[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 3-2
Seasonal Record: 58-70 (5th, 21 GB)
Stars of the Week
Rich Langton : 23 AB, 8 H, 3 HR, 6 RBI, .348 AVG, 1.293 OPS
Bill Ashbaugh : 22 AB, 9 H, 1 HR, 9 RBI, .409 AVG, 1.049 OPS
Leo Mitchell : 24 AB, 11 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .458 AVG, .977 OPS

Weekly Schedule
8-27: Loss at Cannons (3-4)
8-28: Win vs Cannons (15-10)
8-29: Win vs Cannons (11-5)
8-31: Win at Sailors (4-1)
9-1: Loss at Sailors (3-8)

Summary
Rosters expanded! But in better news, winning week! We flipped it, loss the bookends and won the middle. We took two out of three against the Cannons, with Rick Langton raking. In the 15-10 win he was 2-for-3 with 2 homers, 2 walks, and 4 RBI's. Bert Wilson, Doc Love, and Bill Ashbaugh all had three hits and then Leo Mitchell, Mike Taylor, Jake Moore, and even Dick Lyons managed a pair of hits. He added another homer in the 11-5 win, so with three in two days he quadrupled his season total. He's picked things up, brought his batting line up to .314/.364/.503 (114 OPS+) with 9 doubles, 4 triples, and three steals in 165 trips to the plate. It was a good way to finish the month, as he took home Rookie of the Month in his first actualy month in the big leagues. August went well for him, batting .357 with 4 homers and 18 RBI's. Cougars with a higher OPS then Langton this season? Well, just Doc Love and Lou Kelly (technically Leo Mitchell too, but he's got 7 less games)! And I can't remember the last time we had a Rookie of the Month!

Langton wasn't the only one with a strong week, as even the vets Bill Ashbaugh and Doc Love had great weeks. Ashbaugh was 9-for-22 with a homer and 9 RBI's. Love was 8-for-22, homer and drove in four. As expected, Leo Mitchell had another great week too, 11-for-24 with a steal and a pair of RBI's. We didn't pitch all that great, but it was another gem for Dave Rankin. He outdueled William Jones, tossing a complete game win with 7 hits, a run, walk, and strikeout. With that start he lowered his ERA to a league average 4.68 mark with a 1.43 WHIP and 82 walks and strikeouts. Hank Spencer got the opener, but even though he lost, his start was strong. He went 8 with 8 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 4 walks, and a strikeout.

Looking Ahead
With rosters expanding, I'll cover the guys I bring up in my minor league report, but we're entering the final month of the season. We're home to start the week, hosting the Foresters for a quick double header before another day off. Cleveland has overtaken first, 79-49 and a game ahead of the Kings. They just got Lou Drouillard back, but we drew the short end of the stick: Eddie Quinn and Dean Astle. Should be a fun double header sweep... Still, they will be without Max Morris who is suffering from recurring back spasms and may miss the end of the year. Even without him, very few holes in the Foresters lineup (or rotation for that matter), but the best part? Ben Turner's breakout! The former Cougar prospect is 17-5 with a 3.72 ERA (120 ERA+), 1.33 WHIP, 58 walks, and 55 strikeouts in 196 innings.

After that we'll face the Stars who sit 57-72, tied for 6th/7th with the Wolves. Larry Colaianni is up to 2nd in the CA batting race, his .363 average shy of just Al Wheeler. Their pitching continues to struggle, so expect a lot of runs in this series as both teams hit and watch a lot of hits in the field. Bad at defense, bad at pitching, good at hitting; our teams are almost identical in performance. Even both of us have our ace's hurt! I have no idea how this one is going to go, but there will be runs scored! We do end the week hosting the Cannons, but just one of the four games will happen next sim. The Cannons sit in last at 55-74, two games ahead of the Stars/Wolves and 3.5 ahead of us.

Oh yeah, and Tommy Wilcox might be able to throw again this year. He's got two weeks left injured, but my scout is finally starting to take it out on his abilities. The "healthy ace" is now more of a mid-rotation starter. Yay...

Lastly, I picked up Allen Purvis off waivers from the Saints. He's perfect for us, an extreme groundballer, and perhaps he'll find some success in the Chi. He's tossed 407 FABL innings from 1931-1935 (plus 36 in 1928) and gone 19-29 with a 4.78 ERA (88 ERA+), 1.55 WHIP, 157 walks, and 130 strikeouts. Numbers aren't too exciting, but we need guys who can start games and he'll get a few of those down the stretch.

Minor League Report
SP Johnny Walker: Our 3rd Rounder back in 1928, Walker has made eight big league starts across the past two seasons. They haven't been great, but he's been dominant in the minior leagues. A big strikeout arm, Wakler finished his minor league season 9-6 with a 3.75 ERA (142 ERA+), 1.25 WHIP, 37 walks, and 81 strikeouts in 122.1 innings pitched. Walker has made four starts for us this year, going 1-3 with a 5.16 ERA (91 ERA+), 1.55 WHIP, 13 walks, and 19 strikeouts. I've always been a big fan of the little lefty and I really think he's going to develop into a strong rotation option. He has a really good curveball and a strong mid 90s cutter and he's able to generate numerous swings and misses. He's going to get some starts as we finish the year and he'll look to win a spot in camp next year. He's still got an option left, so he's not fighting for his job, but I'd love to see him in our 1936 rotation.

CF Chink Stickels: Since Tom Taylor left, center field has been pretty bad. At the time of the trade, Bert Wilson had an above average batting line. Now in 156 trips to the plate he has a .265/.299/.333 (57 OPS+) line with 28 strikeouts, 6 walks, and 15 RBI's. Mike Smith hasn't faired much better, hitting .222/.271/.267 in August. So I found the solution: the #42 prospect in baseball who just happens to play center field and happens to be on the 40-man roster. I got Stickels from Denver in the Independent League draft this offseason. He spent most of his season in AA Mobile, hitting .285/.348/.490 (115 OPS+) with 7 homers, 12 steals, and 78 RBI's. He's also done a good job with his walks and strikeouts, tallying 44 apiece before striking out (66) almost twice as much as he walked (34) in A ball last season. He's also a capable defender, recording a +9.1 zone rating and 1.040 efficiency in 76 games out in center. It's the only position he's played before this season, but I've been giving him time in left (36) and right (16) as well. My scout is a big fan of Stickels and he think he's got above average contact potential, is a sure handed center fielder, and has the talent to flourish in the FABL. He's also one of the fastest players, giving us something we really need. Stickels only has played in 210 minor league games before this debut, but he looks more then ready. He'll be our starting center fielder for the rest of the season. I was hoping him and Ray Moore would have shared the job, but Moore got hurt this sim and will likely miss the rest of the year. Moore wasn't on the 40 and didn't need to be protected in the Rule-5 Draft, so perhaps it's for the best.

C Ralph McLean: I like having a third catcher on hand towards the end of the year, so I'll bring Ralph McLean back up. The 27-year-old had a tough season in Milwaukee, batting .285/.341/.389 (78 OPS+) with just one homer and 37 RBI's in 261 trips to the plate. He did walk (14) more then he struck out (12), but it was a pretty disappointing season for him. I'm not expecting too much for him, and I'll be on the lookout for a new catcher in the offseason.

RF Bert Harrison: I didn't need to bring up an extra infielder because I already had the speedy Russ Franklin serving as the fifth outfielder even though he's an infielder. This allowed me to bring back the former Rule-5 selection Bert Harrison who was stuck in a crazy outfield logjam. He got just 187 plate appearances, but took full advantage of them. He hit .406/.452/.576 (149 OPS+) with 3 homers, 2 steals, and 16 RBI's. Just 25, Harrison is a really talented off the bench hitter, but doesn't offer much use in the field. He's fast, has okay power, and makes a lot of contact. He probably won't start, but I can see him getting a lot of pinch hit opportunities.