[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 3-2
Seasonal Record: 39-34 (3rd, 9.5 GB)
Stars of the Week
John Lawson : 15 AB, 6 H, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .400 AVG, 1.238 OPS
Jim Lonardo : 1 Win, 9.0 IP, 0 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
Harry Parker : 1 Win, 9.0 IP, 1 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA

Schedule
6-23: Loss vs Sailors (1-0)
6-25: Win vs Foresters (0-2)
6-27: Win vs Foresters (0-4)
6-28: Win vs Foresters (4-5)
6-28: Loss vs Foresters (5-2)

Recap
We finally had a winning week, but the Stars were far better. So were the Saints, and we now fell to 3rd and 9.5 games out of first. We dropped to the lone contest to the Sailors, but quickly rebounded by taking three of four from the Foresters. The pitching was outstanding, back-to-back shutouts and just 10 runs allowed this week; half coming in the second game of the double header. But the best news was John Lawson! Our struggling start finally had a good week, going 6-for-15 with 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Of course, he's still enduring a dreadful season, hitting just .250/.282/.335 (75 OPS+), but he's finally showed some signs of life for the first time in what feels like months. No one else really hit, just Dick Walker (4-9, 2 RBI) and 1-for-3s from Johnny McDowell and Mike Taylor, which is why we didn't have a perfect 5-0 week. I'm hoping the return of Billy Hunter will help, as he'll rejoin the team, likely ending McDowell's tenure with the Cougars. The 34-year-old hit an average .311/.340/.356 (98 OPS+) this season and recorded a similar .291/.329/.369 (97 OPS+) in 316 games as a Cougar. He won't accept a demotion, so McDowell will either be claimed or released. (EDIT: We ended up getting two offers for him, as I made him available for 10th, within a minute. McDowell will be sent to the Miners for their 10th; With Hunter, most of his time will be spent at second, but he'll get some time at third. I don't want Hunter hitting the IL again this year, so I'm likely giving him two days on, one days off the rest of the way. Adding a .301/.356/.443 (122 OPS+) career hitter could jump start the now freezing offense, but my guess is Hunter will make his way back to the IL before the season ends.

The pitching was amazing, and Harry Parker turned things around in the biggest way possible. He allowed just 4 hits and a walk with 4 strikeouts in a shutout win over the Foresters. Jim Lonardo tried to match him, 4 hits and 2 strikeouts in his shutout. Donnie Jones should have joined them, but a John Lawson error to start the 5th gave the Sailors their only run, and our offense couldn't support the young star. Jones allowed 5 hits, a walk, and unearned run with 4 strikeouts in a complete game loss. Jones has allowed just a single earned run in his last three starts, dropping his ERA all the way down to a team best 2.32 (150 ERA+). He's arguably been better then Papenfus was last season, so it's hard to blame our struggles on his absence, but I am very thrilled with Jones so far. Like Jones, Dick Lyons was hit with bad luck, as he lost the second game of the double header due to errors from our middle infield. 4 of Lyons' 5 runs were unearned, as he went 7 with 6 hits, a walk, and a strikeout. Joe Brown pitched worse, but got a win, 7 innings with 11 hits, 4 runs, and 6 strikeouts. Hard to complain about the staff, but yet again, we decide to do just one thing right instead of both. We continue to lose close games, now 7-13 in the one run contests, much worse then our 24-14 mark last regular season. Of course, we lost four in the playoffs, so we've now lost 17 of our last 24 one run games.

Looking Ahead
This is the last week of the first half, as the All Star game will take place on the 6th of July. We finish the first half with New York teams, a road game against the Stars, two home games against the Kings, and off day, a Saturday double header in New York with the Stars, and then finally a Sunday double header in Brooklyn with the Kings. Starting with the Stars, who are now 48-24 and have started to run away with the division. They are 9.5 games ahead of us, 8.5 games ahead of the Saints, and the early favorite for winning the championship this year. It's hard to find a hole this season for the Stars, but next year they will see both Bill Barrett (.357, 8, 34) and Joe Angevine (.313, 42, 8) enlist after the season. That's not to say they don't have any weaknesses, as former Cougar Rule-5 selection Cliff Ray (.240, 3, 31) and Mel Hancock (.254, 30) aren't great, but catcher is a position that lacks depth and second is one without much talent. Dave Trowbridge (.302, 8, 45) continues to rake and Lew Seals (.234, 12, 51, 5) is a huge power threat, and even if they aren't hitting, the staff can keep runs off the board. The "worst" arm is Vern Hubbard (8-2, 3.06, 36), who would be one of the bests on most other teams. Billy Riley (12-4, 2.25, 57) is a bonafide ace, Chuck Cole (10-7, 2.48, 45) is proving last year was no fluke, and Lou Robertson (7-4, 2.63, 35) and Jack Wood (3-4, 2.55, 34) have been outstanding. It's tough to score on them, and we're going to have to deal with Billy Riley to start the week, and I expect lots of losses against the Stars the rest of the year.

The Kings, however, should be a much easier opponent, as after a quick start to the season, they have dropped to 7th. At 35-43, they are five games out of the cellar, but 16 games behind the Stars. The Kings offense hasn't scored much, but the top three in their rotation have been outstanding. For Art White (9-8, 2.23, 37) and Bob Cummings (9-6, 2.82, 51), it's expected, but for Jim Crawford it's been a huge shock. The former Cougar is having his best season at 36, an even 7-7 with a 2.71 ERA (132 ERA+), 1.20 WHIP, 38 walks, and 28 strikeouts. When he debuted with us way back in 1930, he looked like a fixture in a big league rotation, but it was just one of now four (counting this year) above average seasons as a big leaguer. He was average last season, 12-11 with a 3.94 ERA (103 ERA+) and 1.33 WHIP with 51 walks and 43 strikeouts, but he's really taken a huge step forward this year. The offense has let them down, but one interesting player now is Lee Shapiro, who has turned form part timer to starting third basemen. He's hitting an impressive .299/.351/.485 (129 OPS+) with 8 doubles, 5 homers, and 22 RBIs in just shy of 150 PAs. Joe Herman (.259, 2, 16) has really struggled, Al Wheeler (.241, 7, 42) has regressed to his 1939 form, and Rats McGonigle (.275, 4, 30, 6) is hurt yet again. They also lost top prospect Howard Rivers (.328, 10) to injury, and he was hitting well, but the Kings have really struggled lately and I can't see them finishing above seventh. We really need these wins, something I find myself saying far too often, but it's hard to have faith in the Cougars right now.

As I mentioned earlier, the draft has finished, and I'll have a report on the late round selections before our next sim. As always, some guys signed and some have not, and we need to sign our 2nd through 5th rounders, as well as 7th Rounder Ducky Cole, 10th Rounders Sam Hess and Billy Biggar, and 4 guys from the AI portion. Biggar, which is probably why he fell, and the 4 AI selections are impossible to sign, but I should have no issues with the rest. Biggar is saying he wants more then $23,000, and since I have a $50,000 draft budget and then about $350k of additional spending money, I'll give him $27,500 just in case. The other impossible I will sign is Jimmy Maness, who we got with the first pick of the 11th Round. My scout had him in his top 15 for pitchers, and since I traded for the pick, I don't really want to lose it. He wants $16,000, I'll give him an even 20. I'm hoping they all sign, but we have had a few who signed crack the top 500. 7th Rounder Harry McRae just misses the top 200, ranked 230th and 23rd in our system. He's the only one in our top 30, but fellow 7th Rounder Homer Guthrie (34th, 361st) and Foster Smith (48th, 494th) both are ranked. Our system is now 3rd, right behind the Stars, but I wouldn't be too surprised if we fell to 5th or lower as I don't expect many, if any, top 100 additions.

Minor League Report
LHP Johnnie Jones (AAA Milwaukee Blues): As he's watching his younger brother dominate FABL hitters, Johnnie Jones has had a little less success in the Century League. That was not the case, however, on a wonderful start against the Tornadoes on the 24th. Johnnie was effective in a 2-0 win, tossing a shutout with 8 hits, 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Recently turned 24, Johnnie is still underdeveloped for his age, but he continues to flash ace level potential. It's been an up-and-down season for the Patron Saint of Groundballs, 5-4 with a 3.86 ERA (102 ERA+), 1.63 WHIP, 41 walks, and 35 strikeouts. Johnnie just cannot get his walks down, and while he does get a lot of strikeouts, it's not enough to make up for it. I really want him to start games for us in Chicago, but I just don't think he's ready. His pitches move a lot, although sometimes too much, and besides his sinker, he doesn't really have a reliable pitch. Granted, the sinker is outstanding, sitting in the 93-95 range and he racks up a ton of strikeouts and double plays with it. As a lefty, his slider could be a devastating weapon to same side hitters, but he hasn't quite mastered it yet. If he can turn it into an outpitch, expect less walks and more strikeouts, but for now he's going to have to deal with a lot of congestion on the basepaths. I'm not ready to give up on Dick Lyons, who's been effective even at 42, but as mentioned before, if we start to slip even further, I'll let Johnnie take his knocks in Chicago. Now that Donnie graduated, he's our top prospect, with him and Duke Bybee closing out the top 10.