[ayaghmour2]

Weekly Record: 6-2
Seasonal Record: 42-38 (2nd, 9 GB)
Stars of the Week
Sal Pestilli : 35 AB, 13 H, 3 HR, 7 RBI, .371 AVG, 1.063 OPS
Red Bond : 21 AB, 7 H, 3 HR, 8 RBI, .333 AVG, 1.243 OPS
Chubby Hall : 19 AB, 7 H, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .368 AVG, 1.045 OPS

Schedule
7-4: Win vs Stars (2-4)
7-4: Loss vs Stars (7-2)
7-5: Win vs Stars (7-13)
7-6: Loss at Kings (6-7): 14 innings
7-7: Win at Kings (3-2)
7-8: Win vs Saints (1-5)
7-9: Win vs Saints (2-11)
7-10: Win vs Saints (6-7)

Recap
Heh, look at that. A great way to end the first half!

If you told be when the season started, that at the all star break we'd be in second and single digit games out of first place, I would have been okay with that. What I would not have expected is that it came after winning eight of our last ten to sneak in to a ghastly nine game deficit as the Cleveland Foresters have had no issues staying atop the standings after their 22-6 June.

But nine games?

Let's see... If the Foresters go 36-36 they'll finish with 88 wins. If we go 47-25 we'll have 89. Call me crazy, but I think we can do that! And that's because we have Sal Pestilli.

The 8th Time All-Star is the only reason we've won any games this year, and he won his second Player of the Week this season by going 13-for-35 with a double, 2 steals, 3 homers, 7 runs, and 7 RBIs. He's now hitting an impressive .343/.396/.576 (156 OPS+) with 16 doubles, 7 triples, 15 homers, 12 steals, and 60 RBIs. He's been worth 4.5 WAR in 79 games, drawing 30 walks to 24 strikeouts. Sal will be joined by fellow 8-Time All-Star Skipper Schneider (.293, 3, 31, 3) and Donnie Jones (8-7, 3.10, 70), who shook off a rough start to the season to secure his third selection. I'd have to look back, but three is a low for us in some years for selection, and other then me sabotaging Pap (8-4, 2.99, 71) no one else really deserved consideration. The time off should do us well, and for some reason I just really think we're going to turn things around. Call it too much Shohei excitement if you'd like.

Red Bond has really turned things around this week, going 7-for-21 with 3 homers, 6 walks, 8 runs, and 8 RBIs. Bond's now hit 14 in 61 games, but his .258/.331/.480 (114 OPS+) season line is closer to his post-war years then his 1948. Another guy who struggled, Carlos Montes, has done well to keep his roster spot, going 3-for-9 with a homer, 2 runs, 3 walks, and 3 RBIs. He hit .353/.395/.471 (130 OPS+) in 38 June plate appearances and he's gone 4-for-12 with a pair of homers in July. Chubby Hall looked good again too, 7-for-19 with a homer, 4 runs, 5 RBIs, and 7 walks, Otto Christian homered as well, 3-for-10 with two runs scored and driven in. Jimmy Hairston had a nice debut week, going 2-for-7 with a run, two walks, and two RBIs. George Dawson was just 1-for-5, but the one was a big hit, a grand slam that saved his roster spot. Despite his age, he's actually hit a decent .265/.390/.382 (106 OPS+) and he's been good for the clubhouse. Still, with his age and more players coming, roster spots are going to be very tough to keep hold of. All of these guys did well to improve their odds, as big decisions were needed.

Pete Papenfus showed no signs of rust, throwing two near complete game wins this week. His defense made it impossible to complete the first game, as just two of his seven runs earned. The best part of that game was we had a 12-run 5th that made everything easier. Even with the extra batters, he allowed just 4 hits and 3 walks, and the fireballer struck out 6. He did go all nine in the 11-2 win, allowing just 6 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts. George Oddo won both his starts two, despite one of the wins not being a very good start. His first was excellent, 6 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks with 7 strikeouts in a complete game win. He then came one out short against the Saints, but was charged with 12 hits, 6 runs, and 2 walks. Still, he struck out 6 before Harry MacRae got a one-pitch out, and at the midpoint Oddo has 55 Ks and a 1.8 K/BB in 97.1 innings pitched. Duke Bybee won his 8th game, and managed to lower his ERA to an adjusted league average 4.07 in 117.1 innings pitched. He went all nine, allowing 13 hits, 2 runs, and a walk with 3 strikeouts. Now all five of our starters have average or better ERA+, and despite the rough start we're back to third in runs against.

As expected, we no longer have the top system, as the Boston Minutemen now boast the #1 prospect Rick Masters as well as #5 Joe Kleman and #6 Yank Taylor. Unlike us (Allen is 7th and Smith 12th), most teams don't have two prospects above the Minutemen's 4th Ranked Marshall Thomas (13th). There's a little drop off after that, but I don't expect to catch them, as we're more likely to trade away then add on the prospect front. We still have a few guys who can place somewhere, but chances are 1st Rounder Biff Tiner (5th, 35th) will be our highest ranked member of the class. 4th Rounder Buster Clark (14th, 117th), 6th Rounder Lou Jackson (36th, 374th), and surprisingly 12th Rounder Pat Burnett (44th, 449th) rank in the top 500. We still have three of our first five picks unsigned and another three from the end of the human portion. I'm hoping our 2nd and 3rd rounders sign this coming week, and both should rank in the top half of the league's top 500.

Looking Ahead
Before diving into our battle with the Foresters after the break, we have a few roster moves to make. Charlie Woodbury and Billy Hunter will join the big league club, with Clark Car and Ray Ford being designated for assignment. Its the end of a long tenure for both players, but neither were originally drafted by the Cougars. I didn't have much time to cover Hal Sharp's trade, so instead of making this report even longer then it already is, sometime this weekend I can write a little farewell to these three guys. Cutting Ford really hurts, but he's not happy and both George Dawson (.265, 1, 6) and George Sutterfield (.256, 8, 4) have been far more productive both offensively and defensively. I expect both vets to clear, which means I will have the misfortune of releasing them both. Granted, Billy Hunter could get injured at any point, which would quickly open up a roster spot for one of them. I think the waiving is done, but I am still in the market for outside additions.

For better or worse, we do start the second half with the first place Foresters, so if we do what we do best, we could theoretically get within six games of first. Whether that happens or not is up for debate, and we'll have to score off their impressive top-3 of 1947 ERA champ Ollie White (8-6, 3.26, 70) and first time All-Stars Adrian Czerwinski (14-3, 2.78, 34) and John Jackson (10-3, 2.79, 52). One guy who may have deserved to join them is Lorenzo Samuels, who hit .317/.412/.560 (147 OPS+) with 16 doubles, 11 homers, and 50 RBIs. The former 3rd Rounder is set to break his career high of 348 PAs and has really given another first time All-Star Jim Adams Jr. (.346, 5, 39, 4) the support he needs in the lineup. They'll have a new left fielder, as former Cougar Luke Berry (.265, 2, 17) strained his oblique and will miss at least the next week. Likely replacements are Ivey Henley (.255, 3, 19 and Bill Sikorski (.295, 4, 24), who have both had success in this past. As things are, the Foresters will cruise to their first over .500 season of the decade, and with a pennant they would truly leave the 40s on a high note after years in the basement.

Our Sunday will be spent hosting the Cannons, who just traded "All-Star" catcher Adam Mullins to the Dynamos for three prospects. The 36-year-old missed a good chunk of the first half, but hit an impressive .330/.404/.440 (118 OPS+) with 4 doubles, 2 homers, and 20 RBIs. This is the second time the Dynamos General Manager has acquired Mullins, as he's the one who brought him to Cincinnati in a trade that helped bring the city it's first title. Paul Wilkerson (.244, 8) will return behind the plate, and it's possible more veterans will be leaving the 40-42 fifth place team. Once can assume Rufus Barrell (9-6, 3.01, 64) is off the table, and the injured Fred Galloway (.303, 2, 19, 3) may be close to that, but this Cannons team could look very different when the season ends. Attractive pieces include Chuck Adams (.278, 14, 55), Denny Andrews (.224, 2, 28), Jim Hensley (.241, 4, 36), and All-Star Mike Taylor (.326, 8, 37, 6) while teams could take a flier on Jim Anderson (8-5, 4.95, 56), Charlie Griffith (8-7, 4.36, 35), or Chris Clarke (4-8, 4.05, 42). Others have speculated that Charlie Rivera (.227, 5, 26, 4) would be a good fit for a first place Eagles team that just loss Bill Wise (.345, 24). Mullins could be the first of many or the lone move for the first season GM, but no matter what choice the Cannons make, the trade market has officially heated up.