if I'll need to take further action. I'll have to keep an eye on this and make some adjustments if necessary.)

The owner expects us to finish at .500 or above which I think will be difficult, but maybe feasible.

We did manage to complete two deals during the offseason, neither of which were too earth shattering -

We sent C Charlie Graham across town to the Boston Doves for 3B Dave Brain. Graham has hit .254 for his career, Brain has hit .252. Both are 28 years old.

We also sent C Charlie Armbruster to the St. Louis Cardinals for SS Ed Holly.

[NYY #23]

Our record for the month of April - 8-9
Season record: 8-9, 3 1/2 games back
Runs - 68 (2nd in league)
Batting Average - .265 (3rd in league)
Runs allowed - 73 (8th in league)
ERA - 3.09 (8th in league)

Team Leaders -
AVG: Fred Merkle - .383
HR: Clyde Milan - 1
RBI: Clyde Milan - 10
W: Jesse Tannehill - 4
ERA: George Winter - 1.23
K: Joe Harris - 27

Who's hot:
1B - Fred Merkle - .383
CF - Chick Stahl - .364
C - Ira Thomas - .339
SS- Heinie Wagner - .333
SP - Jesse Tannehill - 4-0, 1.50 ERA
SP - George Winter - 2-0, 1.23 ERA

Who's not:
CF - John Kane - .197
3B - Jimmy Collins - .179
SP - Cy Young - 1-2, 4.26 ERA
MR - Ralph Glaze - 0-3, 6.39 ERA

Our updated positional rankings -
Cather - 4th (1st overall)
1B - 6th (7th)
2B - 13th (13th)
3B - 11th (11th)
SS - 11th (11th)
LF - 16th (16th)
CF - 1st (1st)
RF - 15th (15th)
SP - 8th (8th)
RP - 4th (6th)
CL - 12th (15th)

Power Rankings:
8th (Last Month 10th)

Financials:
Fan Interest - 68 (Last Month 68)
Project Balance - (46, 593)

We are losing games, losing money, and losing fans. Its like the negative Triple Crown for a GM. We shouldn't be too upset with third place though. I talked with our manager since we can't trade Chick Stahl and we are going to try and give him some playing time in left field to see how that works out. It can't hurt, we don't have too many options.

Trade Log:
Traded LF Kip Selbach to the New York Highlanders for C Ira Thomas
Traded C Charlie Graham to the Boston Doves for 3B Dave Brain
Traded C Charlie Armbruster to the St. Louis Cardinals for SS Ed Holly.

Season stats since the deal:
Sent:
Selbach - 1-8, .125 AVG
Graham - 8-54, .148 AVG
Armbruster - No at bats
Received:
Thomas - 19-56, .339 AVG
Brain - 12-59, .203 AVG
Holly - No at bats

History:
1906 - Boston Americans 74-80, 15 GB (Season Score - 6)

[NYY #23]

Our record for the month of May - 15-12
Season record: 23-21, 1 game back
Runs - 189 (1st in league)
Batting Average - .260 (2nd in league)
Runs allowed - 167 (6th in league)
ERA - 2.46 (6th in league)

Team Leaders -
AVG: Fred Merkle - .331
HR: Dave Brain - 4
RBI: Dave Brain/Ira Thomas - 22
W: Jesse Tannehill - 7
ERA: Jesse Tannehill - 1.61
K: Joe Harris - 46

Who's hot:
1B - Myron Grimshaw - .370
1B - Fred Merkle - .301
CF - Clyde Milan - .299
3B - Jimmy Collins - .291
SP - Jesse Tannehill - 3-4, 1.68 ERA
SP - Cy Young - 3-0, 2.51 ERA

Who's not:
C - Ira Thomas - .204
LF - Chick Stahl - .231

Our updated positional rankings -
Cather - 5th (1st overall)
1B - 6th (7th)
2B - 12th (12th)
3B - 10th (10th)
SS - 10th (10th)
LF - 3rd (3rd)
CF - 1st (1st)
RF - 15th (15th)
SP - 7th (7th)
RP - 3rd (6th)
CL - 11th (15th)

Power Rankings:
5th (Last Month 8th)

Financials:
Fan Interest - 71 (Last Month 68)
Project Balance - (36, 976)

The good news was we had a winning record and pulled to within one game of first place. Cy Young seemed like he was just starting to come around before he got injured, and will be out the rest of the season, and potentially causing his career to end. This is definitely a blow for us, as we don't have much pitching depth, or depth at all.

The amateur draft is coming up in June, and we pick 7th overall. A few of the top names available - Shoeless Joe Jackson, Frank 'Home Run' Baker, Beals Becker, and Hippo Vaughn. Hopefully we'll be able to pick up at least one piece of the puzzle as we build for the future.

Trade Log:
Traded LF Kip Selbach to the New York Highlanders for C Ira Thomas
Traded C Charlie Graham to the Boston Doves for 3B Dave Brain
Traded C Charlie Armbruster to the St. Louis Cardinals for SS Ed Holly.

Season stats since the deal:
Sent:
Selbach - 4-25, .160 AVG
Graham - 28-139, .201 AVG
Armbruster - No at bats
Received:
Thomas - 41-164, .250 AVG
Brain - 39-164, .238 AVG
Holly - 0-1, .000 AVG

History:
1906 - Boston Americans 74-80, 15 GB (Season Score - 6)

[NYY #23]

We picked seventh overall in the amateur draft and followed a simple strategy of trying to draft the best players available. I relied heavily on my scout, and took his recommendation on who to pick. I was pleased with our first two picks, and I think we got a decent player with the third pick, but it wasn't in an area where we were pretty set. Maybe trade bait if necessary.

1) SS - Donie Bush
2) RF - Beals Becker
3) 1B - Dick Hoblitzel
4) MR - Marty O'Toole
5) MR - Doc Martin
6) MR - Andy Nelson
7) LF - Tom Catterson
8) LF - Cy Neighbors

Our record for the month of June - 15-10
Season record: 38-31, 1/2 game back
Runs - 274 (2nd in league)
Batting Average - .255 (3rd in league)
Runs allowed - 243 (5th in league)
ERA - 2.19 (5th in league)

Team Leaders -
AVG: Fred Merkle - .314
HR: Dave Brain - 6
RBI: Dave Brain - 32
W: Joe Harris - 10
ERA: Jesse Tannehill - 1.53
K: Joe Harris - 64

Who's hot:
CF - Clyde Milan - .359
RF - Beals Becker - .344
1B - Dick Hobitzel - .313
SP - George Winter - 5-1, 1.33 ERA

Who's not:
SS - Heinie Wagner - .129
3B - Jimmy Collins - .139
SS - Donie Bush - .163
C - Ira Thomas - .218

Our updated positional rankings -
Cather - 8th (4th overall)
1B - 1st (2nd)
2B - 11th (11th)
3B - 11th (11th)
SS - 3rd (1st)
LF - 6th (3rd)
CF - 2nd (2nd)
RF - 11th (11th)
SP - 3rd (4th)
RP - 8th (5th)
CL - 11th (8th)

Power Rankings:
3rd (Last Month 5th)

Financials:
Fan Interest - 76 (Last Month 71)
Project Balance - $594

This was our best month ever, and we currently sit just a half game back in a tight American League race in which every team is within 10 games of each other. I still feel like as a team we are over performing and we aren't as good of a team as our record says. Maybe I'm wrong, but it doesn't feel like a team capable of winning a World Series.

I guess I should just enjoy my success while it lasts.

Trade Log:
Traded LF Kip Selbach to the New York Highlanders for C Ira Thomas
Traded C Charlie Graham to the Boston Doves for 3B Dave Brain
Traded C Charlie Armbruster to the St. Louis Cardinals for SS Ed Holly.

Season stats since the deal:
Sent:
Selbach - 5-33, .152 AVG
Graham - 41-211, .194 AVG
Armbruster - No at bats
Received:
Thomas - 58-242, .240 AVG
Brain - 60-252, .238 AVG
Holly - 0-1, .000 AVG

History:
1906 - Boston Americans 74-80, 15 GB (Season Score - 6)

[NYY #23]

Our record for the month of July - 7-20
Season record: 45-51, 7 1/2 games back
Runs - 359 (5th in league)
Batting Average - .253 (5th in league)
Runs allowed - 372 (6th in league)
ERA - 2.57 (5th in league)

Team Leaders -
AVG: Clyde Milan - .306
HR: Dave Brain - 6
RBI: Chick Stahl - 43
W: Jesse Tannehill - 12
ERA: George Winter - 1.95
K: Joe Harris - 83

Who's hot:
Our opponents!
2B - Harry Hinchman- .375 (3-8)
1B - Myron Grimshaw - .421 (8-19)
MR - Bill Dinneen - 0.00 ERA, 4 IP

Who's not:
The rest of the team…

Our updated positional rankings -
Cather - 6th (4th overall)
1B - 2nd (3rd)
2B - 10th (10th)
3B - 11th (11th)
SS - 3rd (1st)
LF - 8th (3rd)
CF - 2nd (2nd)
RF - 10th (10th)
SP - 10th (10th)
RP - 7th (4th)
CL - 10th (9th)

Power Rankings:
12th (Last Month 3rd)

Financials:
Fan Interest - 78 (Last Month 76)
Project Balance - $10,340

I shouldn't have opened my mouth last month, because the bottom fell out this month. While I did think we were over performing all year, I wasn't expecting things to get this bad this quick.

I'd love to blame it all on injuries, but depth is probably the real culprit in this case. Cy Young went down for the season, and we didn't have a backup. Joe Harris is out for at least the next two months, and we don't really have anyone to replace those two spots in the rotation. Poor Ralph Glaze has tried (6-14), as has Frank Oberlin (2-2). Poor Ralph Glaze, I don't think I'll ever forgive him because I could have traded him for Ty Cobb, who is leading the league in batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, and a whole bunch of other categories. I should have pulled off that deal, I may have gotten lucky and gotten out of town before the Americans became the Red Sox…

So what's a struggling team to do that is over budget? Nothing really except wait things out. My trading spare parts for other spare parts hasn't worked out too well for either side, but I didn't expect it to. I did a lot of window shopping, but didn't find a match. Hopefully our budget situation improves in the offseason, and we can finish this year strong.

Trade Log:
Traded LF Kip Selbach to the New York Highlanders for C Ira Thomas
Traded C Charlie Graham to the Boston Doves for 3B Dave Brain
Traded C Charlie Armbruster to the St. Louis Cardinals for SS Ed Holly.

Season stats since the deal:
Sent:
Selbach - 7-53, .132 AVG
Graham - 59-298, .198 AVG
Armbruster - No at bats

Received:
Thomas - 79-334, .237 AVG
Brain - 81-350, .231 AVG
Holly - 0-1, .000 AVG

History:
1906 - Boston Americans 74-80, 15 GB (Season Score - 6)

[NYY #23]

But unfortunately not on the field. John Kane was suspended for five games for his role in a brawl. Something about throwing some feeble punches. Feeble really describes his bat all year too, hitting just .228. The good news is we have won 4 of 5 games since the brawl. Whether the brawl motivated my team, or the fact that John Kane was out of the line-up I don't know. Of course, we did play the only team worse than us (NY Highlanders) for 3 of those games so that could have something to do with it to.

Our record against the Highlanders: 13-4
Everyone else: 42-64

That could explain our hot June, since we had 7 of our 15 wins in June against the Highlanders. If we won the World Series this year (I don't hold out too much hope), I'd get to move on to New York next year, either with the Highlanders (49-74) or the Brooklyn Superbas (49-74). I guess I should come up with a tie-breaker to determine which team to move on to if it ever gets to that point, but it looks like I've got a long way to go….

Our record for the month of August - 10-17
Season record: 55-68, 13 games back
Runs - 451 (5th in league)
Batting Average - .252 (5th in league)
Runs allowed - 489 (6th in league)
ERA - 2.67 (4th in league)

Team Leaders -
AVG: Fred Merkle - .295
HR: Dave Brain - 7
RBI: Chick Stahl - 56
W: Jesse Tannehill - 15
ERA: George Winter - 2.04
K: Joe Harris - 83

Who's hot:
RF- Jack Hayden- .375 (3-8)
1B - Myron Grimshaw - .435 (10-23)
RF - Beals Becks - .326, 15 RBI
SP - George Winter - 3-3, 2.34 ERA

Who's not:
3B - Dave Brain - .172
C - Ira Thomas - .196
SS - Heinie Wagner - .213
LF - Chick Stahl - .231
SP - Ralph Glaze - 2-3, 4.11 ERA

Our updated positional rankings -
Cather - 11th (4th overall)
1B - 3rd (4th)
2B - 9th (9th)
3B - 14th (14th)
SS - 4th (1st)
LF - 10th (3rd)
CF - 3rd (3rd)
RF - 10th (10th)
SP - 7th (7th)
RP - 8th (4th)
CL - 10th (9th)

Power Rankings:
12th (Last Month 12th)

Financials:
Fan Interest - 75 (Last Month 78)
Project Balance - $11,380

Trade Log:
Traded LF Kip Selbach to the New York Highlanders for C Ira Thomas
Traded C Charlie Graham to the Boston Doves for 3B Dave Brain
Traded C Charlie Armbruster to the St. Louis Cardinals for SS Ed Holly.

Season stats since the deal:
Sent:
Selbach - 21-97, .216 AVG
Graham - 75-380, .197 AVG
Armbruster - No at bats
Received:
Thomas - 97-426, .228 AVG
Brain - 97-443, .219 AVG
Holly - 0-1, .000 AVG

History:
1906 - Boston Americans 74-80, 15 GB (Season Score - 6)