[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 4-2
Seasonal Record: 95-53 (1st, 10 GA)
Stars of the Week
Leo Mitchell : 23 AB, 10 H, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .435 AVG, 1.184 OPS
Cliff Moss : 20 AB, 9 H, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .450 AVG, 1.078 OPS
Dick Walker : 20 AB, 8 H, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .400 AVG, 1.029 OPS

Schedule
9-15: Win at Foresters (13-8)
9-16: Win at Foresters (9-6)
9-17: Loss at Sailors (1-2)
9-18: Loss at Sailors (4-5)
9-20: Win at Stars (5-0)
9-21: Win at Stars (4-2)

Recap
Playoff bound! After beating the second place Stars 5-0 in a combined no-hitter, we clinched the 1941 Continental Association pennant. For the first season since 1933, the Cougars will be playing baseball after the regular season ends, and while that doesn't seem like a long time, the Cougars have never gone more then a decade without a pennant, and we were getting close to that. The team was as consistent as it gets, putting up .550 or better months since the season started, and the team currently has scored the most runs (764) while allowing the fewest (586). They've also been extremely lucky, doing something past Cougar teams tended to struggled with; winning one run games. Chicago is 23-13 in one run games and 11-5 in those that take longer then 9 innings. The staff has been extremely reliable, featuring potentially two 20 game winners in potential triple crown winner Pete Papenfus (20-7, 2.84, 225) and Harry Parker (19-10, 3.19, 117) with the duo of John Lawson (.317, 29, 129) and Leo Mitchell (.345, 11, 81) keeping Bill Barrett from a triple crown. With six games left, we need three wins to break our single season high and five to reach the century mark. We will also set the single season attendance mark, and become the first team in FABL history to draw 2 million fans. With a current attendance figure of 1,998,957 and two games remaining, we are guaranteed to draw at least 10,706 in each through season tickets alone, and have been averaging 26,653 on the season. With the Fed not wrapped up, we don't know who we will play; Boston or Pittsburgh most likely, but we can take it easy this week as we will have the better record regardless. Expect to see some of the youth, as Donnie Jones (0-1, 3.86, 4) already made his debut and his brother Johnnie will debut in the finale against the Stars. Papenfus will be shutdown with a sore elbow, ensuring he's healthy for potentially three starts in the playoffs.

Looking at the games themselves, we really struggled against the Sailors, who beat us both times by a single run. We had no trouble with the Foresters and looked really good against the Stars, and it was fitting that our clinch came against them. I do feel for Stars fans, as at 85-63, they would be just a game out of the Fed, tied with Boston, and would have had an exciting last week. I'm expecting to give my youngsters more time, with Donnie Jones getting another start and Johnnie set to make his debut against the Stars to start the week. Donnie got a loss in Philly, but went 7 with 10 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Sure, a win would have been nice, but it could have been much worse.

Papenfus and Parker both won this week, making their last starts of the regular season. Peter the Heater left his start in the 6th, but he didn't allow a hit with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts. Harl Haines came in to make his big league debut, and was just as good, if not better, then Papenfus, allowing just a single walk with a strikeout for the combined no-hitter that clinched us the playoffs. Parker through another complete game, 8 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts to close out his breakout third season. His 24 complete games were most in the CA, three more then Papenfus who finished second. Dick Lyons put together a nice start, 8 innings with 7 hits, 2 runs, a walk, and a strikeout. Lonardo and Fritz both struggled, both with just a single strikeout, while Jim allowed 10 hits and 6 runs (still no walks!) with Milt allowing 9 and 6 with 6 walks.

Leo Mitchell has started to catch fire again, and the 28-year-old was excellent for us. He went 10-for-23 with 2 doubles, a triple, homer, 7 runs, and 4 RBIs with just 2 strikeouts. Mitchell is now hitting an impressive .345/.391/.461 (131 OPS+) on the season, and is just four points below Bill Barrett in the race for a batting title. If he can keep his OPS+ above 130 in the last week, it will be the fifth consecutive season for Mitchell where he was between 30 and 39 percent better then the league average hitter. He also has just 94 strikeouts, and may managed to sit below the century mark for the first time since '38. Cliff Moss had himself another nice week, 9-for-20 with 3 doubles, 2 RBIs, and 5 runs scored. Freddie Jones looked good when he played, 5-for-12 with a homer and 4 runs scored and driven in. His platoon partner Ossie Grogan was 2-for-8, but with a double, triple, walk, 2 runs, and 4 RBIs. Dick Walker went 8-for-20 with 2 doubles, a triple, 3 RBIs, 6 runs, and 2 steals. Orlin Yates had a much better week, 4-for-16 with a homer and 3 RBIs. Carlos Montes is healthy again, but since this week isn't nearly as important as next, Yates will still get half the starts in center. John Lawson had a rare down week, just 3-for-21, but he did manage 5 walks and 4 RBIs with his new personal best 29th home run. "Jack the Ripper" won't win the Whitney, but his .317/.368/.524 (140 OPS+) line is best on the team, and his 129 RBIs lead all of baseball. Unless he goes 0-for-35 (and even then he'd probably be fine), he'll complete his 14th season with an OPS+ of 130 or better.

Looking Ahead
I decided to bring up two more players for the final week, giving Cal Knight and Ed Wilkinson a shot to take some innings out of the pen. Wilkinson was Rule-5 Eligible, and I decided to give the former 4th Rounder a 40-man spot a bit early. He ranks 29th in our system and 315th overall, and split his season between Mobile and Milwaukee. He was 9-3 with a 2.88 ERA (151 ERA+), 1.17 WHIP, 27 walks, and 34 strikeouts in 12 starts with the Commodores before his midseason promotion. His 11 starts in AAA weren't nearly as good, going 4-5 with a still above average 3.32 ERA (112 ERA+) and 1.24 WHIP with 13 walks and 47 strikeouts. It was nice seeing improvements in the BB/9 and K/9, even if he was allowing more runs and baserunners, but the 24-year-old should be ready to pitch in the big leagues. He has a deep five pitch mix, with a low 90s fastball his go to. None of the pitches really stand out, but his command has improved and he's able to eat a lot of innings. Knight has already debuted, appearing in each season since 1938, and he has one option left for next season. Formerly a starter in the minors, I used the former 2nd Rounder almost strictly out of the pen this year. The lefty looked okay , with a 3.32 ERA (112 ERA+) and 1.34 WHIP. He struck out 25 and walked 16, and will be in competition for a pen spot next year. He's thrown 46.1 big league innings and is 2-2 with a 2.53 ERA (165 ERA+) and 1.77 WHIP with 38 walks and 22 strikeouts. 41 of his innings came in the 1939 season, where he was a big part of our pen.

We have one more in New York with the Stars, and we'll end up finishing the season against them with two games in Chicago. We start with Vern Hubbard (18-7, 2.78, 77), who I want to absolutely wreck havoc upon. He's standing in the way of a Papenfus triple crown, has his ERA is 6 points better. I'm hoping we can pile on a ton of runs, and I will be using a full strength lineup to do it. I don't care if we win, although it would be nice for Johnnie, but I want to inflate Hubbard's ERA as much as possible. The Stars did win the pennant just two seasons ago in a surprise season, but I do feel for Stars fans as the team was talented enough for a pennant. Of course, they have Bill Barrett (.349, 33, 115), so pennants may become a frequent thing for them, and they'll have an extremely talented corner outfield duo with former Cougar prospect Chubby Hall. Hall and Jones will always be connected, as they were traded for each other, but neither joined from the other team. We sent Chubby to Washington for Johnnie at the 1939 deadline, and then next June the Stars sent a pair of prospects to Washington for him. Johnnie left New York in the '38 offseason, in a big trade with the Eagles, so despite being traded for each other, there was no Chicago-New York trade to make it possible. Hall debuted last season, and while he hasn't hit great this year (7-for-38), he ranks as the 13th best prospect in baseball, right below Johnnie at 12. They will get to face each other to start the week, and potentially to end the week, as Hall is slotted in as the everyday left fielder while Johnnie will pitch against New York on both the 22nd and 28th.

Between the Stars series we'll face the third place Kings, who at 83-65 would also be in a tight pennant race if they were a Fed team. Jim Lightbody has had a huge breakout for the Kings, hitting an outstanding .336/.429/.523 (149 OPS+) with 25 doubles, 7 triples, 3 homers, 11 steals, and 49 RBIs in 304 plate appearances. He just turned 25, and could end up being a fixture in a Kings lineup that almost always has a Lightbody. With 22-year-old Rats McGonigle (.296, 8, 47, 8) and 25-year-old Joe Herman (.323, 7, 75, 7), they have a lot of talented pieces to build around, and they have a nice core of vets with Al Wheeler (.290, 23, 75) and Harry Barrell (.298, 3, 63, 13). With a better season from their top two pitchers Art White (13-16, 3.90, 66) and Bob Cummings (14-8, 4.11, 100), I expect the Kings to be back in the pennant race next year, quickly rebounding from a pair of 80+ loss seasons after their threepeat atop the CA. Brooklyn has a trio of top 20 prospects, with outfielders John Moss (7th) and Orie Martinez (19th) potential trade pieces as they have a very strong outfield in Brooklyn. Brooklyn surprised some with their play this year, but I don't think anyone will be underestimating the Kings next year.