[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 2-6
Seasonal Record: 66-54 (3rd, 9 GB)
Stars of the Week
Skipper Schneider : 34 AB, 15 H, 0 HR, 6 RBI, .441 AVG, .957 OPS
Dick Walker : 29 AB, 10 H, 0 HR, 4 RBI, .345 AVG, 1.017 OPS
Rabbit Mudd : 19 AB, 8 H, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .421 AVG, 1.134 OPS

Schedule
8-13: Win vs Wolves (3-9)
8-14: Loss vs Wolves (4-0)
8-15: Loss vs Cannons (3-1)
8-16: Loss vs Cannons (8-4)
8-17: Loss vs Cannons (6-2)
8-18: Loss vs Cannons (5-4)
8-19: Loss vs Sailors (6-5): 14 innings
8-19: Win vs Sailors (3-4): 11 innings

Recap
It's official; we're cursed :/

The Cannons came to town and took all four, which was part of a crippling six game losing streak that found us nine games out. Seemingly insurmountable since we're not the ones holding the nine game lead, not even the return of our beautiful fireballer offers any consolation. Just like each of the previous 13 seasons, it's not our year...

What to do... What to do...

I know I definitely didn't want post 1,000 to start with a 2-6 record...

The original plan was to ride Papenfus to the end, starting him every fourth game, but I'm not sure it'll be worth it. Even better, with Bybee's return next week, we could have gone Papenfus-Bybee-Parker-Riley the rest of the way, which seems like a winning formula. But can it make up nine games in a month? With 10 more <s>losses</s> games against the Saints? That seems rather unlikely. Instead, we'll just keep going with five, and Bybee seems like a lock to finish the season in AA or AAA, depending where I need the arms more.

This team really gets me. Even though I thought we had no shot of winning the pennant when the season starts, we hung around just long enough to keep my hopes up, and then the return of Peter the Heater put my expectations through the roof.

Just for them to be squashed right back down...

If there had to be good news, its that Dick Lyons (45 years, 64 days) might be the oldest person to ever win an FABL game. After not pitching for nearly two months, Lyons pitched the 10th and 11th in our double header win, allowing a hit and two walks, but preventing all three runners from scoring. Still no news on retirement, as Lyons looks to add to his 237 wins and 3,964 innings pitched. Another player who should retire is Ben Curtin, who will at least temporarily lose his roster spot to make room for Peter the Heater. Curtin may own a share of the save (15) lead in the CA, but after his stretch of scoreless appearances to start the season, he's completely fallen apart. The latest failure was against the Cannons, as he allowed all five of his hits in the last two innings (1.2 IP for him) to score. It was his 6th blown save and dropped him to 0-5 on the season. The 40-year-old stopper has a 4.10 ERA (87 ERA+) and 1.26 WHIP in 48.1 innings pitched. If he goes unclaimed, Curtin will return to the big league roster once rosters expand, but will be cut once the season ends to save a 40-man spot. We don't really "need" a stopper, but I'm going to let Mike Thorpe cover.

Despite all the losing, we didn't really pitch all that bad. Petrick and Parker were the only pitchers to allow more then three earned runs in a start, and both allowed just four with their second start just two. Petrick split his starts, picking up a complete game win over the Wolves to start the week with 6 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts. The Cannons got him once again, as he walked 9 with 8 hits, 5 runs (4 earned), and 3 strikeouts in 8 frames. No wins for Parker, as we blew his start against the Sailors in extras. He went 7 with 7 hits, 4 runs (2 earned), 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts. He gave him no run support against the Wolves, as he left with one out left in the 9th. All four runs were earned, but they came off just 6 hits and 2 walks while he struck out 7. He now ranks second in both ERA (2.95) and strikeouts (105), but he's going to lose out to a Cannon yet again for the Allen. And this time it deserves to be unanimous as Rufus is 14-4 with a 2.09 ERA (173 ERA+) and 1.02 WHIP to go with far more strikeouts (81) then walks (25).

Billy Riley got a no decision, marking the first time since June 17th and 21st where he didn't win in back-to-back starts. If it wasn't for Curtin's collapse, he would have won, leaving after 7 with 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Mike Thorpe's last two stats went alright, but I doubt he'll make another one until the end of September when we're officially out. He lost to the Cannons, where walks aside, he actually looked pretty sharp. There were seven of them, but he allowed just 5 hits and 3 runs (2 earned) in a complete game. He then started the game Lyons won, going 7.2 innings with 6 hits, 3 runs, 5 walks, and 4 strikeouts. All told, Thorpe finished with a 4.50 ERA (79 ERA+) and 1.57 WHIP in 30 innings, and while the 18-to-7 walk-to-strikeout ratio is scary, more then half (8) of his 15 runs came in his debut, and he's still yet to allow a homer in 378.2 career innings. George Oddo, of course, allowed his 12th as a Cougar, and dropped to 6-6 in a loss to the Cannons. He went just 7 as his pitch count got up to 130, and left with 6 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Regardless of if Bybee joins the roster, he'll keep starting the rest of the way, as the 22-year-old just keeps on getting better. His fastball is up to 91-93, and he would probably rank top 15 (if not 10) if he was still considered a prospect. I'm not sure what to do with him, as he's still underdeveloped compared to the rest of the staff, but you can never have too much pitching...

The bats were boom or bust, as some guys were great, while others were downright awful. Surprisingly, Don Lee fell in the "downright awful" category, a pitiful 3-for-30, but at least he walked five times and stole a base. Rich Langton joined him, with a 5-for-35, while adding a steal, two runs, three RBIs, and a pair of doubles. The third member of the club was Ken Mayhugh, who was 4-for-34 with 3 walks and runs. This hurts Mayhugh the most, as it dropped his season line to .255/.312/.359 (92 OPS+), and he'll cede more of his playing time to Page, Mudd, and/or Sutterfield. Cliff Moss wasn't on their level, but he had his struggles too, just 9-for-29 with 2 runs, 2 walks, and 5 RBIs.

On the flip side, Rabbit Mudd has enjoyed his Cougar uniform, and the veteran infielder was the most productive hitter in the lineup. He went 8-for-19 with a triple, walk, homer, 5 runs, and 4 RBIs. His double play partner Skipper Schneider went 15-for-34 with a double, 3 walks, 3 runs, 6 RBIs, and a steal. He was also caught stealing for the first time in 12 attempts, and for just the second time in two seasons. Dick Walker had a huge 10 walk week, finishing 10-for-29 with a double, 2 triples, 2 steals, 4 RBIs, and 6 runs scored. Harry Mead went 4-for-20 with a double, homer, 4 runs, and 6 walks. Inconsistency and bad luck have been detrimental for the Cougars, and while even the Foresters at 30 games out are still technically in it, it's looking more and more likely that the Cannons and Wolves will duke it out for the next six weeks.

Looking Ahead
Out of the Park can't adjust for this, but I know for a fact that once the news got out that Peter the Heater was returning for Monday's game at Cougars Park, every Cougar fan in Chicago would line up to get just one glimpse of the 1941 Allen Winner, who hasn't pitched for the Cougars since that dreadful10-9 10 inning loss against the Minutemen in game six of the most painful World Championship series ever. You would think that a team that scored 10 of their 16 runs in a seven game series would have no chance of winning the series, but that's what happened in 1941, where we lost four one run games and outscored Boston 34-16 in the series. It will be an exciting, high powered matchup with the new father Win Lewis (10-9, 3.11, 79) the projected starter. He's dealing with back spasms, so I'm hoping he'll get skipped, but its a perfect matchup to welcome back the young ace. If we avoid Lewis, we'll have to deal with Art Hull (5-7, 4, 2.82, 58) and Ray McCarthy (8-8, 3.67, 31), which would be a far more preferable matchup. We look pretty evenly matched, good pitching and average hitting vs average pitching and good hitting, and the double header proved it with two, one-run extra inning affairs. Addie Allman (.352, 2, 47) and Chick Wilhelm (.247, 6, 42, 10) had huge 4 hit games against us in their win and we didn't do a good job keeping former Cougar 1st Rounder Ed Reyes (.337, 7, 57) off the bases. With Pap and Riley (15-8, 3.13, 91) we should be able to salvage the series, but it's hard to get too excited when a bad week could push us double digit games out of first.

We're off Wednesday before starting the quickest road trip ever, getting a single game with our 1945 arch-nemesis, the Montreal Saints. Don't let that 59-61 record fool you, they're an unstoppable juggernaut that has gone 9-3 against us, even better then the 12-6 mark the Cannons have put up. With just one game in Montreal, you'd think that means we can escape with just a single loss, but no, they come to Chicago right after for three in Cougars Park. Overall, the Saints haven't pitched well, but its shaping out in a way where we'll see both the #1 strikeout pitcher in the CA Pat Weakly (11-8, 3.38, 116) and the #3 ERA pitcher Karl Weiss (14-5, 2.98, 50). Veteran Ed Baker (11-9, 4.31, 20) did pick up career win #200 (and 201), but even our offense can do damage against him, Ben Watkins (9-8, 4.14, 43), or Jackie James (7-13, 4.50, 67). It would have been nice if they were able to trade Vic Crawford (.302, 10, 82) to the Dynamos, as he's one of the most productive members of the offense. Instead, we'll have to keep him, Bill Greene (.270, 14, 72, 29), Jake Hughes (.326, 4, 54, 26), and Gordie Perkins (.315, 3, 37) in check, which is a tall task for even the second best staff in baseball. Despite their immense talent at the plate, the overall defense is very bad, and the bottom of their order isn't too tough to manage. Still, we just can't find a way to beat Montreal, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon. I'm ready for another two win week, with both coming from the golden arm of Pete Papenfus.

Minor League Report
LHP Bob Petty (AA Mobile Commodores): A lot of our minor leaguers have struggled this season, with plenty of guys pushed up farther then they should be, but Bob Petty is not one of those. 23 in a few weeks, Petty started the season in A ball despite 12 starts there last season where he was 4-5 with a 6.15 ERA (72 ERA+) and 1.90 WHIP. The '45 season couldn't have gone much different for Petty, as his return to Lincoln was stupendous. In 15 starts for the Legislators, "Hard Way" went 7-2 with a 2.25 ERA (181 ERA+), 1.19 WHIP. After near even walks (50) and strikeouts (51) in the 74.2 innings last season, he has a fair amount more strikeouts (70) then walks (48) in the 108 this year. Petty earned a promotion up to Mobile as a response to the Art White trade opening up a spot in the Chicago rotation, and after back-to-back four run starts, Petty got comfortable in a Commodores uniform. He was dominant against the second place Nashville Chieftains, tossing a 4-hit shutout with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts to go back above .500 at 2-1. Petty has a strong 2.88 ERA (139 ERA+) and 14 strikeouts in 25 innings since moving up, and the hard throwing righty seems more then up for the challenge. A five pitch pitcher, Petty's cutter and fastball top out at 97, and his forkball is a well above average pitch. He can mix in the change and curve too, but he's a cutter-forkball guy who can miss a lot of bats. He also likes missing the zone, consistently walking more then 4 per 9, but the bright young righty can be effective even with a few pitches that completely miss. That may prevent him from being a reliable big league starter, but in short bursts out of the pen and he can be really tough to square up. He's not someone you want coming in with runners on, but if you need a clean inning in terms of runs, he'll get that for you. With plenty of arms returning, Petty will likely shift to the pen or start a level down in Lincoln, but he'll get innings one way or another as we look to develop him into an FABL quality hurler.

CF Johnny Peters (A Lincoln Legislators): Things didn't start great for #3 pick Johnny Peters, but he's been one of the best Heartland League hitters in the month of August. The 21-year-old is slashing .362/.436/.565 (169 OPS+) with 9 doubles, 3 triples, and 13 RBIs. One thing you'll notice is that there's not a single home run, and somehow the outfielder has just one in 43 games with the Legislators. That couldn't be further from his 43 games at Liberty College, where he muscled 10 out of the park. While somewhat concerning, Lincoln Park suppresses power (as does Commodore Stadium a level higher), and only one Legislator (Bob Harris) has hit more then three homers on the season. What alleviates the concerns a little bit is the .291/.401/.446 (129 OPS+) batting line, which puts Peters comfortably above average. Currently ranked as the 16th best prospect in baseball, both OSA and Tom Weinstock think he can be an elite center fielder, and BNN thinks he'll be big league ready come next season. I really want him to be a double digit homer kind of guy, but his best tool is his hit tool, and just slightly below that is his eye. He's struck out a bit more then I expected, but he's still maintained a very high level batting line despite it. The big question mark is the glove, and while he hasn't looked great in center, he's young and has plenty of time to improve. The sky really is the limit for this kid, and I'm impatiently waiting for him to flourish in the big leagues.