[ayaghmour2]

Two games into the WCS and we are still tied up. The series shifts to New York, where former Cougar Joe Brown (11-14, 3.86, 75) is expected to take on Ducky Davis (8-13, 3.71, 89). It's not often you see two pitchers with losing records square off in a playoff game, but both guys were unlucky in the rum support difference despite pitching for the #1 respective offenses. Neither offense is too hot, while New York has four runs in both games and Cleveland has scored seven, two in the loss and five in the win.

Catchers
Eddie Howard (CHC): 94 WRC+, HR, 57 RBI, 2.0 WAR
Harry Mead (CHC): 79 WRC+, 3 RBI, 0.2 WAR

Infielders
Billy Hunter (CHC): 85 WRC+, HR, 17 RBI, 0.8 WAR
Joe Austin (MON): 78 WRC+, 6 HR, 44 RBI, 29 SB, -0.7 WAR
Hal Wood (TOR/CHC): 119 WRC+, 3 HR, 58 RBI, SB, 4.1 WAR
Skipper Schneider (CHC): 67 WRC+, 3 HR, 49 RBI, 5 SB, 4.2 WAR
Otto Christian (CHC): 30 WRC+, 5 HR, 17 RBI, -0.8 WAR
Ed Reyes (PHS): 146 WRC+, 2 HR, 36 RBI, 2.4 WAR
George Sutterfield (CHC): 102 WRC+, 7 HR, 54 RBI, 13 SB, 2.5 WAR

Outfielders
Leo Mitchell (CHC): 138 WRC+, 13 HR, 73 RBI, 5 SB, 3.0 WAR
Bunny Hufford (NYG): 106 WRC+, 11 HR, 53 RBI, 5 SB, 2.2 WAR
Chubby Hall (CHC): 85 WRC+, 14 HR, 47 RBI, 0.5 WAR
Chink Stickels (TOR/MON): 70 WRC+, 2 HR, 23 RBI, 0.1 WAR
Carlos Montes (CHI): 88 WRC+, 5 HR, 31 RBI, SB, 1.1 WAR
Don Lee (CHC): 161 WRC+, 2 HR, 15 RBI, 4 SB, 1.0 WAR

Pitchers
Duke Bybee (CHC): 13-13, 105 ERA+, 106 K, 3.8 WAR
Zane Kelley (CHC/TOR): 2-6, 90 ERA+, 16 K, 0.4 WAR
Charlie Kelsey (CHC): 1-0, 73 ERA+, 22 K, -0.3 WAR
Leo Hayden (BRK): 13-13, 95 ERA+, 109 K, 3.3 WAR
Danny Hern (STL): 14-18, 100 ERA+, 90 K, 3.8 WAR
Ron Berry (BRK): 20-11, 130 ERA+, 149 K, 4.3 WAR
George Oddo (CHC): 5-11, 78 ERA+, 70 K, 1.3 WAR
Pete Papenfus (CHC): 14-12, 112 ERA+, 146 K, 4.6 WAR
Harry Parker (CHC): 0-0, 189 ERA+, 0.1 WAR

Totals
Hitters: 22.6
Pitchers: 21.3
Total: 43.9
Approximate Wins: 78

Notable Prospects/Picks Traded
October 1949: Traded Carlos Montes to the Chiefs for Mack Lyons
December 1949: Traded Ron Berry, Tom Brownleaf, and Dutch Yoak to the Kings for John Moss and Jack Moore
January 1950: Traded Harry Beardsley to the Miners for Bill Davis and Johnny Hadley
February 1950: Traded Bob Mundy and Willie Watson to the Kings for Joe Marshall
July 1950: Traded Zane Kelley, George Carter, Ducky Cole, and Mike Emerson to the Wolves for Hal Wood and Jim Morrison

Much to my surprise, this team actually slightly underperformed the current Cougars in terms of WAR, and would have finished in 6th instead of the tie for 5th. What might be most interesting is that Cougar draftees struck out 940 batters this season, well above the CA team average of 623 and the FA average of 544. We finished second in the association with 673, and we employed two of the five Cougar draftees (Bybee and Pap) who struck out more that struck out 90 or more hitters. No Minuteman pitcher managed 90 strikeouts! That's a lot of strikeouts from our draftees!