In the first week of July, Hack put together a strong show at the plate. He hit .429 with two doubles, one homer and seven RBIs in seven games.

His despairing fans hoped for a return to form. At this point in the season, Hack had 10 home runs, 33 RBIs and was hitting .284 with 65 hits in 229 at bats. It looked certain he could not win the home run title again, which had become almost an annual event for him, and that he might fall well short of 100 RBIs for the first time in six years.

Team turmoil continued. On July 2, The Sporting News reported that Hornsby "finally acted the part of the stern disciplinarian and thereby let the world in on the fact that the good-natured, healthy Hack Wilson doesn't like to go to bed early. Hack should have been a morning newspaper man. They never go to bed, and nothing is said about it."

The article then goes on to remind readers that one of the reasons McCarthy was fired last year was that Wrigley thought Marse Joe too "lenient" with the players.

On July 14, Hack bashed his 11th home run, but that was it for a while, as he fell into another idle period at the plate. By the end of July, Hornsby had benched him again, for the third time that season. As for the Cubs, they too struggled, chasing first-place St. Louis but gaining no ground.

This was when Barton began playing full-time in Hack's position. As the Cubs swept three games from the Reds, Barton whacked two home runs and helped win one game with a single in the ninth inning. The 23-year-old was hungry for a starting job, and he played like it.

In the first week of August, Hack was limited to a pinch hitting appearance against Burleigh Grimes. Ol' Stubblebeard, as the perpetually unshaven Grimes was called, went on to shut out the Cubs 8-0.

When Wilson was playing well, he was a dirty-looking ballplayer. And so it is no wonder that the Chicago Tribune's Irving Vaughan reported: "Hack was all spic and span in a freshly laundered uniform, but the 15,000 Ladies' Day fans didn't like his appearance. They gave him a mother-in-law's welcome. Then when Hack let a third strike float over they 'cheered' him again."

Hack did not get back into a game until August 13, when he pinch hit for Malone with the Cubs behind the Phillies 4-0. This time, he hacked away like a year ago, drilling a three-run homer that brought the Cubs to within one run of the Phils. But the Cubs failed to muster another run, and lost. They remained ten games behind the Cardinals when they traveled east for a road trip during which Hack's seething frustration finally overwhelmed him. He sensed his future hung in the balance. And perhaps his days were numbered with the Cubs, as the whispers of Hornsby and Wrigley attested to.

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