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May 4th, 1931
Cleveland Foresters (7-13): 1
Chicago Cougars (11-10): 4

W: Max Wilder (2-3)
L: Rube McCormick (1-2)

The home cooking tasted just right, as Bill Ashbaugh was a perfect 5-for-5 with a steal, home run, and 2 RBI's. Slim Bloom was 4-for-4. Jim Kyle was 1-for-2 with 2 walks and a run scored. Max Wilder allowed just one unearned run in a complete game victory. He allowed 6 hits, walked 2, and struck out 4.

May 5th, 1931
Cleveland Foresters (7-14): 2
Chicago Cougars (12-10): 8

W: Steve Castellini (2-2)
L: George Baker (1-2)

Both teams doubled their production and we took this one 8-2. Cy Bryant had a productive game, 2-for-4 with a run scored, triple, and 4 RBI's. John Kincaid was 2-for-3 with a run scored, RBI, and 2 walks. Bill Ashbaugh was 3-for-5 with a run scored and driven in. Tom Taylor was 1-for-5, but with 2 runs, 2 RBI's, a double, and steal. Steve Castellini went all 9, allowing 2 runs, 7 hits, and 3 walks with 2 strikeouts.

May 6th, 1931
Cleveland Foresters (8-14): 7
Chicago Cougars (12-11): 3

W: Allan Purvis (2-1)
L: Dick Lyons (2-3)

We outhit the Foresters 14 to 8, but they made the most of four Cougar errors. Dick Lyons allowed 7 runs, but just one of them was earned. He allowed 7 hits, walked 2, and struck out 3. Taylor Collins struck out 2 in 2 perfect innings. John Dibblee was 3-for-5 with a double and RBI. John Kincaid was 3-for-5 with a run scored. Fred Barrell was 1-for-3, but was injured stretching a single into a double.

May 7th, 1931
Cleveland Foresters (8-15): 3
Chicago Cougars (13-11): 10

W: Dick Leudtke (4-1)
L: Karl Johnson (0-3)

Our run of 24 consecutive games finally comes to an end, as we blew the Foresters out 10-3. Dick Leudtke pitched an excellent game, with all three of the runs he allowed in the 9th. He walked just 1, gave up 9 hits, and struck out 3 while hitting 1-for-3 with 2 sac bunts, 2 runs, and an RBI. Bill Ashbaugh was a perfect 3-for-3 with a triple, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 2 RBI's. John Kincaid was 3-for-6 with an RBI. Slim Bloom was 2-for-4 with a walk, 2 runs, and an RBI. Vince York was 2-for-4 with a walk, sac-fly, and 3 RBI's.

May 9th, 1931
Chicago Cougars (14-11): 2
Montreal Saints (6-18): 1

W: Jim Crawford (3-2)
L: John Bennett (0-3)

We had our first day off prior to starting a four game series in Montreal. We seemed to leave our bats in Chicago, but Jim Crawford was excellent on the mound, and we took the opener just 2-1. Crawford was by far the MVP of the game, going 3-for-3 with an RBI while allowing 11 hits and 2 walks with 4 strikeouts in the complete game. Tom Taylor was 1-for-4 with a solo homer.

May 10th, 1931
Chicago Cougars (15-11): 6
Montreal Saints (6-19): 1

W: Max Wilder (3-3)
L: Walker Moore (2-4)

The pitching was excellent again, as Max Wilder was brilliant against his former team. He went 8 with 5 hits, a run, 4 walks, and 2 strikeouts in a 6-1 victory. Slim Bloom was 2-for-4 with a triple, run scored, and 3 RBI's. Vince York was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a run scored. Bill Ashbaugh was 2-for-5 with an run scored.

Stars of the Week
Bill Ashbaugh : 27 AB, 15 H, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .556 AVG, 1.364 OPS
Max Wilder : 2 Wins, 17.0 IP, 6 BB, 6 K, 0.53 ERA
Slim Bloom : 17 AB, 8 H, 0 HR, 4 RBI, .471 AVG, 1.138 OPS

Awards
Player of the Week: 1B Bill Ashbaugh

Weekly Summary
Six games against the worst two teams in the CA, and we came away with five wins. I'm happy that we took advantage of this opportunity, as we're going to need every win we need. Philadelphia (16-8), New York (16-9), and Baltimore (16-9) are all a lready ahead of us, and the Sailors are the only of those three teams we've played.

We did get some bad news, as Fred Barrell will miss about a month with plantar fascitis. It's our fourth major injury this season, and second one where I traded a replacement in the offseason. This time it's Jim Stevens, who like Mack Deal, is now a Sailor. Jim Kyle will have to take the starting job, but he's hitting just 2-for-22 this season. I don't really have a good backup, so Kyle will get most of the reps until Barrell's healthy. Hopefully Kyle performs as well as Slim Bloom has, who hit 8-for-17 with 4 RBI's and a steal this week.

Speaking of the trade with the Sailors, Tom Taylor hasn't quite performed as I expected. He's hitting just .265/.342/.451 (102 OPS+) with 5 homers, 3 steals, and 15 RBI's in 114 trips to the plate. It's still early, so there is no need to panic, but I would have loved to see him start out hot.

We get two more against the Saints (6-19) before a trip to New York. We'll start in Brooklyn (12-14) before facing the Stars (16-9) for the first time this season. Both series will be three games, but the Stars series starts with a double header before an off day.

Injury Report
C Fred Barrell (FABL Chicago Cougars): plantar fascitis (4 weeks)
SP Fred Collins (C La Crosse Lions): partially torn labrum (3-4 months)

Transactions
Purchased the contract of C Herman Rachford from AAA Milwaukee.
Claimed SS Jack Rogers off waivers from Cleveland, optioned him to AAA Milwaukee.

Minor League Report

SP Billy LeBeau (B San Jose Cougars): It took just four starts in La Crosse before LeBeau received the promotion to San Jose, and his first two starts with the Cougars have been as good as you could imagine. He's 1-1, but with a 1.13 ERA (361 ERA+), 0.88 WHIP, and 6 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched. LeBeau was taken in the 5th Round by us this draft, and has already started his minor league career strong. A college arm from Boulder State, Lebeau seemed to be a pretty developed arm on draft day. He's got the stamina to start, but he has to work on refining his pitches. His fastball is strong, and he has time to add some velocity to push it into the 90s. He's got a chance to be a big league starter, but the worst case for him is to be an effective late inning arm.

Amateur Report

1B Bill Moore (Lubbock State Hawks): After jacking three homers in a win over North California, Bill Moore now has 17 in his sophomore season. He's hitting an outworldly .451/.543/.903 (260 OPS+) with 42 RBI's in 175 plate appearances. The sophomore in the midst of one of the most impressive college seasons ever, and the lefty slugger has to be one of the top prospects in the 1932 draft. He's loaded with talent and probably lace a big league fastball 400 feet. He's about as safe of a draft prospect as it gets, but his upside is limited by his limitation to just first base. If it wasn't for that, Moore would likely go number one overall, but whoever gets him will have a franchise cornerstone.

SP Jack Stemm (St. Pancras Lions): One of the top junior arms in the draft, Stemm is an impressive 5-1 with a 2.33 ERA (191 ERA+), 1.09 WHIP, and 55 strikeouts in 73.1 innings. He'll make a few more starts, but his current career total are very good. He's 15-8 with a 3.08 ERA (155 ERA+), 1.29 WHIP, and 195 strikeouts in 73.1 innings pitched. He's a groundball pitcher who can hit the mid 90s with his cutter. It's the best of his four pitches, all of which project to be solid. Stemm's future lies in the rotation, and perhaps he could develop into an ace.

SP Danny Devol (Macon HS Musketeers): He's only made 5 high school starts, but Danny Devol has looked really good. He's 4-1 with a 0.78 ERA (460 ERA+), 0.59 WHIP, and 41 strikeouts. The only concerning thing is Devol is a Junior, and this is the only season he's pitched in. He spent the offseason working on his control, and it seems to be paying off. He's walked just 4 batters in 46 innings. This could be a lucky run, but he's a name to keep an eye on.

RF Ben McDonald (Swoyersville HS Kings): Tied for second in the legue for homers, senior Ben McDonald has launched 14 and drove in 27 runs as the high school season is just a week away from finishing. He's got a .220/.331/.591 (156 OPS+) line. McDonald has a ton of power with excellent bat speed, but he's very prone to swinging and missing. The lefty from Canada has hit 30 career homers, and has just five more games to add onto that total. This year's draft class is shaping out to be a little on the weaker side, and McDonald is one of the most interesting power bats available.