[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 4-2
Seasonal Record: 84-67 (t-4th, 13 GB)
Stars of the Week
Tom Halliday : 21 AB, 12 H, 1 HR, 7 RBI, .571 AVG, 1.280 OPS
Henry Watson : 23 AB, 8 H, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .348 AVG, 1.043 OPS
Gene Case : 23 AB, 7 H, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .304 AVG, .950 OPS

Schedule
9-24: Win vs Stars (3-9)
9-25: Loss vs Stars (5-2)
9-26: Loss vs Stars (8-1)
9-27: Win at Foresters (5-4)
9-28: Win at Foresters (7-3)
9-29: Win at Foresters (6-5)

Recap
This week was certainly a surprise, as after dropping our home series with the Stars, we swept the Foresters to enter a tie with them for 4th. With three games left, the best we can hope for his 3rd, as the Stars are two games ahead of us. More importantly, we could actually win 87 games this years, which seemed impossible at the beginning of the season. 85 would be a nice return to relevance for a team who hasn't won that many since 1948. Which actually feels kind of sad considering how good some of my late teams were.

And they couldn't win more then this bunch!

Two wins would be best, as not only would that be a series win, but it would give us exactly ten more wins then the team last year. That's a nice round number for improvement, and we certainly have the talent to compete. There's a lot of good young players on this roster, and if I can just add a few new complimentary pieces, we could be built for a sustained pennant run.

Best news of the sim is Dixie's "Very High" scouting report of "solid, healthy, valuable second starter, and the ace on some teams" for John Mitchell, but I really appreciate the work Tom Halliday did at the plate. Our glove first shortstop hit his 2nd homer of the season, 12-for-21 with a walk, steal, and 7 RBIs. A down year offensively, Halliday won't be able to move his .278/.325/.350 (74 OPS+) line up much more, and his 81 WRC+ is over twenty points lower then it was last season (102). Still one of the top defenders out there, he provides plenty of value to the team, and if we can get him hitting like this next year, our lineup would get a whole lot longer.

Henry Watson continued his power surge, adding a pair of doubles and homers with 5 runs and 6 RBIs. If he can homer in one of our last three games, he'll record his first career 30-home run season. He finished a 9 homer September with a .346/.364/.664 (159 OPS+) line, short just of his torrid June where that was .412/.459/.745 (205 OPS+). His 119 RBIs are third in FABL, a solid mark for a third year player. He's set career highs in doubles (28), homers, RBIs, hits (177), and PAs (619), with one more series to add to them. If he homers, he'll get to join Case as the first two Cougar teammates to hit 30-homres. 40 is out of reach, unless he gets one a game the rest of the way, but 37 came this week. It snapped a streak of subpar performance, as Case was 7-for-23 with a double, triple, 3 walks, 4 RBIs, and 5 runs scored. He's likely set to finish third in the Continental in home runs, and if he can get two more he'd be alone for the third highest in Cougar history. For now, he's behind teammate Jack Gibson (38, 1959), who could have made a huge impact for us this year.

Looking Ahead
Three games left, as we'll get to host the Saints to finish things off. As crazy as it sounds, this season was really successful, as we got an exciting young shortstop prospect, won a lot of games, and picked up a top quality pitcher. Sure, I fumbled the draft, but it was a weaker class I wasn't too familiar with anyways. I'm still prepping for the '63 draft, but I have a better hold on it then I did for last year. Not sure when it happens or where we will pick, but I'm sure the system will get a nice boost to it no matter where we pick. Plus even if some aren't highly ranked, I picked up a bunch of interesting prospects from minor league signings, adding plenty of depth to a staff devoid of it. We have a lot of work to do, but I'm excited for next season.

It just all starts with Jack Gibson. Please be healthy soon. Please.

He's still the 2nd ranked second basemen!