[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 2-5
Seasonal Record: 50-56 (6th, 18 GB)
Stars of the Week
Buddy Schneider : 20 AB, 8 H, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .400 AVG, 1.179 OPS
Elmer Grace : 17 AB, 8 H, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .471 AVG, 1.315 OPS
Red Bond : 27 AB, 8 H, 1 HR, 8 RBI, .296 AVG, .778 OPS

Schedule
7-31: Loss at Sailors (3-5)
8-1: Loss at Sailors (2-5)
8-2: Loss at Sailors (4-6)
8-3: Win at Foresters (7-4)
8-4: Loss at Foresters (5-8)
8-5: Loss at Foresters (4-6)
8-5: Win at Foresters (7-5)

Recap
I think we mistook "Saints" for "Sailors", seeing just the first three letters before dropping all three games in Philly. We did them another solid by splitting with the Foresters, as Philly opens the week 2.5 games above them and 7.5 above the Saints. Surprisingly, none of the losses were by a single run, but guess what?!?!?! They were all by two or three!!! In fact, all seven of the games were close like that! Love these close games!!!

Not going to get too deep into what happened this week, it's not really worth it, as the only news that matters is our new starting center fielder! Frank Reece!

The second of our now 15 top 100 prospects (we have the #1 farm again!), the first being the red hot Elmer Grace (81st) who's hit an outstanding .343/.408/.491 (137 OPS+) with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, and 16 RBIs, Reece will join the club in Chicago to make his best attempt at keeping the job. Ranked 5th in the system and 61st overall, Reece was absurdly good in his short AAA sample, slashing .340/.375/.642 (187 OPS+) with a 206 WRC+ in 25 games. That's even better then his impressive work in 60 games with Little Rock, where he hit .333/.397/.550 (145 OPS+) with a still well above average 158 WRC+. Between the two spots, he's tallied 75 runs, 22 doubles, 15 triples, 12 homers, 67 RBIs, and 32 walks in 399 trips to the plate. Barring injury, the rest of his work will be in Chicago, and as long as he keeps hitting, he won't have to worry about someone like Jerry Smith or Henry Norman coming in and stealing his playing time.

Smith got plenty of consideration, he's also hitting great at both levels, but his .295/.386/.523 (158 OPS+) line isn't as good, if you can believe that, and the storywriter in me wants him and Bob Allen coming to Chicago together. Allen has been elite, just a single run in his last three starts, but George Polk even looked good in his first bad start. Sure, he allowed 5 runs (4 earned) in 7.1 innings, but he didn't walk anyone, allowed just 7 hits, and struck out 2 in his fourth start with us. In 40 innings between the pen and rotation, he's got a 2.92 ERA (141 ERA+) and 1.23 WHIP, and I just can't kick him out of the rotation right now. He'll pitch at least once this week, maybe twice, and as long as he keeps getting outs, he'll be holding onto the fifth spot. And until September gives us roster expansion, I'm not ready to go to a six man.

We made one additional roster move, as I designated Billy Brown for assignment. He raked in AAA and spring training, but just can't get it going when the games matter, just 2-for-13 without a walk or extra base hit. Despite all his potential out of high school, he had an above average OPS+ and WRC+ just once, coming during a 1947 season where the 24-year-old hit .252/.327/.453 (114 OPS+) with 22 homers and 68 RBIs. That season accounts for somewhat close to half of his 57 career homers, as Brown owns a .230/.309/.369 (89 OPS+) career line in 604 games. 4th Rounder Morrie Phillips finally signed, though shockingly he's unranked as the third man out, but with him and Herm Kocher joining the organization we needed to make room for another outfielder. Coming up with Reece from AAA is Clyde Zimmerman, who hit a solid .243/.363/.419 (123 OPS+) with 9 doubles, 4 triples, 11 homers, 24 steals, 41 RBIs, 54 walks, and 55 runs. He gives us another option in center, and allows Norman to play in Milwaukee with Smith and Clyde Parker. I want to bring up the recently acquired Bert Preble too, but for now he'll be in Little Rock with Charlie Harvey and Harley Dollar, both ranked outfield prospects themselves.

I guess I should talk about the re-energized Buddy Schneider, who went 8-for-20 this week with a double, 2 homers, 2 steals, and 4 RBIs, upping his Cougar line to .347/.389/.673 (176 OPS+) in 13 post-trade starts. The "kid" didn't homer once in Boston, and they hit plenty of homers there, with five batters who would rank no worse then third in homers with George Sutterfield's eight. It's not going to keep up forever, but Buddy is doing just what Skipper does, giving great defense with the chance to get hot, and now he gets Frank Reece behind him. Those two could really start a bottom of the order rally, and all of sudden our lineup might produce runs? Like the make the defense make mistakes kind of runs. That's supposed to happen in close games?

Looking Ahead
It's bad, but I really want to lose all three of these games against the Saints, but since we're at home, winning two or three is far more likely. They're the humans last hope in the CA, 62-47 and actually within single digit of the back-in-first-place Sailors. You're welcome for that, I guess. Montreal's big move was adding our very own Sal Pestilli (.240, 8, 26, 12), who bats behind our very own Joe Austin (.259, 7, 46, 17) in an improved lineup. The struggling Moe Carter () has also been replaced by former 1st Rounder Hank Smith (.289, 4, 16), leaving an uncharacteristically healthy and struggling Gordie Perkins (.247, 3, 30, 7) as the only sub-100 WRC+ member of the lineup. Otis O'Keefe has been the anchor, slashing .317/.389/.500 (133 OPS+) with 19 doubles, 8 triples, 13 homers, 62 runs, and 63 RBIs, drawing 48 walks and swiping 6 bases with his 140 WRC+ and 3.9 WAR. He even took home the recent Batter of the Month, hitting .342/.403/.667 (178 OPS+) with 8 doubles, 9 homers, and 28 RBIs. At 25 he's already one of the best hitters in the CA, and if they can just get Pat Weakly (10-7, 4.50, 75) and Bert Cupid (9-9, 5.81, 56) hot, they could be right back in this thing. Ted Coffin (12-5, 3.02, 77) emerging as a legit starter has helped shoulder the load a bit, but if they can get the former co-aces going, the long pennant drought in Montreal may be ending.

And this year they have the depth to make up for injuries! Last year really should have been their year...

The wins better come on the weekend, where we'll host the Brooklyn Kings for three. It's the first time we see them without Ralph Johnson (.301, 17, 58, 5), who seemed to really hate us and dealt unspeakable damage to our sterling staff. In his place is Fred Miller (.329, 10, 65, 11), shifting from left to right, while 25-year-old Bob Craig (.320, 3, 14) has hit himself into regular playing time. Their new catcher is Frank Reichardt (.215, 1, 7), who OPS+ (72) hates and WRC+ (91) tolerates, while Johnson/Smith/Arman return piece Walt Staton (5-2, 6, 1.69, 25) is now in the rotation. The Rule-5 pick has looked good between Detroit and Brooklyn, but I'd love to see him, as despite what the numbers say he's the worst of the bunch. Yes, it may seem Ron Berry (5-0, 5.82, 73) forgot how to pitch, but for some reason the groundballer is allowing homers twice as often as he did last year, and he's actually dropped his BB% (9.3) below 10%. Just 25, like former 1st Overall Pick Roy Schaub (9-6, 3.18, 46) and a year younger then ace Joe Potts (12-6, 3.23, 60), the Kings will bring an excellent young rotation to Kansas City, and I expect them to be much better in 1952 then they are now.