[ayaghmour2]

April 16th, 1929
Philadelphia Sailors (1-0): 5
Chicago Cougars (0-1): 1

W: Johnny Davis (1-0)
L: Dick Lyons (0-1)

Our home opener went as expected, with a loss, as we got the unenviable task of facing the defending champions while we were coming off a league worst finish. Dick Lyons allowed 5 runs in 7 innings with 10 hits, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts while taking the loss. Rule-5 Pick Harry Simmons was the only Cougar with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a walk. Art Panko was 1-for-3 with a walk and RBI. Bob McCarty was 1-for-4 with a walk and run scored.

April 17th, 1929
Philadelphia Sailors (2-0): 9
Chicago Cougars (0-1): 4

W: Dan Waldman (1-0)
L: Vince DaCosta (0-1)

Yes, it's just one start, but it looks like we are going to get 1928 Vince DaCosta, not 1929 Vince DaCosta. He was shelled in this one, allowing 9 runs (8 earned) in 7.2 innings while allowing 14 hits. He walked 7 and struck out just 3. The bats came to play against a starter in Waldman who finished last season 19-8 with a 2.74 ERA. We had a big three run second which saw our first homer (Green), double (Sanders), and triple (McCarty). Green was 2-for-5 with a solo homer while McCarty was 2-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBI's. Harry Simmons had another strong game, going 2-for-3 with a walk and RBI out of the two spot. Tom Rogers got his first start of the season at first, going 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.

April 18th, 1929
Philadelphia Sailors (2-1): 3
Chicago Cougars (1-2): 6

W: Johnny Douglas (1-0)
L: Rollie Beal (0-1)
SV: Charlie O'Hare (1)

First win of the season! Harry Simmons lead the charge, going 3-for-5 with a steal and pair of RBI's. Bob McCarty added another triple and was 1-for-4 with a run scored and driven in. John Dibblee got his first hit of the season, going 1-for-4 with a double, walk, and run scored. Gary Sanders went 1-for-2 with a walk and run scored. Mack Deal was 1-for-3 with a walk, steal, and run scored. On the mound, Johnny Douglas was okay, going 5.1 innings with 6 hits, 3 runs, 6 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Ace McSherry did it on both sides, tossing 3 shutout innings allowing just a hit and walk with 3 strikeouts. He also hit an RBI double in his only at bat. He couldn't finish the 9th, however, as Charlie O'Hare allowed a hit and got the final two outs to pick up the save.

April 19th, 1929
Philadelphia Sailors (3-1): 10
Chicago Cougars (1-3): 4

W: William Jones (1-0)
L: Babe Wilder (0-1)

Just like that we were back in the loss column, and as expected, the Sailors cruised in this four game series. The pitching was bad all game, starting with Babe Wilder, who allowed 5 runs and 8 hits with 7 walks in 5.1 innings. He did strike out 6, which is really good, but that was the only bright spot. O'Hare allowed 2 more in 2.2 innings with 4 hits, a walk, and a strikeout. McSherry, who probably shouldn't have pitched today, allowed 3 runs off 5 hits and a walk in the 9th. I would have much rather seen Lincoln in this game. We managed 8 hits today, with three hitters coming home with a pair. John Dibblee was 2-for-2 with a walk and run scored before Tom Rogers replaced him in the 6th as a defensive replacement. Dick Fessell, who was ice cold, heated up and went 2-for-3 with a steal and run scored. Gary Sanders was 2-for-4 with a double, steal, RBI, and run scored. Art Panko was 1-for-3 with a hit by pitch and RBI.

April 20th, 1929
Toronto Wolves (1-4): 6
Chicago Cougars (2-3): 11

W: Cotton Taylor (1-0)
L: Birdie Smith (0-2)

In a battle of baseball's two worst teams last year, we managed to start the four game series with a nice 11-6 win over the Toronto Wolves. Cotton Taylor wasn't perfect, but went 7.1 innings with 11 hits, 6 runs (5 earned), 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts to earn the win in his first start of the season. The offense had easily their best game of the season (and likely for the rest of the year) as we put up 15 hits. Dick Fessell was a perfect 3-for-3 with a double, run scored, 2 walks, and 4 RBI's. Bob McCarty launched his first homer of the year and went 2-for-6 with a pair of runs scored. Gary Sanders went 3-for-5 with 4 RBI's. John Dibblee went 3-for-4 with a walk and run scored. Art Panko was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

April 21st, 1929
Toronto Wolves (2-4): 3
Chicago Cougars (2-4): 1

W: Bert Flores (1-0)
L: Charlie O'Hare (0-1)

Tied at 1 in the 9th, Charlie O'Hare allowed a pair of runs as the Wolves took a late 3-1 lead. Bert Flores stifled us as he did most of the game, and the Wolves evened the series up with a win in the second of four games. O'Hare pitched 2.2 innings with 1 hit, 3 walks, 2 runs, and a strikeout. Dick Lyons pitched fine, going 6.1 innings with 9 hits, a run, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts. The top four in the lineup (McCarty, Simmons, Dibblee, and Panko) recorded 8 of our 9 hits. Simmons had the best showing, going 3-for-5 with a run scored. Panko was 2-for-3 with a walk and RBI.

Stars of the Week: I'll pull these straight from the sim recaps to include an unbiased ranking of our best players for the week:

Harry Simmons : 25 AB, 11 H, 0 HR, 4 RBI, .440 AVG, .963 OPS
Bob McCarty : 27 AB, 9 H, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .333 AVG, .993 OPS
Gary Sanders : 23 AB, 8 H, 0 HR, 5 RBI, .348 AVG, .810 OPS

Looking Ahead: We'll finish our homestand with two more against the Wolves before hitting the road. We'll be in Philadelphia where we likely get swept by the Sailors (4-2) in a four game set before starting a four game series with the Foresters (4-2) in Cleveland. Our first off day is not until May 5th and after the Toronto series, out next home game is the 17th. It's going to be a rough patch of games as we likely won't see many wins the rest of the month. Our best chance is the next two games against the Wolves.

Injury Report: We stayed healthy this week! Bill Ashbaugh could be back in Chicago next week if his injury heals as planned. It says one week remaining, but I don't want to bring him back early and risk damaging our cornerstone player in games we likely don't have much of a chance in.

Minor League Report: The minor league seasons all start this week. I don't plan on covering these too in depth, but I will try to highlight star performances and give an idea of their records.

Amateur Report: I do a lot of College and High School scouting, and my shortlists are filled with multiple youngsters who I think may or may not be future stars. I know it's hard to sort through the thousands of filler players that populate these leagues, so I'll include some standouts performances of the guys I've been following as well.

CF George Pumphrey (Chicago Poly Panthers): On April 16th, the draft eligible Junior launched 3 homers in a 13-0 domination over the Wisconsin State Brewers. The slugging center fielder is hitting .330/.411/.585 (151 OPS+) with 7 homers, 7 steals, and 19 RBI's in 107 plate appearances this season. In his three year career, he owns a .353/.432/.517 line with 11 homers, 21 steals, and 47 RBI's across 403 trips to the plate.

2B Jake Shadoan (Liberty College Bells): On April 17th, the draft eligible Junior went 5-for-5 in a 10-8 Liberty win over the Brooklyn State Bears. It's been a great season for the versatile Shadoan, who's blossomed into one of the best hitters in the AIAA. He's slashing .402/.467/.663 (193 OPS+) with 7 homers, 7 steals, and 12 RBI's. Shadoan has experience at first, second, third, short, center, and right, but Liberty prefers to keep him at the keystone. In his three year career, he's hitting .355/.403/.592 with 29 homers, 25 steals, and 110 RBI's in 559 plate appearances. He also came home with this week's AIAA Player of the Week after hitting .632 with 2 homers and 5 RBI's.

SP Jake DeYoung (Reading HS Reds): On April 20th, the 16-year-old DeYoung had his way with the New York HS Eagles, tossing a 3-hit shutout as the Reds pulled away with a 1-0 victory. He struck out 10 and didn't walk a single batter. In his first season, he's 1-2 in 5 starts with a 1.80 ERA (190 ERA+), 0.91 WHIP, and 33 strikeouts to just 2 walks in 35 innings pitched. The lefty has a lot of time before he can be considered a draft prospect, but the start to his journey has gone well.

LF Ed Reyes (Atlanta HS Peaches): The same day DeYoung was shutting out the Eagles, Peaches LF Ed Reyes went 5-for-6 in a 12-8 win over the Lynn HS Legends. Like DeYoung, Reyes is also in his first HS season, and the lefty is slashing .458/.511/.602 (218 OPS+) with a homer and 11 RBI's in just under 100 plate appearances. Scouts haven't seen much in him yet, but if he hits like this, there's no reason he won't jump up draft lists.

SP Rocky Williams (Frankford State Owls): The Owls may be dead last in the New England Collegiate Division, but you wouldn't know that based off of how freshman Rocky Williams has been pitching. In 37 innings, he owns an impressive 1.95 ERA (246 ERA+) and 1.11 WHIP with 51 strikeouts. The Owls haven't given him much run support, as he's just 1-2, but he's part of a trio of three freshman (Joe Tillman and John Cordiero) with ERA's below 2.80 in their rotation. The offense is dead last in the Northeastern League, but with that young rotation, they may work their way up once all three of these guys are Juniors.