[ayaghmour2]

May 27th, 1929
Chicago Cougars (13-26): 3
Cleveland Foresters (21-17): 7

W: Max Wilder (3-3)
L: Dick Lyons (3-4)

One inning really did us in as the six run seventh ruined a really good start by Dick Lyons. In total, he allowed 10 hits, 7 runs (6 earned), and 3 walks with two strikeouts in seven innings. Six of the ten hits came in the seventh. Dick Fessel was 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, steal, and two RBI's. Art Panko was 2-for-3 with a walk and run scored. Harry Simmons was 2-for-5. Barney Green was 1-for-3 with a sac bunt and run scored.

May 28th, 1929
Chicago Cougars (14-26): 7
Cleveland Foresters (21-18): 4

W: Cotton Taylor (2-4)
L: Jim C. Walker (0-1)
SV: Ed Woodward (1)

We finished the road part of the series with a split, as we managed to spoil Jim Walker's season debut. Cotton Taylor went 6.1 innings with 9 hits, 4 runs, and 2 walks while going 1-for-2 with a sac-bunt and base clearing double. I'm a little concerned the length of his starts, although there is no way to see his stamina ranting. Ed Woodward picked up the first save of his career, finishing the game while walking 1 and striking out 3. Barney Green was 2-for-4 with a double, run scored, and two driven in. John Dibblee was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Harry Simmons was 2-for-4 with a walk and run scored. Mike Smith was 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored.

May 29th, 1929
Chicago Cougars (14-27): 2
Philadelphia Sailors (25-15): 4

W: Oscar Morse (2-0)
L: Dick Kadlec (0-1)

The start of a likely sweep was a close encounter as the Sailors held off our late rally. Dick Kadlec made his first start of the season, 7 innings with 5 hits, 4 runs, 4 walks, and a strikeout against the league's best offense isn't bad at all and aside from a 1st inning 2-run homer by Tom Taylor he really kept the whole lineup in check. Unfortunately the offense didn't do much against the (arguably) best pitching staff. Bob McCarty was 1-for-3 with a walk, run scored, and driven in. Mack Deal was 1-for-3 with a run scored. Harry Simmons was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

May 30th, 1929
Chicago Cougars (14-28): 2
Philadelphia Sailors (26-15): 10

W: Russ Reel (3-1)
L: Babe Wilder (1-4)

The first of a double header was absolutely awful as rookie sensation Russ Reel (1.02 ERA!, 421 ERA+!) kept the Sailors in the game long enough for them to score seven runs in the eighth to take the competitiveness out of the game. Wilder was good until the seventh, of course, but allowed 6 hits, 8 runs (7 earned), and 6 walks with 2 strikeouts in 7.1 innings. Dick Fessel was 2-for-3 with a walk and run scored. Mack Deal and John Dibblee were both 1-for-3 with an RBI.

May 30th, 1929
Chicago Cougars (14-29): 3
Philadelphia Sailors (27-15): 5

W: Maurice Demby (4-1)
L: Johnny Douglas (3-3)

This one hurt the most... Johnny Douglas finally did something to boost his trade value as he was near perfect in the first 7 innings of the game. He then decided to revert to his new form, allowing 2 in the eighth to tie up the game. He one upped himself in the 9th (I would've brought a reliever in, but it is 1929) and decided that it would be okay to let Tom Taylor plant a ball 404 feet away from home plate... He did go 2-for-4 at the plate and his final line of 8 innings, 8 hits, 5 runs, and 3 strikeouts (no runs!) is easily his best outing of the year. All he had to do was leave the game after the 7th and his numbers would look significantly better. John Dibblee went was 2-for-5 with a triple, run scored, and RBI. Slick Hostetter, the estranged backup catcher, went 2-for-3 with a double and run scored.

We were off Friday and would head home to host Montreal (I think I said we'd visit Montreal last post)

June 1st, 1929
Montreal Sailors (25-18): 5
Chicago Cougars (14-29): 4


W: Dave Paynter (4-4)
L: Dick Lyons (3-5)

While we didn't help the second place Saints gain ground on the Sailors last week, we let them beat us too. A run in the 8th tied it before a final run in the 9th gave them the lead and eventual win. Lyons allowed all 5 runs off 12 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts in 8+ innings. We did manage to launch three (!!) homers this game after hitting basically three every other day of the year. Dibblee and Bill Ashbaugh had solo shots and identical 1-for-4 batting lines. Dick Fessel hit the other, a two run shot to go with his 1-for-4.

June 1st, 1929
Montreal Sailors (25-19): 5
Chicago Cougars (15-29): 10


W: Cotton Taylor (3-4)
L: Leo Hall (5-3)

The Saints put up five again, but I was okay with it today as we doubled them with 10. Taylor picked up another win, 7.2 innings with 6 hits, 5 runs (4 earned), 7 walks, and 4 strikeouts. It wasn't the best start, but he's now technically an above average pitcher (101) in terms of ERA+. When you turn to his 39 walks which are the second most in the league, you lose a little of the same enthusiasm. The bats looked really good, however, with Mack Deal leading the charge. He was 3-for-4 with a steal, triple, and 4 RBI's. Bob McCarty was 3-for-5 with a double, triple, and run scored. Harry Simmons was 2-for-4 with 3 runs, a steal, and sac-bunt. Tom Rogers, who unfortunately came in as a defensive replacement for John Dibblee, was 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored. Art Panko was 1-for-3 with a double, sac-fly, run scored, and 3 RBI's.

Stars of the Week
Dick Fessel : 26 AB, 9 H, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .346 AVG, .952 OPS
Harry Simmons : 28 AB, 9 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .321 AVG, .724 OPS
John Dibblee : 25 AB, 6 H, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .240 AVG, .749 OPS

Looking Ahead
We'll be home all week! Two more with Montreal followed by four with Brooklyn (21-24) and four with Baltimore (23-23). The Sailors (29-15) have a 4 game lead on Montreal and lead us by 14.5. We sit 5 behind the Stars (20-25) for seventh.

Injury Report
Fan favorite John Dibblee will miss 1-2 weeks with a sprained knee. San Jose SP John Peterson will return to the pitching staff. His teammate, the recently promoted CF Pete Slater, will sit out a week with a finger blister. Lincoln will be without C Ken Wyatt for 2-3 weeks.

Transactions
Quite recently a fellow GM asked me why Luke Nixon wasn't in the majors. He was tearing the cover off the ball (still is), but I told him with Dibblee locked in at first I didn't want either of them sitting on the bench.

Well...

It's time to call the slugger up.

He's never played above A until this season, but he's hitting an insane .382/.456/.541 (158 OPS+) and the 24-year-old is basically telling me I should have made him part of my future plans early. He now checks in 17th in our top prospect list (wasn't previously ranked), but it's easy to lose players in a stats only league. Even someone with back to back 155 and 157 OPS+ seasons with A Lincoln, as I didn't even notice how good he was performing until the end of the season where it was too late to promote him. An 11th Round Pick from the 2025 draft (the first human one, so I actually selected him) Nixon had 3 homers and 27 RBI's in 180 trips to the plate with AAA Milwaukee to go with his impressive batting line. He's got a ton of power, evidenced by 23 back in 1927. He's actually a really good defender with a career +24.5 ZR at first and back to back seasons over +8.0.

He's the fifth player from what looks like a really good draft class to debut in the FABL, the fourth to debut with the Cougars. He'll hit cleanup behind the classes top selection, Bill Ashbaugh, at least until Dibblee heals up. If he hits like he as the past three seasons, however, I don't think I'm going to be able to option him.

Minor League Report

CF George Jordan (AAA Milwaukee Blues): One of the main reasons I want to move Art Panko is George Jordan's impressive AAA numbers. He's hitting .360/.415/.581 (156 OPS+) with 3 homers, 6 steals, and 10 RBI's in under 100 trips to the plate. Acquired in an off-season deal with the Brooklyn Kings in 1926, Jordan seems to like the Aaron Judge approach of struggling before succeeding at each level. His numbers his major league debut weren't too inspiring (.245/.309/.367, 82 OPS+), but I'm excited to see his encore.

2B Rabbit Forrest (AA Mobile Commodores): The shortstop experiment wasn't really working, but he's started working out at third again and the results are positive so far (+0.8 ZR). A member of the 1925 class like Nixon, Forrest has hit at every level and he earned the promotion to AAA to replace Nixon's lineup spot. In 161 at bats with the Commodores, he hit .385/.416/.503 (139 OPS+) with 3 steals and 19 RBI's as he takes his next step towards a major league debut. My scout loves the switch hitter who ranks 54th among all prospects. He projects as a .350 hitter with speed and one of the better gloves in the league. As much as I love Mack Deal and what he will become, Forrest could steal the job away from him if he continues to dominate.

SP Mike Muprhy (A Lincoln Legislators): I really don't care if OSA doesn't like him and my scout isn't as convinced as he once was that Murphy should start games, but he's always pitched well and he continues to do so. In 7 starts with Lincoln, he's 3-1 with a 1.95 ERA (229 ERA+), 1.08 WHIP, and 12 strikeouts in 37 innings. He's a sidearmer who throws in the 90s and reminds me a lot of Chris Sale. He won't have as short of a minor league career as Sale did, but there isn't much keeping him from advancing through our system quickly.

SP Sam Bigras (C La Crosse Lions): I don't want to write about him every week, but after a Pitcher of the Month award I couldn't not include him.He was amazing in 42 May innings, allowing just 19 hits and walks with 34 strikeouts and a minuscule 0.64 ERA. He tossed back-to-back shutouts and didn't allow more then 2 runs in a game all month. There's a little bit of a roadblock above him in San Jose, but Bigras likely won't end the season a Lion.

Amateur Report
I'm a little busy tonight so I'm going to leave this for now. If I have more time later I may come back and include a few of the quality prospects still playing.