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June 16th, 1930
Chicago Cougars (33-28): 10
Montreal Saints (29-31): 7

W: Chick Meehan (5-2)
L: John Barrie (3-5)
SV: Len Moore (5)

We stopped our little skid and topped the Saints in game three. John Dibblee was excellent, 4-for-5 with a double, run scored, and 5 RBI's. Russ Combs was 4-for-6 with 2 runs, a steal, and RBI. Mack Deal was 1-for-3 with a steal, sac-bunt, run, and RBI. Vince York was 1-for-4 with a double, walk, and 2 runs scored. Bill Ashbaugh was 1-for-3 with 2 walks, 2 runs, and an RBI. Dick Kadlec was a little unlucky in the start, 5 innings with 6 hits, 7 runs (3 earned), 4 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Chick Meehan picked up the win, 2 innings with a hit, walk, and strikeout. Len Moore picked up the save, 2 innings with 3 hits and a strikeout.

June 17th, 1930
Chicago Cougars (34-28): 4
Montreal Saints (29-32): 0

W: Max Wilder (5-4)
L: John Lizak (0-1)

Former Saint Max Wilder was unhittable as we shut out the Saints 4-0 to end our road trip with a series split. He allowed just 3 hits and 3 walks with 6 strikeouts in the complete game shutout. He also went 1-for-4 with a run scored. Russ Combs went 4-for-5 with a steal, run scored, and RBI. Vince York was 2-for-5 with a two run homer. George Jordan was 1-for-3 with a walk.

June 19th, 1930
Baltimore Cannons (33-30): 7
Chicago Cougars (35-28): 8

W: Dick Lyons (7-6)
L: Rabbit Day (10-7)
SV: Len Moore (6)

Fresh off a day off, we survived the visiting Baltimore Cannons 8-7 to start our homestand. Vince York was 2-for-3 with 2 walks, 2 RBI's, and his 10th home run of the season. He becomes the first Cougar to hit double digits for homers this year. Mack Deal went 3-for-4 with a double, run scored, and 2 RBI's. Fred Barrell was 3-for-5 with an RBI. Bill Ashbaugh was 2-for-4 with a walk, run scored, and RBI. George Jordan was 1-for-3 with a sac-bunt and solo home run. John Dibblee was 1-for-4 with a double, 2 runs, and a walk. Russ Combs was 1-for-4 with a walk, run scored, and RBI. Lyons allowed a remarkable 17 hits with 7 runs, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts in 6 innings. Chick Meehan pitched 2.1 innings with 2 hits, a walk, and 3 strikeouts. Len Moore got the final 2 outs for the save.

June 20th, 1930
Baltimore Cannons (34-30): 7
Chicago Cougars (35-29): 3

W: Ken Carpernter (9-6)
L: Tommy Russel (5-6)

The Cannons evened the series back up with a 7-3 win. As per usual, Tommy Russel pitched the entire game. He allowed all 7 runs (3 earned), with 8 hits, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Harry Simmons was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Russ Combs was 2-for-3 with a sac-bunt. Art Panko was 2-for-4. John Kincaid was 1-for-4 with a run scored and RBI.

June 21st, 1930
Baltimore Cannons (34-31): 6
Chicago Cougars (36-29): 8

W: Dick Kadlec (5-5)
L: Bob Miller (7-8)

Despite a ninth inning rally, we held off the Cannons in an 8-6 victory. Vince York was a perfect 4-for-4 with a hit by pitch, run scored, and 2 RBI's. Russ Combs was 3-for-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI's. Bob McCarty and Harry Simmons were both 2-for-4 with a run scored, walk, and RBI. Dick Kadlec was 1-for-3 with a run scored and sac-bunt. He also pitched to a complete game victory, allowing 13 hits and 6 runs with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.

June 22nd, 1930
Baltimore Cannons (35-31): 5
Chicago Cougars (36-30): 4

W: Buzz Ham (5-1)
L: Len Moore (2-2)
SV: Lee Drouillard (6)

A 3 run 8th game the Cannons the finale as they left Chicago with a series split. George Jordan was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI's. Vince York was 2-for-5 with a run scored and two driven in. Bill Ashbaugh was 1-for-3 with a walk. John Kincaid was 1-for-4 with a walk and run scored. Max Wilder went 7+ with 5 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 6 walks, and just 1 strikeout. Len Moore got the loss, 2 innings with 2 hits and a run.

Stars of the Week
Vince York : 25 AB, 12 H, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .480 AVG, 1.312 OPS
Russ Combs : 28 AB, 15 H, 0 HR, 5 RBI, .536 AVG, 1.087 OPS
John Dibblee : 9 AB, 5 H, 0 HR, 5 RBI, .556 AVG, 1.414 OPS

Weekly Summary
A 4-2 week puts us in 2nd place, 8 behind the Sailors and 1 ahead of the Cannons. We also finished our road trip 9-5 against Baltimore (35-31), Brooklyn (32-32), New York (29-37), and Montreal (33-33). I'm really happy with the results of this trip and 6 games over .500 towards the end of June is an awesome return from last year. We've already hit our half way win point far before the half way point in the season.

Vince York jumped up to third in the Continental Association (and the entire league) in batting average with a .383 mark. He's also the first of our hitters to reach the double digit mark for homers. He leads all rookies with that number, as well as OBP (.424), OPS (.989), WAR (2.4), hits (105), total bases (155), OPS+ (137), and wOBA (.423). He also sits second in WPA (2.22), RBI's (48), and slugging (.566).

In contrast to York, Dick Lyons has been enduring an awful season. He may be 7-6, but he has a 5.42 ERA (89 ERA+), 1.61 WHIP, and 38 strikeouts in 106.1 innings. The ERA, ERA+, and WHIP would be career worsts, and his 0.7 HR/9 is also the worst mark of his career. He's been overshadowed by Max Wilder, who is 5-4 with a 3.48 ERA (138 ERA+), 1.27 WHIP, and 51 strikeouts in 116.1 innings. Lyons really needs to step it up after we lost McSherry for most of the season last week.

Speaking of the McSherry injury, the FABL's 35th ranked prospect Jim Crawford will be set to make his debut in the first of a four game set with the Stars. Acquired from Sacramento in the Independent league draft, Crawford has been excellent with the Blues, going 4-4 with a 2.88 ERA (145 ERA+), 1.28 WHIP, and 76 strikeouts in 81.1 innings pitched. The lefty Crawford has top of the rotation potential and may be up to stay if he shows that he's ready for the majors.

The Stars series is a three game set followed by four more at home with the Brooklyn Kings. The homestand ends with three against the Saints before a travel day to Philadelphia. We'll start that series with a double header against the first place 43-21 Sailors.

Injury Report
LF John Dibblee (Chicago Cougars): Bruised shoulder (4 days)
2B Slim Bloom (AAA Milwaukee Blues): Finger blister (1 week)
CF Joe Johnson (A Lincoln Legislators): Returned from the DL
SP Lynn Albright (B San Jose Cougars): Fractured wrist (2 months)
RP Cy Plummer (B San Jose Cougars): Back tightness (1 week)
RP Phil McNair (C La Crosse Lions): Returned from the DL

Transactions
RP Karl Clasby was optioned to AAA Milwaukee. SP Jim Crawford was recalled from AAA Milwaukee. Clasby didn't get into a game with us this week, and will hang around Milwaukee as injury insurance. Crawford will make his major league debut the 23rd against the Stars in Chicago.

Minor League Report

CF Tom Thomas (AA Mobile Commodores): Currently our 16th ranked prospect, Tom Thomas was undrafted in 1925 and we signed him to fill the lower levels of our minor league system. He played a lot in 1926, but didn't produce much. He started 21 games with Lincoln last season, more then the following 2 combined, and hit an impressive .350/.435/.512 (151 OPS+) with 2 homers and 13 RBI's in 92 at bats. He also walked four times as much (12) as he struck out (3). He didn't maintain that ratio this season with Mobile, but he's hitting an equally impressive .372/.415/.574 (153 OPS+) with 8 homers and 29 RBI's in 159 trips to the plate. He's a patient hitter who makes a lot of contact, and has began to play left field as we work on his versatility. There's a long list of big league quality outfielders scattered in the farm, but Thomas' on field production has started to put himself on the map.

SP Jim Dyer (B San Jose Cougars): After splitting time between the rotation and bullpen last season, former 11th Round Pick Jim Dyer has gotten to start all but one of his appearances this season in San Jose. He's gone 4-4 with a 3.89 ERA (120 ERA+), 1.27 WHIP, and 61 strikeouts in 74 innings. His best start of the season was his last one, as he tossed a 5-hit shutout of the Salem Warriors. Dyer struck out 8 and walked just 2 in the 10-0 win. The righty does give up a lot of home runs being a flyball pitcher, but he has a great fastball that sits in the low 90s with a decent slider and change up. He throws from the side which can confuse batters and after an impressive college career, there's a chance Dyer develops into a big league starter.

SP Johnny Walker (A Lincoln Legislators): He's already climbed up from San Jose after going 4-0 with a 2.65 ERA (177 ERA+), 1.26 WHIP, and 34 strikeouts in 34 innings across 5 starts. He's been great in 7 starts with Lincoln as well, going 4-2 with a 2.92 ERA (147 ERA+), 0.96 WHIP, and 53 strikeouts in 52.1 innings. He added velocity to his fastball as it now sits in the 91-93 MPH range, and he's seen his velocity jump from the 80-83 MPH range sine his senior year of high school. A third round pick two drafts ago, Walker looks like future top of the rotation arm. He keeps the ball on the ground and strikes out a ton of hitters. The lefty is still young, but it's going to be hard to keep him from AA.


Amateur Report

With the college and high school seasons over after Garden State swept Northern California in the finals, I won't have amateur reports in every write up. In days where I have a lot of time to write my reports (like today) I'll still add prospects I find interesting. I'll try to cover mostly guys who are available in the upcoming draft, but also guys I've covered before and those who had excellent seasons.

SP Fred O'Dell (Liberty College Bells): Taken in the 3rd Round by the Foresters last season, Fred O'Dell failed to sign and instead headed to Liberty College. One of the better schools at the Collegiate level, O'Dell sat atop a Liberty rotation for a 30-21 playoff team. It wasn't a perfect season for the 19-year-old, who finished 3-4 with a 4.75 ERA (104 ERA+), 1.54 WHIP, and 53 strikeouts in 66.1 innings. O'Dell's high school numbers were much better, as he was 16-5 with a 2.61 ERA (177 ERA+), 0.98 WHIP, and 261 strikeouts in 203.1 innings with the Portland HS Lumberjacks. O'Dell throws a high 80s fastball, curve, and change and projects to be a top draft pick once he's a Junior. He will have to bounce back from a mediocre first season, or risk falling past the 3rd round once he becomes eligible again.

3B Charlie Dunham (Reading HS Reds): He won't be draft eligible until next season, but Charlie Dunham had one of the best seasons of any player this year, hitting .312/.387/.747 (200 OPS) with 20 homers and 35 RBI's in 173 plate appearances. After hitting just .192/.275/.301 (70 OPS+) with 3 homers and 24 RBI's as a sophomore, Dunham got the power stroke and exploded this season. He did see a huge increase in strikeouts as he bought into the all-or-nothing approach, but it seemed to suit him well. He's also an average defender, and with another big power season like this one, Duham should be on the radar of most FABL clubs.

SS Charlie Reed (Berkeley Bears): Eligible for this years' draft, Charlie Reed finished his high school career with an impressive .302/.424/.450 (154 OPS+) batting line with 10 homers, 29 steals, and 72 RBI's in 547 plate appearances. Senior year was actually his worst, as he had OPS+ of 155 and 181 as a sophomore and junior. This was his best year defensively, however, as he recorded his first positive season this year in terms of zone rating (+1.3) and efficiency (1.027). The switch hitter has an excellent eye and excellent speed and should be a great pickup for whoever selects him in the winter.