[ayaghmour2]

August 24th, 1931
Chicago Cougars (70-57): 6
Montreal Saints (51-73): 7
11 Innings

W: Sam Young (1-3)
L: Claude Purvis (2-3)

We should have won this one... We were up 6-2 in after six and a half, and then they scored three in the bottom of the seventh. We held a one run lead in the 9th, but again, another starter left out too long. Instead of going to Purvis, Lyons allowed the game tieing run. Pruvis did end up getting the loss, but it was in his second inning of work as Cliff Moss walked it off with a single. Dick Lyons allowed 6 runs (5 earned), 13 hits, and a walk with 5 strikeouts in 9 innings. Purvis went 1+ inning, with all three hits and the run in the 11th. Slim Bloom was 3-for-5 with a triple, run scored, and two driven in. John Kincaid was 2-for-5 with a walk and RBI. Tom Taylor was 2-for-5 with a steal and RBI.Vince York was 2-for-5 with a run scored.

August 25th, 1931
Chicago Cougars (71-57): 6
Montreal Saints (51-74): 3

W: Steve Castellini (8-14)
L: Rich Fisher (11-7)
SV: Claude Purvis (4)

Six runs was enough today, as a big five run 6th helped us cruise to the finish line. Steve Castellini actually had a pretty good start, 7 strong innings with 8 hits, 3 runs, a walk, and strikeout. Claude Purvis pitched two perfect frames to pick up the save. John Kincaid was 3-for-5 with a run scored and two driven in. Vince York was 2-for-5 with a double and 2 RBI's. Phil Vaughan was 2-for-4. Cy Bryant was 1-for-4 with a steal and two run scored.

August 26th, 1931
Chicago Cougars (72-57): 1
Montreal Saints (51-75): 0

W: Dick Leudtke (13-10)
L: Dave Paynter (8-15)

Happy (pre) Birthday to me! Sure, I'd love more then just one run but a 7-hit, three strikeout shutout by Dick Leudtke is something I can't complain about. John Kincaid was 2-for-5 with a double and run scored. Bill Ashbaugh was 1-for-3 with a walk. Tom Taylor was 1-for-5, but his RBI double was enough for the win.

August 27th, 1931
Chicago Cougars (72-58): 4
Philadelphia Sailors (71-58): 7

W: Doc Newell (3-3)
L: Jim Crawford (14-11)

Well, losing sucks, don't get me wrong, but at least we're basically done with road games. The 7-4 loss to the Sailors was the last of 20 consecutive road games and 17 consecutive games with a day. What an awful stretch...

Anyways, the game itself wasn't great, as the Sailors managed to score 7 runs (5 earned) off 11 hits and 4 walks in just 5 innings of Jim Crawford. Ace McSherry mopped up the rest, 3 innings with 2 hits and a punchout. Cy Bryant was 3-for-4 with a double, run scored, and RBI. John Kincaid was 2-for-4 with a double, run scored, and RBI. Fred Barrell was 1-for-4 with a double and run scored.

August 29th, 1931
Cleveland Foresters (47-82): 2
Chicago Cougars (72-59): 1

W: Kyle Johnson (7-14)
L: Max Wilder (14-11)
SV: Eddie Grace (6)

We were off the day before and we probably needed another one. The offense never made it back, and we let the lowly Foresters keep us in check all game long in a 2-1 loss. Max Wilder pitched well, 7 innings with 6 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Tom Taylor was 2-for-4 with a walk. Harry Simmons was 1-for-4 with a double. Vince York was 1-for-4 with a walk.

August 30th, 1931
Cleveland Foresters (47-83): 3
Chicago Cougars (73-59): 10

W: Dick Lyons (15-5)
L: Pete Jemison (0-2)

Maybe we should have waited an extra day, as the offense woke back up and we won our last game of August 10-3. Vince York was 3-for-5 with a double, homer, and three runs scored. Fred Barrell was 3-for-5 with an RBI. Tom Taylor was 1-for-3 with a homer, 2 walks, 3 runs, and 2 RBI's. Bill Ashbaugh was 2-for-3 with a double, sac-fly, and 4 RBI's. John Kincaid was 2-for-5 with a run scored. Dick Lyons had a great start, going all nine with 7 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), a walk, and 4 strikeouts.

Stars of the Week
John Kincaid : 29 AB, 12 H, 0 HR, 4 RBI, .414 AVG, .916 OPS
Vince York : 26 AB, 8 H, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .308 AVG, .857 OPS
Dick Luedtke : 1 Win, 9.0 IP, 0 BB, 3 K, 0.00 ERA

Weekly Summary
13-14

I don't think I've ever been happy with a 13-14 month when I thought my team was supposed to play postseason baseball. But, with 17 consecutive road games and 20 of the 27 August games were all out of town. Honestly, we should've finished the month over .500, but we decided to drop the two home games against Toronto to start the month. Our road record isn't too bad either, as while 38-35 isn't great, it's still over .500. At home though, we're playing nearly .600 ball (35-24). After a four game series in Cleveland, we have 18 consecutive home games to end the year. I'm a little late on this post, so I already know how the series goes, but assuming we keep our winning pace at home, we should be able to count on 10 wins, which would put us just short of last year's 84 wins (this doesn't count the Foresters series). It may be enough to win the division, but I have to imagine that with ample rest days and no travel, we'll exceed those projections.

On the player side of things, both John Kincaid and Vince York are hitting .346, a point behind the third best CA hitter Doug Lightbody. A batting title seems far out of the reach as New York's Pete Layton is hitting .367, but we should have another top three hitter this year. I've talked a lot about York, but what's funny with Kincaid is in terms of OPS+ (he likes when his gets lower each year) it's the worst season of his career. He's hitting .344/.386/.426 (108 OPS+), but he hasn't homered and only has three triples. He doesn't have much power, just 14 career longballs, but he's recorded double digit triples each year in his career. He does have 17 steals and 52 RBI's, but Kincaid has been almost strictly a singles hitter this year. He still has a ton value on defense as he's an elite defender and he's as durable as they come. And if WAR is your thing, his defense is so good that he's likely to surpass his career high 5.0 last year with 4.4 and rising (hopefully).

Even though he did get a loss this week, I can't begin to explain how amazing Claude Purvis has been. Dick Kadlec, who probably won't pitch for a whole another year, just could not pitch out of the pen. In comes Purvis, who gets a whole option year burned because Tommy Russel decided to not pitch this season since he wasn't in the rotation, and injured himself out of spite. He's been excellent since, 26.2 innings with a 1.69 ERA (252 ERA+), 0.94 WHIP, and 7 strikeouts. The pen has actually turned into a strength now with him, Ace McSherry, and Bill Kline replacing Taylor Collins, Kadlec, and Russel. Add in the #2 (?) reliever in baseball Chick Meehan and it's hard to score in the late innings off our reinforcements.

And of course, what post is complete without Tom Taylor? He stole his 18th base, and he's just two more steals away from another 20/20 season. Yes, I wanted 40/20 when I traded for him, but one thing that Tom Taylor really brings to the team is his power. Vince York finally hit his 10th homer, but the next closest to double digits is Ashbaugh with just 7. Even better, none of my other starters have more then 3 (including Combs). Our fourth most homers is backup Phil Vaughan, who's slugged 4 in just 100 plate appearances. Sure, Taylor is an elite defender too, perhaps the best in the league, but that isn't what makes him special. Even if Taylor is just a league average hitter, so are most of my other players. None of them can hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases.

No minor league report today, I've been a day behind for a while now (we had a sim today that got us to roster expansion), but I'll do a big one tomorrow on our off day with all the call ups including a former top pick.