[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 3-5
Seasonal Record: 78-69 (3rd, 13 GB)
Stars of the Week
None Generated

Schedule
9-10: Loss at Foresters (3-7)
9-11: Loss at Foresters (2-3)
9-12: Win at Wolves (4-1)
9-13: Loss at Wolves (1-4)
9-14: Win at Wolves (8-7)
9-15: Win at Cannons (5-4)
9-16: Loss at Cannons (1-8)
9-16: Loss at Cannons (0-3)

Recap
And with another 3-5 week, the Chicago Cougars have been officially eliminated from postseason contention. What makes it even worse is we're barely holding on to third place, just half a game above the Sailors. We've secured a .500 or better record for the ninth consecutive season, but we're at risk of snapping our six season streak of finishing in the top three spots. Dropping both games in Cleveland was pathetic, and of course, we beat the Wolves (2) more then the Cannons (1). That helped the Cannons maintain their 3.5 game lead, as both teams finished the week an impressive 6-2. We have just four games this week and three the following week, so the boys will get plenty of rest to finish off the season. I still want to win every game left; there is both pride and a stronger draft spot at stake, so don't expect backups to flood the lineup. This week will be all about Dick Lyons, who will make his 563rd appearance and final appearance as a Chicago Cougar on the 23rd in our final home game of the season. We'll have a nice big number retirement ceremony for the beloved southpaw who is the only remaining player from the pre-human era to stay with the same organization they started with. In a season with not much to celebrate, this will be our World Series, and I hope we can win him one last game. His 237 wins are second most in Cougar history (crazy enough Harry Parker is 5th with 114), and despite not looking himself this year, he's been a dependable starter for 18 seasons. It will feel weird without him next season, but he'll be officially passing the torch to the youngsters Duke Bybee and George Oddo, and he'll have veteran Mike Taylor, his teammate for the last 13 and a half seasons catch him. Their combined 84 years and 227 days will be tough to top, and their combined leadership has helped us consistently win more then we lose. In the 13 full seasons they were teammates, we had just two (1935, 1936) losing seasons, equal to the amount of 97 win (1933, 1941) seasons during their tenure.

Tough week all around, but George Oddo's likely final start of the season went pretty well. The 10 hits in 7 innings wasn't great, but he allowed just 3 runs (2 earned) and 2 walks with 6 strikeouts against a potent Cannons offense. The 22-year-old made 17 starts for us this season, an even 7-7 with a 3.02 ERA (117 ERA+), 1.17 WHIP, 51 walks, and 71 strikeouts. These were excellent numbers for the talented rookie that Tom Weinstock believes will develop into an ace. With Papenfus, the Jones Brothers, Joe Brown, Harry Parker, and Joe Brown all in line for starts next season, there's no obvious spot for Oddo. There's also Duke Bybee, who may join Oddo in Milwaukee, as he's looked overmatched so far. It's just three starts, but his two this week were very bad. The Foresters piled on 9 hits, 6 runs, and 6 walks with just 3 strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched. Against the Wolves he walked 6 more, leaving after 7 with 11 hits, 7 runs (6 earned), and 2 strikeouts. Despite his struggles, I can't get too mad at him, as he has just 2 starts above C ball before his debut, and he hasn't pitched in years. We have so much talent in the rotation that we can afford to take things slow with Duke, who's hopped back up a spot to 6th in the prospect rankings.

Pete Papenfus made a pair of starts, beating the Wolves while being hit hard by the Cannons. He went all nine in Toronto, allowing just 7 hits, a run, and 4 walks with 6 strikeouts. He fell apart in Cincinnati, just 7.1 innings with 9 hits, 8 runs (7 earned), 5 walks, and 4 strikeouts. It was his first start this season with more walks then strikeouts, but he's still struck out (47) 20 more hitters then he's walked. Harry Parker made a pair of starts as well, including our only win against the Cannons. Parker went 7 with 7 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts. It was his first decision in five starts, as he couldn't top the Foresters earlier in the week. We didn't give him much support, as he left with one out in the 7th after allowing 9 hits, a run, and 3 walks with 6 strikeouts. Parker's next (and likely last) start of the season will be #35, and he surpassed 250 innings (250.2) for the fifth time in six seasons. The last start went to Billy Riley, who went 7 with 6 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), 5 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Rusty Petrick was active out of the pen, making 4 appearances and throwing 6.2 innings. He got a win and save, charged with 6 hits, 4 runs, and 2 walks while striking out just one. Mike Thorpe made three appearances but recorded just five outs, tagged with a loss, 2 hits, and a run. With just seven more games and plenty of off days, I doubt we'll need the pen much more, but I haven't yet decided if we'll bring up a few extra arms for the last week. Guys like Charlie Kelsey, Bill Tuttle, and Angel Lopez deserve a shot, but there aren't many games left and they deserve to win a Century League pennant instead of just wasting away in our pen.

The lineup will get Rich Langton back this week, but that means less time for Ray Struble, who was one of two effective hitters this week. Struble went 6-for-18 with a homer, 2 RBIs, 2 runs, 3 walks, and 2 steals. The other was the red hot Skipper Schneider, who was 10-for-29 with a double, 3 (!!) homers, 2 walks, 4 RBIs, and 6 runs. That doubled Skipper's homer total for the season, and he's just a tenth of a win away from his first 10 WAR season. 25 in October, Skipper is close to finishing his six big league season, and his .291/.351/.391 (113 OPS+) triple slash could end up the best in his young career. We could technically add a third player to the list of effectiveness, as George Sutterfield made the most of his three starts. While not otherworldly, he was 3-for-10 with a double, walk, run, and steal. His rookie season hasn't gone according to plan, hitting just .227/.277/.293 (64 OPS+) in 83 trips to the plate, and the Nashville native is ticketed for Milwaukee next season with the return of infielders Billy Hunter, Ray Ford, Hank Barnett, and Clark Car. At least next season we'll have plenty of firepower, and there is no way we finish bottom three in runs next year. For a team that's consistently finished top three (generally two), we're on track to finish with our fewest run total since 1919 when the Cougars scored just 495.

Looking Ahead
Our long and painful road trip ends with the finale in Cincinnati, as the Cannons look to extend their 3.5 game lead over Toronto. With the Wolves in Toronto next, they may look to skip over Red Hampton (11-12, 3.17, 56) and instead give the start to Jim Anderson (1-2, 2.95, 16) as Toronto's offense is far stronger then ours. They'll have to face Billy Riley (17-12, 3.29, 110), but since they just walloped Papenfus, Riley shouldn't be all that difficult. Chuck Adams (.305, 25, 104) bruised his thigh against the Stars, but it didn't stop him from recording his 100th RBI off Harry Parker the day after. He might be the only CA hitter to reach that mark this season, but Walt Pack (.306, 30, 96) and Vic Crawford (.320, 14, 95) are closing in on the century mark. Adams and Al Wheeler (.306, 28, 92) have been chasing Pack for the home run crown, a duo that has more homers then five FABL organizations. Add in Denny Andrews (.261, 14, 53) and that number jumps to ten. They do have a weakness, as the old bones can't steal many bases, with Dick Walker's 26 one behind the Cannons team totals. Of course, when you can score 5 runs a game, you don't have to do much stealing to win...

We then return home for six days, but we play just three games during that period. The first is Wednesday against the Saints, who have dropped to 69-76 and 21 out of first. They need to go 8-1 for their first .500 season since 1930, but since we only get three more against them, that seems like a tall task. Pat Weakly's (13-9, 3.25, 128) sore wrist set them back last week, and since he'll be healthy when they come to town, we'll get the pleasure of facing the CA's top strikeout arm. Lucky for us, Crawford is hurt, leaving Bill Greene (.283, 17, 92, 17) and Jake Hughes (.315, 5, 62, 32) to pick up the slack. 27-year-old Ted Brown may help too, as he's put up a rather shocking .336/.357/.480 (130 OPS+) line in 77 games with 20 doubles, 7 triples, 3 homers, and 45 RBIs. This will be a tough game for us to win, and I'm keeping my expectations low the rest of the way.

For the weekend we welcome the Stars to town, and I just hope they don't spoil Lyons' big day. At 69-81, they're just a few games behind the Saints for 5th, and have a potential 20 game winner in Eli Panneton (19-12, 2.94, 103). He's carried the rotation after Dixie Lee (17-11, 2.49, 77) left, as Ed Cornett (9-15, 4.14, 84) has had a rough second half. Despite losing his last five starts, Johnny Cook's (7-9, 2.79, 40) ERA hasn't moved too much, but the 35-year-old vet doesn't strike much fear into opposing hitters. They do hit well, recently welcoming back Bob Riggins (.302, 4, 2) to the lineup, while Bill Grove (.276, 2, 30, 6) continues his strong rookie season and Maury Millsap (.292, 8, 41) continues his breakout at 31. Jim Honeywood (.301, 7, 57, 4) and Chubby Hall (.288, 10, 94) are doing their best to keep lineup spots when the troops come home, but the Stars will be one of the more interesting teams to watch next season. Are they a pennant worthy team? Well, any team with Bill Barrett can compete, and that lineup sure will be scary. The pitching has some question marks, as Chuck Cole will be 36 and Lou Robertson and Vern Hubbard are both past 30. Don't forget, they are the last non-Cannon team to win the CA after they won a whopping 103 games in 1942...

Yeah, we really messed things up last year...

Minor League Report
LHP Ed Fisler: Ed Fisler is a lucky guy! I didn't plan on any more promotions, but Bill Ballantine came off the IL, and I didn't want to cut anyone with one week left in the season. There were options in AAA, but with so few games, I'd much rather Kelsey, Lopez, etc. make another start instead of some random inning in a blow out. One option to promote was Jack Huston (11-9, 4.21, 78), but he hasn't pitched well enough to warrant one and I don't want one of my AA pitchers to have one random AAA start. That leaves a spot in Chicago for the only AA pitcher on the 40-man roster! Acquired in the Freddie Jones deal, the now 24-year-old southpaw will have a chance to debut in the big leagues. The former 10th Rounder had a pretty good minor league track record, and was really good in Mobile last season. This year was far different, as he went 12-11 with a 4.28 ERA (93 ERA+) and 1.55 WHIP with 106 walks and 109 strikeouts. Last season he actually walked (94) more guys then he struck out (81), but was a far more impressive 15-7 with a 3.28 ERA (121 ERA+) and 1.48 WHIP. Fisler won't get a start, so it may be tough for him to get an inning, but he'll spend seven days in our pen and I can't imagine Dick Lyons going very far in his last start.

RHP Joe Swank (AAA Milwaukee Blues): He definitely deserved it, but there's no late season callup in line for Joe Swank. He wasn't deterred one bit, responding with a pair of dominant starts to guide the Milwaukee Blues to a third consecutive Century League pennant. One of those victories was a 4-hit shutout against the Fort Wayne Warriors and he allowed just 8 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks in 17 top-notch innings. Currently ranked as the 145th best prospect in the FABL, Swank sports a stellar 2.67 ERA (135 ERA+) and 1.09 WHIP as a 22-year-old pitching in the top rung of the minor league ladder. With 123 strikeouts and just 48 walks, he improved both his K/9 (4.5 to 4.7) and BB/9 (2.4 to 1.8) in a career high 235.2 innings pitched. His 135 ERA+, 80 FIP-, and 5.6 WAR are all near personal bests, but he's already won his most games and is a near lock for lowest WHIP as the next closest was his 1.27 WHIP in 175 innings with the Legislators two seasons ago. I'm not sure if we're having a Rule-5 draft or if he's going to be eligible, but I won't leave him unprotected. Whether that means providing him with a 40-man roster spot or using him as trade bait is yet to be determined, but one way or another the former 7th Rounder will get a chance to crack an FABL rotation. Swank reminds me a bit for a former Cougar prospect Joe Foote, who I got a look at when compiling an offseason report on the Cougars 2035 Top Prospect list. Both were high school pitchers taken in the second half of the human portion of the draft who consistently played at higher levels then their age would suggest. Both righties do a good job preventing homers, but the advantage Swank has is he strikes out batters. What's to be determined is if all the whiffs are due to his stuff or due to the depleted minor leagues. A team with less young pitchers could rush him to the majors, but other then the occasional September callup, Swank isn't likely to see many big league innings. He's best off starting every day, and Milwaukee's rotation will be crowded, so he may get an undeserved demotion due to the influx of war vets. He's got a green arrow to Chicago and is ready to face big league batters, so don't be surprised if he pitches his way onto the Cougars roster by this time next year.

CF Alex Horning (AA Mobile Commodores): In game 22, an 0-for-3 snapped Alex Horning's hit streak at 21 in a 2-1 loss to the Chattanooga Rebels. Worst part is it wasn't even a bad game, as Horning drew two walks, and improved his season line to .269/.353/.383 (98 OPS+) in 129 games for the Commodores. Horning's 104 WRC+ is a bit better, and the speedy outfielder hit 16 doubles, 15 triples, and 5 homers while swiping 10 bags and driving in 64 runs with more walks (69) and strikeouts (53). The 25-year-old spent more time in left (90) then his natural center field (45) position, but he was excellent in both spots. An 11th Round Pick from 1941, Horning has taken advantage of the overseas conflict, appearing in 100 or more games in four consecutive seasons. This came after just 46 games his draft year, where all but 8 came as an in-game replacement. His laziness may work against him, however, as he'll have plenty of competition for every day at bats now that the war is over. Having never profiled as much more then a 4th outfielder, higher ceiling guys will get a priority. To his credit, his speed and versatility will keep him around, so some good off the bench at bats could help him take the inevitable open spot when someone gets hurt.