[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 4-2
Seasonal Record: 81-66 (3nd, 4 GB)
Stars of the Week
Dick Walker : 23 AB, 9 H, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .391 AVG, 1.264 OPS
Harry Parker : 2 Wins, 15.2 IP, 1 BB, 13 K, 0.00 ERA
Cliff Moss : 15 AB, 6 H, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .400 AVG, 1.204 OPS

Schedule
9-20: Win vs Sailors (2-7)
9-21: Win vs Sailors (5-6)
9-22: Loss vs Sailors (4-2)
9-23: Win vs Cannons (3-7)
9-24: Loss vs Cannons (3-1)
9-24: Win vs Cannons (1-7)

Recap
A rare good week for the Cougars, as we have our first winning week in nearly a month, but it didn't matter too much as we failed to make up ground on the Cannons, despite taking two of three from both them and the Sailors. If the Cannons win 3 games, we need to win 7 to force a tie, so you can pretty much book us for next year. I will still want to win as many games as possible, as winning will help our lottery odds. If we can outperform two of the Kings, Sailors, and Wolves, we'll get two balls in the lottery instead of one. The minor league seasons are now over, so we'll have a few more callups, and I'll have a detailed minor league report either Friday or over the weekend. This week though was all about Harry Parker, who was named Continental Association Player of the Week. He won both his starts, tossing 15.2 innings with 8 hits, a walk, 13 strikeouts, and an unearned run. Parker is now 14-10 with a 2.19 ERA (157 ERA), 0.99 WHIP, 44 walks, and 121 strikeouts in 234.1 innings pitched. The Allen Award hopeful leads all of baseball in ERA, WHIP, FIP (2.57), and ERA+ while leading our circuit in WAR (6.3) and strikeouts.

Billy Riley's bad luck continues, as the righty picked up his league lading 17th loss despite allowing 7 hits, 3 runs, and a walk with a strikeout in 8 solid innings. Dick Lyons pitched better, but lost another start, going 5 with 5 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), a walk, and a strikeout. Art White had a rough start, allowing 10 hits and 5 runs with 2 walks and strikeouts in 8 innings pitched. Mike Murphy picked up a win, going just 7 with 11 hits and 3 runs. The pen got a lot of action, with Bill Anderson throwing 5 innings across two appearances with 4 hits, a walk, and 3 strikeouts. Ben Curtin made three one inning appearances, picking up a win with 2 hits, a run, and a walk. Rusty Petrick allowed a hit, a run, and a walk with 2 strikeouts in 1.2 innings. Ken Matson allowed 3 hits and a run in two thirds of an inning. Since we're still technically alive, I'm going to go with a three man rotation, so hopefully only Parker, White, and Riley start. Lyons, Murphy, and Petrick will all be listed as emergency starters if needed, but I don't feel comfortable with any of them starting a must win game. Riley has been awful for us, losing five straight starts, but there is a good pitcher hidden somewhere inside. At least I hope...

Billy Hunter keeps picking up minor injuries, this time a mild abdominal strain, but the former first rounder still managed to go 5-for-11 with 3 doubles, 2 runs, 2 walks, and an RBI. Dick Walker had a nice rebound week, finishing 9-for-23 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 2 steals, a homer, 3 RBIs, 4 walks, and 8 runs. Our right field platoon mashed, with Moss and Langton combining to go 9-for-22 with 4 runs and 5 RBIs. Moss hit 2 doubles and a homer while walking twice while Langton hit his 7th triple of the season. Leo Mitchell went just 8-for-26, but his impressive .367 average is still the highest mark in the FABL. Mitchell also doubled, tripled, walked twice and recorded 4 RBIs and 5 runs scored. We have a lot of ground to make up in this final week, and I'm not sure we have the firepower to do it. I'll still hold onto the last bit of hope, but at least our disappointment will end tomorrow.

Looking Ahead
Well, this is it; the final week of the season. Even though we are at home, we have to beat the only two teams with a winning record against us, the Wolves (10-9) and the Foresters (10-8). We start with the Wolves, who after a rough week sit at 83-64 and two games back of the Cannons. If we can pull off the sweep, we'll leapfrog them for second, but anything less and you can pretty much end our season there. Lucky for us, Bernie Johnson (17-12, 2.60, 59) pitched yesterday, but we're still in line to face tough starters in Jimmy Gibbs (12-10, 3.04, 73), Bob Walls (17-10, 3.35, 66), and Chick Wirtz (11-11, 2.81, 40). Our offense will have to be at our bests, while our top three has their work cut out for them. The inconsistent Walt Pack (.265, 14, 75) has had a tremendous second half while Charlie Artuso (.253, 8, 48, 7) and Chink Stickels (.272, 5, 51, 14) have both surpassed the 5 WAR mark on the season. Gus Hall (.282, 7, 59) boasts an impressive 130 WRC+ and Hal Wood (.301, 3, 51) has set many personal bests in his longest season in terms of games (135), starts (130), and plate appearances (540). Depending on the results of this series, the Cannons could have the title all but wrapped up. With a magic number of six, if they sweep the Stars and we sweep the Wolves, they would just need either a Cannon win or a Cougar loss to earn the right to take on Bobby Barrell (.349, 43, 145) and the Philadelphia Keystones.

We finish off the season with four against the Foresters, who sit in 7th at 65-82. Unless things go really wrong for them, they'll stay out of the cellar, as the Saints are five games behind them. Star rookie Jim Adams Jr. (.273, 1, 39, 5) is out for the year with a partially torn labrum, so Chuck Harrington (.211, 8) at short is the only new edition to the lineup. The rotation does have a new face, with 24-year-old Jimmy Collins (5-5, 5.40, 34) getting 11 starts after 5 in Cleveland last year. A former 15th Round Pick, he's not on the same level as Ducky Davis (8-7, 3.42, 64), but he could develop into a decent back-end starter. They haven't gotten much production behind Davis, but a defense that doesn't rank dead less could help Johnny Slaney (14-11, 3.77, 86) and George Rotondi (14-14, 3.96, 83) improve next year. Generally speaking, it should be easy to beat a team that ranks 8th in runs scored and 7th in runs allowed, but Cleveland has given us trouble all season, and we're the only team they have a winning record against. I'm hoping for the best, but I'm sure this series won't end up mattering too much.

Minor League Report
RHP Jack Huston: I knew he wouldn't repeat his dominance from last season, but Jack Huston still put together a strong season with the Blues. In 30 starts, the recently turned 25-year-old went 15-11 with a 3.31 ERA (108 ERA+), 1.36 WHIP, 109 walks, and 98 strikeouts. It was his second consecutive 200+ inning season, but he walked more (4.3 from 3.0) hitters and struck out fewer (3.9 from 4.9), which does explain the drop in production. Huston checks in at 30th in our prospect list and 372nd overall, but he's never gotten much love. I think part of that has to do with his stuff, as he still doesn't have a polished mix, as the slider is really the only offering that he can consistently get swings and misses with. Huston will need to straighten his command out a bit more, but I'm not sure he'll manage. I think Huston's future is as a multi-inning reliever, as the righties slider is very tough for same side hitters to deal with, and he may do better when facing less lefties. He may get an inning or two in the last week, as he'll work middle relief with Knight and Anderson. I think he could break into our pen next year, but it may be better to have the former 5th Rounder continue to start games in Milwaukee next season. We needed a 40 man spot for him, and still have four left.

RF Bill Rich: It wasn't the greatest season for Bill Rich, who hit just .283/.335/.357 (87 OPS+) in 79 games at Mobile, but he was far more productive in Milwaukee. The 25-year-old hit .288/.361/.398 (118 OPS+) in 59 games with the Blues and he looked good defensively in the corners at both stops. Between the levels, Rich recorded 21 doubles, 5 triples, 6 homers, 6 steals, and 66 RBIs with more walks (56) then strikeouts (52). I'm not sure that he'll get an opportunity to play in the final week, but I want to give him an opportunity to debut in the final week. If he had more range he would be in line for a backup outfield role, but I think he'll spend a few more seasons in the minors before fitting into a bench role.

I debated bringing up Ed Fisler and Bill Tuttle, but I'm not sure I want to risk having them pitch important innings if we have any. We'll role with 33 players the final week and I don't think we'll have to worry about protecting any more players, so we'll enter the offseason with plenty of open 40-man spots for waiver claims, trades, or Rule-5 picks.

CF Ducky Cole (A Lincoln Legislators): After a recent promotion to Lincoln, Ducky Cole was struggling a bit, but the 20-year-old had a huge game against the Steelmen. In our 13 inning loss, Ducky went 5-for-7 with a walk and pair of runs scored. After hitting a productive .310/.357/.408 (119 OPS+) down in San Jose, Cole slashed just .278/.311/.365 (74 OPS+) in 26 games. Between the two stops, Cole tallied 24 doubles, 8 triples, 2 homers, and 57 RBIs, but he didn't do too well in the field. He spent most of his time in center, but had just a .974 efficiency and -0.9 zone rating in a little over 600 innings. He wasn't much better in left (229, -1.0, .969) while his small sample in right (111.2, 1.4, 1.042) was pretty decent. I don't think Cole will be able to stick in center, and while he lacks power, his bat is decent enough to carry him to a 4th outfielder role. He has a strong hit tool and makes a lot of contact, but he walked far less this year (28) compared to last (61) with similar strike out numbers. Our 7th Rounder in 1942, he's still young and has plenty of room to grow, and we'll give him another shot at A ball next season.