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ayaghmour2 · 10-19-2020, 10:51 PM

July 17th, 1933
Chicago Cougars (61-29): 4
New York Stars (45-45): 3
15 Innings

W: Claude Purvis (2-0)
L: Bennie Conover (5-7)

Definitely a crazy one here as it took 15 innings to declare a winner. With a Phil Vaughan single in the 15th, we took a 4-3 lead we'd keep. He came off the bench and actually went 2-for-3. Russ Combs was 3-for-8 with a solo homer. Tom Taylor was 2-for-7 with a run scored. John Kincaid was 1-for-5, but with a double and two sac-bunts. Jim Crawford made the start, 9.1 innings with 11 hits, 3 runs, a walk, and a strikeout. Chick Meehan, Bill Kline, and Claude Purvis combined for 5.2 innings with just 1 hit and 2 strikeouts.

July 18th, 1933
Chicago Cougars (62-29): 4
New York Stars (45-46): 0

W: Dick Lyons (13-4)
L: Dick Richards (6-7)

Dick Lyons was completely dominant and we finished off a road sweep of the defending champions. He allowed just 2 hits with a walk and strikeout in a complete game victory. Bill Ashbaugh had a big game, 4-for-4 with 2 triples and a run scored. Russ Combs was 2-for-5 with a run scored. Mike Taylor was 1-for-4 with a solo homer. Cy Bryant was 2-for-4 and John Kincaid was 2-for-5.

July 18th, 1933
Chicago Cougars (62-30): 1
Brooklyn Kings (46-47): 2

W: Tom Barrell (7-11)
L: Tommy Wilcox (12-8)

Round 3. Both pitchers will brilliant, but Tom got a little more run support then Tommy and the Kings took the opener 2-1. An Arnold Bower error tossed Wilcox a pair of unearned runs. Besides that, he allowed 7 hits, a walk, and he struck out one. Barrell allowed 8 hits, a run, 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Mike Taylor was the offense, 1-for-4 with a solo homer, the 10th homer he's hit this year. He's the first Cougar to double digits, but both Tom Taylor and Phil Vaughan are at 8. Taylor was 1-for-4 with a double. Bobby Sprague was John Kincaid were both 1-for-3.

July 20th, 1933
Chicago Cougars (63-30): 4
Brooklyn Kings (46-48): 3

W: Bill Kline (5-1)
L: Roy Pierce (4-4)
SV: Chick Meehan (11)

We evened the series back up and now a split seemed likely for both teams. Tom Taylor was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, including the one that gave us a lead in the 8th when he homered. Floyd Sylvester made his first start with us, going 1-for-4 with a double, run, and RBI. Max Wilder made the start, 6 innings with 11 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Bill Kline went 1.2 with 2 hits and 2 strikeouts, but he got the win. Chick Meehan made the save, allowing a hit and striking out one in an inning and a third.

July 21th, 1933
Chicago Cougars (63-30): 3
Brooklyn Kings (46-49): 2

W: Dick Leudtke (12-4)
L: Mike Murphy (9-10)
SV: Chick Meehan (12)

They scored two in the ninth, but we secured a split with a rather ugly 3-2 win. Dick Leudtke looked good most of the game, but it would have been nice to see Meehan come in after the Summers solo homer (one out) instead of letting him labor through five more batters. He went 8.2 innings with 8 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and a strikeout. Chick Meehan even just needed one pitch to get Ab Thomas to fly out and end the game. Arnold Bower looked better today, 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI. Bill Ashbaugh was 3-for-4 with a run scored. John Kincaid was 2-for-5 with a steal.

July 22nd, 1933
Chicago Cougars (63-31): 5
Brooklyn Kings (47-49): 8

W: Jim Crawford (8-6)
L: Del Lyons (4-4)
SV: Hal Galvan (6)

The game was not as close as it looked. We scored four unearned runs in the ninth and at least we'll get a day off tomorrow to recover. Even worse, Tom Taylor left after making a throw in the third. Replacement Mike Smith made a huge error (this should be Ed Calvert...). Jim Crawford didn't pitch too well, but he went 6 with 12 hits, 7 runs (3 earned), a walk, and 2 strikeouts. Norm Stewart pitched the last two, allowing 3 hits, a run, a walk, and he struck out two. Russ Combs was 3-for-5 with a run scored and driven in. Bobby Sprague was 2-for-3 with a walk and run scored. Bill Ashbaugh was 1-for-2 with a triple.

Stars of the Week
Bill Ashbaugh : 21 AB, 11 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .524 AVG, 1.470 OPS
Russ Combs : 26 AB, 10 H, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .385 AVG, .885 OPS
Dick Lyons : 1 Win, 9.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 K, 0.00 ERA

Transactions
Activated 2B Slim Bloom from the 15-Day Disabled List. Optioned 2B Harry Simmons to AAA.

Injury Report
2B Slim Bloom (FABL Chicago Cougars): Returned from the DL
LF Rich Langton (B San Jose Cougars): Returned from the DL

Weekly Summary
With a nice 4-2 week, the lead is up to 11 and a half over the Foresters (52-42) and 13 over the Saints (52-45). No one else in the CA is over .500. We do face the Foresters (52-42) next for three in Cleveland before returning home to host the Wolves (32-64) for three. We then return the favor to the Foresters, and host them for four to end the month. This is a big section of the schedule, as the Foresters are right behind us and we are approaching the trade deadline.

We've done well against the Foresters this year, 9-3 in our 12 meetings so far. If we can win a majority of these games, I think we can put enough separation between us to coast through August. The wins against Toronto in between will be really important too as these are games we cannot afford to lose. Cleveland gets the Sailors in between and they are a better team who have also won four in a row.

So we can breath for Tom Taylor. He has mild shoulder inflammation and will miss a few days. I'll let him play to start the week, but I'll give him two days off after and hope that the injury will be better by then. It's been a tough season at the plate for Taylor, as he's hitting .293/.345/.414 (103 OPS+) in just under 100 games. He's hit 9 homers, drove in 57 runs, and swiped 13 bases. Of course, he's the ultimate defender, compiling a very impressive +11.8 zone rating in right with a 1.059 efficiency. He always seems to heat up as the year goes on, so I think he might have a strong August and September.

Interesting enough though, the outfield hasn't hit much. Cy Bryant has had an awful season with the stick, hitting .239/.298/.319 (65 OPS+) with 2 homers, 10 steals, and 45 RBI's. It's a huge drop off as he had a 100 OPS+ or higher in each of his seasons in Chicago before this year. The steals are up, which is nice, but he's not getting on base nearly enough. At least he is having his best defensive season, as he's already recorded a +19.3 zone rating already. It's a new career best and his 1.068 efficiency would also be a best. I really don't want to have to move on from him, but I'm okay with one off year, especially if we win the pennant. Bobby Sprague has fielded well, but he hasn't hit as well as he normally does. He's batting .281/.337/.343 (83 OPS+) with 2 homers, 7 steals, and 37 RBI's. It's not a bad line by any means, but he hit much better with the Gothams last year.

Slim Bloom is back from the DL, but the bigger news might be who is going down. Harry Simmons has had a huge fall from grace, and I'm hoping I can help him get back on track in the minors. He'll be getting to play his natural position of shortstop and will get a nice low stress environment. After 4 seasons with 90 or more starts, Simmons has made just 90 plate appearances and hit a poor .228/.276/.266 (46 OPS+) with 3 steals and 8 RBI's. Even with this awful stretch, his career .313/.363/.397 (96 OPS+) line is very respectable and he's played good defense while adding 54 steals and 268 RBI's. He has just 8 regular season homers, but one World Series homer too. It's the first time the 29-year-old has been optioned to the minors, spending the past four 4 seasons and 90 days on the active roster.

The former Dynamo 4th Rounder was a Rule-5 pick in 1928, and he was named the 66th best prospect in baseball come Opening Day. Simmons made the Opening Day roster and started at shortstop. He started the year really hot and kept the job the whole way through. He finished with a .315/.360/.414 (95 OPS+) batting line across 656 plate appearances. He then split times between second, third, and short in 1930 after the additions of John Kincaid and Russ Combs. He was the usual second basemen, but of course, Combs gets hurt all the time and he was needed back at short. I had a little rotation that year to keep guys healthy and in the lineup, so he rotated a little. He has started for us the last two seasons, but after Arnold Bower's emergence last season and Russ Combs' transition to second base, his playing time really dwindled now. I still really like him, but he may never be an every day starter for us. He's a useful off the bench piece, and I'm hoping I can get him better at short.

Enough about Simmons, Slim Bloom is the one who's been good. He's hitting .346/.426/.486 (144 OPS+) in 122 trips to the plate with a homer and 19 RBI's. He doesn't have the track record of Simmons, but the 28-year-old was also once a top 100 prospect. I don't think he's discovered something, but he's definitely earned himself at bats. Him, Combs, and Bower are going to see a lot of time in the middle infield as I attempt to keep Combs healthy for the postseason.

I have to end with the Wilcox v. Barrell 3. The Wilcox-Barrell score is now 1-2 in favor of Tom, but Tommy had the better outing. It's unfortunate that there was the error or we win that game 1-0. The error started the inning, but there would have been a third out and no runs when the Kings scored their first run. It was first and third with one out, and Ab Thomas grounded into a fielder's choice that let Bill Smith (who reached on the error) score. That would have been out number three in the inning. It sucks that the next batter Jake Shadoan doubled the go ahead run as well.

Minor League Report

LF Ed Reyes (B San Jose Cougars): A move down to Class B really helped Reyes' bat, and now he's going to get a shot at right field. The current Player of the Week is hitting .439/.484/.597 (184 OPS+) with 3 homers and 26 RBI's. Rich Langton is coming back in at left field as he's healthy now, and Reyes hasn't looked really good in left. He's got a chance to work out as a right fielder, and he would rank as out best right field prospect. Reyes ranks 89th in the league while Langton has jumped up to 48th and is now one of three top 50 prospects.

10-19-2020, 10:51 PM	#243
ayaghmour2 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 3,088	Week 15: July 17th-July 23rd July 17th, 1933 Chicago Cougars (61-29): 4 New York Stars (45-45): 3 15 Innings W: Claude Purvis (2-0) L: Bennie Conover (5-7) Definitely a crazy one here as it took 15 innings to declare a winner. With a Phil Vaughan single in the 15th, we took a 4-3 lead we'd keep. He came off the bench and actually went 2-for-3. Russ Combs was 3-for-8 with a solo homer. Tom Taylor was 2-for-7 with a run scored. John Kincaid was 1-for-5, but with a double and two sac-bunts. Jim Crawford made the start, 9.1 innings with 11 hits, 3 runs, a walk, and a strikeout. Chick Meehan, Bill Kline, and Claude Purvis combined for 5.2 innings with just 1 hit and 2 strikeouts. July 18th, 1933 Chicago Cougars (62-29): 4 New York Stars (45-46): 0 W: Dick Lyons (13-4) L: Dick Richards (6-7) Dick Lyons was completely dominant and we finished off a road sweep of the defending champions. He allowed just 2 hits with a walk and strikeout in a complete game victory. Bill Ashbaugh had a big game, 4-for-4 with 2 triples and a run scored. Russ Combs was 2-for-5 with a run scored. Mike Taylor was 1-for-4 with a solo homer. Cy Bryant was 2-for-4 and John Kincaid was 2-for-5. July 18th, 1933 Chicago Cougars (62-30): 1 Brooklyn Kings (46-47): 2 W: Tom Barrell (7-11) L: Tommy Wilcox (12-8) Round 3. Both pitchers will brilliant, but Tom got a little more run support then Tommy and the Kings took the opener 2-1. An Arnold Bower error tossed Wilcox a pair of unearned runs. Besides that, he allowed 7 hits, a walk, and he struck out one. Barrell allowed 8 hits, a run, 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Mike Taylor was the offense, 1-for-4 with a solo homer, the 10th homer he's hit this year. He's the first Cougar to double digits, but both Tom Taylor and Phil Vaughan are at 8. Taylor was 1-for-4 with a double. Bobby Sprague was John Kincaid were both 1-for-3. July 20th, 1933 Chicago Cougars (63-30): 4 Brooklyn Kings (46-48): 3 W: Bill Kline (5-1) L: Roy Pierce (4-4) SV: Chick Meehan (11) We evened the series back up and now a split seemed likely for both teams. Tom Taylor was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, including the one that gave us a lead in the 8th when he homered. Floyd Sylvester made his first start with us, going 1-for-4 with a double, run, and RBI. Max Wilder made the start, 6 innings with 11 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Bill Kline went 1.2 with 2 hits and 2 strikeouts, but he got the win. Chick Meehan made the save, allowing a hit and striking out one in an inning and a third. July 21th, 1933 Chicago Cougars (63-30): 3 Brooklyn Kings (46-49): 2 W: Dick Leudtke (12-4) L: Mike Murphy (9-10) SV: Chick Meehan (12) They scored two in the ninth, but we secured a split with a rather ugly 3-2 win. Dick Leudtke looked good most of the game, but it would have been nice to see Meehan come in after the Summers solo homer (one out) instead of letting him labor through five more batters. He went 8.2 innings with 8 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and a strikeout. Chick Meehan even just needed one pitch to get Ab Thomas to fly out and end the game. Arnold Bower looked better today, 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI. Bill Ashbaugh was 3-for-4 with a run scored. John Kincaid was 2-for-5 with a steal. July 22nd, 1933 Chicago Cougars (63-31): 5 Brooklyn Kings (47-49): 8 W: Jim Crawford (8-6) L: Del Lyons (4-4) SV: Hal Galvan (6) The game was not as close as it looked. We scored four unearned runs in the ninth and at least we'll get a day off tomorrow to recover. Even worse, Tom Taylor left after making a throw in the third. Replacement Mike Smith made a huge error (this should be Ed Calvert...). Jim Crawford didn't pitch too well, but he went 6 with 12 hits, 7 runs (3 earned), a walk, and 2 strikeouts. Norm Stewart pitched the last two, allowing 3 hits, a run, a walk, and he struck out two. Russ Combs was 3-for-5 with a run scored and driven in. Bobby Sprague was 2-for-3 with a walk and run scored. Bill Ashbaugh was 1-for-2 with a triple. Stars of the Week Bill Ashbaugh : 21 AB, 11 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .524 AVG, 1.470 OPS Russ Combs : 26 AB, 10 H, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .385 AVG, .885 OPS Dick Lyons : 1 Win, 9.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 K, 0.00 ERA Transactions Activated 2B Slim Bloom from the 15-Day Disabled List. Optioned 2B Harry Simmons to AAA. Injury Report 2B Slim Bloom (FABL Chicago Cougars): Returned from the DL LF Rich Langton (B San Jose Cougars): Returned from the DL Weekly Summary With a nice 4-2 week, the lead is up to 11 and a half over the Foresters (52-42) and 13 over the Saints (52-45). No one else in the CA is over .500. We do face the Foresters (52-42) next for three in Cleveland before returning home to host the Wolves (32-64) for three. We then return the favor to the Foresters, and host them for four to end the month. This is a big section of the schedule, as the Foresters are right behind us and we are approaching the trade deadline. We've done well against the Foresters this year, 9-3 in our 12 meetings so far. If we can win a majority of these games, I think we can put enough separation between us to coast through August. The wins against Toronto in between will be really important too as these are games we cannot afford to lose. Cleveland gets the Sailors in between and they are a better team who have also won four in a row. So we can breath for Tom Taylor. He has mild shoulder inflammation and will miss a few days. I'll let him play to start the week, but I'll give him two days off after and hope that the injury will be better by then. It's been a tough season at the plate for Taylor, as he's hitting .293/.345/.414 (103 OPS+) in just under 100 games. He's hit 9 homers, drove in 57 runs, and swiped 13 bases. Of course, he's the ultimate defender, compiling a very impressive +11.8 zone rating in right with a 1.059 efficiency. He always seems to heat up as the year goes on, so I think he might have a strong August and September. Interesting enough though, the outfield hasn't hit much. Cy Bryant has had an awful season with the stick, hitting .239/.298/.319 (65 OPS+) with 2 homers, 10 steals, and 45 RBI's. It's a huge drop off as he had a 100 OPS+ or higher in each of his seasons in Chicago before this year. The steals are up, which is nice, but he's not getting on base nearly enough. At least he is having his best defensive season, as he's already recorded a +19.3 zone rating already. It's a new career best and his 1.068 efficiency would also be a best. I really don't want to have to move on from him, but I'm okay with one off year, especially if we win the pennant. Bobby Sprague has fielded well, but he hasn't hit as well as he normally does. He's batting .281/.337/.343 (83 OPS+) with 2 homers, 7 steals, and 37 RBI's. It's not a bad line by any means, but he hit much better with the Gothams last year. Slim Bloom is back from the DL, but the bigger news might be who is going down. Harry Simmons has had a huge fall from grace, and I'm hoping I can help him get back on track in the minors. He'll be getting to play his natural position of shortstop and will get a nice low stress environment. After 4 seasons with 90 or more starts, Simmons has made just 90 plate appearances and hit a poor .228/.276/.266 (46 OPS+) with 3 steals and 8 RBI's. Even with this awful stretch, his career .313/.363/.397 (96 OPS+) line is very respectable and he's played good defense while adding 54 steals and 268 RBI's. He has just 8 regular season homers, but one World Series homer too. It's the first time the 29-year-old has been optioned to the minors, spending the past four 4 seasons and 90 days on the active roster. The former Dynamo 4th Rounder was a Rule-5 pick in 1928, and he was named the 66th best prospect in baseball come Opening Day. Simmons made the Opening Day roster and started at shortstop. He started the year really hot and kept the job the whole way through. He finished with a .315/.360/.414 (95 OPS+) batting line across 656 plate appearances. He then split times between second, third, and short in 1930 after the additions of John Kincaid and Russ Combs. He was the usual second basemen, but of course, Combs gets hurt all the time and he was needed back at short. I had a little rotation that year to keep guys healthy and in the lineup, so he rotated a little. He has started for us the last two seasons, but after Arnold Bower's emergence last season and Russ Combs' transition to second base, his playing time really dwindled now. I still really like him, but he may never be an every day starter for us. He's a useful off the bench piece, and I'm hoping I can get him better at short. Enough about Simmons, Slim Bloom is the one who's been good. He's hitting .346/.426/.486 (144 OPS+) in 122 trips to the plate with a homer and 19 RBI's. He doesn't have the track record of Simmons, but the 28-year-old was also once a top 100 prospect. I don't think he's discovered something, but he's definitely earned himself at bats. Him, Combs, and Bower are going to see a lot of time in the middle infield as I attempt to keep Combs healthy for the postseason. I have to end with the Wilcox v. Barrell 3. The Wilcox-Barrell score is now 1-2 in favor of Tom, but Tommy had the better outing. It's unfortunate that there was the error or we win that game 1-0. The error started the inning, but there would have been a third out and no runs when the Kings scored their first run. It was first and third with one out, and Ab Thomas grounded into a fielder's choice that let Bill Smith (who reached on the error) score. That would have been out number three in the inning. It sucks that the next batter Jake Shadoan doubled the go ahead run as well. Minor League Report LF Ed Reyes (B San Jose Cougars): A move down to Class B really helped Reyes' bat, and now he's going to get a shot at right field. The current Player of the Week is hitting .439/.484/.597 (184 OPS+) with 3 homers and 26 RBI's. Rich Langton is coming back in at left field as he's healthy now, and Reyes hasn't looked really good in left. He's got a chance to work out as a right fielder, and he would rank as out best right field prospect. Reyes ranks 89th in the league while Langton has jumped up to 48th and is now one of three top 50 prospects.