[ayaghmour2]

BASEBALL IS BACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After another long offseason, there is a scent of hope and joy in the air, as the 16 FABL teams have concluded camp and are ready to kick off the 1946 season. The fine people at OSA think this will be the year of the Cougar, projecting us to finish an FABL best 97-57, good for a six game lead over the defending CA champs. This would put us in a rematch of the 1941 World Series, where the Minutemen survived a seven game series by winning four one run games. They expect a historic pitching season from us as well, projected to allow just 488 runs with the two best pitchers. That of course means Donnie Jones (32-10, 2.01, 218) and Pete Papenfus (23-18, 3.13, 261) with Joe Brown (19-12, 3.16, 108) checking in at ninth. The trio are all in the top 20 as well, with Jones and Pap 1 and 2 and Brown at 11. We also have a pair of projected top hitters, with Leo Mitchell (.318, 11, 79) and Hank Barnett (.291, 21, 95), who rank 20th and 13th respectively. They are both joined in the top 20 by Skipper Schneider (8th) and Billy Hunter (18th), giving us 7 of the top 40 players. There is plenty of talent on the roster, and we should be one of the best teams this year. That's the consensus around the league, as each season prediction had the Cougars listed as the top team in the CA. Like myself, a majority of prognosticators have the Keystones as our opponent, with them ranked first in five of the eight non-random selections. Here's who we're bringing with us as we look to capture that elusive pennant:

RHP Joe Brown
RHP Donnie Jones
LHP Johnnie Jones
RHP Ken Matson
RHP Pete Papenfus
RHP Harry Parker
RHP Rusty Petrick
RHP Billy Riley
LHP Rusty Watts
C Homer Guthrie
C Harry Mead
1B Ray Ford
1B Dick Walker
2B Clark Car
2B Billy Hunter
3B Hank Barnett
3B Jim Beard
SS Skipper Schneider
LF Rich Langton
LF Leo Mitchell
CF Don Lee
CF Carlos Montes
CF Ray Struble
RF Hal Sharp

Our farm system graduated a lot of talent last season, but still ranks 7th in the league, with 7 top 100 prospects, 21 in the top 250, and 43 in the top 500. Duke Bybee leads the group at #4, and ranks as the #1 pitching prospect in the entire FABL. Johnny Peters dropped a bit to 23, giving us a pair of top 25 prospects with Eddie Howard (32nd) not too far behind. Bybee may graduate this year, but is regardless good to go. If Johnnie Jones or Billy Riley struggle, he'll be called up quickly, but what's more likely is that someone gets hurt. We have the minor league depth to weather most storms, and talented youngsters like George Oddo and Sutterfield are high octane youngsters that are technically not prospects due to their playing time last year.

We start our season in Brooklyn, with a pair of games against the Kings, who have a new GM for the season. They have plenty of Cougar prospects on their Opening Day roster, including Mel Haynes and Harry Stewart, but the headliner is former 2nd Rounder Leo Hayden. The centerpiece in the Art White deal, Hayden is a pitcher I am very high on, but was comfortable moving because we have plenty of pitching, and he would not be able to fully blossom with us. The imposing 6'6'' southpaw ranks as the 19th best prospect, and is set to make his big league debut against us on Opening Day. This kid is the real deal, and could develop into an ace, but if he was still in our system he'd be with Oddo, Bybee, Swank, and Kelsey in Milwaukee instead of leading a big league rotation. We'll also get the debut of Wally Graves, who like Hayden, enlisted after the 1941 season. He didn't return last fall, as Hayden did make a few starts in AA, and last pitch as a 19-year-old in C ball. The former 12th Rounder was 12-10 with a 4.66 ERA (87 ERA+), but made huge strides while in the Navy. Ranked 5th in their system and 41st overall, the converted outfielder has an off the charts circle change, and pretty solid control. He doesn't throw hard, but Graves projects as a middle rotation arm, and at 23 is an excellent building block. The lineup isn't as young, but they returned superstar Rats McGonigle in center field and Tiny Tim Hopkins at first. They also brought in former Cougar Solly Skidmore to catch, but have elected to place 28-year-old Roger Upton as the starter, despite just 15 FABL games in the past two seasons. I don't think we'll have much trouble with the Kings, especially since they drew Pap and Donnie, but this is a team we need to take advantage of now, as they won't be a cellar dweller forever.

Our time on the road will be short, as we return to the Chi to host the Saints on the 18th. We're then off on the 19th, before finishing the series with two more. The biggest name Montreal brings back is Wally Doyle, who last pitched in 1942 where he led the league with a 5.4 K/9. Now 27, the Waco Kid returns to the top of the Saints rotation for his aged 27 season. It's a big year for the lefty, who can almost be thought as Papenfus-lite. He has massive stuff, but with massive control issues, and he can throw a ton of innings. He led the league in walks his last two big league seasons, and despite his ability to miss bats, has still yet to put up an ERA+ above 100. The talent is there, but Montreal can be a tough place to pitch. Fellow Wally, Wally Reif, is another returnee, and he'll join Pat Weakly (13-9, 3.13, 136) and former 4th Overall pick Bert Cupid, who took a year off to join the army. The Saints rotation will strike out a ton of hitters, but if you can get them rattled, free passes will be plentiful. The lineup is solid, but doesn't have many new faces. They added clubhouse leader Joe Henry (.246, 4, 38) from the Dynamos to catch and Otis Parker (.241, 1, 8) was discharged in September to make his big league debut. Bert Lass will look to get back on track after a poor (by his standards) 1943, and they'll get another year of Bill Greene (.280, 18, 99, 17), Jake Hughes (.310, 5, 68, 33), and Gordie Perkins (.289, 5, 54). The trio were all above average offensively last season, and should produce similarly in a deeper lineup this year. The Saints are a really solid club who should play plenty of spoiler, but we can't afford to play as terribly as we did last year again. They're not quite on the level of us, the Cannons, or Wolves, but they're just a piece or two away from being a legit contender in what will soon be a very crowded association.