[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 1-3
Seasonal Record: 71-83 (7th, 15 GB)
Stars of the Week
George Sutterfield : 11 AB, 6 H, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .545 AVG, 1.636 OPS
Joe Brown : 1 Win, 9.0 IP, 1 BB, 5 K, 1.00 ERA
Ray Ford : 7 AB, 2 H, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .286 AVG, 1.000 OPS

Schedule
9-23: Loss vs Saints (2-1)
9-24: Loss vs Saints (4-6): 10 innings
9-25: Win at Stars (7-3)
9-28: Loss at Kings (4-5)

Recap
Well, at least its over!

The worst month ever is finally done and this nightmare of a season is over. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong, and we're stuck heading into the offseason with a lot of questions and no good answers. The month in particular was historically bad, as we went 4-18 (.181) in September. I only have records back to 1930, but this is our worst month since, the next closest the 7-18 (.280) we put up September 1936. We finished with a negative run differential (-3) for the first time since 1938 (-26), and our -6 expected record would have actually had us at .500. In five of the last six seasons we've underperformed our expected record by at least five games, so I'm really hoping we used up all our bad luck this year,

Adding injury to insult, Leo Mitchell could not finish the season in all 154 games, as he left game 151 with a herniated disc in his back. It would have cost him an IL stint, something he's never had to undergo unless you include his year in the Army. 35 next May, Mitchell hit just .270/.314/.391 (92 OPS+) with 18 doubles, 14 homers, and 73 RBIs. He was exactly a replacement player (0.0) and his 98 WRC+ was almost average. No Cougar is happier the season ended then Mitchell, who may be in danger of losing his starting spot for the first time ever. I won't actively look to upgrade on him in the offseason, but if Mitchell has another unnatural start, we may have to look to upgrade on him during the season.

Joe Brown ended his season on the right note, picking up a complete game win over the Stars in his last start of 1947. He allowed 6 hits, 3 runs (1 earned), and a walk with 5 strikeouts to break his five game losing streak. This evened his record at 13-13 with a 3.87 ERA (99 ERA+), 1.24 WHIP, 53 walks, and 86 strikeouts in 30 starts. Harry Parker lost both of his starts, as homeruns were a big problem. He was unlucky in the loss against the Saints, going 7 with 4 hits, 2 runs, and 5 walks with just one strikeout in a 2-1 loss. The Kings, however, got to him good, hitting three homers as Parker went 8 with 7 hits, 5 runs, and 3 strikeouts. Injuries kept him off the field most of the season, as Parker threw just 34.2 innings with 12 walks, 17 strikeouts, and a 4.41 ERA (87 ERA+). It may be time for the 32-year-old to transition to the pen full time, but if we need a spot starter or injury replacement he could give us a few starts. He's not at risk of trade, but both Parker and Brown may not do much in our rotation after this season.

George Sutterfield ended his season on a high note, going 6-for-11 with a double, triple, homer, 3 runs, and 3 RBIs to up his season line to .250/.290/.333 (71 OPS+), which is not what the 25-year-old wanted to be at. Despite being projected as a better overall shortstop then Skipper, Sutterfield has really struggled in Chicago, hitting just .239/.282/.323 (68 OPS+) in 252 career plate appearances. I was hoping he'd finally show something with the bat, but even his quality defense wasn't very good. In the Spring I'll have to work him out more at second and third to find him a way into the lineup, but he has a chance to play somewhat frequently next year at second or third base. The odds of Billy Hunter staying healthy a third season is almost zero, and there's no guarantee Otto Christian can produce in the big leagues. Dixie thinks he has the untapped potential to be one of the best players in the game, but a change of scenery may be needed to help him reach that. Unfortunately, I doubt his value is very high, but him or Don Lee are young potential regulars that could help solidify our lineup through trade or an improved 1948. With all that went wrong this year, you have to imagine it will balance back out...

Last little note goes to Sal Pestilli, who finished his nightmarish season 0-for-20 to drop his season line to .232/.288/.360 (75 OPS+) in 587 trips to the plate. His 76 WRC+ with us was a bit lower then the 80 from his time with the Gothams, but he did walk (23) more as a Cougar then he struck out (19) and supplied 12 doubles, 7 triples, 3 homers, and 3 steals. This was the first season Pestilli had an OPS+ or WRC+ below 110, and the first season he walked (42) less then he struck out (45). As disappointing as this season was, there nowhere to go but up for Pestilli. He's a star, whether you can see it or not, and when he's on there's very few players better. He's a legit five tool guy with oodles of talent, and if we want to reverse our fortunes, he's going to be a big reason why. With starts like him, Mitchell, Pap, the Jones Brothers, Duke Bybee, Walt Pack, and Red Bond, the Cougars should be much better next season.

Just next season can't come soon enough...

Looking Ahead
While most baseball fans are anxiously awaiting the upcoming World Championship Series (more on that later), the Cougars have more pressing matters to attend to. The hiring of a new manager. After the Cougars' 5-4 loss in Brooklyn, Clyde Meyer was officially let go. The 68-year-old finished eight seasons with the Cougars, going 684-549 with a pennant and seven winning seasons. It wasn't enough, as year-in and year-out (excluding 1945) Meyer was gifted the best roster in the Association, and he couldn't get anything done with it. This year was the final straw, as the dominant Cougars treaded water most of the season before completely falling off in September. The Cougars failed to live up to their expected record while losing close and extra inning games, and this year was no different. We had a -6 expected record with a 20-28 record in one-run games and a 4-10 record in extra inning games. The new manager will have their hands full as they will inherit a roster with a lot of talented and angry players.

Looking towards the series, the Philadelphia Sailors (86-68) survived the crazy and contested Continental Association, edging the Cincinnati Cannons (85-69) by a single game. It will be a tough series, but I think the Sailors will outlast the St. Louis Pioneers (94-60) in a seven game series. The Sailors have plenty of depth, and a talented roster consisting of potential Allen Winner Win Lewis (17-12, 2.88, 87) and batting title winner Ed Reyes (.338, 5, 66), who has won each of the last three. Even though he struggled a bit towards the end, they have a strong rotation with Charlie Gordon (2-8, 4.14, 33), Al Duster (11-12, 3.43, 122), and Slick Wesolowski (15-11, 3.80, 92). The lineup can score some runs too, as Reyes is supplemented by Harvey Brown (.311, 5, 66, 28), Cotton Dillon (.267, 7, 69), Les Cunha (.268, 8, 85), Bobby Boone (.303, 2, 42, 11), and Rip Lee (.282, 3, 62, 5).

They'll have their hands full with the Pioneers, who shocked the league this year and took the pennant by ten games. They spent pretty much every day in first place, going 11-5 in April. They did slump in September, going just 11-13, which was the only month they finished below .500. The worst-to-first bit was very impressive, and you can thank former Cougar draftee Danny Hern (25-5, 2.78, 127), who should run away with the Allen Award. It was a huge improvement from when he went 0-4 with a 9.39 ERA (36 ERA+) in 23 innings last year, and him, Hiram Steinberg (19-9, 3.11, 82), and Hal Hackney (16-11, 3.95, 199). Hiram and Hackney are potential aces, and should keep the Sailors lineup in check, but scoring runs may be tough. Do I really buy that Zip Sullivan (.296, 3, 23), Bill Freeman (.327, 4, 69, 7), Buck Pusey (.304, 2, 49, 27), and Ray Bates (.320, 3, 50) are above average hitters? Not really... But Larry Gregory (.295, 17, 101), Al Tucker (.328, 13, 96), and Homer Mills (.276, 9, 80) are legit and this is a team that ranked #1 in average and OBP. They've impressed all season long, and there's no reason that will stop now.

Regardless of the outcome, this should be a very exciting series, and it's a brand new matchup for the WCS. Part of that is St. Louis' pennant drought that spanned 1922 to 1946, as they will be making just their third trip to the series. The Sailors haven't been here for a while, last appearing when they made a threepeat from 1928-1930, where they captured the '28 and '30 series. My gut is telling me Sailors in seven, but it wouldn't be to surprising if the Pioneers took this one. I think the consensus leans towards St. Louis, which would finish off a remarkable turn around for a team that hadn't had much success in the human era.