[ayaghmour2]

We finished 97-57 (.630) in 1933, the exact same mark as our 1932 season. Luckily, we were up 10 this time instead behind two. This is our second World Series appearance in three seasons and our second straight season of setting (well, tieing) our regular season mark. This will be the Cougars 9th playoff appearance as we are looking for our 6th title. We're chasing the Stars, who won their league best 7th last year. The Keystones and Dynamos also both have five, so whoever wins this series will move into second all time.

September was a tough month for us, as we slumped to 12-12 and fell just short of a winning record in each month. Technically game 1 and 2 are in September so if we win the first two at home we'll be over .500 including the postseason, but we really cooled down in the second half. It's funny, because in the last two seasons, we have just nine losses in September. The offense cooled the most, as we dropped from 1st in a lot of categories to 2nd behind the Brooklyn Kings.

Obviously, our strength is the pitching. I wouldn't say they finished strong, as Leudtke and Lyons saw their ERA's raise a bit, but I have to imagine our 2.84 team ERA is the best is the recent past. (EDIT: I looked back, and no FABL team has finished with a sub 3.00 ERA since the 1929 Chicago Cougars 2.96 mark). No other team had one below 3, with the Sailors 3.41 the second best mark. In the Continental Association, multiple Cougar pitchers ranked top 7 in ERA (1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th), wins (t-1st, t-4th, t-4th), saves (4th), WAR (1st, 3rd, 5th), complete games (1st, t-6th), shutouts (t-1st, t-1st), strikeouts (5th), K/BB (1st, 6th), BB/9 (1st, 2nd, 3rd), WHIP (1st, 2nd), FIP (1st, 3rd), ERA+ (1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th), and quality starts (t-2nd, t-2nd, t-5th).

The rotation was extremely deep, led by like Allen Award Winner Tommy Wilcox. The 26-year-old was an inaugural All-Star and one of four (should have been five) Cougar arms on the team. After a nightmarish season with the Cougars after being acquired from Brooklyn, Wilcox bounced back in a big way. He finished 1933 21-11 with a 2.58 ERA (154 ERA+), 1.02 WHIP, 43 walks, and 113 strikeouts in 286.1 innings pitched. Cappy led the league in wins, ERA, ERA+, WHIP, WAR, and many other pitching metrics in an all around dominant season. Combined with Dick Leudtke, Dick Lyons, Max Wilder, and Jim Crawford, we had five arms with above average ERA+'s. Crawford was just average, but the other three could lead the rotation of nearly any other FABL club.

Starting with the 36-year-old Max Wilder, we had a trio of veteran arms backing up the still young ace of the staff Tommy Wilcox. Wilder has continued to defy age, and had easily the best season of his career in arguably the third straight season. He was 15-10 with a 2.70 ERA (147 ERA+), 1.22 WHIP, 63 walks, and 102 strikeouts in 233.1 innings pitched. He wasn't on the All-Star ballot (he lad less starts then Lyons), so he was not an All-Star, but Wilder definitely deserved the nod. Dick Lyons, a few years younger at 33, also had the best season of his career. He was 17-11 with a 2.83 ERA (140 ERA+), 1.11 WHIP, 37 walks, and 63 strikeouts in 248.1 innings pitched. Dick Leudtke had an identical 17-11 record, but with a slightly higher 2.87 ERA (138 ERA+), 1.22 WHIP, 61 walks, and 89 strikeouts in 270 innings pitched. Unlike his fellow rotation mates, Leudtke's best season was last year when he broke out and finished 19-8 with a 2.79 ERA (154 ERA+), 1.15 WHIP, 62 walks, and 113 strikeouts. The now 32-year-old led the league in ERA, wins, and WHIP.

The pen isn't as important, but it does deserve some love. Chick Meehan is an excellent reliever, recording 13 saves in 46.2 innings with an impressive 1.74 ERA (228 ERA+) and 0.99 WHIP. He walked 12 and struck out 19 and almost always secures the win. Bill Kline, Norm Stewart, and Claude Purvis excelled all season and our pen ERA was a minuscule 2.00.

And while the pitching staff was impressive, they had a lot of help from the defense. Our outfield is as good as it gets, with Bobby Sprague, Cy Bryant, and Tom Taylor putting up +20.4, +23.4, and +18.0 zone ratings in left, center, and right. The defense had it's struggles, especially at short, but John Kincaid was excellent defensively at third, either first (or second to former Cougar Mack Deal) in most important fielding categories. Bill Ashbaugh wasn't great at second, but he's a strong defensive first basemen and Russ Combs was great at short when there. Arnold Bower's defensive struggles and Slim Bloom's bat breakout have made the defense a little less stable, but it's still likely the best in all of baseball. I also can't forget to mention catcher Mike Taylor, who not only has an excellent arm, but does a good job calling pitches and handling the staff.

Taylor is also one of our best hitters, finishing second in the CA with 21 home runs while hitting .282/.366/.438 (115 OPS+). Right behind him was Tom Taylor, who hit .292/.346/.438 (109 OPS+) with 17 homers, 24 steals, and 87 RBI's. When healthy, Russ Combs was also a very reliable leadoff hitter. Combs slashed .326/.364/.440 (115 OPS+) with 3 homers, 9 steals, and 36 RBI's, but he got into only 87 games on the year. Bill Ashbaugh hit a productive .291/.344/.453 (112 OPS+) with 11 homers and 75 RBI's while John Kincaid hit .321/.367/.417 (110 OPS+) with 2 homers, 9 steals, and 64 RBI's. We didn't get much out of Cy Bryant, who had his first below average offensive season in Chicago. The defensive wiz hit .just .264/.327/.361 (84 OPS+) with 6 homers, 14 steals, and 76 RBI's. Bobby Sprague also had a bit of a down year in his first season in Chicago, hitting a slightly below average .300/.359/.394 (102 OPS+) with 5 homers, 13 steals, and 61 RBI's. Slim Bloom and Phil Vaughan started the season on the bench, but found themselves see the field pretty often with Arnold Bower's struggles. Bloom hit .292/.373/.407 (109 OPS+) with 3 homers and 33 RBI's while Vaughan hit 242/.330/.448 (107 OPS+) with 12 homers and 41 RBI's. Both cooled off significantly after fast starts, but still did better then Bower. The generally reliable defender had a tough year in the field and hit just .268/.340/.341 (83 OPS+) with 5 steals and 39 RBI's in 432 trips to the plate. These numbers were much closer to his Brooklyn numbers then his strong showing lasts season.

Of course, since this is my team, it's going to be impossible to be unbiased on who I think is going to win. I like to think we are the better team, but the Keystones are filled with really good players just like the ones we have. We really have the edge for the pitching, but their offense can blow ours out of the water. We're built to win now, but I could see us taking a step back next year as the Foresters stocked up and we've had a nice three year run. You can't be good forever, but I think our window has a few years before it closes. If we win it all, I'm willing to sit back, but if we fall short I am not afraid to buy big. Our farm system isn't quite where I thought it would be, 9th (not 8th), but much stronger then it was at the beginning of the season, but besides Billy Hunter, I'd move anyone in the right deal. We don't need upgrades, but SS and LF/CF could be places to look. I noticed this after originally posting, but we currently have 30 top 200 prospects. The Washington Eagles have easily the best system (including 8 in the top 40) in the game, but they have only 19 in the top 200.

Not sure how I'm going to cover the World Series, but I'll try to do something different. I'm going to be pretty busy the next couple days, so it may be a little delayed.