FABL - Cleveland Foresters Mediocrity at its worst - Page 7

DD Martin · 11-30-2020, 04:39 PM

Spring Training Week 3

The Foresters went 4-2 this last week and have a 13-5 spring record. We picked up another meaningless victory over the Chicago Cougars to run our record to 3-0 against the defending champs. Not sure why we have emphasized our games against them this spring but we have and so far so good, even if it doesn't count.

SP Carl Bragg has been our only injury so far this spring, and he will return from injury at the end of next week. With the injury we will send him down to AAA Cincinnati for the start of the season to get in some more work.

SP Heinie Bretz, who we paid a large price for 2 seasons ago in the Harry Barrell trade (one which I still regret), has struggled in 3 outings this spring. He was slotted to be our #5 SP with hopes of jumping back into the upper end of the rotation once he got in more work, but with the slow start (6.00 ERA. ERA+ 67, WHIP 1.50 with a BABIP of 357) we decided to bring in some re-enforcements. So with that we have made a couple of other trades.

Trade #1 Cleveland and New York Gotham's
The Foresters part with former SS Erv Smith, sending him to the Goth's for SP Walter Murphy and 2B Ralph Joiner.

Analysis: Smith is a fantastic defensive SS, but with missing last season has lost the starting job to George Dawson who is in a class with King's SS Harry Barrell as far as defense goes. Smith hit for 297 in the 1932 season and seems to fit what the Gotham's were looking for as far as a starting SS.

We picked up a back end of the rotation LHSP in Walter Murphy (29) who went 11-11 with a 4.35 ERA with New York in the tough hitting Federal League. He has gone 51-43 with a 3.84 ERA in his 4 seasons in New York but the one thing that is a bit alarming is his ERA has climbed a bit each season.

We also picked up 2B Ralph Joiner (24) (L) who hit 259 at AAA Toledo last season. He is a very capable defensive 2B who will likely share some playing time with 2B Brooks Meeks. We had been playing Erv Smith there in a platoon this spring and while we feel he can make the transition there, we decided to add the depth to the rotation.

This deal really answers a need for New York who has brought in Rabbit Day to add to 3 time FA Allen Award winner Jim Lonardo, who now have a very good SS in Smith to field grounders behind them.

We weren't done yet though.

Trade #2 - Cleveland and Toronto agree to a trade
The Toronto Wolves have agreed to trade SP Eddie Quinn (27) who went
12-21 with a 3.22 ERA for a last place team a year ago. We traded our 2nd round pick and our top prospect #35 overall Levi Redding to Toronto in return.

Analysis - We feel that with our starting infield defense and a good offense behind him, that Quinn is a 15-18 win pitcher. With Dawson at SS, Meeks/Joiner at 2B and Turner at 3B, we boast one of the better defensive infields in the FABL.

We gave up a 2nd round pick that we figure will be in the 29-32 range next year and our top prospect Levi Redding. Maybe we should have hung onto Levi as he was our top trade chip as far as a prospect goes and hit well in his first season of pro ball. But the chance to try and establish our rotation, which is still a ways behind Chicago's top 4 had us make the move. Redding should be ready in about a year to take over at the top of Toronto's order.

With the moves our starting rotation looks to be about set as does our pitching staff. We will have some decisions to make on several out of option players so the final week will still have some decisions to make.

1934 Cleveland Forester starting rotation
1. Dean Astle
2. Roger Perry
3. Eddie Quinn
4. Ben Turner
5. Walter Murphy (could go to Lyman Weigel or Bert Henggler as Murphy has options)

Henggeler and Weigel will both be retained in our bullpen with Frank Phillips as our stopper. Henggeler would serve as the top middle RP and Weigel would be the long man with emergency starter. That would leave 1 bullpen spot open to be decided next week.

SP Bretz and Bragg will be optioned to Cincinnati to start the season. We still have very high hopes for Bretz to return to his pre-injury form, but will give him time and a less stressful environment to work his way back.

Everything we are working on right now is a way to topple the Chicago Cougars. Cleveland ownership and management desperately want a winner this year as they look at a do or die situation with their stadium. If it is the last season in Cleveland, they want it to be a winning one.

Next - The end of spring training and finalizing the opening day roster.

DD Martin · 12-01-2020, 01:10 PM

Spring Training is Now Complete

Time to say goodbye to the nice, sunny, warm weather of Florida and head back to hell which is spring in Cleveland. The Forester's had a successful spring going 16-8 and completed a 4-game sweep during the spring of the Chicago Cougars. Now we head to finalizing the roster tomorrow and making some tough decisions. But before we get to that we have made another trade and had discussions on several others.

Trade - Montreal and Cleveland
Montreal trades 1B/OF Al Wilson to the Foresters for a 7th round pick in the 1934 draft.

Summary - A pretty simple deal for us as Wilson (27) has an excellent lefty bat, but is pretty much a disaster in the OF. His work at 1B isn't much better so he is clearly a player ahead of his time (meaning he would be a great DH). He has a 314 career batting average and his career slash line looks like this 314/369/827 31 homers and 287 RBI's. He is a career 328/388/866 hitter against righties and last year hit 372 (against righties) in a reserve role. I think he will be a great addition if we can keep him out of the field this season. He is also though some insurance incase of any injury to our Legend at 1B Max Morris and will be a decent stop gap someday when Morris decides to hang it up.

The price was a 7th rounder but there is a great deal of "fog" concerning this year's draft class so we felt that Wilson was worth the pick.

Tomorrow will be cutdown day and a chance to make any final trades. We have firmed up our starting rotation, barring any last minute deals.

Next - We announce our Opening Day Roster complete with bios

DD Martin · 12-02-2020, 04:27 PM

Welcome to the 1934 FABL Baseball Season

Excitement is in the air as the national media has predicted that the Foresters will break their long drought and win the Continental Association crown and face the New York Gotham’s in the World Series. But as GM DD Martin stated,

“Pennants are not won in April and the media doesn’t decide who will be the league champions. We have 154 games between and late September that will settle the issue on the field. I expect an exciting race in both associations this season and if at the end we have earned the right to represent that CA in the World Series, we will do our damndest to bring home a title.”

While the Forester GM down plays the prognosticators, it was just last season when then Cleveland manager Hank Lietzke used the poor prediction for the Foresters as bulletin board material. While it didn’t help Lietzke save his job after a 5-12 start, he was proved right as the Forester’s ended up with an 87-67 record and in 2nd place in the CA. Now this season it will likely be the defending CA champion Chicago Cougars who have got to be feeling disrespected with a predicted 4th place finish and only 80 wins. That is a proud team that finished just 1 game shy of winning the whole thing and I don’t think they are just going to disappear so easily.

The Forester’s GM DD Martin seems to have gone all in for this year's attempt to bring home a title. The farm system has been stripped bare and he has already traded several draft picks in trying to secure a pennant winning club here in Cleveland. While the pitching staff is young, the Forester’s have several veteran position players (namely Max Morris and TR Goins) that are likely heading into the final years of their careers. It would be fair to say that the Forester window of opportunity is likely this 1934 season and the 1935 season.

Let’s meet this year’s Cleveland Foresters (insert picture)

Starting Pitcher Rotation
#1 Eddie Quinn (27) RHSP (12-21 3.22 with Toronto last season) - Quinn came over in a late spring training trade that sent the Forester’s 2nd round pick in next year’s draft and top prospect OF Levi Redding to the Wolves. Quinn has been named the Opening Day Starter in a surprise move by manager Jim Wilson.

#2 Dean Astle (24) LHSP (7-3 2.57 12GS) - Once a top 20 prospect Astle made his debut last season in June and showed flashes of the talent so many in the organization see in him. Originally acquired in a trade from New York Gothams in January 1931.

#3 Roger Perry (26) LHSP (17-9 3.45 34GS) - Turner has gone 17-9 in both of the last 2 seasons with a 3.35 ERA with the Forester’s and has been their “ace”. He has some more help this year hopefully with both Astle and Quinn in the rotation with him which are upgrades over the departed Karl Johnson and Eddie Wood. Perry was originally acquired in a trade with the New York Stars in 1931.

#4 Walter Murphy (29) LHSP (11-11 4.35 with NY Gothams) Another late addition as GM Martin tried to shore up the rotation for this season. Murphy is 51-43 with a 3.84 ERA in 4 full seasons pitching in the hitter friendly FA. The national media feels that he is capable of winning 20 games this season in Cleveland. Acquired in late spring this year in a trade that sent SS Erv Smith to NY.

#5 Ben Turner (26) RHSP 14-14 3.70 last season) Came to Cleveland in the same deal that brought Dean Astle to the organization in 1931. He is 29-25 with a 4.13 ERA in 60 career starts with the Forester’s. He might be one of the most consistent and best #5 starters in the league.

Others -

Bert Henggeler (32) RHP (4-5-1 save 3.13) Henggeler was picked up on waivers to help solidify the bullpen last year but late in the season he emerged as a credible SP. This spring he didn’t do anything to change that opinion. In 3 spring starts he had an 0.75 ERA in 12 innings. He will be the first man up in case of injury but will start the year as the Forester’s top middle reliever.

Lyman Weigel (29) RHSP (11-9 5.00 ERA with Brooklyn and Montreal) - Was acquired via a waiver pick up in the off-season and was invited to spring training. Weigel pitched well in spring but didn’t earn a job and accepted an assignment to AAA Cincinnati. He would have to be brought back to the 40-man roster to join the Forester’s.

Carl Bragg (25) RHSP (11-4 3.80 last season) - Appears to be the odd man out of the big league rotation with the acquisition of Quinn and Murphy. A 3 week spring injury kept him out of games and didn’t allow him to battle for a spot in the Cleveland rotation. His performance last year was a bit of a surprise. He is the only pitcher in the 9 listed here who was drafted by Cleveland.

Heinie Bretz (25) RHSP (0-1 9.00 1IP last season) - Was injured in his first regular season outing last year with elbow ligament surgery. Looked to be coming along although a rough spring probably led to the Forester’s front office in acquiring more starting pitching. While not happy about being at the AAA level, he will look to build back up his arm strength and regain his form. Still young at 25, he was originally acquired from Brooklyn in the Harry Barrell deal (sigh).

Summary - With only Carl Bragg as the only drafted Forester in this mix, the Forester’s have had to make trades (bringing in 6 of the players) and waivers (bring in the other 2) to build this rotation. As long as the Forester’s don’t have multiple major injuries to the starting 5 they appear to have solid depth behind them. The team is really hoping that Bretz can regain his form and move up the charts quickly.

The Bullpen -

Frank Phillips (26) LHRP (2-4 6 saves 2.37 last year) - Phillips looks to build on the success that he saw last season. The front office brought in several players and put them ahead of Phillips last year but he proved that he belongs in the majors and has secured the spot as the team stopper. Originally drafted in the 14th round of the 1928 draft by Cleveland.

Bert Henggeler - (see above) - Will open the season as the top middle relief option.

Leo Proctor (30) RHRP (3-4 8 saves 3.08) - Proctor had a solid season for the Foresters after being acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh last spring. He is capable of closing and being a solid top relief option if things necessitate that move.

Jim Cavendar (28) RHRP 2-0 6 saves 4.01) - A huge fan favorite he keeps going to spring training and emerging with a job. He was DFA after the 1932 season and then earned a place in the bullpen last year. While not DFA this year it was 50/50 if he would return, but he’s back once again. Cavendar was originally claimed off waivers from the NY Stars in May 1932.

Others -
Eddie Bloom (26) RHRP (7-7 3.27 ERA AAA-Cincinnati) - With so many pitchers in front of him the team has decided to thrust Bloom into the stopper role in Cincinnati this season with hopes that he emerges as a top flight RP. Originally a Rule 5 Pick in 1931 from Pittsburgh.

George Coleman (26) LHP (3-5 4 saves 2.80 AAA-Cincinnati) - Coleman returns and will be in the rotation for the Steamers but many feel his true value will be as a middle reliever in the big leagues. He was acquired in the off-season after the 1931 season in a trade with Toronto.

Ed Smith (29) RHRP (4-5 10 saves 2.04 AAA-Cincinnati) - Smith’s stock has slid a bit despite a nice bounce back year last year. He moves from the stopper role to more of a middle relief role this season. Smith was a Rule 5 pick acquired from Detroit in 1929.

Summary - There are some other parts in the organization if needed but still the pen feels like the least effective part of this organization. A lot of trust is being put into place in Frank Phillips for this season. The team made a lot of moves last spring to shore this area up and it did improve from last in the CA to middle of the road.

Catchers -

TR Goins (33) B-L (313/392/874 16-85 last year between Washington and Cleveland) - Arguably the top catcher in baseball for the last 10 years, he was acquired after many years of pursuit by the Forester’s management. He still appears to be at the top of his game and is really looking forward to what he hopes is a possible championship season this year.

Jim Kyle (27) B-R (255/293/699 5-29) - Was acquired prior to the 33 season and was handed the reigns early on last year. He struggled some with the bat and it ultimately led to the Forester’s going after Goins when he became available. Still a very reliable option behind the dish.

Others -
Herman Rachford (30) B-R (312/369/804 2-28 AAA-Milwaukee) Was acquired to be the #3 catcher on the 40-man roster off waivers from the Cougars. He is a solid receiver but injuries have hurt his career development.

Nick Lake (27) B-R (290/329/746 3-31 AAA-Cincinnati) - was designated in the off-season as he was out of options and with the acquisition of Goins was not going to make the big league team. Still he is a viable option if one of the 2 catchers in the big leagues goes down with a longer term injury. To not block the development of either Jeff Rose or Eddie Smith he was optioned to AA-Portland this season.

Summary - Goins makes this the #1 unit in the FABL. Eddie Smith in development is the #3 ranked catching prospect.

Infielders -

1B Max Morris (39) B-L (325/382/963 41-120 last year) - The all-time leader in home runs, RBI’s and runs scored had a great last ⅔ of a season last year after a slow start. This spring he didn’t show any of the struggles of last year in spring that led to whispers. With 640 career home runs he continues his assault on 700. Orginally drafted by Cleveland in 1913, he was traded to St. Louis after the 1919 season. Cleveland re-aquired him from the Gotham’s in July 1931.

2B Brooks Meeks (25 today) B-R (273/298/653 4-42) The team captain is a solid defender but has struggled against RH pitchers in his career in the big leagues. He will likely share time this year with Ralph Joiner in a portion of the starts against righties. Originally acquired in a 1929 offseason trade with Pittsburgh.

SS George Dawson (23) B-R (280/317/662) - Took over the starting SS job after manager Jim Wilson was hired to manage the team after the first 17 games. Took advantage of the injury to Erv Smith and played a stellar defensive SS that despite his so-so offense gave the team 6.3 WAR. Originally drafted in the 2nd round of the 1929 draft by Cleveland.

3B - John Turner (24) B-R (239/295/609 2-20) Turner was given the opening day job last year but really struggled with the bat. After spending several months at AAA, he came back and hit somewhat better. Turner is a true stud defender at the hot corner and is capable of hitting 300+ like he did in the minors. He was a 1st round draft pick in the 1930 draft by the Foresters.

Bench -
3B/1B Jake Moore (31) B-R (273/337/712 2-51) His bat and glove have slowed down a bit after having been the everyday starter at 3B since the 1927 season. If Turner comes out slow again, look for Moore to re-establish his spot in the lineup. Originally drafted in 1st Rd in 1923 draft by Foresters.

2B - Ralph Joiner (24) B-L 259/354/753 15-70 AAA Toledo) Acquired with Walter Murphy from NY in the last week of spring training. He is a very good defensive 2B that will platoon and likely get roughly 50% of the at-bats with Meeks.

1B/OF/PH Al Wilson (27) B-L (324/370/786 1-19 with Montreal) - Wilson’s bat is not the reason he is not an everyday player, it’s that his hands and feet are in cement gloves and boots when he is on defense. He was acquired for a 7th rd pick from Montreal and will be the backup to Max Morris at 1B, but the hope is that he will be a late inning threat as a pinch hitter.

SS/IF Pat Schurling (26) B-R (261/330/675 0-46 AAA-Cincinnati) The classic great glove-no hit SS. His defense in backup of Dawson in case of injury is the reason the out-of-options SS is on the big league team. The trade of Erv Smith to NY for Joiner and Murphy primarily is the reason he is still here. Originally drafted by the NY Stars, he came to Cleveland via a trade with Chicago (Cougars).

Summary - The offense of Morris and the defense of Turner, Dawson and Meeks/Joiner make this unit a very formidable group. The defense really helps out a pitching staff that relies on ground balls. The organization will continue to keep a watchful eye on the situation at 3B with the hopes that Turner will get his bat to come around to big league pitching. The platoon at 2B is in hopes of getting better production against right-handers with Joiner getting a large majority of the starts.

Outfield -

LF Leon Drake (25) B-R (240/325/715 9-47) - The former Rule 5 draft pick and top 10 prospect has shown flashes of his offensive and defensive capabilities. He just hasn’t put them together yet for a full season. His move from CF to LF to accommodate superstar Dan Fowler only strengthens this OF. (Rule 5 1928 Chicago Chiefs)

CF Dan Fowler (25) B-L (298/373/843 26-94 with Boston/Cleveland) - Fowler appeared in 57 games with the Foresters after the trade from Boston and his bat really lit up with a 318/409/916 12-36 stat line. He is young athletic and one of the best all-around CF’s in baseball today.

RF Moxie Pidgeon (27) B-R (308/376/842 17-74) Has been in Cleveland and starting since late in the 1928 season. He has 109 home runs in his Cleveland career and has a career 319/382/891 career stash line. Still young, his only liability is his lack of defensive prowess. Originally drafted by the Foresters in the 1925 draft as a 12th round pick.

Bench -

Hughie Fitts (25) B-L (356/436/1021 10-63 A-Evansville) Rule 5 draft pick this off-season from Montreal, Fitts will backup both the corner OF spots but likely will not see key at-bats. Look for Wilson to get those. Depending on how things go, Fitts might not be a luxury that the Foresters can afford this season.

Summary - The starting OF is one of the best offensive units and the defense in LF and CF should also be top flight. Team will obviously look to the AAA team as they sent down OF Bobby Allen largely to make room for Fitts. Allen who had a down season last year accepted the demotion after spring training to regain his stroke and confidence. I foresee him coming back to the Foresters sooner rather than later. Ray Cochran who is also starting at AAA this season with the acquisition of Al Wilson is also a solid choice for the corner OF or backing up at 1B.

Overall - The expectations are high in Cleveland as Owner Elmer Marshall has let GM Martin know that he expects this team to win the CA this year. This team has been built and the future has been mortgaged to bring a winner to town in the next 2 years. While the farm system is dead last in the FABL with only 1 top 100 Prospect in OF Lou Balk (#98), the team is also extremely young (save for Morris, Goins, Moore, Henggeler and Proctor being the only 30+ players on the 23-man opening day roster).

Will Cleveland be able to win the first World Championship in over 40 years of truly mediocre baseball? Well to do that they will have to win what will be just their 4th Association Pennant first, and Chicago, Philadelphia and Brooklyn will all have something to say about that.

DD Martin · 12-02-2020, 06:03 PM

The Cleveland P-I
Sports Section
Baseball Preview Edition
April 18th, 1934

The Ill-fated Pre-Season Predictions
By: Ronald William Apter

This is the time of year where some “experts” get together to prognosticate the upcoming season. Of course these prognostications often aren’t worth the paper they are written on, Last season of course they did pick the CA champion right with Chicago running away with the association. They were not so lucky on their FA prediction though as Philadelphia which was penciled in for 2nd won the title. The biggest glaring misses on predictions were the 58 wins predicted for the St. Louis Pioneers who went on to win 81 games. Also they picked our very own Forester’s for a 6th place 72 win finish and we won 87 and finished 2nd.

So with that said, here is this year’s most likely completely wrong best guess work by those so-called experts.

In the CA race, the baseball predicting gods have deemed the additions that the Cleveland Foresters have made will push them over the top. But taking a closer look at things they have completely ignored the Chicago Cougars picking them 4th. The Cougars have won 2 of the last 3 CA titles and finished a close 2nd in the one that they didn’t win in 1932 (by 2 games). The Cougars have won 84, 91, 97 and 97 games in the last 4 seasons. They still have the best pitching staff in the CA, so why the disrespect? In my mind the defending champions are still the champions and unless they lost a great deal of talent in the off-season, then they are the favorites. While Cleveland has done a lot to improve the club the last two seasons, what has Chicago done to fall to 4th? Cleveland GM DD Martin just scoffed at the notion that the Cougars are not going to be a factor in the race and stated “No solid based reason exists for that prediction! It’s defined not worth talking about but I am sure they will look at that every day for motivation.”

Over in the Federal Association, the predictors tab the big off-season move of the New York Gotham’s acquisition SP Rabbit Day to be the main difference, but also like the defensive addition of SS Erv Smith. The defending World Champion Philadelphia Keystones are tagged for 2nd place just a game behind so it should be a very exciting race. We here at the Cleveland P-I also like St. Louis to make a run at the FA title but once again the prognosticators are throwing cold water on them with a 77-77 4th place prediction.

Summary- At the end of the day we (The Cleveland P-I Sports Staff) believe that it will be the Foresters and the Gotham’s that will meet in the World Series. Both the races will be close and decided by less than 3 games each with last year's World Series teams finishing 2nd.

In the World Series will the 1-2 punch of SP's Jim Londaro and Rabbit Day be enough? Or will the firepower and improved overall pitching staff in Cleveland bring them the title? Our call is that Cleveland will be celebrating its 1st World Series Championship in 6 games over the Gotham’s.

The CA predicted Order of Finish by the Cleveland Sports Staff
1.) Cleveland Foresters 93-61
2.) Chicago Cougars 90-64
3.) Brooklyn Kings 85-69
4.) Montreal Saints 79-75
5.) Philadelphia Sailors 78-76
6.) New York Stars 68-86
7.) Toronto Wolves 64-90
8.) Baltimore Cannons 59-95

The FA predicted Order of Finish by the Cleveland Sports Staff
1.) New York Gothams 88-66
2.) Philadelphia Keystones 86-68
3.) St Louis Pioneers 85-69
4.) Pittsburgh Minors 80-72
5.) Washington Eagles 75-79
6.) Boston Minutemen 72-82
7.) Detroit Dynamos 67-87
8.) Chicago Chiefs 62-92

Quote:

(Note - Predictions are based on total non-sense by the Cleveland Sports Staff....aka Ronald William Apter)

DD Martin · 12-04-2020, 02:15 PM

The Start of what we hope is a Championship Season 1934

Our schedule was kind of wonky to start the season. We played the Philadelphia Sailors for 3 games, but the first one was at home in Cleveland, but the next 2 were in Phily (Shrug). Oh well we have to play 154 with 77 on the road so we might as well.

Cleveland Foresters vs Philadelphia Sailors
(87-67 last season 2nd) (77-77 last season 4th)
Prediction 92-62 1st Prediction 78-76 5th

Opening Day in Cleveland saw 20,295 fans flood the gates at the City Dump (aka Forester Stadium). Honestly it was probably the most fans that attended a game at the dump in 15 years when it wasn't as dumpy. Last season only saw 11,654 fans on Opening Day (a 5-1 loss to Chicago) in a season where we averaging only 7,481 fans per game. This season we have sold 7,801 season tickets (more than double last years total of 3,367). Our fan interest is through the roof at 100 and with prohibition ending we were able to lax our ticket prices a bit as we did away with the Lounge Seating in the basement (we called it Loge for some reason) so the average price per ticket this year was less than a dollar ($0.99) which was 21 cents below the average last year. The expectation is that we will likely double our revenue per game, which would be nice.

I was preparing for Opening Day and the travel the next day to Philadelphia when Mr. Marshall came in. He was all decked out in a tux etc for Opening Day. He told me that I wouldn't be traveling to Phily and Chi-Town next week but would be on a 2-week excursion with him, his son (my best friend Ricky) to other towns. He said he would go more into it after today's game, but I could tell he was up to something. He excused himself as he stated "I have to go make nice with the city officials before the game".......

Philadelphia Sailors @ Cleveland Foresters
Opening Day Lineups

Philadelphia Sailors
1.) CF Lou Williams (last season 272/354/710 4-26)
2.) LF Curt Dickerson (249/317/699 6-35)
3.) RF Bobby Bond (303/378/789 7-74)
4.) 1B Dick Walker (272/383/801 10-63)
5.) 3B Mack Deal (258/288/634 1-42)
6.) C Alex Diaz (258/313/651 4-69)
7.) 2B Ray Wright (318/379/790 3-61 AAA- San Fran)
8.) SS George Drake (290/371/790 0-3)
9.) SP Oscar Morse (15-14 3.03 ERA)

Cleveland Foresters
1.) CF Dan Fowler (298/373/843 26-94)
2.) 2B Brooks Meeks (273/298/653 4-42)
3.) 1B Max Morris (325/382/962 41-120)
4.) C TR Goins (314/392/873 16-85)
5.) RF Moxie Pidgeon (308/376/842 17-74)
6.) LF Leon Drake (240/325/715 9-47)
7.) SS George Dawson (280/317/661 2-42)
8.) 3B John Turner (239/295/609 2-20)
9.) SP Eddie Quinn (12-21 3.22 Toronto)

Game #1 Philadelphia Sailors 3 @ Cleveland Foresters 2
Sailors C Alex Diaz hit a game winning single in the 8th inning to drive in Dick Walker and the Sailors came in a stole the first game of the season.

WP - Oscar Morse 1-0 2.00 ERA (9IP 8H, 2R, 2ER, BB 2K)
LP - Eddie Quinn 0-1 3.00 ERA (9IP 9H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB 5K)
HR - (Cl) Moxie Pidgeon 1st
Batting - Max Morris 2-4 1R, Moxie Pidgeon 3-4 HR RBI R)

Summary - So not the way we wanted to start the home season and opener in front of such a large crowd. I was hoping that Quinn was not the type of pitcher that pitched well but found ways to lose with his 21 losses last season. I am fairly sure it was the bad team he was on, but we will keep our fingers crossed.

After the game Mr. Marshall came into my office at the stadium and despite the loss was still smiling. He closed the door tightly and then told me what we would be doing for the next 2 weeks. While the team was in Phily and Chicago the rest of this week, we would not be accompanying them on the trip. (Now Mr. Marshall rarely went on the road, but I often traveled with the team on road trips about 60% of the time.) He let me know that we would be on a tour of several different cities (Buffalo, Newark, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Cincinnati) and meeting with what he termed 'representatives". What he was really doing was going around and visiting with city officials and local leaders discussing a possible move of the team to one of those cities and I was coming along for the ride. I left instructions for my Assistant GM Sonny Kelly to go on the road with the club and that I would call him each day to go over any things that needed to be discussed.

Game 2 and 3 of the series will be in Philadelphia

Game #2 - Cleveland Foresters 7 @ Philadelphia Sailors 3
Starting Pitchers Dean Astle 7-3 2.57 last year) vs Rollie Beal 19-9 3.01

CF Dan Fowler and RF Moxie Pidgeon both hit homers in the Forester's 4-run 3rd inning as they power Cleveland to a victory over Rollie Beal and the Sailors.

WP - Dean Astle 1-0 1.00 (9IP 7H 3R 1ER 3BB 2K)
LP - Rollie Beal 0-1 11.12 (5.2 7H 7R. 7ER, 5BB 2K
HR - (Cl) Dan Fowler 1st, Moxie Pidgeon 2nd
notable - TR Goins 2-5 DB, R, Moxie Pidgeon 2-4 DB, HR, BB, 3 RBI, 2R
Dan Fowler 2-3, DB, HR 2BB, 2RBI, 1R

Game #3 - Cleveland Foresters 7 @ Philadelphia Sailors 0
SP Roger Perry threw a 3-hit shutout and was back by a Max Morris homer and a 2-run triple by SS George Dawson.

WP - Roger Perry 1-0 0.00 (9IP 3H, 0R, 0ER 2BB, 4K)
LP - Russ Real 0-1 1.35 (6.2IP 8H, 6R, 1ER, 1BB 2K)
HR - (Cl) Max Morris 1st
Notable - Meeks, Turner, Goins and Drake all had 2 hits

Notes - The club heads of for a long ride to Chicago for the first 2 games of a 3 game set against the defending CA Champs and the team we will be battling with all season, the Chicago Cougars.

Cleveland Foresters 2-1 @ Chicago Cougars 1-2
Saturday April 21st-Monday April 23rd
Chicago's North Side Grounds (cap 28,450)

Chicago struggled on the field during the spring but that wasn't expected to continue to be the case. They started the season at home against the Toronto Wolves, which is a club in past seasons that a team could get well against. That didn't happen though for the Cougars as they lost 2 of the 3 games prior to our arrival.

This Cougar team is led by an exceptional pitching staff led by Tommy Wilcox, former Forester Max Wilder, Dick Luedtke, and Dick Lyons. They also have a great stopper in the pen in Chick Meehan who we stupidly passed on acquiring a couple of seasons ago because he was on the wrong side of 30. As long as age (or injuries) doesn't catch up with the Cougars, they will have the best staff in the CA once again.

Game #4 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Chicago Cougars 3
The Foresters made a big deal about sending a message in spring training and won all 4 meetings against the Cougars. That streak has now moved to the regular season as the Foresters pounded out a total of 14 hits and beat Wilder and the Cougs 6-3.

WP - Walter Murphy 1-0 3.12 (8.2 IP, 7H 3R, 3ER, 4BB, 3K 2HRA)
LP - Max Wilder 0-1 9.00 (6IP 11H 6R, 6 ER, 2BB, 2K)
S - Frank Phillips 1 0.00 (0.1 1H)
HR - (CH) Tom Taylor 2nd, Lou Kelly 1st, (Cl) Leon Drake 1st, TR Goins 1st
Notable - Brooks Meeks 4-4 BB, DB 1R 1RBI, SB TR Goins 4-5, HR, 2RBI, 2R, Leon Drake 2-4 HR 3RBI 1R

Game #5 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Chicago Cougars 5
2B Brooks Meeks continued his hot hitting in Chicago with 3 more hits a key 2-RBI double in the 3rd to go to 4-1 on the season.

WP - Ben Turner 1-0 4.32 (8.1IP 9H 5R, 4ER, 2BB 2K 1HRA)
LP - Jim Crawford 0-1 7.71 (7 IP, 13H, 6R, 6ER, 3BB 3K HRA)
S - Frank Phillips 2 0.00 (0.2IP 1H 1K)
HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 2nd, (CH) Mike Taylor 2nd
Notable - Brooks Meeks 3-5 DB, 2RBI, R SB, John Turner 3-4 2R

Comments from Asst GM Sonny Kelly - The team has been playing well so far with a good mix of hitting and pitching leading to 4 straight wins. We are tied for 1st place in the CA with the Montreal Saints at 4-1, with Brooklyn just a half a game back after their double header on Saturday at 4-2.

We have no injuries in the first week which is great and welcome news after last year's spring and early season issues. Our SP's are #1 in the CA after 5 games with a 2.25 ERA and the bullpen (Frank Phillips only pitcher used) has 2 saves and no runs allowed in 1 total inning. Our team FIP rating though suggests that we have been a bit lucky as it stands at 4.29.

Right now the only thing I would like to see us improve on is the number of errors that we have. So far we have committed 6 errors in 5 games but our defensive efficiency is 2nd in the league.

Offensively we are off to a nice start scoring 28 runs to average 5.6 rpg (2nd) with a 309 (2nd) batting average and a league leading 7 home runs.

Overall there is not too much to complain about so we will finish off the series in Chicago on Monday and then head home to face these same two teams again for 6 games.

Also the minor leagues will begin play late next week so we have done all of our final cutdowns. There are no major surprises in the players but we did release veteran OF Carlos Cano and veteran 3B Harry Stroud (who has been at AA/AAA the last few seasons).

Players of the Week CA - Our former #1 draft pick Brooklyn Kings SS Harry Barrell (20) took the honors in the first week hitting 12-21 571 with 5 runs scored and 6 RBI's, helping the Kings to a 4-2 record.

Player of the Week FA - Another 20 year old won in the FA as Pittsburgh rookie C George Cleaves went 11-24 458 with 5 RBI's and 5 runs scored. Despite Cleaves heroics the Miners only went 2-3 to start the season.

Cleveland Players of the Week
Pitcher - SP Roger Perry who threw a complete game 3 hit shut out against the Sailors.

Hitter - RF Moxie Pidgeon went 8 for 22 with a double, 2 home runs and drove in 5 RBI's and scored 5 runs.

DD Martin · 12-06-2020, 10:15 PM

Week 2 of the 1934

After starting the season 4-1, could we follow it up? We will finish off the series in Chicago with a game on Monday then travel back home to face the same two teams. Tuesday will be a travel day and then Wednesday through Friday we will get the Sailors back in our park for 3 games, followed by the Cougars for 3 more Saturday through next Monday.

Our schedule is a little off this season with it working out more of a Tuesday through Monday week instead of Monday through Sunday, but of well. If we are going to win the FA then we have to adept to the challenges that are thrown in front of us.

Game #6 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Chicago Cougars 5
Fowler and Pidgeon both hit homers and Eddie Quinn got a little more run support this time around as we continue to have Chicago's number early this season.

WP - Eddie Quinn 1-1 3.00 (9IP 10H 5R 3ER 4BB 1K)
LP - Tommy Wilcox 0-2 2.50 (9IP 10H 6R 2ER 1BB 5K)
HR - (Cl) Moxie Pidgeon 3rd, Dan Fowler 2nd (Ch) Doc Love 1st, John Kincaid 1st

Summary by Asst GM Sonny Kelly - We swept Chicago in the Windy City, but that last game was a dozy. The surprise start in LF by P Dick Lyons, who went 0-4 and made 2 errors certainly played in our favor. The Cougars are good enough though that we need every advantage we can get, so we will take it. Now the club will come home for it first read home stand of the season.

Philadelphia Sailors 4-2 vs Cleveland Foresters 5-1
3-Game Series at the Cleveland City Dump
April 25th-27th 1934
Season Series - Cleveland leads 2-1 (2-0@Phily, 0-1@home)

Pitching Matchups Philadelphia vs Cleveland
Rollie Beal 0-1 11.12 vs Dean Astle 1-0 1.00
Russ Reel 0-1 1.35 vs Roger Perry 1-0 0.00
Doc Newell 1-0 10.80 vs Walter Murphy 1-0 3.12

Game #7 - Philadelphia Sailors 7 vs Cleveland Foresters 8

The Sailors rallied against Forester RP Frank Phillips scoring 3 runs in the top of the 9th to tie the game, but were saved by 1B Max Morris. In the bottom of the 9th Morris hit his 2nd of 2 homers on the day and sent the 14,297 fans home happy with a Forester victory.

WP - Frank Phillips 1-0 10.13 BS#1
LP - Hal Upton 0-1 4.50
HR - (Cl) Max Morris (2) 3rd, Dan Fowler 3rd
Notable - Dean Astle 7.1IP 8H 3ER 4BB 6K, Max Morris 4-5 2HR 3R 3RBI, Leon Drake 1-2 DB, 2HBP 2RBI 1R

Game #8 - Philadelphia Sailors 9 vs Cleveland Foresters 8

2nd straight game the Forester bullpen blew a save, this time it was Bret Henggeler. This time Max Morris couldn't bail them out in the 9th.

WP - Hal Upton 1-1 2.25
LP - Bret Henggeler 0-1 10.80
HR - (Cl) Max Morris 4th
Notable - SP Roger Perry 7.1 7H 4ER 3BB 3K, Max Morris 2-3 HR, BB 2R, 2RBI, Leon Drake 3-5 2R 1RBI, SB, George Dawson 2-5 DB, R, RBI, Brooks Meeks 2-4 TP, BB, RBI, R

Game #9 - Philadelphia Sailors 1 vs Cleveland Foresters 5

SP Walter Murphy looked sharp again as he tossed a 7-hit 1-run effort as the Foresters took 2 out of 3 and moved their record to 7-2 on the season.

WP - Walter Murphy 2-0 2.04 (9IP 7H 1R 1ER 4BB 3K)
LP - Doc Newell 1-1 (8IP 9H 5R 5ER 5BB 2K
HR - (Cl) Dan Fowler 4th
Notable - Dan Fowler 1-2 HR, BB, Sac fly, 2RBI R, Charlie Joiner 2-3, BB, R. Leon Drake 2-3 DB, BB

Comments from Asst GM Kelly - Another great outing by SP Walter Murphy who looks a lot better in person than just reading scouting reports and stats.

We took 2 out of 3 against the Sailors and move to 4-2 against them on the season. They feel like a team that is going to be heard from this year and should be hanging around the upper division and with a few breaks, the pennant race.

Haven't heard much from GM DD Martin. He did check in and said they were headed up to Milwaukee. He seemed pleased and didn't really have much to say about things.

Chicago Cougars 3-6 vs Cleveland Foresters 7-2
3-game series (only first two reported in this report)
April 28th-30th at the Cleveland City Dump
Season Series - Cleveland leads 3-0 winning last week in Chicago

Pitching Matchups Chicago vs Cleveland
Jim Crawford 0-1 7.71 vs Ben Turner 1-0 4.32
Tommy Wilcox 0-2 2.50 vs Eddie Quinn 1-1 3.00
(Monday) Dick Luedtke 2-0 4.76 vs Dean Astle 1-0 2.20

Game #10 - Chicago Cougars 4 vs Cleveland Foresters 5
Foresters led 2-1 heading to the 8th but then both teams offenses showed up. Chicago put up 3 runs in the top of the 8th on doubles by both Mike Taylor and Lou Kelly. The Foresters were not to be outdone though as Leon Drake hit a home run and then Dan Fowler drove in a run with a double and 2B Ralph Joiner hit what would be the game winner driving in Fowler.

WP - Ben Turner 2-0 4.41 (8IP 9H 4R 4ER 2BB 2K)
LP - Tommy Wilcox 0-3 2.77 (8IP 12H 5R 3ER 3BB 2K)
S - Frank Phillips 3 7.36
HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 3rd
Notable - Ralph Joiner 2-5 1RBI, E, Dan Fowler 2-5 Db RBI R, Leon Drake 2-4 HR, R, 2RBI

Game #11 - Chicago Cougars 3 vs Cleveland Foresters 5

SP Eddie Quinn has been very consistent for the Foresters in his first 3 starts with the club. He won his 2nd straight (2-1) and once again pitched 9 innings and gave up 3 earned runs.

WP - Eddie Quinn 2-1 3.00 (9IP, 8H 3R, 3ER 4BB 5K)
LP - Jim Crawford 0-2 6.28 (7.1IP 11H 5R, 4ER 6BB 4K
HR - None
Notable - Goins Pidgeon Drake and Morris all collected 2 hits

Weekly Summary
Week record 5-1 Season Record 9-2 (2nd place 1.5 GB behind Montreal)

Summary from Asst GM Kelly - A great week and we are very pleased with a 9-2 record to start the season. Even more pleasing because we feel they are the team to beat in the CA, we are 5-0 against the Cougars so far. The emphasis and importance of the games against Chicago this year was set during spring training where we went 4-0. To have it carry over so far to the regular season is a huge positive, but with it we have to maintain it through out the season. We also can't overlook other teams as we move forward.

No one figured that the Montreal Saints would start the season 11-1 (winning 11 straight after dropping their season opener), but that is what they have done. While it isn't a surprise that they are 5-1 against the Baltimore Cannons, it is a very big surprise to see them 6-0 against a quality New York Stars team. The Saints are doing it with superior pitching and defense as they have the CA's best starting rotation by ERA, best bullpen and also lead the league in defensive efficiency and have made the fewest errors. After our remaining game against Chicago and then 3 games at home against Toronto, we will head to Montreal for an early season showdown.

While it is very early the blowups by our bullpen against the Sailors this week are somewhat concerning. RP Frank Phillips has notched 3 saves so far, but he also blew one before Morris bailed him out with a 9th inning homer and Bert Henggeler also blew a save. It will be something that we will watch but so far our SP has been very good and have gone the distance in over half of our games.

Our homer run numbers to start the season have been really good. As a club we have slugged 15 home runs in 11 games on pace to hit over 200, which would shatter the FABL records in both the CA and FA. We also 3 players on the early season leader board as CF Dan Fowler and Max Morris lead the CA with 4 home runs each and LF Leon Drake is next with 3.

Waiver Moves
We did make some early moves on the waiver wire, but are looking to see how the players fit in or if we are going to keep them. We have some time before we need to either activate them or release them. So far we have been fortunate to have no injuries to our 23 man opening day roster.

Attendance - So far we have drawn 99,695 fans to the City Dump (just think what we could do with a real ballpark) for an average of 16,616 per game. The NY Stars are 2nd with a total of 93,816 (7 home games) for an average of 13,402. Interesting what a popular and winning team can do for the ticket sales (along with a 20% drop in ticket prices). Hopefully we will continue to draw at the gate.

CA Player of the Week - Our own 1B Max Morris won another weekly award (53rd time) as he went 9-18 with 3 homers and 7 RBI's. On the season he is hitting 359 with 4 homers and 8 RBI's.

FA Player of the Week - Chicago Chief 3B Joe Masters went 11-26 with a home run and 9 RBI's to snag the award. The Chiefs went 4-3 on the week and moved to 5-6 on the season. For the season Masters is hitting 463 with 2 home runs and 14 RBI's

Foresters of the Week
Hitter of the week - Max Morris see above also winning CA player of the week.

Pitcher of the Week - Walter Murphy won his 2nd straight and went 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA in 9 IP this week

Season Note - Scoring is way up in the CA after 2 weeks. Last year the CA pitchers really clamped down on the hitter as the league ERA from 4.18 to 3.60. This year scoring is way up and the league ERA is up almost a full run at 4.52. While it is a very small sample size it is an interesting start to the season. The FA league ERA also dropped last year although not by as much (4.47 to 4.09) is up .4 tenths of a run at 4.49. It will be interesting to watch how this moves as the season goes on.

Next - 1 at home vs Chicago, 3 at home vs Toronto and then the start of the big early season series against the Montreal Saints in Canada.

DD Martin · 12-07-2020, 04:31 PM

End of April 1934 Report

Just 1 game to report as we finish the month of April. It's the last game between the Foresters and the Cougars from Cleveland.

Game #12 Chicago Cougars 5 vs Cleveland Foresters 7

The Forester's have come out hot to start the 1934 season as they pick up their 6th straight win against the Cougars this season. Last season the Foresters just managed an 8-14 record against the Cougs and that was better than the 1-8 start they had. This season so far it's been all Foresters.

In Monday's game it started early as SS George Dawson hit a 2-run single in Cleveland 4-run first inning against SP Dick Luedtke. The Foresters stretched it to 5-0 in the bottom of the 2nd and then survived a wild error filled top of the 3rd where they surrendered 4 unearned runs to close the gap to 5-4. After that things settle down and the Forester finished the first month with a 10-2 record and in 2nd place just 1/2 game behind the Montreal Saints in the CA.

WP - Dean Astle 2-0 1.82 (8.1IP 9H 5R 1ER 3BB 2K)
LP - Dick Luedtke 2-1 6.14 (5.0IP 10H 6R 6ER 5BB 3K)
S - Frank Phillips 4th 6.23 (0.2IP 1H)
HR - None
Notable - Dan Fowler 3-4 2DB, BB 1RBI 3R, Moxie Pidgeon 2-4 3RBI

Comments from Asst GM Kelly - A great way to end the first (half-month) of the season. The 10-2 start is great but with Montreal's 11-game winning streak sandwich around its only losses, they have us by 1/2 game.

So far LF Leon Drake has looked good this season out in LF and at the plate. He is hitting 405/479/1193 with 3 HR's 11RBI's and 9 runs scored. Right now he is probably our April hitter of the month but it is a very tight race with Fowler, Morris, and even SS George Dawson.

Our starting pitching has been great so far with our top 4 starters checking in with ERA's of 3.00 or less. SP Dean Astle's 24.2 innings of 1.82 ERA pitching probably is tops but it is close as Astle has given up 12 runs in those 24.2 innings but only 5 have been earned. So far in 12 games only Frank Phillips (4 saves) and Bert Henggeler have seen game action and pitched just 6 innings between them.

In the division races so far in the CA there has been a couple of real surprise teams but for one of them it is not a surprise in a good way. The Chicago Cougars have gotten off to a very un-Cougar like 3-9 start and we would expect those fortunes to change very soon as they still in my mind are the best team in the CA. The other teams off to nice starts are the Montreal Saints leading the Association at 11-2 and the team that rarely gets off to good starts, the Brooklyn Kings at 8-5.

In the FA again we have 1 team that we expected to do well and is, the NY Gotham's with their 1-2 punch of Jim Londaro and Rabbit Day leading them to a 9-3 start. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the floundering Detroit Dynamo's who are not looking like contenders so far at 4-9.

Since the league only played a half month of games their were no month end awards issued. But the Cleveland P-I has announced their award winners for both the FA and CA.

FA Hitter of the Month goes to St Louis RF Alex Ingraham who hit 291/365/838 driving in 21 runs and hitting 2 home runs.

FA Pitcher of the Month goes to a NY Gotham but not the one of the ones many would have thought. LHP Hardin Bates went 3-0 with a 0.69 ERA, 0.73 WHIP and limited batter to a 156 batting average to take home the award.

CA Hitter of the Month goes to Brooklyn LF Art Summers who hit 319/418/1078 with 2 doubles, 4 triples, 2 home runs and 15 RBI's.

CA Pitcher of the Month goes to Montreal SP Earle Whitten who went 2-1 with 1.42 ERA in 25.1 innings pitched over 3 starts. He struck out 13 and only gave up 14 hits.

DD Martin · 12-07-2020, 10:00 PM

May 1st - through May 6 1934

Toronto Wolves 5-7 vs Cleveland Foresters 10-2
3-game series at Cleveland Forester Stadium
First meeting of the season

The Wolves come in having only scored 49 runs in their first 12 games averaging 4.1 rpg. With scoring up to start off the season the Wolves are last in the CA with their offense. Their pitching is 5th in the league giving up 16 runs (-17 run differential) and the starters have an ERA of 5.06

The Wolves are led this season on offense by CF Freddie Malley 365 0-6 and 3B Don Summers 340 1-12

Pitching Matchups Toronto vs Cleveland
Birdie Smith 0-2 8.62 vs Roger Perry 1-0 2.20
Jake Smith 0-0 11.88 vs Walter Murphy 2-0 2.04
Chuck Cole 1-1 6.43 vs Ben Turner 2-0 4.41

Game #13 - Toronto Wolves 6 vs Cleveland Foresters 3

Nice start to the series for the Wolves as veteran SP Birdie Smith (33) showed flashes of his old self today pitching a 3 hitter against the Foresters. LF Leon Drake blasted his 4th homer early in the bottom of the 2nd to give Cleveland a brief early lead 1-0. Toronto came roaring back and again capitalized on some Forester errors as 3 of the 6 runs were unearned.

WP - Birdie Smith 1-2 6.57 (9IP 3H 3R 3ER 4BB 2K)
LP - Roger Perry 1-1 2.74 (6.2IP 9H 6R 3ER 3BB 5K)
HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 4th
Notable - RP Jim Cavendar 1-1 1R

Game #14 - Toronto 8 vs Cleveland Foresters 14

Both offenses started fast as after two innings it was 4-4. Toronto scored 3 more in the top of the 3rd to make it 7-4 Wolves. Fortunately after SP Walter Murphy left in the 3rd, the Forester little used bullpen came through with 6.1IP 7 hits and only 1 more run as the Foresters rallied. The Foresters ended the game with 17 hits but only 1 extra base hit (Max Morris 1st double of the year).

WP - Frank Phillips 2-0 5.06
LP - John Reimers 0-1 6.43
S - Bert Henggeler 1 7.36
HR - (Tor) Al Nance 1st
Notable - Max Morris 3-5 DB, BB 3 RBI 1R, Moxie Pidgeon 3-6 4RBI, R, Dan Fowler 2-6 2RBI, George Dawson 2-5 2R BB E (6th)

Game #15 - Toronto Wolves 6 vs Cleveland Foresters 5

The fans in Cleveland were stunned as the Wolves rallied for the tying run in the 7th inning and the winning run in the 8th to take 2 out of 3 games.

WP - Bill Anderson 3-1 3.00 (IP 8H 5R 4ER 2BB 2K)
LP - Ben Turner 2-1 5.32 (7.1IP 10H 6R 6ER 1BB 3K 2HRA)
HR - (Tor) Frank Huddleson 3rd, Bill Eastep 2nd
Notable - Dan Fowler 3-4 TP, R, RBI, Leon Drake 1-4 TP 2RBI 1R, George Dawson 2-4 R

Comments by Asst GM Kelly - Disappointing performance today as we left a struggling Ben Turner in too long and it cost us the game. Sometimes I wish manager Wilson would go to the bullpen a little more often later in games. Lou Proctor still hasn't gotten into a game yet, and he was closing some games for us last year.

I have to admit I was surprised with Toronto's offense scoring 20 runs in the 3 game series. While we managed 22 runs they won 2 of the 3 games. It was the first rough series by our starting rotation especially Walter Murphy yesterday just last 2.2 IP and getting drilled.

Next we will head off to Montreal to face a Saints team that won 11 straight but now has lost 4 straight games.

Cleveland Foresters 11-4 @ Montreal Saints 11-5
3-game series (first two reported this week) Saturday May 5th-Monday May 7th
First meeting of the season

The Saints started out fast this season going 11-1 before the recent 4 game skid. Last year into June the Saints were fighting for first with the Cougars just 2 1/2 games out at one point before the wheels came off. This season the Saints offense is ranked 5th so far with 70 runs scored (4.4 rpg) with a 262 batting average (7th). Where they have excelled is on the mound where they lead the CA giving up only 52 runs (3.3 rpg) which is 1st and their SP is #1 with a 3.02 ERA.

Projected pitching matchups Cleveland @ Montreal
Eddie Quinn 2-1 3.00 vs Earle Whitten 2-1 1.42
Dean Astle 2-0 1.82 vs Walker Moore 2-1 3.86
Roger Perry 1-1 2.74 vs George Thomas 2-2 2.65

Game #16 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Montreal Saints 4
The Saints jumped on SP Eddie Quinn for 3 runs in the 1st inning to take an early lead but fortunately for the Foresters Quinn settled down nicely the rest of the way.

WP - Eddie Quinn 3-1 3.25 (9IP 9H 4R 4ER 4BB 4K)
LP - Howie Snyder 2-1 5.40
HR - None
Notable - Brooks Meeks 2-4 R, RBI, George Dawson 2-5 R, RBI, TR Goins 1-4, DB, 2RBI

Game #17 - Cleveland Foresters 8 @ Montreal Saints 0

SP Dean Astle was sharp as he scattered 7 hits in pitching the complete game shutout. The Forester offense was again missing the long ball in its offense but banged out 11 hits and took advantage of 5 walks to tally 8 runs.

WP - Dean Astle 3-1 1.34 (9IP 7H 0R 2BB 0K)
LP - Walker Moore 2-2 5.03 (8.1IP 10H 8R 8ER 4BB 2K)
HR - None
Notable - Max Morris 3-4 BB, RBI, R, John Turner 2-4 2RBI, R, George Dawson 2-5 R, 2 RBI

Weekly Summary
Weekly Record 4-2
Overall Record 13-4 1st place CA

Comments - Well that was an interesting couple of weeks. Oh no not the start of the season but I am thankful for the hard work that my Asst GM Sonny Kelly did with the team while I was gone. The trip took us to Buffalo, Newark, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and then back to Cincinnati and Buffalo once again. While I can't say what the meetings were about, there were several groups out there that are definitely on the lookout for expansion franchises.

Manager Jim Wilson has now managed a total of 154 games since he took over last year. The club rallied from a 5-12 start last season to go 82-55 under Wilson. Combine that with this year's start of 13-4 and Wilson has completed a 154 season total 95-59. I have my assistant GM looking into the league record books but I believe that Wilson will be the youngest manager in history to win 100 games and we will also search as best we can to determine if he is the fastest to 100 wins in a career (that last part might be harder without the almanac at the club level.)

Edit note - Wilson is not the youngest manager to achieve 100 wins as I have found at least two others that were player managers that achieved the trick prior to 30 (Zebulon Banks was only 27)

Well our home run hitting spree of the first two weeks came to a crashing halt this week as we just managed 1 homer. That gives now a total of 16 home runs in 17 games.

Roster Moves - We had several things that we had to do as we had claimed several players on waivers over the first few weeks. We took our time on several of the guys (they are out of options) to see if we would need an injury replacement. Fortunately the answer is we haven't but we did pull the trigger on a few moves.

We sent back Rule 5 OF Hughie Fitts to Montreal and then structured a deal for the Saints to trade Fitts to us for a 9th round pick. We like Fitts but he could use more at-bats and as the team is playing well and considered a serious contender I decided I just couldn't stash him on the big league roster all year. Once the trade is completed by the league office Fitts will go to either AA or AAA and play every day.

Once that deal was done, we activated recent waiver claim OF Jack Cornelison. Honestly I felt like in a close game that we could use either his speed (he is a solid base stealer) or he could be a defensive replacement for Moxie Pidgeon in RF in a late game situation when we are ahead. Moxie can be a real adventure in the OF and his range is poor at best.

We also DFA recent waiver claim SS Joe Kerr who we hope we can put into the lineup at AAA Cincinnati and keep as insurance as he is not as good of a fielder as Pat Schuring, but he is definitely a better hitter.

We had made a claim on OF Jim Ryan (same reason as Cornelison) but we didn't need both so we place him back on waivers.

We also released RP Red Sutter who then quickly signed with Houston of the Lone Star league.

Right now RP Claude Purvis is still sitting in DFA limbo as we wait to see what happens next week before we make a decision on him.

We keep tinkering with the organization depth since we traded so much talent away. We have added several players and assigned them if they had options or were able to go through waivers. Right now we are just trying to make sure we have options for down the road in case we have significant injuries. Since we have 3 open spots on the 40-man roster it is helping us look at and review players who may or may not make an impact for us later in the year. Again the key is having options to plug in if needed.

Down on the Farm
Ottumwa Owls C Red Taylor (7th Rd pick 1933) went 13-24 with 2 homers, 9 RBI's and 8 runs scored to capture the Upper Mississippi Valley Association top player award. On the season Taylor his hitting 300 with 5 home runs and 20 RBI's.

FA Player of the Week - Philadelphia Keystone RF Bobby Barrell was 13-27 hitting 1 homer, driving in 9 RBI's and scoring 6 times. On the season he is hitting 413 2-18 as the Keystones have the early lead in the FA at 11-6

CA Player of the Week - New York Star SP Les Zoller (25) who went 2-0 giving up no runs and striking out 9 batters. On the season Zoller is 3-0 with a 1.36 ERA as the Stars rebounded from a wobbly start winning 7 straight to go to 10-9 on the season.

Forester Batter of the Week - The Foresters had 5 players with 5 or more RBI's this week in an even week of run scoring. But the batter of the week goes to slugger Max Morris in a week where he didn't hit a home run. Morris was 9-21 with 3 walks to hit 429/500.976 and drive in 6 RBI's and score 3 runs.

Forester Pitcher of the Week - No doubt about it, Dean Astle has continued his strong start to the season going 2-0 with a 0.52 ERA in 2 starts this week.

DD Martin · 12-08-2020, 05:08 PM

May 1934 2nd Week (May 7-13)

We will finish up our series with the Montreal Saints 11-7. We took the first two games of the series and look for an early season sweep. It will be Roger Perry 1-1 2.74 going against Chick Wirtz 1-0 3.18. Wirtz came into yesterday's game in the 9th inning to pitch 2/3 of an inning. A little strange to see him getting the start following that but it would probably just be like an off-day bullpen session for him.

Game #18 - Cleveland Foresters 9 @ Montreal Saints 0

The Saints lost their 7th straight game and right now do not look like the team that rattled off 11 straight wins. Saint SP Chick Wirtz got tagged early and did not look sharp at all. Forester SP Roger Perry threw a 5 hit shutout to lower his ERA below 2.00 in picking up his 2nd win.

WP - Roger Perry 2-1 1.97 (9IP 5H 0R 2BB 3K)
LP - Chick Wirtz 1-1 4.56 (6.2IP 8H 6R 6ER 5BB 2K)
HR - (Cl)Brooks Meeks 1st
Notable - Brooks Meeks 2-5 HR 3RBI R, Jake Moore 2-4 DB 2RBI, Dan Fowler 2-3 2BB 3R

Comments - The last two games might have been the best two overall games we have played all season. I am not sure what is going on in Montreal but something just doesn't seem right. That said they are still 11-8 and in 3rd place in the CA.

Next up we will go face a NY Stars team that has gotten hot and won 8 in a row. I don't think we will be as lucky to get a sweep there, but we would love to keep our own little streak going as we have won 3 straight after a disappoint end to our last home stand against Toronto (1-2)

Cleveland Foresters 14-4 (1st Place in the CA) vs New York Stars (11-9 5th place in CA)
May 8th-10th 1934
Season Series - First Meeting

The Stars went threw a change at GM in the off-season and are looking to put it together again. They won the CA just 2 seasons ago and won the World Series for their 8th overall title. Last season the teams split the regular season series at 11 games apiece. The Stars have won 8 straight games as we come to town.

On offense they rank 5th in the CA with 91 runs scored and their 272 batting average also ranks 5th. They are led by their all-star combination of 3B John Lawson and Pete Layton. Lawson is hitting 316 on the season with 2 home runs and 13 RBI's. Layton is hitting at a 362 clip with 3 home runs and 13 RBI's.

On the pitching side of things they have given up 90 runs on the season (3rd) with their starting pitchers compiling an ERA 4.06 (3rd) and the bullpen at 3.91 (5th). They have a very solid starting group but the struggles of Lou Martino in particular are a bit alarming (0-3 6.14).

The 3rd game of the series matchup between Dean Astle and Les Zoller should be a pitching clinic.

Pitching Matchups Cleveland @ New York Stars
Walter Murphy 2-0 4.87 vs Charlie Stedman 1-1 3.82
Eddie Quinn 3-1 3.25 vs Lou Martino 0-3 6.14
Dean Astle 3-0 1.34 vs Les Zoller 3-0 1.36

Game #19 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ NY Stars 5 (11)

The Foresters tied the game in the top of the 9th with a run and then the fireworks really started. In the top of the 10th RF Moxie Pidgeon looked to have put the game into the win column for the Foresters by blasting a 3-run homer to give Cleveland a 5-2. SP Walter Murphy who pitched a 3-hitter through 9 innings came out to start the 10th and it was a mistake. A single and 2 walks later and Frank Phillips came on to try and get out of the mess. He wasn't able too as the Stars tied the game at 5 by scoring 3 runs. Thankfully for the Forester Fans, Max Morris had dinner plans so he put the game to bed with a solo home run and Phillips pitched a clean 11th for the win.

WP - Frank Phillips 3-0 3.86 (2nd blown save)
LP - Hal Lucas 2-1 1.62
HR - (Cl) Max Morris 5th, Moxie Pidgeon 4th
Notable - Max Morris 2-6 GWHR, RBI 2R, Moxie Pidgeon 2-2 HR DB 2R 3RBI, Walter Murphy 9.1IP 4H 5R 3ER 5BB 4K
Lou Martino 6IP 2H 1R 0ER 5BB 3K

Game #20 - Cleveland Foresters 4 @ NY Stars 1

Forester SP Eddie Quinn is really enjoying his new surroundings with Cleveland as he moves to 4-1 on the season. Forester C TR Goins came out of the game hitting a 2-run double sliding into 2nd. He appeared to be ok but was replaced by Jim Kyle.

WP - Eddie Quinn 4-1 2.80 (9IP 9H 1R 1ER 2BB 6K)
LP - Charlie Stedman 1-2 4.06 (9IP 9H 4R 4ER 1BB 3K)
HR - None
Notable - TR Goins 1-1 DB 2RBI, John Turner 2-4 DB, R

Game #21 - Cleveland Foresters 8 @ NY Stars 3

Cleveland and ventured off on this road trip and won their first 6 games after sweeping both Montreal and New York. Today's pitching matchup didn't turn out to be the gem we had thought. NY SP Zoller was roughed up for 9 hits, 8 runs (7 earned) in just 4.2 innings as the Foresters coasted to victory.

WP - Dean Astle 4-0 1.69 (9IP 10H 3R 3ER 1BB 3k)
LP - Les Zoller 3-1 2.87 (4.2IP 9H 8R 7ER 3BB 4K)
HR - (Cl) Dan Fowler 5th
Notable - Ralph Joiner 4-5 DB, R 2RBI, Dan Fowler 2-4 HR, DB, BB 2R RBI, George Dawson 2-4 BB, R, RBI

Summary - Really an unexpected sweep as we move to 17-4 on the season. For the most part the team is hitting on all cylinders but there is a concern starting to mount that we will talk about a bit later.

We head off to Brooklyn to go against the Kings who are having some early season success which they haven't enjoyed the last few years. Last year we owned the King's going 17-5 against them. I am sure Manager Walt Bailey will have them ready to play this 4 game set.

Cleveland Foresters 17-4 (1st Place CA) @ Brooklyn Kings 14-8 (2nd Place CA)
May 11th-14th (game 4 is on Monday)
King's County Park II
Season Series - First Meeting

The King's come into the game with the CA's best offense scoring 142 runs (1st) averaging almost 6.5 rpg. Their batting average is 2nd in the league at 299. Offensively the Kings are led by their (God I hate saying Barrell is theirs) 20-year-old wonderkid SS Harry Barrell. The Foresters traded Barrell in July of 1932 and the Foresters have been regretting it ever since. Barrell is hitting 338 with 11 RBI's on the season and should be fresh for this series as he had a day off yesterday. LF Art Summers is hitting 289 with 2 home runs and has driven in a team leading 22 RBI's. Harry's brother C Fred Barrell is having a fine hitting 333 with 2 home runs and 15 RBI's.

On the mound is where Brooklyn will likely make or break it season. So far this year they have given up 113 runs (6th) and their starters have an ERA of 5.22 (7th) while the bullpen has been much better at 2.77 (3rd). If Brooklyn is going to make a serious run for the CA their pitching particularly from their SP's needs to improve.

Pitching Matchups (projected) Cleveland vs Brooklyn
Roger Perry 2-1 1.97 vs Buddy Adams 1-1 8.71
Walter Murphy 2-0 4.25 vs Art White 0-0 0.00
Eddie Quinn 4-1 2.80 vs Tommy Barrell 3-0 4.50
*Dean Astle 4-0 1.69 vs Chuck Murphy 1-1 3.86
*Projected

Game #22 - Cleveland Foresters 4 @ Brooklyn Kings 5

Trailing 4-0 entering the 8th, the Foresters decided to make a gam of it. Max Morris and Dan Fowler hit solo homers in the 8th to cut the lead in half. Then TR Goins hit a 2 run shot to tie it in the top of the 9th. The Kings then hit 3 singles in the bottom of the 9th to push across the winning run of RP Frank Phillips.

WP - Hal Galvan 5-2 3.95
LP - Frank Phillips 3-1 4.91
HR - (Cl) Max Morris 6th, Dan Fowler 6th, TR Goins 2nd (Brk) Jack Shadoan 3rd, Doug Lightbody 1st
Notable - Roger Perry 6IP 5H 2R 2Er 4BB 4K, Max Morris 3-5 HR R RBI, TR Goins 2-5 HR R 2RBI

Game #23 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Brooklyn Kings 3

SP Walter Murphy wasn't great giving up 10 hits in his 8 innings of work, but he was good enough to give the Foresters the win. TR Goins hit a home run for the 2nd straight day driving in 2 runs.

WP - Walter Murphy 3-0 4.06 (8IP 10H 3R 3ER 1BB 5K)
LP - Hal Galvan 5-3 5.17
HR - (Cl) TR Goins 3rd
Notable - Brooks Meeks 3-5 3R, SB, Dan Fowler 2-4 RBI

Game #24 - Cleveland Foresters 2 @ Brooklyn Kings 5

Tommy Barrell was sharp all night giving up just a 9th inning 2-run home run to Leon Drake but otherwise shutting down the Foresters on just 6 hits. Shabby defense once again plagued the Foresters as they committed 3 errors (2 by 2B Ralph Joiner (4) and 1 by SS George Dawson (10)).

WP - Tommy Barrell 4-0 4.04 (9IP 6H 2R 2ER 3BB 4K)
LP - Eddie Quinn 4-2 2.77 (7IP 8H 5R 2ER 5BB 0K)
HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 5th, (Brk) John Langille 2nd
Notable - Leon Drake 2-4 HR R 2RBI

Summary - Brooklyn's starting pitching has come out strong so far in this series first 3 games (Starters 2.72 ERA over 23.2 innings). When they get pitching like that then Brooklyn is a tough team to beat.

As I stated in the New York series we have a developing issue that is starting to concern me quite a bit. What can be an issue with a team that is 18-6 on the season you ask? Well it is the performance or lack of it by 3B John Turner. After a 300+ plus month in April to start the season, Turner has gone ice cold hitting just 132 in May and his season average is down to 216. Last year he was sent down after hitting around 230 through May. Its no secret that he is projected to be a 300 hitter and play an upper end defense at 3B, but right now he has struggled at the plate both this season and last. What do we do about that? Well we are going to start sniffing around and seeing what is available as we head into June. It is no secret that we have been approaching Boston for years in regards to 3B Charlie Berry. Talks came up again this off-season but we were not able to agree on a price for the 35-year-old who still is producing and playing a solid 3B. We also discussed 3B Joe Masters of the Chicago Chiefs who is also climbing into his mid-30's and didn't come close to a deal. Master is a great hitter, who still is mashing this season but his defense isn't as solid as it once was. Are their others we might be able to discuss? Maybe, but it is so early in the season it is hard to make deals until you get closer to the end of June when teams start to realize they are not likely to be a contender.

In house options? There are not many. Prior to this year one might have said give Harry Stroud a chance, but he was released in the off-season as his defense had eroded and he was not longer a suitable option. There is also Cincinnati 3B/2B Vince Frazier who currently is not on the 40-man roster. Frazier is a solid 4A player but has never done much with the bat in the big leagues. He is a valuable locker room presence. Finally there is 31-year-old Jake Moore who has been the long time starter. He is on the bench a lot so far this season but we are going to give him a few starts and see if that sparks Turner. We will evaluate them both in a time share this week and depending on the results (mainly if Turner gets a few hits) will determine if its time for more desperate measures. I know likely an over-reaction but we have worked hard to try and make this our year, we don't want any real weak links.

Roster Moves - After re-acquiring Hughie Fitts in the trade with Montreal we optioned him to AA Portland. The move was just to clear some room for him to get every day at-bats as we have a few OF's in Cincinnati that also need them.

We promoted RF Fred Quinn to AAA Cincinnati as he has hit well at every level in the organization. He will be the everyday RF for the Steamers.

We released our 1st round pick from the 1927 draft LF Dick Kennon. He hit for a decent average in the minor leagues but just never developed the power that we were looking for to distinguish himself from others. Kennon never made it to the major leagues and only played in 3 games at the AAA level last year.

Players of the Week
FA Player of the week goes to St. Louis 1B Fred McCormick who hit 11-24 (458) with 2 home runs, 9 RBI's this past week as St. Louis moved into 1st place in the FA. On the season McCormick is hitting 359 4-27 with 21 runs scored.

CA Player of the Week - Goes to the Montreal Saints 3B Hank Barnett who hit 520 (13-25) with 2 home runs and 9 RBI's. Barnett is hitting 367 on the season with 4 homers and 20 RBI's for the 3rd place Saints

Manager Firing in Montreal
In a move that is probably more to do with last years collapse and the streakiness of this season, the Saints fired manager Joe Ward who had gone 449-500 in his 6+ years as the Saints skipper. The Saints are above 500 at 14-11 and in 3rd place in the CA so far, but the team started 11-1 before losing 10 of its last 13 to seal Ward's fate. Ward's replacement is minor league manager James Gentry (64) who has been in the Saints organization since 1924. His minor league managerial record is 1317-1080 (549) 6 minor league championships. Gentry has been described as a conventional manger in style and has a more personable personality that his predecessor. Will this be the right hire for the Saints to shed the label of mediocre the last dozen or so years?

Forester Hitter of the Week - C TR Goins hit 304 with 2 homers and 7 RBI's.

Forester Pitcher of the Week - Roger Perry went 1-0 in 2 starts with a 1.20 ERA giving up just 10 hits in 15 innings worked.

Minor League Awards -
Savannah Privateers C Bill Malachi (23) won (SEL Class B) player of the week award by going 9-18 with 2 home runs, 9RBI's and 4 runs scored. On the season the 17th rd pick (1932) is hitting 371 4-18.

An Ottumwa Owl for the 2nd week in a row has won the class C UMVA player of the week award. This week its CF Tom Hoppe (24) who hit 481 13-27 with 3 home runs and 8 RBI's and 10 runs scored. Hoppe while not a top prospect is a team leader on the class C team.

mjj55409 · 12-08-2020, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Will this be the right hire for the Saints to shed the label of mediocre the last dozen or so years?

I sure hope so

DD Martin · 12-10-2020, 04:40 PM

(Just a short note today as I am out and about a lot and don't want to drop too far behind.)

Monday - Cleveland 5 @ Brooklyn 3 - We picked up a split in the 4-game series on the strength of SP Dean Astle going to 5-0. TR Goins also hit one out for us.

Tuesday-Thursday @ Baltimore 5-22
Tuesday - Cleveland 3 @ Baltimore 8 - One of our uglier losses on the season Roger Perry (2-2) just didn't have his best stuff today. Ken Carpenter continues with his successful career against us.

Wednesday - Cleveland 7 @ Baltimore 6
Wasn't pretty at all as our defense continues to give away easy runs. We picked up a run in the 8th to win it on an error.

Thursday - Cleveland 7 @ Baltimore 5
SP Ben Turner pitched well for 6 innings shutting out the Cannons but then trouble erupted in the 7th but we hung on to win with Phillips notching his 6th save. Max Morris hit his 8th home run on the season.

Saturday-Sunday at home vs Montreal 17-12

Saturday - Montreal 3 vs Cleveland 7

The Foresters won the game today but it came at a pretty steep cost. All-Star C TR Goins will be sideline for the foreseeable future with some sort of foot injury. 3B Jake Moore hit his first home run of the season.

Sunday - Montreal 6 vs Cleveland 3

The team came out very flat today as Dean Astle took his first loss of the year and was down 5-0 after 3. Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come with Goins on the shelf.

Weekly Summary
Record 4-2
Season Record 22-8 1st place in the CA by 4 games over NY Stars

So obviously the big deal is the status of C TR Goins. Team Trainer Harry King has diagnosed his foot injury as plantar fasciitis. He will be out hopefully for just 1 month and we will keep our fingers crossed. Besides missing Goins bat in the lineup he has been a stabilizing force behind the plate and it will be interesting to watch how the staff responds without him. Jim Kyle will take over the everyday duties behind the dish and Herman Rachford will come up from Cincinnati. Rachford was claimed on waivers for just this very reason as he is the #3 catcher on the depth chart and had an option. He was hitting 267 at Cincinnati and playing solid defense. If Goin's injury was for a longer period of time we likely would have brought back up Nick Lake to take his spot and put him back on the 40-man roster.

While we went 4-2 this week it just didn't feel like a great week. The lackluster loss in Baltimore on Tuesday and then yesterday's game really makes me wonder if the team is really hitting on all cylinders.

After a slow week last week the big bats continued to drive home runs out at a rate never seen before in the CA. We have hit 31 home runs in 30 games and last year we set the club and CA record for 119 in a season. So far this year we are on a 159 pace.

News Item this week

Brooklyn obviously heard a comment made in the Cleveland papers about the Kings and their offense which is leading the league. The writer stated that the Kings just need to get their pitching up to its usual standards and they would be in it for the long term. Being a very shrewd GM, Brooklyn has trade with the Baltimore Cannons for veteran SP Ken Carpenter (36). While not the ace that he was at one time, he still brings a lot of innings and stability to a King's staff reeling from the injury loss of Jacobs. Over the years Carpenter has been a thorn in the Foresters side, but last season Cleveland went 3-1 against him. This season the Forester's saw Carpenter this last week and lost 8-3 in Baltimore. What does this mean for the season? That Brooklyn is serious about making a solid run and with their offense is a force to be reckoned with. The deal didn't cost Brooklyn much either as they didn't trade any top prospects for him in C Farrar and 3B Milt Butler. Some scouts like Butler but his personality lacks a lot and he would likely never be accepted into the Cleveland organization.

Note Worthy-
The CA has been a very streaky league so far this year with a lot of mini winning and losing streaks. Right now the New York Stars are on another roll moving into 2nd. The team we are all watching though is the Chicago Cougars. While they are only 11-19 at the moment they finally put together their first winning week and they are targeting a home series against us in early June on the calendar. If they keep putting together winning weeks ahead of that meeting, it could be a foreshadowing of things to come. Right now we are 6-0 vs Chicago and that hasn't gone unnoticed by Cougar players, coaches or management.

DD Martin · 12-15-2020, 11:06 PM

End of May Summary

Quote:

I have fallen a bit behind this week but will start to catch up with some double weeks.

Weekly Summary (Cover the last 11 games of the month) 8-3
Season Record 30-11 1st place in the CA

Game results -
May 21st vs Montreal 9-3 win
May 22nd vs Brooklyn 0-2 loss
May 23rd vs Brooklyn 1-6 loss
May 24th vs Brooklyn 7-5 win
May 25th vs New York 8-0 win
May 26th vs New York 9-4 win
May 27th vs New York 6-0 win
May 28th vs Baltimore 8-4 win
May 29th vs Baltimore 8-1 win
May 30th vs Baltimore 1-2 loss
May 31st @ Toronto 4-0 win

So we start our journey without C TR Goins for the next month. Since Goin's fell to the Plantar Fasciitis injury we have gone 8-4. If we can maintain that pace we should be in good shape. C Jim Kyle who was brought in last season to be the everyday catcher prior to the acquisition of Goin's is getting the bulk of the work. Since that time he has gone 9-42 hitting just 214, so it is a huge drop off from Goin's hitting. Still he is doing a solid job and the team is still winning.

Offensively in May
The team is still 2nd in runs scored with 207 and averaging 5.05 rpg.
RF Moxie Pidgeon hit 284/339/937 7-27 for May, followed by:
1B Max Morris 337/391/891 5-25
LF Leon Drake 265/387/917 4-21

CF Dan Fowler was clutch in driving in 20 RBI's in May but hit only 223/326/727 and the team will need his bat to heat back up as we move to June.

3B Johnny "on the spot" Turner struggled mightily for most of the month but showed a few signs of getting back on track. The pressure will really be on for him to turn it around quickly as the rumors are definitely flying that GM Martin is actively reviewing potential trades. The Forester's have been very actively pulling off deals for big name players (Morris in 32 and Goins/Fowler in 33). Could the same thing happen again? Rumors were the Foresters have been after Boston Minutemen 3B Charlie Barry for 5 years and likely could have acquired the veteran 3rd sacker this off-season but were reluctant to pull the trigger on the 35-year-old. It's proving to be a mistake so far as Barry is having another banner season in Boston and with signs of the Minutemen hanging around in the pennant race in the FA, he will likely be off the market.

Pitching in May

The starting rotation has been the strength of the team so far this year as the Foresters boast the #1 staff ERA in the CA. The only SP that has struggled some in May was Ben Turner (2-2 5.01 ERA). Dean Astle (4-2 2.25 ERA 6GS 52IP), Eddie Quinn (4-1 2.88 6GS 50IP), Roger Perry (4-2 2.22 7GS 48.2IP) and Walter Murphy (2-1 3.48 6GS 44IP) have been as good a 4-man group as any this year.

Over in the bullpen stopper Frank Phillips settled down a bit and went 2-1 with 2 saves and a 1.13 ERA in 8 appearances. RP's Jim Cavender and Leo Proctor have seen a ton of action but they have been very tough in the 6 games they have appeared in covering 13.1IP and surrendering just 1 run for a 0.68 ERA. Bert Henggeler has been decent but had a rough outing that ballooned his ERA up to 4.50 for the month. As a group they are 4-1 with 5 saves with a 2.13 ERA for May.

Players of the Month (Cleveland)

Pitcher of the Month was given to Dean Astle who went 4-2 2.25 ERA with a 1.19 WHIP.

Hitter of the Month (Cleveland) was given to RF Moxie Pidgeon who drove in 27 RBI's and scored 19 runs.

Injury Front - The only injury the big league team has suffered has been the one to C TR Goin's. In talking with team trainer Henry King, he says that Goin's is making excellent progress in rehabbing, but that this particular type of injury can be very tricky. So far so good though and it is expected Goin's will be back around the mid-month in June.

GM Thoughts - So far we have avoided any real adversity on the field with just the 1 injury. The team is playing well and is looking like it should continue to play well.

Jim Wilson has been a great manager for us and is defying his youthful years as he is now 112-66 (629) since he took over last year in early May.

I have talked to Manager Wilson about 3B Johnny Turner and we have decided to keep him up in Cleveland but we are definitely giving veteran 3B Jake Moore a few more starts. Turner has really struggled against RHP but has been solid against LHP. Look for Moore to start at least half the games against righties for the early part of June.

In talking with our Bench Coach Charlie Reed he has been very pleased with the clubhouse and how the team is rallying around team captain 2B Brooks Meeks. There are a lot of leaders on the team that have helped keep the team on a very positive keel. It is one of the things that I have stressed over the years is a positive clubhouse, even when the winning hasn't been there. The Forester's value high character type players and we have been very careful keeping negative influences off the team which has affected who we sometimes look for in trades (ie: Why we didn't' pursue a Lou Kelly in the past).

DD Martin · 12-15-2020, 11:39 PM

The FA and CA League Standings -End of May 1934

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While Cleveland is leading the CA the emerging team has been the Brooklyn Kings (26-16). The Kings offense has been the #1 unit in the CA so far this year and they are starting to emerge as a serious contender this year. Brooklyn typically hasn't fared well before July the last several years but this year appears to be different. In 3rd Place is the New York Stars (23-20) who have been one of the streakier teams in the league this year. The Montreal Saints (21-20) have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, but they currently are the worst team in the FABL in scoring runs. The team needs to find a few middle of the order bats, but their ballpark is very tough on hitters (think Petco (SD) or T-Mobile (Sea). in 5th place is the Philadelphia Sailors who at one time dominated the CA prior to this recent Chicago Cougar run and they are just 1/2 game ahead of those Cougars who are starting to show some signs of life. Toronto is in 7th at 16-25 and then come the Baltimore Cannons who have clearly embarked on a serious rebuilding run with their trades of SP Rabbit Day and OF Lou Kelly.

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Over in the FA the New York Gothams (26-16) are leading the way not surprisingly. The Goth's made the big trade to add Rabbit Day and combine him with Jim Londaro as maybe the best 1-2 punch in all of baseball. But their lead is very slim over the young St. Louis Pioneers (25-17) and Boston Minutemen (24-17). With these 3 teams within a 1 1/2 games of each other it promises to be a very exciting race. In 4th place are the defending World Series Champion Philadelphia Keystones (22-20) who are just 4 games back. Starting in the top slot in the 2nd division are the Pittsburgh Miners 20-21 who are just 5 1/2 back. The Chicago Chiefs are getting a monster season out of veteran 3B Joe Masters but it is not translating to wins as they are struggling at 17-23 in 6th place and don't appear to be a factor. The surprise is definitely the early season fall of the Detroit Dynamo's who have been in the top 2-3 in the FA for recent memory. Currently this year the Dynamo's are just 17-25 and haven't really shown any signs of coming out of it. The Washington Eagles are currently in 8th, 11 games out at 15-27. The Eagles are under new management and they are re-working their roster but have got some pieces for the future to build on.

Players of the Month (FA)

Hitter of the Month is awarded to the Philadelphia Keystones RF Bobby Barrell (23) who has just laid waste to the pitching in the FA. For May Barrell hit 440 with 5 home runs, driving in 33 RBI's and scoring 27 runs. On the season Barrell is hitting 412 with 6 home runs and 42 RBI's.

Pitcher of the Month - The Award is given to St. Louis SP Sam Sheppard who went 6-0 with a 4.32 ERA. The 26-year-old benefitted from some tremendous support from his St Louis teammates and is 7-1 on the season.

Rookie of the Month - Boston's CF Chick Donnelly's has really impressed fans with his style of play and he was rewarded with the Rookie of the Month honors in the FA. Hitting 381 with 9 doubles, a triple and 3 home runs, Donnelly scored 20 runs and drove in 26 while also playing a very good defensive CF.

CA Players of the Month

Hitter of the Month goes to New York Stars 3B John Lawson (31) who hit 333 with 4 home runs and 32 RBI's for the month. On the season he is hitting 333 with 5 homers with 38 RBI's.

Pitcher of the Month - Another Barrell in the winner circle this time it is Brooklyn SP Tommy Barrell who went 6-0 with a 2.37 ERA in 7 GS. On the season Barrell is a perfect 8-0 with a 3.12 ERA and is a huge reason why Brooklyn is in 2nd place in the CA.

Rookie of the Month - Goes to the Baltimore Cannons LF Al Horton (25). in his first full season he has shown he can definitely hit in the big leagues. In May Horton hit 314. with a homer and 11 RBI's. On the season he is hitting 302 with 1 home run and 20 RBI's and 28 runs scored.

Trades during the Month

The Chicago Cougars acquired SS Clyde Hinzman (27) from Toronto. On the season Hinzman is struggling with the bat hitting just 207 in only 29 AB's. The Wolves will receive the #110 prospect in baseball as the return as RF Reginald Westfall (20 Class B) is hitting 352 with 4 home runs in 91 AB's.

The blockbuster deal in May was the one between the Brooklyn Kings and the rebuilding Baltimore Cannons. As part of the rebuild the Cannons traded veteran SP Ken Carpenter (36) 3-2 3.68 ERA to the Kings for a pair of minor leaguers, C Buster Farrar (22 Class B) and 3B Milt Butler who was hitting 430 at AA. Neither prospect is highly ranked in the return so the verdict between GM's is the league was split but most agreed that Brooklyn added a key piece to stabilizing their rotation.

DD Martin · 12-16-2020, 07:13 PM

The First Week of June 1934

Friday June 1st, 1934
Cleveland Foresters 30-11 @ Toronto Wolves16-25
Double-Header

Pitching Matchups for the Double-Header
Walter Murphy 4-1 3.06 vs Bill Anderson 4-5 3.71
Ben Turner 4-2 4.81 vs Birdie Smith 3-5 5.29

Game #42 - Cleveland Foresters 3 @ Toronto Wolves 0

Walter Murphy has been much better than the Cleveland front office felt he would be as he notched his 5th victory of the season shutting out the Wolves on 7 hits in game 1 of this Friday double-header. Murphy even drove in a run in the game going 2-3 at the plate.

WP - Walter Murphy 5-1 2.67 (9IP 7H 0R 2BB 3K)
LP - Bill Anderson 4-6 3.62 (9IP 9H 3R 3ER 2BB 0K)
HR - None
Notable - Jim Kyle 2-3 1R

Game #43 - Cleveland Foresters 3 @ Toronto Wolves 4 (10)

The 2nd game of the double-header came down to execution and unfortunately for the Foresters the 3 errors in the game cost them. In the bottom of the 10th Max Morris had moved out to RF earlier and with 2 outs LF Andre Ward hit a foul ball down the line which Morris dropped. That error proved fatal in this game as Ward came back and singled on the next pitch scoring the game winning run.

WP - John Reimers 2-1 5.34
LP - Frank Phillips 3-2 2.77
HR - None
Notable - Dawson 2-4 DB, Pidgeon 2-5 TP, 2RBI

Summary - A game we really should have won. Ben Turner pitched well enough to win but gave up a run in the bottom of the 9th (where was our stopper?). We only gave up 4 runs in a double-header and 2 of them were unearned and the mounting errors cost us this game. It's a frustrating loss against a team we should have beaten, but the club is still flying high at 31-12 with an off-day tomorrow before a pair of games against the Philadelphia Sailors.

Philadelphia Sailors 22-22 vs Cleveland Foresters 31-12
2-game series June 3rd and 4th
Season Series - Cleveland leads 4-2

Pitching Matchups Philadelphia Sailors vs Cleveland Foresters
George Johnson 4-3 4.33 vs Eddie Quinn 6-2 2.92
William Jones 3-2 2.43 vs Dean Astle 6-2 2.11

Game #44 - Philadelphia Sailors 8 vs Cleveland Foresters 7

Sailors C Joe Cameron was the player of the game going 3-4 with a double, 2 runs scored and drove in 2 runs, but it was the at-bat where he didn't get a hit that won the game. In the top of the 8th with his team up 2 runs, Cameron came up with the bases loaded. He was then plunked by RP Frank Phillips to drive in a run. It ended up being the game winner. The Sailors committed 4 errors in the game but Cleveland did not make them pay for their poor play as none of the runs scored were unearned.

WP - George Johnson 5-3 4.80 (8IP 12H 7R 7ER 5BB 3K)
LP - Eddie Quinn 6-3 3.32 (7IP 13H 6R 6ER 4BB 1K)
HR - None
Notable - Dan Fowler 2-3 2BB 2R, Leon Drake 3-5 R, RBI, Jim Kyle 2-5 2RBI

Game #45 - Philadelphia Sailors 11 vs Cleveland Foresters 7

In an uncharacteristic outing, SP Dean Astle was rocked by the Sailors and only last 4 innings. Astle gave up 8 hits and 7 walks and was probably lucky to only give up 6 runs. Somehow the Foresters managed to tie up the game heading to the 9th and then Jim Cavender probably suffering from rust from lack of use was bombed for 4 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. The Foresters couldn't mount a comeback after that.

WP - Hal Upton 3-1 0.64
LP - Jim Cavender 0-1 3.65
HR - None
Notable - Moxie Pidgeon 3-5 2RBI 1R, Max Morris 2-4, BB, R, 3RBI Dan Fowler 0-2 3BB 2R

Summary - What an ugly couple of games as our usually reliable starting pitching just sort of crumbled. We are now 9-7 without TR Goins but I am wondering if the recent stretch of poor pitcher outings is just numbers catching up to us or if the staff is missing it very clear leader.

Johnny Turner has managed to get his average back up to 240 with a few hits here and there but he is not producing at a level we have been hoping for. While he remains the starter for now, Jake Moore is getting increased playing time especially against RHP. Turner who is know for his glove work at 3B has not been having a great season at 3B defensively either. Whether it is his hitting that is causing him to press or his lack of attention to instruction, his opportunity in Cleveland as the every 3rd baseman is beginning to look precarious.

Injury news update - Trainer King feels that TR Goins will be back in action in 2 weeks. Hopefully we can stay in first place while he is out.

Bit trip to Chicago to play the Cougars who are starting to look like they are coming out of their funk.

Cleveland Foresters 31-14 @ Chicago Cougars 21-25
3-game series in Chicago
June 6th-8th
Season Series - Cleveland leads 6-0

The Foresters will head back up to the Windy City for a big 3-game series against the Cougars. Big series you as against a team that is 21-25, in 6th place and 10.5 games out. Yes anytime you play Chicago it is a big BIG series. We have been fortunate enough to be 6-0 against them this year but it like not trying to wake a sleeping giant.

The Cougars have won 11 out of their last 18 games. We loaded up our starting rotation so that our top 3 starters would be in line to start games in this series.

Pitching Matchups Cleveland vs Chicago
Roger Perry 5-2 2.22 vs Tommy Wilcox 3-7 3.80
Eddie Quinn 6-3 3.32 vs Dick Lyons 2-1 3.64
Dean Astle 6-2 2.68 vs Jim Crawford 3-4 5.74

Game #46 - Cleveland Foresters 4 @ Chicago Cougars 1

The Foresters continued their mastery over the Cougars behind the sterling pitching of Roger Perry as he 3-hit the Cougars in picking up his 6th win of the year.

WP - Roger Perry 6-2 2.07 (9IP 3H 1R 1ER 2BB 2K)
LP - Tommy Wilcox 3-8 3.82 (9IP 11H 4R 4ER 2BB 1K)
HR - None
Notable - Ralph Joiner 2-4 RBI, BB Dan Fowler 2-5 RBI

Game #47 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Chicago Cougars 17

Worst game of the year for the Foresters as they committed 6 ERROR's, gave up 17 hits and 2 walks in getting trounced. SP Eddie Quinn did not pitch well giving up 7 hits in 3.2 IP and 9 runs, but only 1 of the runs was unearned. Chicago's Mike Taylor blasted 2 home runs and Doc Love added another. The only bright spot for the Foresters in this game was likely Moxie Pidgeon hitting the team's first home run in the month of June, his 11th.

WP - Dick Lyons 3-1 3.79 (7IP 13H 5R 4ER 1BB 4K)
LP - Eddie Quinn 6-4 3.29 (3.2IP 7H 9R 1ER 0BB 1K)
HR - (Cl) Moxie Pidgeon 11th, (CH) Mike Taylor (2) 6th and 7th, Doc Love 5th
Notable - We made 6 errors in this game. Nothing else really mattered other than 6 pathetic errors. John Turner had 2, Brooks Meeks, Jim Kyle, Dan Fowler and even George Dawson also each added 1.

Game #48 - Cleveland Foresters 7 @ Chicago Cougars 14

Well the Foresters have managed to do it, they have woken up the slumbering offense in Chicago as over the last 2 days the Cougs have scored 31 runs. Dean Astle was pounded for the 2nd straight game and has seen his ERA rise from 2.12 to 3.45 in his last 2 starts. Taylor and Love both homered again for the Cougars. And for all of you keeping track at home the Foresters made 3 more errors as the bullpen gave up 5 unearned runs, not that it mattered.

Have the Cougars officially served noticed that they are BACK?

WP - Herm Lowman 1-0 2.61 (5IP 6H 1R 1ER 1BB 5K in relief)
LP - Dean Astle 6-3 3.45 (5.1IP 13H 9R 9ER 3BB 1K)
HR - Mike Taylor 11th, Doc Love 6th
Notable - We miss TR Goins!

Weekly Summary - Maybe 2 of the worst games I have seen as the GM of the Cleveland Foresters. There is no way that this team should ever give up 31 runs in 5 games. The Cougars had 22 hits in that last game, 22!

On the bus trip out of town I get with Manager Jim Wilson and Team Trainer Henry King and have them got go talk to and check out Dean Astle. Hopefully nothing is wrong with him physically and its just between the ears. If it is just in his head, Jim Wilson will be able to get him righted hopefully soon.

3B John Turner besides his 2 errors in the middle game of this series went 0-9 and earned himself a seat on the bench next to hitting coach Jack Ralls. I am ordering extra batting practice for Turner and if he doesn't turn it around soon he will be back in Cincinnati.

Trade Front Rumors - We are checking in with most teams that have a decent 3B player who might want to discuss a deal. It's been hard getting through to some GM's as there seems to be a lot of conversations happening right now, and that is unusual since it is early June. We don't have a ton of needs but I would like to investigate options at 3rd.

Division Race - Losing those last 2 games against Chicago, besides being embarrassed also cost us something else besides Dean Astle's ERA title aspirations. While we are talking up the Chicago Cougars a funny thing happened and the Brooklyn Kings slide past us into first place by 1/2 a game. When we started the month we were 4 1/2 games up on Brooklyn but dropped 5 games in the standings this week.

DD Martin · 12-16-2020, 11:32 PM

June 9th -17th
On the Road in Philadelphia and Montreal

On the surface a couple of 4-game series that we could fare well in. Until the start of last week we were 4-2 against Phily but now the season series stands at 4-4. Against Montreal we are 5-1 so far this season. Overall on the road we have been really good going 18-6 so we hope that we can bounce back during these games before going to Baltimore. When we head out to Baltimore we should have C TR Goins back.

Cleveland Foresters 32-16 @ Philadelphia Sailors 25-24
June 9th-12th
4-Game Series in Philadelphia
Season Series tied 4-4

The Sailors are really limited offensively as far as power goes. They are last in the CA in home runs and 5th in runs scored with 230. On offense they are led by 2B Jack Cleaves who is hitting 356 which is about 50 points higher than in the last 2 seasons, but his power is down so far this year. The previous 2 seasons he has hit 26 home runs but this year so far he has been limited to just 1 and 12 RBI's. While the batting average is great this team needs run producers and right now he isn't producing many in the #5 spot in the order.

On the pitching side they have given up 250 runs (4th) in the CA and their starters ERA is 4.73 (7th).

Pitching Matchups Cleveland Foresters vs Philadelphia Sailors
Walter Murphy 5-1 2.67 vs George Johnson 5-3 3.80
Roger Perry 6-2 2.07 vs William Jones 3-2 3.50
Walter Murphy 6-1 2.49 vs Russ Reel 4-4 4.78
Eddie Quinn 6-4 3.29 vs Doc Newell 4-5 4.95

Oscar Morse 6-3 4.05
Game #49 - Cleveland Foresters 4 @ Philadelphia Sailors 1

SP Walter Murphy cruised in this one giving up just 4 hits and 1 run. Max Morris hit his 10th home run of the season in the 4th.

WP - Walter Murphy 6-1 2.49 (9IP 4H 1R 1ER 1BB 1K)
LP - George Johnson 5-4 4.70 (9IP 8H 4R 4ER 4BB 5K)
HR - (Cl) Max Morris 10th
Notable - Dan Fowler 2-4 DB, R Walter Murphy 1-3 2RBI

Game #50 - Cleveland Foresters 4 @ Philadelphia Sailors 5

Max Morris went 3-5 with a double and 3 RBI's but it wasn't enough to bail the Foresters out in this one as they drop another close game. Sailors CF Dan Merchant hit his 1st home run of the season a 2-run shot to aid the Sailors to another win.

WP - William Jones 4-2 2.98 (7.2IP 6H 2R 0ER 2BB 4K)
LP - Roger Perry 6-3 2.24 (6.1IP 10H 5R 3ER 2BB 1K)
S - Hal Upton 4th 0.55
Notable - Morris 3-5 DB 3RBI

Game #51 - Cleveland Foresters 3 @ Philadelphia Sailors 9

Walter Murphy has been going great, but he wasn't able to come back on short rest with Dean Astle still fighting a flu bug (aka I screwed up). Also the mounting error problem lead to 7 unearned runs for the Sailors. The only good news (sarcasm) was 3B John Turner was helped off the field and pulling a muscle getting a hit (figures).

WP - Russ Reel 5-4 4.50 (8IP 13H 3R 2ER 0BB 3K)
LP - Walter Murphy 6-2 2.44 (5IP 8H 8R 1ER 2BB 1K)
Notable - Max Morris 3-5 2 DB 2RBI
Turner's injury will likely cost him the rest of the season.

Game #52 - Cleveland Foresters 0 @ Philadelphia Sailors 7
The Foresters are no-hit!

Sailor SP Doc Newell no hit the Foresters today. Newell went 9 the distance with 5 walks and 7 strikeouts. For the Foresters the month of June has been very difficult so far and this just kind of epitomizes their recent struggles against the Sailors and in general.

WP - Doc Newell 5-5 4.41 (9IP 0H 0R 5BB 7K)
LP - Eddie Quinn 6-5 3.63 (6.2IP 11H 6R 6ER 3BB 1K)
Notable - Not a damn thing!

Summary - So closes a very frustrating trip to the so-called City of Brotherly Love. The Sailors took 3 out of 4 and our current fall from the lofty top perch of the CA is now 2 full games behind Brooklyn. The Sailors did a fancy switch and replace Merritt in that last game with Doc Newell. There was nothing about Newell this season that screamed I'm about to throw a no-no against us, but that is exactly what he did.

Not a lot of things are going right at the moment. The club is sort of in a stagnant state right now and for the first time in his young managerial career Jim Wilson is having to deal with some adversity. The team is now 500 since TR Goins injury going 12-12, but good news is coming soon about Goins as he will join us in Baltimore next week.

The issue was Johnny Turner was coming to a head as he was down to just hitting 222 on the season and his defense was not making up for his short comings with the bat. The torn abdominal muscle will keep him out at least 3 months so unless we are desperate at the end of the season, he will not return this season or maybe even ever. Jake Moore will take back over his former spot at 3B and while he will hit better than Turner, Jake has lost a couple of steps and his defense and range at 3rd leave a lot to be desired. For now we will have to press on, but we are on the lookout and are negotiating with several free agents and making calls.

Cleveland Foresters 33-19 @ Montreal Saints 25-27
4-game series June 13th-16th
Season Series - Cleveland leads 5-1

Probably not a place where a team that was just no-hit would want to venture too. Montreal's Parc Cartier is one of if not the toughest ballparks to hit in the entire FABL. Couple that with the Saints top end pitching staff and that doesn't spell for a lot of confidence.

The Saints are the worst offense in the CA and the FABL as a whole. They have managed just 205 runs this season (3.94 rpg). Montreal came out fast this year going 11-1, then fell to 14-11 and fired their manager. Now since the firing they are 11-16 and falling off the pace in the CA by double digits. Not the end of the season but there are a lot of rumors swirling in Montreal about trades and the lack of offense.

Pitching Matchups Cleveland vs Montreal
Dean Astle 6-3 3.45 vs Skinny Foster 1-1 1.80
Roger Perry 6-3 2.24 vs Chick Wirtz 4-2 3.47
Walter Murphy 6-2 2.44 vs George Thomas 4-7 4.06
Ben Turner 4-2 4.87 vs Milt Fritz 5-5 5.12

Game #53 - Cleveland Foresters 5 @ Montreal Saints 3

After being no-hit in Phily the Foresters manage 14 hits including 4 extra base hits in beating the Saints. Dean Astle who seems to have recovered from the flu picked up his 7th win after his recent 2 poor outings. Maybe the break did him some good, or maybe it was just a poor offense against him.

WP - Dean Astle 7-3 3.41 (9IP 7H 3R 3ER 1BB 5K)
LP - Skinny Foster 1-2 3.27 (7IP 13H 5R 5ER 5BB 6K)
HR - (Cl) Max Morris 11th
Notable - George Dawson 4-5 DB, TP 1R 1RBI, Ralph Joiner 3-5 DB 1R 1RBI, Max Morris 2-5 HR 2R 2RBI, SB

Game #54 - Cleveland Foresters 2 @ Montreal Saints 4

Vic Crawford hit a double in the first that drove in 2 runs as the Saints score 4 runs in the first 2 innings against Roger Perry and cruised to a victory behind Chick Wirtz.

WP - Chick Wirtz 5-2 3.33 (8.1IP 9H 2R 2ER 2BB 6K)
LP - Roger Perry 6-4 2.47 (7IP 12H 4R 4ER 1BB 3K)
S - Howie Snyder 5th 2.52
Notable - Jake Moore 2-4 DB 1R 1RBI, Leon Drake 1-4 TP R

Game #55 - Cleveland Foresters 5 @ Montreal Saints 3

SP Walter Murphy just keeps plugging along and winning for the Foresters. He had been thought of as the other SP acquired in the spring (behind Eddie Quinn) but so far he has emerged with Roger Perry as the staff star. Dan Fowler hit a home run in the 9th to break open a close game.

WP - Walter Murphy 7-2 2.51 (8.2IP 10H 3R 3ER 2BB 4K)
LP - George Thomas 4-8 4.15 (9IP 9H 5R 5ER 2BB 1K)
S - Frank Phillips 7th 4.24
HR - (Cl) Dan Fowler 10th

Game #56 - Cleveland Foresters 4 @ Montreal Saints 5

Bottom of the 8th as the Foresters led 4-3, SS Tony White became the hero for Montreal with a 2-run single that put the Saints up 5-4. While there was speculation that Milt Fritz was on the move, he pitched what might be his last game in a Saints.

WP - Howie Snider 6-2 2.33
LP - Ben Turner 4-3 4.74 (7.1IP 5H 5R 3ER 5BB 3K)
HR - (Cl) Moxie Pidgeon 12th
Notable - Moxie Pidgeon 4-4 HR, 2DB 3RBI 1R, Ralph Joiner 0-5 2R

Comments - That was a bad way to lose that last game. Frank Phillips couldn't bail Ben Turner out of his walks and it cost the team a much needed win. The split in Montreal was at least better than the 1-3 in Philadelphia, but that marked the end of our 28 games without our all-star C TR Goins. We end the stretch 14-14 but it feels a lot worse than it was because of the poor play we have had in June (6-10).

With Johnny Turner's injury I neglected to mention that we purchased the contract of veteran 2B/3B Vince Frazier from Cincinnati to back up Jake Moore. Unfortunately Frazier's defense is not much better (if at all) than Jake Moore's. We really have a glaring weakness at 3B in our organization so that will only intensify our desire to make a deal. In the meantime we have begun discussions with a couple of minor league free agents who might get a chance to come up and be a late inning defensive replacement.

Team Shakeup - So the obvious move is the activation of C TR Goins and getting him right back in the lineup. No rehab assignment for him. Making room for Goins will be Herman Rachford who will go back down to AAA Cincinnati after going 1-11 in very limited action in backing up Jim Kyle.

Next I decided that our top flight pinch hitter acquired from Montreal Al Wilson was struggling too much this season in his limited role. So he was optioned to Cincinnati to get some playing time and maybe get his bat going once again. He was hitting just 184 in 38 at-bats with 1 RBI. Coming up was a familiar face in PH/Utility guy Ray Cochran who was as usual crushing the ball at Cincinnati hitting 365 with 2 homers and 30 RBI's. Wilson was a left hander and Cochran is a righty so we have tweaked things a bit.

SP Heinie Bretz was pitching well in Cincinnati in our program to re-strengthen his arm after being off all of last season. Bretz was 5-0 at Cincinnati with a 2.22 ERA so we decided to bring him up and pitch a game in the rotation next week in Baltimore. To make room, I looked at several options like DFA RP Jim Cavender but in the end Cavender continues to prove he has 9 lives. So instead to keep getting him regular work we sent down SP Ben Turner who had struggled some with command in going 4-3 with a 4.74 ERA. Who knows if Bretz pitches well maybe he either stays in the rotation in here or is dangled as a trade chip.

Trading News - Well there is nothing close here in Cleveland to a deal despite numerous calls to other FABL GM's. But our current lack of movement hasn't stopped other trade rumors. Nothing has happened yet, but it does look like the Chicago Cougars are burning up the phone lines and making a lot of calls. Also busy appears to be Montreal's GM as well. Where will it all fall? Hard to say, it could be just conversation but I feel like something is brewing and it might be big.

Next - Goins returns, do the Forester re-claim their form prior to his injury?

DD Martin · 12-18-2020, 05:07 PM

June 18th-24th
The Return of TR!

On the train to Baltimore I was talking with manager Jim Wilson who was asking me when Goins would be rejoining the team. I let him know that he just cleared his physical and would be joining us in Baltimore in time for game 2 of the series. At that time we would option Rachford back to Cincinnati.

Cleveland Foresters 35-21 2 Baltimore Cannons 16-41
4-Game series Jun 17-19th with a DH on the 19th
Season Series - Cleveland leads 4-2

The Cannons have the worst record in the FABL this season which wasn't unexpected after trading SP Rabbit Day and OF Lou Kelly in the off-season. Then late last month they traded away veteran SP Ken Carpenter to the Kings. So this is a major rebuilding effort for manager Ossie Julious and the Cannons upper management. Julious who is 2nd all time in wins for a manager is having his patience tested and at the rate of how this season is going it will be another couple of years before he can break the all-time record for wins. Currently he is about 120 wins away from breaking it so many sometime in 1936 he can if he is still with the team.

Pitching Matchups - Cleveland vs Baltimore

Eddie Quinn 6-5 3.63 vs Bob Miller 2-10 6.00
Dean Astle 7-3 3.41 vs Pinky Conlan 3-4 3.52
Roger Perry 6-4 2.47 vs Ben White 2-8 5.91
Walter Murphy 7-2 2.51 vs Joe Newsom 1-7 5.07

Game #57 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Baltimore Cannons 3

SS George Dawson went 3-5 scoring a run and driving in 2 in support of SP Eddie Quinn who went 7 innings and looked like he got back on track for the Foresters.

WP - Eddie Quinn 7-5 3.55 (7IP 5H 3R 2ER 1BB 4K)
LP - Paul Vandenberg 1-5 6.75
S - Frank Phillips 8 3.66
HR - None
Notable - George Dawson 3-5 1R 2RBI, Jake Moore 2-5 2R 1RBI

Game #58 - Cleveland Foresters 8 @ Baltimore Cannons 4

TR Goins returned to the lineup in a big way for the Foresters as the C returned to the lineup and went 2-4. In the 5th inning Goins hit a 2-run homer and he drove in 2 more runs with a single.

WP - Dean Astle 8-3 3.50 (8IP 11H 4R 4ER 1BB 2K)
LP - Pinky Conlan 3-5 3.72 (8IP 4H 5R 5ER 6BB 2K)
HR - (Cl) TR Goins 5th, (Bal) Al Horton 2nd
Notable - TR Goins 2-4 HR 2R 4RBI, George Dawson 2-5 2R

Double-Header Day - Game 1
Game #59 - Cleveland Foresters 7 @ Baltimore Cannons 1

Baltimore had no answer for Forester SP Roger Perry who overwhelmed the Cannons. TR Goins went 4-5 and drove in 3 runs as the Foresters took game 1 of the double-header.

WP - Roger Perry 7-4 2.28 (7.1IP 4H 0R 0ER 1BB 7K)
LP - Dutch Leverett 1-3 3.95 (7.2IP 10H 6R 3ER 7BB 0K)
HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 8th
Notable - Leon Drake 1-3 HR, BB R 2RBI, TR Goins 4-5 DB, R 3RBI

Double-Header Day - Game 2
Game #60 - Cleveland Foresters 8 @ Baltimore Cannons 6

The Foresters came from behind with 5 runs over the last 3 innings to sweep the double-header and the 4 game series. Leon Drake was 3-4 with a walk and drove in 2 runs. Ray Cochran hit a huge 8th inning 2-run home run to tie the game before Dan Fowler knocked in the winning runs with a single in the 9th.

WP - Bret Henggeler 3-1 3.79
LP - Buzz Ham 2-2 2.90
HR - (Cl) Ray Cochran 1st
Notable - Leon Drake 3-4 2RBI BB, Moxie Pidgeon 1-3 BB 2R

Summary - Nice to get a big 4 game sweep but honestly we shouldn't have expected anything less. It was great to see TR Goins get back in action and the team is certainly glad to have him back.

SP Heinie Bretz got back to the rotation after a season and a half and didn't exactly have the Cannons guessing. Bretz gave up 12 hits and 7 walks along with 6 runs and was fortunate to get out of the game without the loss. He will get some opportunities before the All-Star break to see if he can shake the rust out.

We have an off-day on Wednesday before a big 4-game series with the 1st-place Brooklyn Kings.

Cleveland Foresters 39-21 @ Brooklyn Kings 40-20
June 21st-24th
Season Series - Brooklyn leads 4-3

The two top teams in the CA will get together to do battle for a big 4-game series at Kings County Park. The Kings who lead the season series by 1 game also lead the CA by that 1 game. The series will feature the 2 top scoring teams in the CA with the Kings #1 with 373 runs and we are 2nd with 352.

The Kings are led on offense by a group of capable hitters. 2B Jake Shadoan is hitting 328 on the season with 6 homeruns and 30 RBI's and SS Harry Barrell who I see and just wish that I hadn't traded. He was our #1 pick several years ago and he is looking like a future HOF player. Barrell is hitting 306 with 1 homer and 26 RBI's.

Few people outside baseball realize that Brooklyn is the Barrell capital of America with SS Harry, 1B Dan, C Fred and ace SP Tom Barrell.

Pitching Matchups - Cleveland vs Brooklyn
Walter Murphy 7-2 2.51 vs George DeForest 3-3 3.38
Eddie Quinn 7-5 3.55 vs Jim Chandler 0-0 0.00
Dean Astle 8-3 3.50 vs Tom Barrell 11-0 2.94
Roger Perry 7-4 2.28 vs Mike Murphy 6-3 3.52

Game #61 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Brooklyn Kings 5

In a game where both SP's gave up 5 runs each and both hit doubles and scored a run, the Foresters prevailed late to escape with game 1 of this early season showdown. Both teams are now 40-21 and tied for the lead in the CA.

WP - Walter Murphy 8-2 2.74 (8.2IP 13H 5R 5ER 2BB 2K)
LP - George DeForest 3-4 3.66 (8IP 9H 5R 5ER 6BB 6K)
S - Frank Phillips 9th 3.74
HR - (Cl) Moxie Pidgeon 13th
Notable - Dan Fowler 2-4 2R BB, Max Morris 1-4 TP 2RBI, Moxie Pidgeon 2-4 HR 2R 2RBI BB, Leon Drake 1-4 TP, 3RBI

Game #62 - Cleveland Foresters 3 @ Brooklyn Kings 0

A great effort by SP Eddie Quinn as he shut out the high powered Kings on 8 hits. Quinn's outing spoiled a nice debut effort for King's SP Jim Chandler. With the win the Foresters take sole position of 1st place in the CA by 1 game over the Kings.

WP - Eddie Quinn 8-5 3.26 (9IP 8H 0R 3BB 5K)
LP - Jim Chandler 0-1 3.00 (9IP 7H 3R 3ER 2BB 2K)
HR - None

Game #63 - Cleveland Foresters 7 @ Brooklyn Kings 2

The Foresters won their 7th straight game on the road and also managed to give King's SP Tom Barrell his first loss of the season (11-1). Forester SP Dean Astle outdueled the CA Allen Award leading contender with support from TR Goins (6th) and 2B Ralph Joiner (1st) hitting home runs off Barrell.

WP - Dean Astle 9-3 3.38 (9IP 10H 2R 2ER 1BB 5K)
LP - Tom Barrell 11-1 3.21 (7IP 5H 6R 6ER 4BB 8K)
HR - (Cl) Ralph Joiner 1st, TR Goins 6th
Notable - Dan Fowler 1-3 BB DB 2R 2RBI

Game #64 - Cleveland Foresters 3 @ Brooklyn Kings 4

The Foresters, in a bid to win their 8th straight tied the game in the top of the 7th on Jake Moore's 2-run home run. In the bottom of the 7th CF Jim Gentry bailed the Kings out with a solo home run and the Kings avoided a sweep at home. The Foresters leave Brooklyn leading the CA by a game over the King's by virtue of taking 3 out of 4 here in New York.

WP - Mike Murphy 7-3 3.48 (9IP 7H 3R 3ER 1BB 6K)
LP - Roger Perry 9-5 2.49 (6.2IP 8H 4R 4ER 5BB 1K)
HR - (Cl) Max Morris 12th, Jake Moore 2nd. (Brk) Jim Gentry 2nd
Notable - Max Morris 2-4 HR R RBI, Jake Moore 2-4 HR R 2RBI

Summary - Winning 7 out of 8 this week gives us a record on the road of 28-12 now on the season. The team really has played extremely well away from Forester Stadium so far. With the city and the ownership stadium situation is it a lack of pressure when they are away from home that has spurred the team? Hard to say but we expect sometime in July there will be some statements from the Forester ownership about the future of the franchise in Cleveland.

C TR Goins made a great return to the lineup this week going 8-24 with 2 home runs and 10 RBI's for the week. He is the Forester star player of the week without a doubt.

At 3B Jake Moore has hit 290 so far this season so while his defensive range is still an issue, he is hitting well and contributing on the field.

Speaking of the 3B situation, I am growing frustrated by my lack of ability to get anything done on that front. We have reached out to multiple teams regarding 3B guys but so far have not had much success. We will continue to try and shore up that situation and we did sign a veteran free agent to a minor league deal in Mel Almasy (32). Almasy last played for the Kings organization but was released earlier this season when he was hitting 260 at AAA Minneapolis. The prior 2 seasons before that he hit 317 and 335 at Minneapolis. He could play a factor in the 2nd half of the season if we don't make any further moves.

Next Up - The End of June

DD Martin · 12-20-2020, 10:20 PM

End of June 1934

We end the month on the road with 4 games vs the New York Stars 33-33, then head off to start a series at home against the Toronto Wolves.

Cleveland Foresters @ New York Stars
4-game series June 25th-28th
Season Series - Cleveland leads 6-0

The Stars are sitting in 5th place in the CA 10 games behind. They have scored 329 runs (4th) and given up 323 (6th) for a +6 run differential. Their offense is led by a pair of veteran All-Stars in 3B John Lawson (31), and 2B Pete Layton (34). They also boast a solid 1B in Dave Trowbridge (35). Lawson is hitting 320 with 8 homers and 55 RBI's, while Layton is hitting 316 with 8 homers and 46 RBI's. Trowbridge is having a solid season hitting 346 with 29 RBI's.

On the pitching side of things they are led by Les Zoller 6-5 3.64 ERA, while Gene Stevens has really had a break out sort of season going 7-1 with a 3.07 ERA. Looks like we will miss Stevens this time around.

Pitching Matchups Cleveland vs New York Stars

Walter Murphy 8-2 2.74 vs Dick Richards 3-4 5.14
Eddie Quinn 8-5 3.26 vs Bennie Conover 1-3 6.57
Dean Astle 9-3 3.38 vs Harry Carter 0-1 4.05
Roger Perry 7-5 2.49 vs Les Zoller 6-5 3.64

Game #65 - Cleveland Foresters 3 @ New York Stars 5

The Stars grabbed a win, 5-3 at home overcoming a fine effort from Cleveland pitcher Walter Murphy. Murphy went 7 innings and allowed 3 runs. New York pitcher Hal Lucas got the win. He's now 4-2. Frank Phillips was tagged with the loss. The win puts New York at 34-33 this season.

Had Pete Layton not delivered a key base hit in the bottom of the eighth, the outcome might have been different. Instead, with two down and runners on 1st and 2nd, Layton hit a 2-run double. That made the score 5-3, in favor of the Stars.

WP - Hal Lucas 4-2 2.47
LP - Frank Phillips 3-3 4.37
HR - (Cl) Jake Moore 3rd (NY) Hank Jones 2nd
Notable - Brook Meeks 3-4 DB, TP, BB, RBI George Dawson 2-5 DB RBI R

Game #66 - Cleveland Foresters 2 @ New York Stars 4
The New York Stars got a stellar effort from pitcher Bennie Conover, helping New York score a win over the visiting Cleveland Foresters, 4-2. Conover picked up the win for New York, going 7 innings. He gave up 1 run on 3 hits. He now sports a record of 2-3. Boyd Harper, credited with the save, is now 5 for 8 in save opportunities.

John Lawson dealt the Foresters a blow in the bottom of the third. Batting with a runner on 1st and New York leading 1-0, Lawson, who finished 2nd in the CA in batting average with .368 in 1929, hit a 1-0 slider for a run-scoring double.

WP - Bennie Conover 2-3 5.91 (7IP 3H 1R 1ER 7BB 1K)
LP - Eddie Quinn 8-6 3.35 (8IP 9H 4R 4ER 3BB 3K)
S - Fireman Boyd 5th 4.78
HR - None
Notable - Nothing

Game #67 Cleveland Foresters 10 @ New York Stars 8
Leon Drake impressed in the 10-8 Cleveland win over New York. Drake, who is tied for 5th in the CA in bases on balls with 36, was 2 for 5 with a home run, while adding 5 RBI and scoring once. With the victory, the Foresters upped their record to 43-24.

Drake contributed a big hit, a grand slam home run, for Cleveland in the top of the third. With his team trailing 4-1, Drake took a sinker from Harry Carter and stroked the home run to left. His 9th home run of the season allowed the Foresters to leap in front, 5-4.

WP - Dean Astle 10-3 3.38 (8IP 9H 6R 3ER 1B 2K)
LP - Harry Carter 0-2 8.18 (4.1IP 7H 7R 7ER 2BB 5K)
HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 9th, Dan Fowler 11th
Notable - Leon Drake 2-5 HR R 5RBI, Dan Fowler 2-2 2BB HR 2R 2RBI, TR Goins 2-5 2R RBI, Moxie Pidgeon 2-5 R RBI

Game #68 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ New York Stars 3
The Cleveland Foresters picked up a win at Riverside Stadium, taking down the New York Stars, 6-3. Starting pitcher Roger Perry was a big reason why. The Foresters have an impressive 44-24 record.

Dan Fowler, the slugging center fielder , had a direct impact on the outcome. Fowler contributed a 2-run single in the top of the fifth inning to put Cleveland up, 4-2.

"We are never satisfied with a split. We want to go out and win every series we play." Stated Foresters skipper Jim Wilson.

WP - Roger Perry 8-5 2.53 (9IP 6H 3R 3ER 1BB 3K)
LP - Les Zoller 6-6 3.72 (5.1IP 9H 6R 3ER 5BB 1K)
HR - None
Notable - George Dawson 3-4 RBI, Leon Drake 2-4 DB, R, RBI

Summary - Going into this series we were 6-0 against the Stars and we let them take the first 2 of the series. The guys came back nicely to take the last 2 and earn a split. Jim Wilson is right it is never satisfying splitting series, we always want to win them. But we head home after a long road trip and have a season record on the road of 30-14. Nobody in the CA is close to having that sort of mark on the road and we have played 44 of our 77 road games already so that means that we will have a lot of home games in the 2nd half of the season. That should bode well for us down what we hope will be just the 4th CA Pennant in 45 seasons of Forester baseball.

Trade activity - Still lots of things going on with a number of GM's but we have completed nothing so far. But I will say this is the busiest month I have ever seen in my 9 seasons in the FABL. There will be 7 trades completed in June (technically July 2nd but since trades lag a week and come at the end of a sim, I'm counting them all in June.).

Quote:

There will be a separate post discussing all the trade activity as with so many it deserves its own post.

We will end the month with a travel day (June 29th) and then start a series at home against Toronto (June 30-July 2nd).

Game #69 - Toronto Wolves 6 vs Cleveland Foresters 5

The Foresters came out hot and scored 3 runs in the first and added 2 more in the 4th to take what was thought to be a comfortable 5-0 lead over the Toronto Wolves. While this Wolves team is still rebuilding they are a much more scrappier bunch though than we have seen in recent years. This team didn't just roll over, they fought back to tie the game with 2 in the 6th and 3 in the 7th. Tied 5-5 heading into the top of the 9th,
Toronto used a timely hit from Ben Mayberry to get the win. The pinch hitter stroked a run-scoring double in the top of the ninth inning to put the Wolves ahead, 6-5. It was his only hit in 1 at-bat, but it made an impact.

WP - Bernie Johnson 9-6 4.33 (9IP 9H 5R 4ER 3BB 3K)
LP - Frank Phillips 3-4 4.74
HR - None
Notable - Max Morris 2-4 R 3RBI

Summary - We can out fast and then fell asleep. After the game Jim Wilson who is usually pretty calm laid into his team a bit for one of the few times in his young managerial career. We will see if that works.

We have a big week coming up with the retooling Chicago Cougars coming to town. The Cougars are very eager to get back into the race and 3 games against us is probably just what they feel they need.

We end the month a game behind the Brooklyn Kings in the standings at 44-25 638. We are playing well overall except in the field where we have just committed too many errors. We are a much better fielding team than what we have shown this season.

DD Martin · 12-20-2020, 11:58 PM

Cleveland P-I Sports
FABL Trades Column
By Ronald William Apter

GM's across both the Continental and Federal Leagues have been very busy this month as team jockey for the pennant. We have never seen so many trades in one month as we saw in June. While for many it seemed a bit early to make some of these deals, the feeling was the both leagues were wide open this year. While I am not sure that is the case, it made for an exciting month in the FABL.

We will look at and break down the deals, and with July heating up there is likely to be more deals that get down.

Trade #1
St. Louis trades Shropshire to Montreal
In a relatively minor deal, the Pioneers will receive a 7th round draft choice in the December draft in exchange for 1B Frank Shropshire (23). The 1B was once the Pioneers top pick (#3 overall) in the 1928 draft out of Sacramento High. Once he was drafted he seemed to immediately fall out of favor in the Pioneers organization as he sat around and never played in a game in either of his first 2 seasons (29-30). Finally in 1931 he made his minor league debut for the Class C Moline club and hit 279/358/745 in 139 games. He moved up to Class B Charlotte for the 32 and 33 seasons where he hit 330 and then 370. This year prior to the trade he was in AA Nashville where he was hitting 379. He isn't showing usual home run power with a first baseman, but he has 42 doubles and 48 triples during the 32-33 seasons.

For the Saints who are looking for hitters and run producers at just about every position, a 7th round pick is a small price to pay for Shropshire's once considered high potential. The kid can hit for average and has really good speed as based on his doubles and triples. He has also stolen over 100 bases in 3 minor league seasons.

Trade #2
The Chicago Cougars trade Max Wilder to the Boston Minutemen!

In a deal that shocked many, the Cougars traded former Forester SP Max Wilder (36) to Boston for a couple of minor league players including the #60 overall prospect SP Karl Wallace. Boston who is hoping to give the New York Gothams a run for their money is looking to add a veteran presence to their effort.

Wilder who is still pitching well despite his advancing years has gone 4-5 this season with a 4.14 ERA. Whether time is catching up to him or it is just the malaise that the Cougars are in, he hasn't been as sharp as he was last season when he went 15-10 with a 2.70 ERA. Still he is a player that most of his peers look up to and is a guy that is very popular with fans. His career record is 150-123 with a 3.55 ERA.

Boston sent a pair of young SP to Chicago in return and the price has to be 20-year-old prospect Karl Wallace who was 1-2 4.70 in Class B. Wallace is the type of pitcher that Chicago likes to go after as he throws 4 solid pitches and his fastball is now up to 92-94 mph. The other pitcher included in the deal is Johnny Cox (23) who is a RHP with 4 pitches. He doesn't throw it quite as fast topping out at around 89 but he has pitched well since coming out of college as an 11th round pick in the 1932 draft.

The move from Chicago is curious as they have been thought to be a serious contender but have struggled to just get to 500 so far this season. Unless there are some other moves coming (which there are) they might be throwing up the white flag on the 34 season.

Trade #3
Boston Strikes again for a SP getting Stedman from the Stars

In another move to stregthen their starting rotation, the Boston Minutemen traded 2 prospects #151 SS Joe Angevine (18) and SP Earle Killebrew (21) #191 to New York for SP Charlie Stedman (32).

The 32-year-old Stedman is a 7+ year FABL veteran LHSP with a career record of 113-92 3.54 in almost 1950 IP's. Stedman was originally a 1st round pick in 1923 of the Chicago Chiefs in 1923 and was traded to the Montreal Saints in 1925 along with C Ed Pinkham. In 1929 Stedman won the CA Allen Award as the top pitcher in the circuit when he went 21-10 with a 2.99 ERA. Later he was traded by the Saints in July 1931 to the New York Stars for SP Earle Whitten, 3B Ed Smith and CF Bob Worley (all who currently play in Montreal for the big league club). Stedman was 4-4 so far this season for the 500 Stars and he is an extreme groundball pitcher.

The Stars get the pair of prospects. Angevine was draft out of Portland HS this last draft in the 2nd round (#18 overall) and was hitting 229 at Class C. The youngster has a strong arm and impressive speed and loves to swing a bat.

Earle Killebrew was at Class for his 3rd season after being a 5th round pick in the 1930 draft. He was 3rd in the GSL Reliever of the year voting in 1932. He projects as a RHSP with 4 pitches and was 7-4 with a 3.15 ERA at the time of the trade.

Trade #4
SP Milt Fritz (24) packs his bags again!

Montreal traded SP Milt Fritz who is still just 24 years of age to the New York Gotham's for a trio of prospects. Fritz who Montreal acquired just last July will be going to his 4th team since being draft in the 12th round out of Omaha HS by the Chicago Chiefs. He made his Major League debut as just a 19 year old in 1929 and went an impressive 18-8 with a league leading 3.22 ERA. He followed up that rookie season with another fine season going 16-9 with a 3.63 ERA in 1930. During the off-season he was surprisingly traded by the Chiefs (along with a 9th and 10th round pick)to the Brooklyn Kings for a 1st round pick, P Dave Rankin, C Tom Aiello 1B Ron Rattigan, SP Rod Barney, and RP Taylor Hamilton. He went 39-27 in his first 2 seasons in Brooklyn but struggled badly (along with the rest of the Kings in the 33 season) and was dealt again. In his career he is 93-64 with a 3.43 ERA and will likely get his 100th career win before the age of 25. The Gotham's have a loaded rotation with Jim Londaro, Rabbit Day and Harlin Bates already but it just got better.

The trio of prospects heading to Montreal include #29 overall prospect C Heinie Zimmer (19) who was hitting 303 in class C. Zimmer was a 2nd round pick (#17 overall by New York) in 1932 and scouts like his makeup. He projects to be sure-handed and reliable behind the plate he should be an excellent hitter. Zimmer has great potential to be a future starter behind the dish.

3B Gary Carmichael (20) is the 96th rated FABL prospect and was drafted in the 4th round of the loaded 1932 draft. He started the 34 season in Class B and hit 388 earning a promotion to class A prior to the trade and was hitting 296. He is a good defender and has a top flight contact potential that should translate into a very good 3B.

Finally LHSP Billy Stall (20) who was at AA at the time of the trade and is the #129th overall FABL prospect is coming to Montreal. Stall throws 4 pitches and has strong control which should limit the free passes. His velocity has been steadily improving and is up to 92-94.

Trade #5
Montreal continues to search for hitting landing OF Bobby Sprague from the Cougars.

27-year-old OF Bobby Sprague comes to the Saints who send SS Woody Armstrong (29) and #122 SP Joe Foote to Chicago. Sprague is a solid 300 hitter with a 350 or so OBP and is a player who is always hustling on the field. While not possessing a lot of power he can hit doubles at a good clip and has good speed. He is an elite contact hitter and a plus runner who could steal 25 bases a season. He has played all 3 OF spots and is very good in LF and CF defensively.

Woody Armstrong was once a Forester 1st round pick in 1926 (16th overall). He was sent to Montreal in June of 1927 long with C Frank Haab for SP Wayne Robinson (who the Forester's GM foolishly traded away later, but that is another story). Armstrong is capable at both SS and 2B and while not a superstar is a capable hitter who has on occasion shown so pop in his bat hitting 10-15 homers.

SP Joe Foote (19) was a 6th round pick in 1932 who has 3 pitches and has seen his pitch velocity (something the Cougars love) go up rapidly the last several years up to 92-94. He should generate a high number of ground balls and his command should help him keep the ball in the park.

Trades #6 and #7 (software rules)
Just when you think Chicago has thrown in the Towel....

The Cougars acquire one of the best hitters in the history of the FABL in grabbing 3B Joe Masters from their crosstown rival Chicago Chiefs. Also coming to the Cougars from the Chiefs is Dave Rankin. Heading to the Chiefs are a bushel of prospects and VP SP Jim Crawford (28).

Masters (35) is the headliner of this whole deal. He is a career 336 hitter who has hit 247 home runs which is 4th on the career list behind Max Morris (653), Rankin Kellogg (347) and the retired Hal Eason (269). This season for the Chiefs he was having another outstanding campaign as he was hitting 349/420/974 with 11 home runs and 61 RBI's. How he fits in with the Cougars and long time 3B John Kincaid will still be seen.

Dave Rankin (28) is a SP who hasn't had a ton of success in the big leagues, but has been on the Chiefs who have not been in many pennant races the last few years. He was 5-9 this season with a 4.19 ERA and is 24-47 with a 4.94 ERA. Rankin on a better team might be able to turn things around as he is viewed by scouts to be a polished 4-pitch SP with the stamina to go deep into games. His acquisition will hopefully help offset the loss of Crawford going to the Chiefs.

Speaking of Jim Crawford (28) who was picked up in an indy league trade in 1930 with AAA Sacramento. He burst onto the scene with the 1931 Cougars going 18-11 with a 3.15 ERA and had a 59-38 3.98 overall mark with the Cougars. I think the Cougars are really going to miss this guy, but they have a lot of arms in their system to make up for it if they pan out.

The Prospects trade by the Cougars to the Chiefs
SP Bill Ross #84 (21) (A 5-3 4.46)
SP Walker Pierce #81 (19) (C 0-1 3.00)
LF Ed Reyes #80 (21) (AA 423/471/559)
2B Red Moore #113 (22) (AA 295/338/386)
CF Ernie Carson (20) #87 (B 316/350) (out with a fractured ankle 3-4 months)
RF Joe Joseph (20) #214
2B Elmer Hutchins (23) (AAA 323/366/434)

The Cougars gave up a lot of young talent for one of the best hitters in league history. Will this move provide the jolt the Cougars need for the 1934 season 2nd half? The reviews on the deal are mixed but prospects don't always pan out, so who knows.

There are rumors of more deals that are being worked on and with the All-Star break coming up next week you can expect a couple of more deals (that's called foreshadowing) that will likely take place. Will the Cleveland Forester's be in the mix for anyone, or will GM DD Martin just continue to talk? The Foresters are stated that they are "all in". We shall see if that is true.

DD Martin · 12-21-2020, 12:09 AM

NEW FABL PRESIDENT IS NAMED

The Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues have a new President. With the office vacant for several weeks following the death of longtime President Robert Owings, rumors had been swirling that 61-year-old Rufus Barrell, Director of the Omni Scouting Bureau and father of several current FABL players would be hired to replace his long-time friend. But Barrell himself refused to comment on the issue and it remains unknown whether he was actually considered for the position.

40-year-old Samuel Belton, a native of Albany, NY has been named FABL's third President. Belton had a brief, one-year career as a professional baseball player before attending Grafton University and then Henry Hudson Law School. Belton practiced law in New York City for five years before becoming a judge. He was appointed as a U.S. Circuit Court judge in 1929 after earning a reputation as a tough, but fair adjudicator.

Speaking on behalf of the FABL owners, Pittsburgh Miners owner Daniel X. Fitzpatrick called Belton "the right man for the job." The owners search committee that ultimately hired Belton was composed of Fitzpatrick, Boston Minutemen owner Jesse Barton and New York Stars owner Al Mielke.

Rumor has it that in Cleveland the ownership preferred the alternative for President in Rufus Barrell. Cleveland has run some interesting dealings with their stadium and Elmer Marshall felt that Barrell might have been more favorable to them than Belton might be. Its a closely guarded secret that the Foresters ownership ran a speakeasy at the stadium in the baseball during the prohibition era as Marshall's father passed away. The thought inside the Forester organization feels that Belton's judge background might not look upon the organization too fondly for blatantly breaking those rules. Of course the talk of the alleged speakeasy is just heresy as there appear to be no hard facts to back up the allegation.

DD Martin · 12-21-2020, 04:48 PM

The First Week in July
All-Star Game Next Week

We are at home this week for 2 more games against Toronto (who beat us on Sunday) then have another big series against the Chicago Cougars. I don't want to sleep on Toronto on these 2 games so while we are lining up our rotation for the Chicago series, we will send out Walter Murphy and Eddie Quinn for these games to give us the best chance to get July off to a good start.

Our June record was only 14-14 overall and we are likely lucky to be just a game back of Brooklyn. Most of that was without our starting C TR Goins who while having missed a month has given us a great 2.7 WAR in about 1/3 of the season.

Pitching Matchups of the last 2 games Toronto @ Cleveland
Birdie Smith 5-8 vs Walter Murphy 8-2 2.81
Chuck Cole 4-7 5.40 vs Eddie Quinn 8-6 3.35

Game #70 - Toronto Wolves 3 vs Cleveland Foresters 7
Cleveland third baseman Jake Moore helped his team beat the Toronto Wolves, 7-3. Moore, who finished 5th in the CA in doubles with 44 in 1931, went 2 for 2 for the Foresters. Cleveland now has a record of 45-25 with the win.

George Dawson dealt the Wolves a blow in the bottom of the sixth. Batting with the bases loaded and Cleveland leading 4-3, Dawson, who is tied for 4th in the CA in stolen bases with 11, hit a 0-2 fastball for a 2-run single.

WP - Walter Murphy 9-2 2.75 (9IP 7H 3R 2ER 5BB 5K)
LP - Birdie Smith 5-9 4.71 (8IP 9H 7R 6ER 4BB 1K)
HR - None
Notable - Leon Drake 2-4 2DB 2R RBI, Jake Moore 2-2 DB 2BB 2R RBI, Walter Murphy 1-3 DB BB 2RBI

Game #71 - Toronto Wolves 4 vs Cleveland Foresters 5
The Cleveland Foresters defeated the Toronto Wolves, 5-4, at Forester Stadium. Cleveland first baseman Max Morris had a superb performance. He was 2-3 with a home run and a walk, while scoring 2 runs. With the win, Cleveland raised its record to 46-25.

Cleveland took a 5-4 lead on Moxie Pidgeon's 14th home run of the season. The 2-run home run came off Toronto pitcher Chuck Cole in the bottom of the eighth.

WP - Eddie Quinn 9-6 3.39 (9IP 9H 4R 4ER 2BB 4K)
LP - Chuck Cole 4-8 5.42 (8IP 9H 5R 5ER 4BB 2K)
HR - (Cl) Max Morris 13th, Moxie Pidgeon 14th, (Tor) Bill Eastep 6th
Notable - Max Morris 2-3 HR BB 2R RBI, Moxie Pidgeon 1-1 HR R 2RBI, Jack Cornelison 1-2 DB 2BB

Summary - The team took care of business and won a game Tuesday that was similar to a game we lost on Sunday. 4 runs in the 8th to steal a big game. The victory put us in a flat footed tie with Brooklyn atop the Association standings. Now we have Chicago coming to town. Even though the Cougars are down so far this season they are one of the more scary teams in the league. They combine a powerful rotation with a lot of good power hitters and guys that know how to get on base. Even though they are just 35-37 coming into this game, DO NOT COUNT OUT THE COUGARS!....EVER!!!!

Chicago Cougars 35-37 (6th place) vs Cleveland Foresters 46-25 (T-1st)
3-Game Series July 3rd-5th 1934
Season Series - Cleveland leads 7-2

The Cougars come to town and they are armed with some new players. 3B Joe Masters has come over from the cross-town rival Chicago Chiefs and so has SP Dan Rankin. We will likely see plenty of them both as Masters will likely move into the starting lineup and Rankin is scheduled to pitch game 2 of this series on the 4th of July.

The Cougars have recently moved past us in run scoring and are now 2nd in the CA with 399 for 5.54 rpg. Most of that was accomplished without Joe Masters in their lineup (only 2 games as a Cougar). All-Star C Mike Taylor and LF Doc Love also bring a lot of hitting prowess to their lineup.

The pitching which has been a strong suit for the Cougars over the years has not been as sharp this season. The Cougars have given up 343 (4.76 rpg) which is 5th in the CA but their run differential is +56. You would figure with that kind of positive run differential that this team would be about 8 wins better than their current record shows. SP Tommy Wilcox (27) is one of the best pitchers in baseball is 7-9 with 3.14 ERA. He will pitch in game 1 of the series for Chicago. Rankin will make his debut for the Cougars in game 2 of the series. Famous Forester killer Dick Luedtke will pitch the final game of the series for Chicago.

Pitching Matchups - Chicago Cougars vs Cleveland Foresters
Tommy Wilcox 7-9 3.14 vs Dean Astle 10-3 3.38
Dave Rankin 5-7 4.15 (with Chiefs) vs Roger Perry 8-5 2.53
Dick Luedtke 7-8 5.38 vs Heinie Bretz 0-0 4.50

Game #72 - Chicago Cougars 1 vs Cleveland Foresters 2 (14)
Cleveland picked up a win at Forester Stadium, bumping off the Chicago Cougars, 2-1. Pitcher Dean Astle was a major reason the Foresters emerged victorious. Cleveland raised its record to 47-25 with the win.

The game came to an abrupt end with no one out in the bottom of the 14th. On a pitch from Tommy Wilcox, Moxie Pidgeon hit a sacrifice fly. It gave Cleveland the 2-1 win.

This was one of the best pitcher duels that we have seen in a long, long time. Forester ace Dean Astle pitched into the 12th inning when he was relieved. Chicago ace Tommy Wilcox went the distance throwing a mind boggling 194 pitchers in one of the biggest iron man performances in modern FABL history. One can only hope for Cougar fans that the outing doesn't have a negative future impact (more foreshadowing there).

Cleveland SS George Dawson was injured in a play at 2B. He will likely be out for a week to 10 days.

WP - Bert Henggeler 4-1 3.22
LP - Tommy Wilcox 7-10 2.97 (13.1IP 8H 2R 2ER 3BB 4K 194 pitches)
HR - None
Notable - Dean Astle 11.2IP 7H 1R 0ER 1BB 2K 148 pitches,

Game #73 - Chicago Cougars 1 vs Cleveland Foresters 6
Happy Independence Day from Cleveland, Ohio as the Foresters celebrated America's 158th birthday in style. Cleveland turned a good effort from starter Roger Perry into a win over the Chicago Cougars at Forester Stadium. The final score was 6-1. With the win, the Foresters have a record of 48-25.

Perry delivered a quality start for Cleveland. The 6' 1" left-hander allowed 1 earned run on 7 hits over 9 innings of work.

WP - Roger Perry 9-5 2.41 (9IP 7H 1R 1ER 0BB 6K)
LP - Dave Rankin 0-1 6.75 (8IP 10H 6R 6ER 1BB 2K)
HR - TR Goins 7th
Notable - TR Goins 2-4 HR 2R RBI, Roger Perry 2-4 DB, 2RBI

Game #74 - Chicago Cougars 2 vs Cleveland Foresters 3
The fading Chicago Cougars lost their 6th straight game, while the Foresters won their 5th straight to start the month of July. Cleveland Foresters starter Heinie Bretz turned in an exceptional performance against the Chicago Cougars at Forester Stadium, resulting in a Cleveland win, 3-2. The Cougars, at 35-40, have lost 6 straight games.

The game came to a dramatic end. In the bottom of the ninth, with Cleveland trailing 2-1, Leon Drake hit a cutter from Dick Luedtke for a 2-run home run, giving the Foresters the walk-off win.

WP - Frank Phillips 4-4 4.33
LP - Dick Luedtke 7-9 5.24 (8.1IP 6H 3R 3ER 3BB 2K)
HR - Leon Drake 10th
Notable - Leon Drake 1-4 HR 2RBI R (GW)

Summary - Well that was sure a great way to win a series. Drake has been a real emerging star. It is hard to believe that a GM in the league when we were shopping for a 3B stated that "Drake doesn't do it for me.". Well he does it for me and I am likely not going to shop him again, not for anybody.

The game story read that Heinie Bretz game today was "exceptional". I am not quite sure that is the word I would use to describe an 8 walk effort. He allowed 13 base runners in his 8 innings and some how only gave up 2 runs. He hasn't impressed me so far in his brief (3 start) return. I will keep him up through the All-Star week next week and then make a decision on him. Not sure he will get another start or not as I will likely not send him out against the Kings next week during that 4 game series.

We have an unique double header tomorrow at home against the Phildelphia Stars. They will be in town just for the one day.

July 6th Double-Header
Philadelphia Sailors 37-38 (5th Place) vs Cleveland Foresters 49-25 (1st place 2 game lead)
Season Series - Sailors lead 7-5

Pitching Matchups - Philadelphia Sailors vs Cleveland Foresters
Game 1 - Oscar Morse 9-4 4.22 vs Walter Murphy 9-2 2.75
Game 2 - George Johnson 7-6 4.32 vs Eddie Quinn 9-6 3.39

Game #75 - Philadelphia Sailors 7 vs Cleveland Foresters 13
The timely hitting of Ralph Joiner helped the Cleveland Foresters down the Philadelphia Sailors, 13-7. Joiner was 4 for 5 with a home run and 3 singles, while scoring 2 runs and driving in 6 for the Foresters. Bert Henggeler was credited with the save. He has now successfully converted 2 of 3 save opportunities. Cleveland improves to 50-25 with the win. They lead their division by 2 games.

Doing his part for Cleveland was pitcher Walter Murphy, who stroked a 2-run double in the bottom of the fourth. For the game, Murphy threw 6 innings allowing 7 runs.

WP - Walter Murphy 10-2 2.82 (6.1IP 10H 7R 3ER 1BB 4K)
LP - Oscar Morse 5-9 4.50 (5IP 8H 7R 6ER 6BB 0K)
HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 11th, Ralph Joiner 2nd
Notable - Ralph Joiner 4-5 HR 2R 6RBI, Leon Drake 2-3 DB, HR 2R 3RBI 2BB, Jim Kyle 305 TP, 3R 1RBI, Walter Murphy 1-2 DB 2 RBI R

Game #76 - Philadelphia Sailors 4 vs Cleveland Foresters 10
Foresters win 7th Straight
T.R. Goins was a major factor in the 10-4 Cleveland win over Philadelphia. The Foresters catcher went 3 for 4 with a double, 2 singles, and a walk, while scoring 2 runs and driving in 2. The Foresters have now won 7 straight.

Dan Fowler swatted a 2-run home run for Cleveland in the bottom of the fourth. The center fielder went 2 for 5 for the game, including 1 home run and 1 double. He scored 2 runs and batted in 2.

WP - Eddie Quinn 10-6 3.38 (8.2IP 7H 4R 3ER 1BB 2K)
LP - George Johnson 7-7 4.82 (4.1IP 10H 8R 8ER 2BB 5K)
HR - (Cl) Dan Fowler 12th, Jake Moore 4th
Notable - Dan Fowler 2-5 DB, HR 2R 2RBI, Ralph Joiner 3-5 DB 1R, TR Goins 3-4 DB 2R 2RBI BB, Leon Drake 2-5 R 2RBI

Summary - So we have struggled with the Sailors this year as going into this series they were the only team with a winning record against us. The two wins now tie the season series at 7-7. We survived the 2nd game even though we committed 5 errors in the game. Dawson replacement at SS Pat Schuring made 3 of those errors.

July 7th-9th (reporting on only July 7th and 8th as the 9th is the next sim)
Cleveland Foresters 51-25 @ Toronto Wolves 33-44
Season Series - Cleveland leads 6-3

Pitching Matchups - Cleveland vs Toronto
Dean Astle 10-3 3.08 vs Chuck Cole 4-8 5.42
Roger Perry 9-5 2.41 vs Otis Cook 1-8 4.95
TBD vs Bernie Johnson 10-6 4.10

Game #77 - Cleveland Foresters 7 @ Toronto Wolves 6 (10)
Despite a great performance by Toronto right fielder Al Nance, the Cleveland Foresters defeated the Wolves by the score of 7-6 at Dominion Stadium. Nance went 2 for 4 with a home run. He scored 2 times and drove in 4. Bert Henggeler was credited with the save. He has now successfully converted 3 of 4 save opportunities. With the win, Cleveland raised its record to 52-25.

Cleveland needed the clutch hitting of Leon Drake to notch the win. The left fielder hammered a solo home run in the top of the tenth inning to put the Foresters on top, 7-6. For the game, Drake had 1 home run and 1 single in 5 at-bats.

WP - Frank Phillips 5-4 4.45
LP - Chuck Cole 4-9 5.43 (9.2IP 12H 7R 6ER 3BB 4K)
S - Bert Henggeler 3rd 2.77
HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 12th (Tor) Al Nance 3rd
Notable - Ralph Joiner 1-5 DB 3RBI, Leon Drake 2-5 HR, 2R RBI

Game #78 - Cleveland Foresters 8 @ Toronto Wolves 2
The Cleveland Foresters stopped the Toronto Wolves, 8-2, at Dominion Stadium. The Foresters got a big game from T.R. Goins, who was 3-4 with 2 doubles and a walk. He scored 2 times. Cleveland improves to 53-25 with the win. They lead their division by 3½ games.

Who knows how it might've ended, had it not been for Pat Schuring? The Cleveland shortstop had a 2-run single in the top of the sixth inning to put the Foresters on top, 4-0. For the game, Schuring had 1 double and 1 single in 5 at-bats.

WP - Roger Perry 10-5 2.40 (8.1IP 8H 2R 2ER 4BB 3K)
LP - Otis Cook 1-9 4.95 (7IP, 8H 4R 4ER 2BB 2K)
HR - None
Notable - TR Goins 3-4 2DB 2R RBI, BB Pat Schuring 2-5 DB 3RBI

Summary - A great close to an unbeaten week as we start out the month 9-0. The All-Star is next week and voting will be disclosed later today (separate post). Next week we will have a game here in Toronto on Monday, then the All-Star game will be on Tuesday. We will have an off-day then will start a 4-game series against Brooklyn on Thursday. It is a strange set up as we will play 2 games (Thursday-Friday) then have an off-day in the middle on Saturday and then will play Sunday and Monday. With a 3 game lead heading into that series those will be some important games.

SS George Dawson will miss the entire Brooklyn series but should be able to come back from his foot injury on the Tuesday after that. We will continue to play a man down and have Brook Meeks backup Shuring at SS.

12-02-2020, 04:27 PM	#123
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	Welcome to the 1934 FABL Baseball Season Excitement is in the air as the national media has predicted that the Foresters will break their long drought and win the Continental Association crown and face the New York Gotham’s in the World Series. But as GM DD Martin stated, “Pennants are not won in April and the media doesn’t decide who will be the league champions. We have 154 games between and late September that will settle the issue on the field. I expect an exciting race in both associations this season and if at the end we have earned the right to represent that CA in the World Series, we will do our damndest to bring home a title.” While the Forester GM down plays the prognosticators, it was just last season when then Cleveland manager Hank Lietzke used the poor prediction for the Foresters as bulletin board material. While it didn’t help Lietzke save his job after a 5-12 start, he was proved right as the Forester’s ended up with an 87-67 record and in 2nd place in the CA. Now this season it will likely be the defending CA champion Chicago Cougars who have got to be feeling disrespected with a predicted 4th place finish and only 80 wins. That is a proud team that finished just 1 game shy of winning the whole thing and I don’t think they are just going to disappear so easily. The Forester’s GM DD Martin seems to have gone all in for this year's attempt to bring home a title. The farm system has been stripped bare and he has already traded several draft picks in trying to secure a pennant winning club here in Cleveland. While the pitching staff is young, the Forester’s have several veteran position players (namely Max Morris and TR Goins) that are likely heading into the final years of their careers. It would be fair to say that the Forester window of opportunity is likely this 1934 season and the 1935 season. Let’s meet this year’s Cleveland Foresters (insert picture) Starting Pitcher Rotation #1 Eddie Quinn (27) RHSP (12-21 3.22 with Toronto last season) - Quinn came over in a late spring training trade that sent the Forester’s 2nd round pick in next year’s draft and top prospect OF Levi Redding to the Wolves. Quinn has been named the Opening Day Starter in a surprise move by manager Jim Wilson. #2 Dean Astle (24) LHSP (7-3 2.57 12GS) - Once a top 20 prospect Astle made his debut last season in June and showed flashes of the talent so many in the organization see in him. Originally acquired in a trade from New York Gothams in January 1931. #3 Roger Perry (26) LHSP (17-9 3.45 34GS) - Turner has gone 17-9 in both of the last 2 seasons with a 3.35 ERA with the Forester’s and has been their “ace”. He has some more help this year hopefully with both Astle and Quinn in the rotation with him which are upgrades over the departed Karl Johnson and Eddie Wood. Perry was originally acquired in a trade with the New York Stars in 1931. #4 Walter Murphy (29) LHSP (11-11 4.35 with NY Gothams) Another late addition as GM Martin tried to shore up the rotation for this season. Murphy is 51-43 with a 3.84 ERA in 4 full seasons pitching in the hitter friendly FA. The national media feels that he is capable of winning 20 games this season in Cleveland. Acquired in late spring this year in a trade that sent SS Erv Smith to NY. #5 Ben Turner (26) RHSP 14-14 3.70 last season) Came to Cleveland in the same deal that brought Dean Astle to the organization in 1931. He is 29-25 with a 4.13 ERA in 60 career starts with the Forester’s. He might be one of the most consistent and best #5 starters in the league. Others - Bert Henggeler (32) RHP (4-5-1 save 3.13) Henggeler was picked up on waivers to help solidify the bullpen last year but late in the season he emerged as a credible SP. This spring he didn’t do anything to change that opinion. In 3 spring starts he had an 0.75 ERA in 12 innings. He will be the first man up in case of injury but will start the year as the Forester’s top middle reliever. Lyman Weigel (29) RHSP (11-9 5.00 ERA with Brooklyn and Montreal) - Was acquired via a waiver pick up in the off-season and was invited to spring training. Weigel pitched well in spring but didn’t earn a job and accepted an assignment to AAA Cincinnati. He would have to be brought back to the 40-man roster to join the Forester’s. Carl Bragg (25) RHSP (11-4 3.80 last season) - Appears to be the odd man out of the big league rotation with the acquisition of Quinn and Murphy. A 3 week spring injury kept him out of games and didn’t allow him to battle for a spot in the Cleveland rotation. His performance last year was a bit of a surprise. He is the only pitcher in the 9 listed here who was drafted by Cleveland. Heinie Bretz (25) RHSP (0-1 9.00 1IP last season) - Was injured in his first regular season outing last year with elbow ligament surgery. Looked to be coming along although a rough spring probably led to the Forester’s front office in acquiring more starting pitching. While not happy about being at the AAA level, he will look to build back up his arm strength and regain his form. Still young at 25, he was originally acquired from Brooklyn in the Harry Barrell deal (sigh). Summary - With only Carl Bragg as the only drafted Forester in this mix, the Forester’s have had to make trades (bringing in 6 of the players) and waivers (bring in the other 2) to build this rotation. As long as the Forester’s don’t have multiple major injuries to the starting 5 they appear to have solid depth behind them. The team is really hoping that Bretz can regain his form and move up the charts quickly. The Bullpen - Frank Phillips (26) LHRP (2-4 6 saves 2.37 last year) - Phillips looks to build on the success that he saw last season. The front office brought in several players and put them ahead of Phillips last year but he proved that he belongs in the majors and has secured the spot as the team stopper. Originally drafted in the 14th round of the 1928 draft by Cleveland. Bert Henggeler - (see above) - Will open the season as the top middle relief option. Leo Proctor (30) RHRP (3-4 8 saves 3.08) - Proctor had a solid season for the Foresters after being acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh last spring. He is capable of closing and being a solid top relief option if things necessitate that move. Jim Cavendar (28) RHRP 2-0 6 saves 4.01) - A huge fan favorite he keeps going to spring training and emerging with a job. He was DFA after the 1932 season and then earned a place in the bullpen last year. While not DFA this year it was 50/50 if he would return, but he’s back once again. Cavendar was originally claimed off waivers from the NY Stars in May 1932. Others - Eddie Bloom (26) RHRP (7-7 3.27 ERA AAA-Cincinnati) - With so many pitchers in front of him the team has decided to thrust Bloom into the stopper role in Cincinnati this season with hopes that he emerges as a top flight RP. Originally a Rule 5 Pick in 1931 from Pittsburgh. George Coleman (26) LHP (3-5 4 saves 2.80 AAA-Cincinnati) - Coleman returns and will be in the rotation for the Steamers but many feel his true value will be as a middle reliever in the big leagues. He was acquired in the off-season after the 1931 season in a trade with Toronto. Ed Smith (29) RHRP (4-5 10 saves 2.04 AAA-Cincinnati) - Smith’s stock has slid a bit despite a nice bounce back year last year. He moves from the stopper role to more of a middle relief role this season. Smith was a Rule 5 pick acquired from Detroit in 1929. Summary - There are some other parts in the organization if needed but still the pen feels like the least effective part of this organization. A lot of trust is being put into place in Frank Phillips for this season. The team made a lot of moves last spring to shore this area up and it did improve from last in the CA to middle of the road. Catchers - TR Goins (33) B-L (313/392/874 16-85 last year between Washington and Cleveland) - Arguably the top catcher in baseball for the last 10 years, he was acquired after many years of pursuit by the Forester’s management. He still appears to be at the top of his game and is really looking forward to what he hopes is a possible championship season this year. Jim Kyle (27) B-R (255/293/699 5-29) - Was acquired prior to the 33 season and was handed the reigns early on last year. He struggled some with the bat and it ultimately led to the Forester’s going after Goins when he became available. Still a very reliable option behind the dish. Others - Herman Rachford (30) B-R (312/369/804 2-28 AAA-Milwaukee) Was acquired to be the #3 catcher on the 40-man roster off waivers from the Cougars. He is a solid receiver but injuries have hurt his career development. Nick Lake (27) B-R (290/329/746 3-31 AAA-Cincinnati) - was designated in the off-season as he was out of options and with the acquisition of Goins was not going to make the big league team. Still he is a viable option if one of the 2 catchers in the big leagues goes down with a longer term injury. To not block the development of either Jeff Rose or Eddie Smith he was optioned to AA-Portland this season. Summary - Goins makes this the #1 unit in the FABL. Eddie Smith in development is the #3 ranked catching prospect. Infielders - 1B Max Morris (39) B-L (325/382/963 41-120 last year) - The all-time leader in home runs, RBI’s and runs scored had a great last ⅔ of a season last year after a slow start. This spring he didn’t show any of the struggles of last year in spring that led to whispers. With 640 career home runs he continues his assault on 700. Orginally drafted by Cleveland in 1913, he was traded to St. Louis after the 1919 season. Cleveland re-aquired him from the Gotham’s in July 1931. 2B Brooks Meeks (25 today) B-R (273/298/653 4-42) The team captain is a solid defender but has struggled against RH pitchers in his career in the big leagues. He will likely share time this year with Ralph Joiner in a portion of the starts against righties. Originally acquired in a 1929 offseason trade with Pittsburgh. SS George Dawson (23) B-R (280/317/662) - Took over the starting SS job after manager Jim Wilson was hired to manage the team after the first 17 games. Took advantage of the injury to Erv Smith and played a stellar defensive SS that despite his so-so offense gave the team 6.3 WAR. Originally drafted in the 2nd round of the 1929 draft by Cleveland. 3B - John Turner (24) B-R (239/295/609 2-20) Turner was given the opening day job last year but really struggled with the bat. After spending several months at AAA, he came back and hit somewhat better. Turner is a true stud defender at the hot corner and is capable of hitting 300+ like he did in the minors. He was a 1st round draft pick in the 1930 draft by the Foresters. Bench - 3B/1B Jake Moore (31) B-R (273/337/712 2-51) His bat and glove have slowed down a bit after having been the everyday starter at 3B since the 1927 season. If Turner comes out slow again, look for Moore to re-establish his spot in the lineup. Originally drafted in 1st Rd in 1923 draft by Foresters. 2B - Ralph Joiner (24) B-L 259/354/753 15-70 AAA Toledo) Acquired with Walter Murphy from NY in the last week of spring training. He is a very good defensive 2B that will platoon and likely get roughly 50% of the at-bats with Meeks. 1B/OF/PH Al Wilson (27) B-L (324/370/786 1-19 with Montreal) - Wilson’s bat is not the reason he is not an everyday player, it’s that his hands and feet are in cement gloves and boots when he is on defense. He was acquired for a 7th rd pick from Montreal and will be the backup to Max Morris at 1B, but the hope is that he will be a late inning threat as a pinch hitter. SS/IF Pat Schurling (26) B-R (261/330/675 0-46 AAA-Cincinnati) The classic great glove-no hit SS. His defense in backup of Dawson in case of injury is the reason the out-of-options SS is on the big league team. The trade of Erv Smith to NY for Joiner and Murphy primarily is the reason he is still here. Originally drafted by the NY Stars, he came to Cleveland via a trade with Chicago (Cougars). Summary - The offense of Morris and the defense of Turner, Dawson and Meeks/Joiner make this unit a very formidable group. The defense really helps out a pitching staff that relies on ground balls. The organization will continue to keep a watchful eye on the situation at 3B with the hopes that Turner will get his bat to come around to big league pitching. The platoon at 2B is in hopes of getting better production against right-handers with Joiner getting a large majority of the starts. Outfield - LF Leon Drake (25) B-R (240/325/715 9-47) - The former Rule 5 draft pick and top 10 prospect has shown flashes of his offensive and defensive capabilities. He just hasn’t put them together yet for a full season. His move from CF to LF to accommodate superstar Dan Fowler only strengthens this OF. (Rule 5 1928 Chicago Chiefs) CF Dan Fowler (25) B-L (298/373/843 26-94 with Boston/Cleveland) - Fowler appeared in 57 games with the Foresters after the trade from Boston and his bat really lit up with a 318/409/916 12-36 stat line. He is young athletic and one of the best all-around CF’s in baseball today. RF Moxie Pidgeon (27) B-R (308/376/842 17-74) Has been in Cleveland and starting since late in the 1928 season. He has 109 home runs in his Cleveland career and has a career 319/382/891 career stash line. Still young, his only liability is his lack of defensive prowess. Originally drafted by the Foresters in the 1925 draft as a 12th round pick. Bench - Hughie Fitts (25) B-L (356/436/1021 10-63 A-Evansville) Rule 5 draft pick this off-season from Montreal, Fitts will backup both the corner OF spots but likely will not see key at-bats. Look for Wilson to get those. Depending on how things go, Fitts might not be a luxury that the Foresters can afford this season. Summary - The starting OF is one of the best offensive units and the defense in LF and CF should also be top flight. Team will obviously look to the AAA team as they sent down OF Bobby Allen largely to make room for Fitts. Allen who had a down season last year accepted the demotion after spring training to regain his stroke and confidence. I foresee him coming back to the Foresters sooner rather than later. Ray Cochran who is also starting at AAA this season with the acquisition of Al Wilson is also a solid choice for the corner OF or backing up at 1B. Overall - The expectations are high in Cleveland as Owner Elmer Marshall has let GM Martin know that he expects this team to win the CA this year. This team has been built and the future has been mortgaged to bring a winner to town in the next 2 years. While the farm system is dead last in the FABL with only 1 top 100 Prospect in OF Lou Balk (#98), the team is also extremely young (save for Morris, Goins, Moore, Henggeler and Proctor being the only 30+ players on the 23-man opening day roster). Will Cleveland be able to win the first World Championship in over 40 years of truly mediocre baseball? Well to do that they will have to win what will be just their 4th Association Pennant first, and Chicago, Philadelphia and Brooklyn will all have something to say about that. Attached Images

12-04-2020, 02:15 PM	#125
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	The Start of what we hope is a Championship Season 1934 Our schedule was kind of wonky to start the season. We played the Philadelphia Sailors for 3 games, but the first one was at home in Cleveland, but the next 2 were in Phily (Shrug). Oh well we have to play 154 with 77 on the road so we might as well. Cleveland Foresters vs Philadelphia Sailors (87-67 last season 2nd) (77-77 last season 4th) Prediction 92-62 1st Prediction 78-76 5th Opening Day in Cleveland saw 20,295 fans flood the gates at the City Dump (aka Forester Stadium). Honestly it was probably the most fans that attended a game at the dump in 15 years when it wasn't as dumpy. Last season only saw 11,654 fans on Opening Day (a 5-1 loss to Chicago) in a season where we averaging only 7,481 fans per game. This season we have sold 7,801 season tickets (more than double last years total of 3,367). Our fan interest is through the roof at 100 and with prohibition ending we were able to lax our ticket prices a bit as we did away with the Lounge Seating in the basement (we called it Loge for some reason) so the average price per ticket this year was less than a dollar ($0.99) which was 21 cents below the average last year. The expectation is that we will likely double our revenue per game, which would be nice. I was preparing for Opening Day and the travel the next day to Philadelphia when Mr. Marshall came in. He was all decked out in a tux etc for Opening Day. He told me that I wouldn't be traveling to Phily and Chi-Town next week but would be on a 2-week excursion with him, his son (my best friend Ricky) to other towns. He said he would go more into it after today's game, but I could tell he was up to something. He excused himself as he stated "I have to go make nice with the city officials before the game"....... Philadelphia Sailors @ Cleveland Foresters Opening Day Lineups Philadelphia Sailors 1.) CF Lou Williams (last season 272/354/710 4-26) 2.) LF Curt Dickerson (249/317/699 6-35) 3.) RF Bobby Bond (303/378/789 7-74) 4.) 1B Dick Walker (272/383/801 10-63) 5.) 3B Mack Deal (258/288/634 1-42) 6.) C Alex Diaz (258/313/651 4-69) 7.) 2B Ray Wright (318/379/790 3-61 AAA- San Fran) 8.) SS George Drake (290/371/790 0-3) 9.) SP Oscar Morse (15-14 3.03 ERA) Cleveland Foresters 1.) CF Dan Fowler (298/373/843 26-94) 2.) 2B Brooks Meeks (273/298/653 4-42) 3.) 1B Max Morris (325/382/962 41-120) 4.) C TR Goins (314/392/873 16-85) 5.) RF Moxie Pidgeon (308/376/842 17-74) 6.) LF Leon Drake (240/325/715 9-47) 7.) SS George Dawson (280/317/661 2-42) 8.) 3B John Turner (239/295/609 2-20) 9.) SP Eddie Quinn (12-21 3.22 Toronto) Game #1 Philadelphia Sailors 3 @ Cleveland Foresters 2 Sailors C Alex Diaz hit a game winning single in the 8th inning to drive in Dick Walker and the Sailors came in a stole the first game of the season. WP - Oscar Morse 1-0 2.00 ERA (9IP 8H, 2R, 2ER, BB 2K) LP - Eddie Quinn 0-1 3.00 ERA (9IP 9H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB 5K) HR - (Cl) Moxie Pidgeon 1st Batting - Max Morris 2-4 1R, Moxie Pidgeon 3-4 HR RBI R) Summary - So not the way we wanted to start the home season and opener in front of such a large crowd. I was hoping that Quinn was not the type of pitcher that pitched well but found ways to lose with his 21 losses last season. I am fairly sure it was the bad team he was on, but we will keep our fingers crossed. After the game Mr. Marshall came into my office at the stadium and despite the loss was still smiling. He closed the door tightly and then told me what we would be doing for the next 2 weeks. While the team was in Phily and Chicago the rest of this week, we would not be accompanying them on the trip. (Now Mr. Marshall rarely went on the road, but I often traveled with the team on road trips about 60% of the time.) He let me know that we would be on a tour of several different cities (Buffalo, Newark, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Cincinnati) and meeting with what he termed 'representatives". What he was really doing was going around and visiting with city officials and local leaders discussing a possible move of the team to one of those cities and I was coming along for the ride. I left instructions for my Assistant GM Sonny Kelly to go on the road with the club and that I would call him each day to go over any things that needed to be discussed. Game 2 and 3 of the series will be in Philadelphia Game #2 - Cleveland Foresters 7 @ Philadelphia Sailors 3 Starting Pitchers Dean Astle 7-3 2.57 last year) vs Rollie Beal 19-9 3.01 CF Dan Fowler and RF Moxie Pidgeon both hit homers in the Forester's 4-run 3rd inning as they power Cleveland to a victory over Rollie Beal and the Sailors. WP - Dean Astle 1-0 1.00 (9IP 7H 3R 1ER 3BB 2K) LP - Rollie Beal 0-1 11.12 (5.2 7H 7R. 7ER, 5BB 2K HR - (Cl) Dan Fowler 1st, Moxie Pidgeon 2nd notable - TR Goins 2-5 DB, R, Moxie Pidgeon 2-4 DB, HR, BB, 3 RBI, 2R Dan Fowler 2-3, DB, HR 2BB, 2RBI, 1R Game #3 - Cleveland Foresters 7 @ Philadelphia Sailors 0 SP Roger Perry threw a 3-hit shutout and was back by a Max Morris homer and a 2-run triple by SS George Dawson. WP - Roger Perry 1-0 0.00 (9IP 3H, 0R, 0ER 2BB, 4K) LP - Russ Real 0-1 1.35 (6.2IP 8H, 6R, 1ER, 1BB 2K) HR - (Cl) Max Morris 1st Notable - Meeks, Turner, Goins and Drake all had 2 hits Notes - The club heads of for a long ride to Chicago for the first 2 games of a 3 game set against the defending CA Champs and the team we will be battling with all season, the Chicago Cougars. Cleveland Foresters 2-1 @ Chicago Cougars 1-2 Saturday April 21st-Monday April 23rd Chicago's North Side Grounds (cap 28,450) Chicago struggled on the field during the spring but that wasn't expected to continue to be the case. They started the season at home against the Toronto Wolves, which is a club in past seasons that a team could get well against. That didn't happen though for the Cougars as they lost 2 of the 3 games prior to our arrival. This Cougar team is led by an exceptional pitching staff led by Tommy Wilcox, former Forester Max Wilder, Dick Luedtke, and Dick Lyons. They also have a great stopper in the pen in Chick Meehan who we stupidly passed on acquiring a couple of seasons ago because he was on the wrong side of 30. As long as age (or injuries) doesn't catch up with the Cougars, they will have the best staff in the CA once again. Game #4 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Chicago Cougars 3 The Foresters made a big deal about sending a message in spring training and won all 4 meetings against the Cougars. That streak has now moved to the regular season as the Foresters pounded out a total of 14 hits and beat Wilder and the Cougs 6-3. WP - Walter Murphy 1-0 3.12 (8.2 IP, 7H 3R, 3ER, 4BB, 3K 2HRA) LP - Max Wilder 0-1 9.00 (6IP 11H 6R, 6 ER, 2BB, 2K) S - Frank Phillips 1 0.00 (0.1 1H) HR - (CH) Tom Taylor 2nd, Lou Kelly 1st, (Cl) Leon Drake 1st, TR Goins 1st Notable - Brooks Meeks 4-4 BB, DB 1R 1RBI, SB TR Goins 4-5, HR, 2RBI, 2R, Leon Drake 2-4 HR 3RBI 1R Game #5 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Chicago Cougars 5 2B Brooks Meeks continued his hot hitting in Chicago with 3 more hits a key 2-RBI double in the 3rd to go to 4-1 on the season. WP - Ben Turner 1-0 4.32 (8.1IP 9H 5R, 4ER, 2BB 2K 1HRA) LP - Jim Crawford 0-1 7.71 (7 IP, 13H, 6R, 6ER, 3BB 3K HRA) S - Frank Phillips 2 0.00 (0.2IP 1H 1K) HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 2nd, (CH) Mike Taylor 2nd Notable - Brooks Meeks 3-5 DB, 2RBI, R SB, John Turner 3-4 2R Comments from Asst GM Sonny Kelly - The team has been playing well so far with a good mix of hitting and pitching leading to 4 straight wins. We are tied for 1st place in the CA with the Montreal Saints at 4-1, with Brooklyn just a half a game back after their double header on Saturday at 4-2. We have no injuries in the first week which is great and welcome news after last year's spring and early season issues. Our SP's are #1 in the CA after 5 games with a 2.25 ERA and the bullpen (Frank Phillips only pitcher used) has 2 saves and no runs allowed in 1 total inning. Our team FIP rating though suggests that we have been a bit lucky as it stands at 4.29. Right now the only thing I would like to see us improve on is the number of errors that we have. So far we have committed 6 errors in 5 games but our defensive efficiency is 2nd in the league. Offensively we are off to a nice start scoring 28 runs to average 5.6 rpg (2nd) with a 309 (2nd) batting average and a league leading 7 home runs. Overall there is not too much to complain about so we will finish off the series in Chicago on Monday and then head home to face these same two teams again for 6 games. Also the minor leagues will begin play late next week so we have done all of our final cutdowns. There are no major surprises in the players but we did release veteran OF Carlos Cano and veteran 3B Harry Stroud (who has been at AA/AAA the last few seasons). Players of the Week CA - Our former #1 draft pick Brooklyn Kings SS Harry Barrell (20) took the honors in the first week hitting 12-21 571 with 5 runs scored and 6 RBI's, helping the Kings to a 4-2 record. Player of the Week FA - Another 20 year old won in the FA as Pittsburgh rookie C George Cleaves went 11-24 458 with 5 RBI's and 5 runs scored. Despite Cleaves heroics the Miners only went 2-3 to start the season. Cleveland Players of the Week Pitcher - SP Roger Perry who threw a complete game 3 hit shut out against the Sailors. Hitter - RF Moxie Pidgeon went 8 for 22 with a double, 2 home runs and drove in 5 RBI's and scored 5 runs. Attached Images Last edited by DD Martin; 12-08-2020 at 01:46 PM.

12-06-2020, 10:15 PM	#126
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	Week 2 of the 1934 After starting the season 4-1, could we follow it up? We will finish off the series in Chicago with a game on Monday then travel back home to face the same two teams. Tuesday will be a travel day and then Wednesday through Friday we will get the Sailors back in our park for 3 games, followed by the Cougars for 3 more Saturday through next Monday. Our schedule is a little off this season with it working out more of a Tuesday through Monday week instead of Monday through Sunday, but of well. If we are going to win the FA then we have to adept to the challenges that are thrown in front of us. Game #6 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Chicago Cougars 5 Fowler and Pidgeon both hit homers and Eddie Quinn got a little more run support this time around as we continue to have Chicago's number early this season. WP - Eddie Quinn 1-1 3.00 (9IP 10H 5R 3ER 4BB 1K) LP - Tommy Wilcox 0-2 2.50 (9IP 10H 6R 2ER 1BB 5K) HR - (Cl) Moxie Pidgeon 3rd, Dan Fowler 2nd (Ch) Doc Love 1st, John Kincaid 1st Summary by Asst GM Sonny Kelly - We swept Chicago in the Windy City, but that last game was a dozy. The surprise start in LF by P Dick Lyons, who went 0-4 and made 2 errors certainly played in our favor. The Cougars are good enough though that we need every advantage we can get, so we will take it. Now the club will come home for it first read home stand of the season. Philadelphia Sailors 4-2 vs Cleveland Foresters 5-1 3-Game Series at the Cleveland City Dump April 25th-27th 1934 Season Series - Cleveland leads 2-1 (2-0@Phily, 0-1@home) Pitching Matchups Philadelphia vs Cleveland Rollie Beal 0-1 11.12 vs Dean Astle 1-0 1.00 Russ Reel 0-1 1.35 vs Roger Perry 1-0 0.00 Doc Newell 1-0 10.80 vs Walter Murphy 1-0 3.12 Game #7 - Philadelphia Sailors 7 vs Cleveland Foresters 8 The Sailors rallied against Forester RP Frank Phillips scoring 3 runs in the top of the 9th to tie the game, but were saved by 1B Max Morris. In the bottom of the 9th Morris hit his 2nd of 2 homers on the day and sent the 14,297 fans home happy with a Forester victory. WP - Frank Phillips 1-0 10.13 BS#1 LP - Hal Upton 0-1 4.50 HR - (Cl) Max Morris (2) 3rd, Dan Fowler 3rd Notable - Dean Astle 7.1IP 8H 3ER 4BB 6K, Max Morris 4-5 2HR 3R 3RBI, Leon Drake 1-2 DB, 2HBP 2RBI 1R Game #8 - Philadelphia Sailors 9 vs Cleveland Foresters 8 2nd straight game the Forester bullpen blew a save, this time it was Bret Henggeler. This time Max Morris couldn't bail them out in the 9th. WP - Hal Upton 1-1 2.25 LP - Bret Henggeler 0-1 10.80 HR - (Cl) Max Morris 4th Notable - SP Roger Perry 7.1 7H 4ER 3BB 3K, Max Morris 2-3 HR, BB 2R, 2RBI, Leon Drake 3-5 2R 1RBI, SB, George Dawson 2-5 DB, R, RBI, Brooks Meeks 2-4 TP, BB, RBI, R Game #9 - Philadelphia Sailors 1 vs Cleveland Foresters 5 SP Walter Murphy looked sharp again as he tossed a 7-hit 1-run effort as the Foresters took 2 out of 3 and moved their record to 7-2 on the season. WP - Walter Murphy 2-0 2.04 (9IP 7H 1R 1ER 4BB 3K) LP - Doc Newell 1-1 (8IP 9H 5R 5ER 5BB 2K HR - (Cl) Dan Fowler 4th Notable - Dan Fowler 1-2 HR, BB, Sac fly, 2RBI R, Charlie Joiner 2-3, BB, R. Leon Drake 2-3 DB, BB Comments from Asst GM Kelly - Another great outing by SP Walter Murphy who looks a lot better in person than just reading scouting reports and stats. We took 2 out of 3 against the Sailors and move to 4-2 against them on the season. They feel like a team that is going to be heard from this year and should be hanging around the upper division and with a few breaks, the pennant race. Haven't heard much from GM DD Martin. He did check in and said they were headed up to Milwaukee. He seemed pleased and didn't really have much to say about things. Chicago Cougars 3-6 vs Cleveland Foresters 7-2 3-game series (only first two reported in this report) April 28th-30th at the Cleveland City Dump Season Series - Cleveland leads 3-0 winning last week in Chicago Pitching Matchups Chicago vs Cleveland Jim Crawford 0-1 7.71 vs Ben Turner 1-0 4.32 Tommy Wilcox 0-2 2.50 vs Eddie Quinn 1-1 3.00 (Monday) Dick Luedtke 2-0 4.76 vs Dean Astle 1-0 2.20 Game #10 - Chicago Cougars 4 vs Cleveland Foresters 5 Foresters led 2-1 heading to the 8th but then both teams offenses showed up. Chicago put up 3 runs in the top of the 8th on doubles by both Mike Taylor and Lou Kelly. The Foresters were not to be outdone though as Leon Drake hit a home run and then Dan Fowler drove in a run with a double and 2B Ralph Joiner hit what would be the game winner driving in Fowler. WP - Ben Turner 2-0 4.41 (8IP 9H 4R 4ER 2BB 2K) LP - Tommy Wilcox 0-3 2.77 (8IP 12H 5R 3ER 3BB 2K) S - Frank Phillips 3 7.36 HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 3rd Notable - Ralph Joiner 2-5 1RBI, E, Dan Fowler 2-5 Db RBI R, Leon Drake 2-4 HR, R, 2RBI Game #11 - Chicago Cougars 3 vs Cleveland Foresters 5 SP Eddie Quinn has been very consistent for the Foresters in his first 3 starts with the club. He won his 2nd straight (2-1) and once again pitched 9 innings and gave up 3 earned runs. WP - Eddie Quinn 2-1 3.00 (9IP, 8H 3R, 3ER 4BB 5K) LP - Jim Crawford 0-2 6.28 (7.1IP 11H 5R, 4ER 6BB 4K HR - None Notable - Goins Pidgeon Drake and Morris all collected 2 hits Weekly Summary Week record 5-1 Season Record 9-2 (2nd place 1.5 GB behind Montreal) Summary from Asst GM Kelly - A great week and we are very pleased with a 9-2 record to start the season. Even more pleasing because we feel they are the team to beat in the CA, we are 5-0 against the Cougars so far. The emphasis and importance of the games against Chicago this year was set during spring training where we went 4-0. To have it carry over so far to the regular season is a huge positive, but with it we have to maintain it through out the season. We also can't overlook other teams as we move forward. No one figured that the Montreal Saints would start the season 11-1 (winning 11 straight after dropping their season opener), but that is what they have done. While it isn't a surprise that they are 5-1 against the Baltimore Cannons, it is a very big surprise to see them 6-0 against a quality New York Stars team. The Saints are doing it with superior pitching and defense as they have the CA's best starting rotation by ERA, best bullpen and also lead the league in defensive efficiency and have made the fewest errors. After our remaining game against Chicago and then 3 games at home against Toronto, we will head to Montreal for an early season showdown. While it is very early the blowups by our bullpen against the Sailors this week are somewhat concerning. RP Frank Phillips has notched 3 saves so far, but he also blew one before Morris bailed him out with a 9th inning homer and Bert Henggeler also blew a save. It will be something that we will watch but so far our SP has been very good and have gone the distance in over half of our games. Our homer run numbers to start the season have been really good. As a club we have slugged 15 home runs in 11 games on pace to hit over 200, which would shatter the FABL records in both the CA and FA. We also 3 players on the early season leader board as CF Dan Fowler and Max Morris lead the CA with 4 home runs each and LF Leon Drake is next with 3. Waiver Moves We did make some early moves on the waiver wire, but are looking to see how the players fit in or if we are going to keep them. We have some time before we need to either activate them or release them. So far we have been fortunate to have no injuries to our 23 man opening day roster. Attendance - So far we have drawn 99,695 fans to the City Dump (just think what we could do with a real ballpark) for an average of 16,616 per game. The NY Stars are 2nd with a total of 93,816 (7 home games) for an average of 13,402. Interesting what a popular and winning team can do for the ticket sales (along with a 20% drop in ticket prices). Hopefully we will continue to draw at the gate. CA Player of the Week - Our own 1B Max Morris won another weekly award (53rd time) as he went 9-18 with 3 homers and 7 RBI's. On the season he is hitting 359 with 4 homers and 8 RBI's. FA Player of the Week - Chicago Chief 3B Joe Masters went 11-26 with a home run and 9 RBI's to snag the award. The Chiefs went 4-3 on the week and moved to 5-6 on the season. For the season Masters is hitting 463 with 2 home runs and 14 RBI's Foresters of the Week Hitter of the week - Max Morris see above also winning CA player of the week. Pitcher of the Week - Walter Murphy won his 2nd straight and went 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA in 9 IP this week Season Note - Scoring is way up in the CA after 2 weeks. Last year the CA pitchers really clamped down on the hitter as the league ERA from 4.18 to 3.60. This year scoring is way up and the league ERA is up almost a full run at 4.52. While it is a very small sample size it is an interesting start to the season. The FA league ERA also dropped last year although not by as much (4.47 to 4.09) is up .4 tenths of a run at 4.49. It will be interesting to watch how this moves as the season goes on. Next - 1 at home vs Chicago, 3 at home vs Toronto and then the start of the big early season series against the Montreal Saints in Canada. Last edited by DD Martin; 12-08-2020 at 01:45 PM.

12-07-2020, 04:31 PM	#127
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	End of April 1934 Report Just 1 game to report as we finish the month of April. It's the last game between the Foresters and the Cougars from Cleveland. Game #12 Chicago Cougars 5 vs Cleveland Foresters 7 The Forester's have come out hot to start the 1934 season as they pick up their 6th straight win against the Cougars this season. Last season the Foresters just managed an 8-14 record against the Cougs and that was better than the 1-8 start they had. This season so far it's been all Foresters. In Monday's game it started early as SS George Dawson hit a 2-run single in Cleveland 4-run first inning against SP Dick Luedtke. The Foresters stretched it to 5-0 in the bottom of the 2nd and then survived a wild error filled top of the 3rd where they surrendered 4 unearned runs to close the gap to 5-4. After that things settle down and the Forester finished the first month with a 10-2 record and in 2nd place just 1/2 game behind the Montreal Saints in the CA. WP - Dean Astle 2-0 1.82 (8.1IP 9H 5R 1ER 3BB 2K) LP - Dick Luedtke 2-1 6.14 (5.0IP 10H 6R 6ER 5BB 3K) S - Frank Phillips 4th 6.23 (0.2IP 1H) HR - None Notable - Dan Fowler 3-4 2DB, BB 1RBI 3R, Moxie Pidgeon 2-4 3RBI Comments from Asst GM Kelly - A great way to end the first (half-month) of the season. The 10-2 start is great but with Montreal's 11-game winning streak sandwich around its only losses, they have us by 1/2 game. So far LF Leon Drake has looked good this season out in LF and at the plate. He is hitting 405/479/1193 with 3 HR's 11RBI's and 9 runs scored. Right now he is probably our April hitter of the month but it is a very tight race with Fowler, Morris, and even SS George Dawson. Our starting pitching has been great so far with our top 4 starters checking in with ERA's of 3.00 or less. SP Dean Astle's 24.2 innings of 1.82 ERA pitching probably is tops but it is close as Astle has given up 12 runs in those 24.2 innings but only 5 have been earned. So far in 12 games only Frank Phillips (4 saves) and Bert Henggeler have seen game action and pitched just 6 innings between them. In the division races so far in the CA there has been a couple of real surprise teams but for one of them it is not a surprise in a good way. The Chicago Cougars have gotten off to a very un-Cougar like 3-9 start and we would expect those fortunes to change very soon as they still in my mind are the best team in the CA. The other teams off to nice starts are the Montreal Saints leading the Association at 11-2 and the team that rarely gets off to good starts, the Brooklyn Kings at 8-5. In the FA again we have 1 team that we expected to do well and is, the NY Gotham's with their 1-2 punch of Jim Londaro and Rabbit Day leading them to a 9-3 start. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the floundering Detroit Dynamo's who are not looking like contenders so far at 4-9. Since the league only played a half month of games their were no month end awards issued. But the Cleveland P-I has announced their award winners for both the FA and CA. FA Hitter of the Month goes to St Louis RF Alex Ingraham who hit 291/365/838 driving in 21 runs and hitting 2 home runs. FA Pitcher of the Month goes to a NY Gotham but not the one of the ones many would have thought. LHP Hardin Bates went 3-0 with a 0.69 ERA, 0.73 WHIP and limited batter to a 156 batting average to take home the award. CA Hitter of the Month goes to Brooklyn LF Art Summers who hit 319/418/1078 with 2 doubles, 4 triples, 2 home runs and 15 RBI's. CA Pitcher of the Month goes to Montreal SP Earle Whitten who went 2-1 with 1.42 ERA in 25.1 innings pitched over 3 starts. He struck out 13 and only gave up 14 hits. Attached Images Last edited by DD Martin; 12-08-2020 at 01:45 PM.

12-07-2020, 10:00 PM	#128
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	May 1st - through May 6 1934 Toronto Wolves 5-7 vs Cleveland Foresters 10-2 3-game series at Cleveland Forester Stadium First meeting of the season The Wolves come in having only scored 49 runs in their first 12 games averaging 4.1 rpg. With scoring up to start off the season the Wolves are last in the CA with their offense. Their pitching is 5th in the league giving up 16 runs (-17 run differential) and the starters have an ERA of 5.06 The Wolves are led this season on offense by CF Freddie Malley 365 0-6 and 3B Don Summers 340 1-12 Pitching Matchups Toronto vs Cleveland Birdie Smith 0-2 8.62 vs Roger Perry 1-0 2.20 Jake Smith 0-0 11.88 vs Walter Murphy 2-0 2.04 Chuck Cole 1-1 6.43 vs Ben Turner 2-0 4.41 Game #13 - Toronto Wolves 6 vs Cleveland Foresters 3 Nice start to the series for the Wolves as veteran SP Birdie Smith (33) showed flashes of his old self today pitching a 3 hitter against the Foresters. LF Leon Drake blasted his 4th homer early in the bottom of the 2nd to give Cleveland a brief early lead 1-0. Toronto came roaring back and again capitalized on some Forester errors as 3 of the 6 runs were unearned. WP - Birdie Smith 1-2 6.57 (9IP 3H 3R 3ER 4BB 2K) LP - Roger Perry 1-1 2.74 (6.2IP 9H 6R 3ER 3BB 5K) HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 4th Notable - RP Jim Cavendar 1-1 1R Game #14 - Toronto 8 vs Cleveland Foresters 14 Both offenses started fast as after two innings it was 4-4. Toronto scored 3 more in the top of the 3rd to make it 7-4 Wolves. Fortunately after SP Walter Murphy left in the 3rd, the Forester little used bullpen came through with 6.1IP 7 hits and only 1 more run as the Foresters rallied. The Foresters ended the game with 17 hits but only 1 extra base hit (Max Morris 1st double of the year). WP - Frank Phillips 2-0 5.06 LP - John Reimers 0-1 6.43 S - Bert Henggeler 1 7.36 HR - (Tor) Al Nance 1st Notable - Max Morris 3-5 DB, BB 3 RBI 1R, Moxie Pidgeon 3-6 4RBI, R, Dan Fowler 2-6 2RBI, George Dawson 2-5 2R BB E (6th) Game #15 - Toronto Wolves 6 vs Cleveland Foresters 5 The fans in Cleveland were stunned as the Wolves rallied for the tying run in the 7th inning and the winning run in the 8th to take 2 out of 3 games. WP - Bill Anderson 3-1 3.00 (IP 8H 5R 4ER 2BB 2K) LP - Ben Turner 2-1 5.32 (7.1IP 10H 6R 6ER 1BB 3K 2HRA) HR - (Tor) Frank Huddleson 3rd, Bill Eastep 2nd Notable - Dan Fowler 3-4 TP, R, RBI, Leon Drake 1-4 TP 2RBI 1R, George Dawson 2-4 R Comments by Asst GM Kelly - Disappointing performance today as we left a struggling Ben Turner in too long and it cost us the game. Sometimes I wish manager Wilson would go to the bullpen a little more often later in games. Lou Proctor still hasn't gotten into a game yet, and he was closing some games for us last year. I have to admit I was surprised with Toronto's offense scoring 20 runs in the 3 game series. While we managed 22 runs they won 2 of the 3 games. It was the first rough series by our starting rotation especially Walter Murphy yesterday just last 2.2 IP and getting drilled. Next we will head off to Montreal to face a Saints team that won 11 straight but now has lost 4 straight games. Cleveland Foresters 11-4 @ Montreal Saints 11-5 3-game series (first two reported this week) Saturday May 5th-Monday May 7th First meeting of the season The Saints started out fast this season going 11-1 before the recent 4 game skid. Last year into June the Saints were fighting for first with the Cougars just 2 1/2 games out at one point before the wheels came off. This season the Saints offense is ranked 5th so far with 70 runs scored (4.4 rpg) with a 262 batting average (7th). Where they have excelled is on the mound where they lead the CA giving up only 52 runs (3.3 rpg) which is 1st and their SP is #1 with a 3.02 ERA. Projected pitching matchups Cleveland @ Montreal Eddie Quinn 2-1 3.00 vs Earle Whitten 2-1 1.42 Dean Astle 2-0 1.82 vs Walker Moore 2-1 3.86 Roger Perry 1-1 2.74 vs George Thomas 2-2 2.65 Game #16 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Montreal Saints 4 The Saints jumped on SP Eddie Quinn for 3 runs in the 1st inning to take an early lead but fortunately for the Foresters Quinn settled down nicely the rest of the way. WP - Eddie Quinn 3-1 3.25 (9IP 9H 4R 4ER 4BB 4K) LP - Howie Snyder 2-1 5.40 HR - None Notable - Brooks Meeks 2-4 R, RBI, George Dawson 2-5 R, RBI, TR Goins 1-4, DB, 2RBI Game #17 - Cleveland Foresters 8 @ Montreal Saints 0 SP Dean Astle was sharp as he scattered 7 hits in pitching the complete game shutout. The Forester offense was again missing the long ball in its offense but banged out 11 hits and took advantage of 5 walks to tally 8 runs. WP - Dean Astle 3-1 1.34 (9IP 7H 0R 2BB 0K) LP - Walker Moore 2-2 5.03 (8.1IP 10H 8R 8ER 4BB 2K) HR - None Notable - Max Morris 3-4 BB, RBI, R, John Turner 2-4 2RBI, R, George Dawson 2-5 R, 2 RBI Weekly Summary Weekly Record 4-2 Overall Record 13-4 1st place CA Comments - Well that was an interesting couple of weeks. Oh no not the start of the season but I am thankful for the hard work that my Asst GM Sonny Kelly did with the team while I was gone. The trip took us to Buffalo, Newark, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and then back to Cincinnati and Buffalo once again. While I can't say what the meetings were about, there were several groups out there that are definitely on the lookout for expansion franchises. Manager Jim Wilson has now managed a total of 154 games since he took over last year. The club rallied from a 5-12 start last season to go 82-55 under Wilson. Combine that with this year's start of 13-4 and Wilson has completed a 154 season total 95-59. I have my assistant GM looking into the league record books but I believe that Wilson will be the youngest manager in history to win 100 games and we will also search as best we can to determine if he is the fastest to 100 wins in a career (that last part might be harder without the almanac at the club level.) Edit note - Wilson is not the youngest manager to achieve 100 wins as I have found at least two others that were player managers that achieved the trick prior to 30 (Zebulon Banks was only 27) Well our home run hitting spree of the first two weeks came to a crashing halt this week as we just managed 1 homer. That gives now a total of 16 home runs in 17 games. Roster Moves - We had several things that we had to do as we had claimed several players on waivers over the first few weeks. We took our time on several of the guys (they are out of options) to see if we would need an injury replacement. Fortunately the answer is we haven't but we did pull the trigger on a few moves. We sent back Rule 5 OF Hughie Fitts to Montreal and then structured a deal for the Saints to trade Fitts to us for a 9th round pick. We like Fitts but he could use more at-bats and as the team is playing well and considered a serious contender I decided I just couldn't stash him on the big league roster all year. Once the trade is completed by the league office Fitts will go to either AA or AAA and play every day. Once that deal was done, we activated recent waiver claim OF Jack Cornelison. Honestly I felt like in a close game that we could use either his speed (he is a solid base stealer) or he could be a defensive replacement for Moxie Pidgeon in RF in a late game situation when we are ahead. Moxie can be a real adventure in the OF and his range is poor at best. We also DFA recent waiver claim SS Joe Kerr who we hope we can put into the lineup at AAA Cincinnati and keep as insurance as he is not as good of a fielder as Pat Schuring, but he is definitely a better hitter. We had made a claim on OF Jim Ryan (same reason as Cornelison) but we didn't need both so we place him back on waivers. We also released RP Red Sutter who then quickly signed with Houston of the Lone Star league. Right now RP Claude Purvis is still sitting in DFA limbo as we wait to see what happens next week before we make a decision on him. We keep tinkering with the organization depth since we traded so much talent away. We have added several players and assigned them if they had options or were able to go through waivers. Right now we are just trying to make sure we have options for down the road in case we have significant injuries. Since we have 3 open spots on the 40-man roster it is helping us look at and review players who may or may not make an impact for us later in the year. Again the key is having options to plug in if needed. Down on the Farm Ottumwa Owls C Red Taylor (7th Rd pick 1933) went 13-24 with 2 homers, 9 RBI's and 8 runs scored to capture the Upper Mississippi Valley Association top player award. On the season Taylor his hitting 300 with 5 home runs and 20 RBI's. FA Player of the Week - Philadelphia Keystone RF Bobby Barrell was 13-27 hitting 1 homer, driving in 9 RBI's and scoring 6 times. On the season he is hitting 413 2-18 as the Keystones have the early lead in the FA at 11-6 CA Player of the Week - New York Star SP Les Zoller (25) who went 2-0 giving up no runs and striking out 9 batters. On the season Zoller is 3-0 with a 1.36 ERA as the Stars rebounded from a wobbly start winning 7 straight to go to 10-9 on the season. Forester Batter of the Week - The Foresters had 5 players with 5 or more RBI's this week in an even week of run scoring. But the batter of the week goes to slugger Max Morris in a week where he didn't hit a home run. Morris was 9-21 with 3 walks to hit 429/500.976 and drive in 6 RBI's and score 3 runs. Forester Pitcher of the Week - No doubt about it, Dean Astle has continued his strong start to the season going 2-0 with a 0.52 ERA in 2 starts this week. Attached Images Last edited by DD Martin; 12-08-2020 at 01:44 PM.

11-30-2020, 04:39 PM	#121
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	Spring Training Week 3 The Foresters went 4-2 this last week and have a 13-5 spring record. We picked up another meaningless victory over the Chicago Cougars to run our record to 3-0 against the defending champs. Not sure why we have emphasized our games against them this spring but we have and so far so good, even if it doesn't count. SP Carl Bragg has been our only injury so far this spring, and he will return from injury at the end of next week. With the injury we will send him down to AAA Cincinnati for the start of the season to get in some more work. SP Heinie Bretz, who we paid a large price for 2 seasons ago in the Harry Barrell trade (one which I still regret), has struggled in 3 outings this spring. He was slotted to be our #5 SP with hopes of jumping back into the upper end of the rotation once he got in more work, but with the slow start (6.00 ERA. ERA+ 67, WHIP 1.50 with a BABIP of 357) we decided to bring in some re-enforcements. So with that we have made a couple of other trades. Trade #1 Cleveland and New York Gotham's The Foresters part with former SS Erv Smith, sending him to the Goth's for SP Walter Murphy and 2B Ralph Joiner. Analysis: Smith is a fantastic defensive SS, but with missing last season has lost the starting job to George Dawson who is in a class with King's SS Harry Barrell as far as defense goes. Smith hit for 297 in the 1932 season and seems to fit what the Gotham's were looking for as far as a starting SS. We picked up a back end of the rotation LHSP in Walter Murphy (29) who went 11-11 with a 4.35 ERA with New York in the tough hitting Federal League. He has gone 51-43 with a 3.84 ERA in his 4 seasons in New York but the one thing that is a bit alarming is his ERA has climbed a bit each season. We also picked up 2B Ralph Joiner (24) (L) who hit 259 at AAA Toledo last season. He is a very capable defensive 2B who will likely share some playing time with 2B Brooks Meeks. We had been playing Erv Smith there in a platoon this spring and while we feel he can make the transition there, we decided to add the depth to the rotation. This deal really answers a need for New York who has brought in Rabbit Day to add to 3 time FA Allen Award winner Jim Lonardo, who now have a very good SS in Smith to field grounders behind them. We weren't done yet though. Trade #2 - Cleveland and Toronto agree to a trade The Toronto Wolves have agreed to trade SP Eddie Quinn (27) who went 12-21 with a 3.22 ERA for a last place team a year ago. We traded our 2nd round pick and our top prospect #35 overall Levi Redding to Toronto in return. Analysis - We feel that with our starting infield defense and a good offense behind him, that Quinn is a 15-18 win pitcher. With Dawson at SS, Meeks/Joiner at 2B and Turner at 3B, we boast one of the better defensive infields in the FABL. We gave up a 2nd round pick that we figure will be in the 29-32 range next year and our top prospect Levi Redding. Maybe we should have hung onto Levi as he was our top trade chip as far as a prospect goes and hit well in his first season of pro ball. But the chance to try and establish our rotation, which is still a ways behind Chicago's top 4 had us make the move. Redding should be ready in about a year to take over at the top of Toronto's order. With the moves our starting rotation looks to be about set as does our pitching staff. We will have some decisions to make on several out of option players so the final week will still have some decisions to make. 1934 Cleveland Forester starting rotation 1. Dean Astle 2. Roger Perry 3. Eddie Quinn 4. Ben Turner 5. Walter Murphy (could go to Lyman Weigel or Bert Henggler as Murphy has options) Henggeler and Weigel will both be retained in our bullpen with Frank Phillips as our stopper. Henggeler would serve as the top middle RP and Weigel would be the long man with emergency starter. That would leave 1 bullpen spot open to be decided next week. SP Bretz and Bragg will be optioned to Cincinnati to start the season. We still have very high hopes for Bretz to return to his pre-injury form, but will give him time and a less stressful environment to work his way back. Everything we are working on right now is a way to topple the Chicago Cougars. Cleveland ownership and management desperately want a winner this year as they look at a do or die situation with their stadium. If it is the last season in Cleveland, they want it to be a winning one. Next - The end of spring training and finalizing the opening day roster.

12-01-2020, 01:10 PM	#122
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	Spring Training is Now Complete Time to say goodbye to the nice, sunny, warm weather of Florida and head back to hell which is spring in Cleveland. The Forester's had a successful spring going 16-8 and completed a 4-game sweep during the spring of the Chicago Cougars. Now we head to finalizing the roster tomorrow and making some tough decisions. But before we get to that we have made another trade and had discussions on several others. Trade - Montreal and Cleveland Montreal trades 1B/OF Al Wilson to the Foresters for a 7th round pick in the 1934 draft. Summary - A pretty simple deal for us as Wilson (27) has an excellent lefty bat, but is pretty much a disaster in the OF. His work at 1B isn't much better so he is clearly a player ahead of his time (meaning he would be a great DH). He has a 314 career batting average and his career slash line looks like this 314/369/827 31 homers and 287 RBI's. He is a career 328/388/866 hitter against righties and last year hit 372 (against righties) in a reserve role. I think he will be a great addition if we can keep him out of the field this season. He is also though some insurance incase of any injury to our Legend at 1B Max Morris and will be a decent stop gap someday when Morris decides to hang it up. The price was a 7th rounder but there is a great deal of "fog" concerning this year's draft class so we felt that Wilson was worth the pick. Tomorrow will be cutdown day and a chance to make any final trades. We have firmed up our starting rotation, barring any last minute deals. Next - We announce our Opening Day Roster complete with bios

12-08-2020, 05:08 PM	#129
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	May 1934 2nd Week (May 7-13) We will finish up our series with the Montreal Saints 11-7. We took the first two games of the series and look for an early season sweep. It will be Roger Perry 1-1 2.74 going against Chick Wirtz 1-0 3.18. Wirtz came into yesterday's game in the 9th inning to pitch 2/3 of an inning. A little strange to see him getting the start following that but it would probably just be like an off-day bullpen session for him. Game #18 - Cleveland Foresters 9 @ Montreal Saints 0 The Saints lost their 7th straight game and right now do not look like the team that rattled off 11 straight wins. Saint SP Chick Wirtz got tagged early and did not look sharp at all. Forester SP Roger Perry threw a 5 hit shutout to lower his ERA below 2.00 in picking up his 2nd win. WP - Roger Perry 2-1 1.97 (9IP 5H 0R 2BB 3K) LP - Chick Wirtz 1-1 4.56 (6.2IP 8H 6R 6ER 5BB 2K) HR - (Cl)Brooks Meeks 1st Notable - Brooks Meeks 2-5 HR 3RBI R, Jake Moore 2-4 DB 2RBI, Dan Fowler 2-3 2BB 3R Comments - The last two games might have been the best two overall games we have played all season. I am not sure what is going on in Montreal but something just doesn't seem right. That said they are still 11-8 and in 3rd place in the CA. Next up we will go face a NY Stars team that has gotten hot and won 8 in a row. I don't think we will be as lucky to get a sweep there, but we would love to keep our own little streak going as we have won 3 straight after a disappoint end to our last home stand against Toronto (1-2) Cleveland Foresters 14-4 (1st Place in the CA) vs New York Stars (11-9 5th place in CA) May 8th-10th 1934 Season Series - First Meeting The Stars went threw a change at GM in the off-season and are looking to put it together again. They won the CA just 2 seasons ago and won the World Series for their 8th overall title. Last season the teams split the regular season series at 11 games apiece. The Stars have won 8 straight games as we come to town. On offense they rank 5th in the CA with 91 runs scored and their 272 batting average also ranks 5th. They are led by their all-star combination of 3B John Lawson and Pete Layton. Lawson is hitting 316 on the season with 2 home runs and 13 RBI's. Layton is hitting at a 362 clip with 3 home runs and 13 RBI's. On the pitching side of things they have given up 90 runs on the season (3rd) with their starting pitchers compiling an ERA 4.06 (3rd) and the bullpen at 3.91 (5th). They have a very solid starting group but the struggles of Lou Martino in particular are a bit alarming (0-3 6.14). The 3rd game of the series matchup between Dean Astle and Les Zoller should be a pitching clinic. Pitching Matchups Cleveland @ New York Stars Walter Murphy 2-0 4.87 vs Charlie Stedman 1-1 3.82 Eddie Quinn 3-1 3.25 vs Lou Martino 0-3 6.14 Dean Astle 3-0 1.34 vs Les Zoller 3-0 1.36 Game #19 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ NY Stars 5 (11) The Foresters tied the game in the top of the 9th with a run and then the fireworks really started. In the top of the 10th RF Moxie Pidgeon looked to have put the game into the win column for the Foresters by blasting a 3-run homer to give Cleveland a 5-2. SP Walter Murphy who pitched a 3-hitter through 9 innings came out to start the 10th and it was a mistake. A single and 2 walks later and Frank Phillips came on to try and get out of the mess. He wasn't able too as the Stars tied the game at 5 by scoring 3 runs. Thankfully for the Forester Fans, Max Morris had dinner plans so he put the game to bed with a solo home run and Phillips pitched a clean 11th for the win. WP - Frank Phillips 3-0 3.86 (2nd blown save) LP - Hal Lucas 2-1 1.62 HR - (Cl) Max Morris 5th, Moxie Pidgeon 4th Notable - Max Morris 2-6 GWHR, RBI 2R, Moxie Pidgeon 2-2 HR DB 2R 3RBI, Walter Murphy 9.1IP 4H 5R 3ER 5BB 4K Lou Martino 6IP 2H 1R 0ER 5BB 3K Game #20 - Cleveland Foresters 4 @ NY Stars 1 Forester SP Eddie Quinn is really enjoying his new surroundings with Cleveland as he moves to 4-1 on the season. Forester C TR Goins came out of the game hitting a 2-run double sliding into 2nd. He appeared to be ok but was replaced by Jim Kyle. WP - Eddie Quinn 4-1 2.80 (9IP 9H 1R 1ER 2BB 6K) LP - Charlie Stedman 1-2 4.06 (9IP 9H 4R 4ER 1BB 3K) HR - None Notable - TR Goins 1-1 DB 2RBI, John Turner 2-4 DB, R Game #21 - Cleveland Foresters 8 @ NY Stars 3 Cleveland and ventured off on this road trip and won their first 6 games after sweeping both Montreal and New York. Today's pitching matchup didn't turn out to be the gem we had thought. NY SP Zoller was roughed up for 9 hits, 8 runs (7 earned) in just 4.2 innings as the Foresters coasted to victory. WP - Dean Astle 4-0 1.69 (9IP 10H 3R 3ER 1BB 3k) LP - Les Zoller 3-1 2.87 (4.2IP 9H 8R 7ER 3BB 4K) HR - (Cl) Dan Fowler 5th Notable - Ralph Joiner 4-5 DB, R 2RBI, Dan Fowler 2-4 HR, DB, BB 2R RBI, George Dawson 2-4 BB, R, RBI Summary - Really an unexpected sweep as we move to 17-4 on the season. For the most part the team is hitting on all cylinders but there is a concern starting to mount that we will talk about a bit later. We head off to Brooklyn to go against the Kings who are having some early season success which they haven't enjoyed the last few years. Last year we owned the King's going 17-5 against them. I am sure Manager Walt Bailey will have them ready to play this 4 game set. Cleveland Foresters 17-4 (1st Place CA) @ Brooklyn Kings 14-8 (2nd Place CA) May 11th-14th (game 4 is on Monday) King's County Park II Season Series - First Meeting The King's come into the game with the CA's best offense scoring 142 runs (1st) averaging almost 6.5 rpg. Their batting average is 2nd in the league at 299. Offensively the Kings are led by their (God I hate saying Barrell is theirs) 20-year-old wonderkid SS Harry Barrell. The Foresters traded Barrell in July of 1932 and the Foresters have been regretting it ever since. Barrell is hitting 338 with 11 RBI's on the season and should be fresh for this series as he had a day off yesterday. LF Art Summers is hitting 289 with 2 home runs and has driven in a team leading 22 RBI's. Harry's brother C Fred Barrell is having a fine hitting 333 with 2 home runs and 15 RBI's. On the mound is where Brooklyn will likely make or break it season. So far this year they have given up 113 runs (6th) and their starters have an ERA of 5.22 (7th) while the bullpen has been much better at 2.77 (3rd). If Brooklyn is going to make a serious run for the CA their pitching particularly from their SP's needs to improve. Pitching Matchups (projected) Cleveland vs Brooklyn Roger Perry 2-1 1.97 vs Buddy Adams 1-1 8.71 Walter Murphy 2-0 4.25 vs Art White 0-0 0.00 Eddie Quinn 4-1 2.80 vs Tommy Barrell 3-0 4.50 Dean Astle 4-0 1.69 vs Chuck Murphy 1-1 3.86 Projected Game #22 - Cleveland Foresters 4 @ Brooklyn Kings 5 Trailing 4-0 entering the 8th, the Foresters decided to make a gam of it. Max Morris and Dan Fowler hit solo homers in the 8th to cut the lead in half. Then TR Goins hit a 2 run shot to tie it in the top of the 9th. The Kings then hit 3 singles in the bottom of the 9th to push across the winning run of RP Frank Phillips. WP - Hal Galvan 5-2 3.95 LP - Frank Phillips 3-1 4.91 HR - (Cl) Max Morris 6th, Dan Fowler 6th, TR Goins 2nd (Brk) Jack Shadoan 3rd, Doug Lightbody 1st Notable - Roger Perry 6IP 5H 2R 2Er 4BB 4K, Max Morris 3-5 HR R RBI, TR Goins 2-5 HR R 2RBI Game #23 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Brooklyn Kings 3 SP Walter Murphy wasn't great giving up 10 hits in his 8 innings of work, but he was good enough to give the Foresters the win. TR Goins hit a home run for the 2nd straight day driving in 2 runs. WP - Walter Murphy 3-0 4.06 (8IP 10H 3R 3ER 1BB 5K) LP - Hal Galvan 5-3 5.17 HR - (Cl) TR Goins 3rd Notable - Brooks Meeks 3-5 3R, SB, Dan Fowler 2-4 RBI Game #24 - Cleveland Foresters 2 @ Brooklyn Kings 5 Tommy Barrell was sharp all night giving up just a 9th inning 2-run home run to Leon Drake but otherwise shutting down the Foresters on just 6 hits. Shabby defense once again plagued the Foresters as they committed 3 errors (2 by 2B Ralph Joiner (4) and 1 by SS George Dawson (10)). WP - Tommy Barrell 4-0 4.04 (9IP 6H 2R 2ER 3BB 4K) LP - Eddie Quinn 4-2 2.77 (7IP 8H 5R 2ER 5BB 0K) HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 5th, (Brk) John Langille 2nd Notable - Leon Drake 2-4 HR R 2RBI Summary - Brooklyn's starting pitching has come out strong so far in this series first 3 games (Starters 2.72 ERA over 23.2 innings). When they get pitching like that then Brooklyn is a tough team to beat. As I stated in the New York series we have a developing issue that is starting to concern me quite a bit. What can be an issue with a team that is 18-6 on the season you ask? Well it is the performance or lack of it by 3B John Turner. After a 300+ plus month in April to start the season, Turner has gone ice cold hitting just 132 in May and his season average is down to 216. Last year he was sent down after hitting around 230 through May. Its no secret that he is projected to be a 300 hitter and play an upper end defense at 3B, but right now he has struggled at the plate both this season and last. What do we do about that? Well we are going to start sniffing around and seeing what is available as we head into June. It is no secret that we have been approaching Boston for years in regards to 3B Charlie Berry. Talks came up again this off-season but we were not able to agree on a price for the 35-year-old who still is producing and playing a solid 3B. We also discussed 3B Joe Masters of the Chicago Chiefs who is also climbing into his mid-30's and didn't come close to a deal. Master is a great hitter, who still is mashing this season but his defense isn't as solid as it once was. Are their others we might be able to discuss? Maybe, but it is so early in the season it is hard to make deals until you get closer to the end of June when teams start to realize they are not likely to be a contender. In house options? There are not many. Prior to this year one might have said give Harry Stroud a chance, but he was released in the off-season as his defense had eroded and he was not longer a suitable option. There is also Cincinnati 3B/2B Vince Frazier who currently is not on the 40-man roster. Frazier is a solid 4A player but has never done much with the bat in the big leagues. He is a valuable locker room presence. Finally there is 31-year-old Jake Moore who has been the long time starter. He is on the bench a lot so far this season but we are going to give him a few starts and see if that sparks Turner. We will evaluate them both in a time share this week and depending on the results (mainly if Turner gets a few hits) will determine if its time for more desperate measures. I know likely an over-reaction but we have worked hard to try and make this our year, we don't want any real weak links. Roster Moves - After re-acquiring Hughie Fitts in the trade with Montreal we optioned him to AA Portland. The move was just to clear some room for him to get every day at-bats as we have a few OF's in Cincinnati that also need them. We promoted RF Fred Quinn to AAA Cincinnati as he has hit well at every level in the organization. He will be the everyday RF for the Steamers. We released our 1st round pick from the 1927 draft LF Dick Kennon. He hit for a decent average in the minor leagues but just never developed the power that we were looking for to distinguish himself from others. Kennon never made it to the major leagues and only played in 3 games at the AAA level last year. Players of the Week FA Player of the week goes to St. Louis 1B Fred McCormick who hit 11-24 (458) with 2 home runs, 9 RBI's this past week as St. Louis moved into 1st place in the FA. On the season McCormick is hitting 359 4-27 with 21 runs scored. CA Player of the Week - Goes to the Montreal Saints 3B Hank Barnett who hit 520 (13-25) with 2 home runs and 9 RBI's. Barnett is hitting 367 on the season with 4 homers and 20 RBI's for the 3rd place Saints Manager Firing in Montreal In a move that is probably more to do with last years collapse and the streakiness of this season, the Saints fired manager Joe Ward who had gone 449-500 in his 6+ years as the Saints skipper. The Saints are above 500 at 14-11 and in 3rd place in the CA so far, but the team started 11-1 before losing 10 of its last 13 to seal Ward's fate. Ward's replacement is minor league manager James Gentry (64) who has been in the Saints organization since 1924. His minor league managerial record is 1317-1080 (549) 6 minor league championships. Gentry has been described as a conventional manger in style and has a more personable personality that his predecessor. Will this be the right hire for the Saints to shed the label of mediocre the last dozen or so years? Forester Hitter of the Week - C TR Goins hit 304 with 2 homers and 7 RBI's. Forester Pitcher of the Week - Roger Perry went 1-0 in 2 starts with a 1.20 ERA giving up just 10 hits in 15 innings worked. Minor League Awards - Savannah Privateers C Bill Malachi (23) won (SEL Class B) player of the week award by going 9-18 with 2 home runs, 9RBI's and 4 runs scored. On the season the 17th rd pick (1932) is hitting 371 4-18. An Ottumwa Owl for the 2nd week in a row has won the class C UMVA player of the week award. This week its CF Tom Hoppe (24) who hit 481 13-27 with 3 home runs and 8 RBI's and 10 runs scored. Hoppe while not a top prospect is a team leader on the class C team. Last edited by DD Martin; 12-08-2020 at 05:14 PM.

12-10-2020, 04:40 PM	#131
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	(Just a short note today as I am out and about a lot and don't want to drop too far behind.) Monday - Cleveland 5 @ Brooklyn 3 - We picked up a split in the 4-game series on the strength of SP Dean Astle going to 5-0. TR Goins also hit one out for us. Tuesday-Thursday @ Baltimore 5-22 Tuesday - Cleveland 3 @ Baltimore 8 - One of our uglier losses on the season Roger Perry (2-2) just didn't have his best stuff today. Ken Carpenter continues with his successful career against us. Wednesday - Cleveland 7 @ Baltimore 6 Wasn't pretty at all as our defense continues to give away easy runs. We picked up a run in the 8th to win it on an error. Thursday - Cleveland 7 @ Baltimore 5 SP Ben Turner pitched well for 6 innings shutting out the Cannons but then trouble erupted in the 7th but we hung on to win with Phillips notching his 6th save. Max Morris hit his 8th home run on the season. Saturday-Sunday at home vs Montreal 17-12 Saturday - Montreal 3 vs Cleveland 7 The Foresters won the game today but it came at a pretty steep cost. All-Star C TR Goins will be sideline for the foreseeable future with some sort of foot injury. 3B Jake Moore hit his first home run of the season. Sunday - Montreal 6 vs Cleveland 3 The team came out very flat today as Dean Astle took his first loss of the year and was down 5-0 after 3. Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come with Goins on the shelf. Weekly Summary Record 4-2 Season Record 22-8 1st place in the CA by 4 games over NY Stars So obviously the big deal is the status of C TR Goins. Team Trainer Harry King has diagnosed his foot injury as plantar fasciitis. He will be out hopefully for just 1 month and we will keep our fingers crossed. Besides missing Goins bat in the lineup he has been a stabilizing force behind the plate and it will be interesting to watch how the staff responds without him. Jim Kyle will take over the everyday duties behind the dish and Herman Rachford will come up from Cincinnati. Rachford was claimed on waivers for just this very reason as he is the #3 catcher on the depth chart and had an option. He was hitting 267 at Cincinnati and playing solid defense. If Goin's injury was for a longer period of time we likely would have brought back up Nick Lake to take his spot and put him back on the 40-man roster. While we went 4-2 this week it just didn't feel like a great week. The lackluster loss in Baltimore on Tuesday and then yesterday's game really makes me wonder if the team is really hitting on all cylinders. After a slow week last week the big bats continued to drive home runs out at a rate never seen before in the CA. We have hit 31 home runs in 30 games and last year we set the club and CA record for 119 in a season. So far this year we are on a 159 pace. News Item this week Brooklyn obviously heard a comment made in the Cleveland papers about the Kings and their offense which is leading the league. The writer stated that the Kings just need to get their pitching up to its usual standards and they would be in it for the long term. Being a very shrewd GM, Brooklyn has trade with the Baltimore Cannons for veteran SP Ken Carpenter (36). While not the ace that he was at one time, he still brings a lot of innings and stability to a King's staff reeling from the injury loss of Jacobs. Over the years Carpenter has been a thorn in the Foresters side, but last season Cleveland went 3-1 against him. This season the Forester's saw Carpenter this last week and lost 8-3 in Baltimore. What does this mean for the season? That Brooklyn is serious about making a solid run and with their offense is a force to be reckoned with. The deal didn't cost Brooklyn much either as they didn't trade any top prospects for him in C Farrar and 3B Milt Butler. Some scouts like Butler but his personality lacks a lot and he would likely never be accepted into the Cleveland organization. Note Worthy- The CA has been a very streaky league so far this year with a lot of mini winning and losing streaks. Right now the New York Stars are on another roll moving into 2nd. The team we are all watching though is the Chicago Cougars. While they are only 11-19 at the moment they finally put together their first winning week and they are targeting a home series against us in early June on the calendar. If they keep putting together winning weeks ahead of that meeting, it could be a foreshadowing of things to come. Right now we are 6-0 vs Chicago and that hasn't gone unnoticed by Cougar players, coaches or management. Attached Images

12-15-2020, 11:39 PM	#133
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	The FA and CA League Standings -End of May 1934 [IMG][/IMG] While Cleveland is leading the CA the emerging team has been the Brooklyn Kings (26-16). The Kings offense has been the #1 unit in the CA so far this year and they are starting to emerge as a serious contender this year. Brooklyn typically hasn't fared well before July the last several years but this year appears to be different. In 3rd Place is the New York Stars (23-20) who have been one of the streakier teams in the league this year. The Montreal Saints (21-20) have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, but they currently are the worst team in the FABL in scoring runs. The team needs to find a few middle of the order bats, but their ballpark is very tough on hitters (think Petco (SD) or T-Mobile (Sea). in 5th place is the Philadelphia Sailors who at one time dominated the CA prior to this recent Chicago Cougar run and they are just 1/2 game ahead of those Cougars who are starting to show some signs of life. Toronto is in 7th at 16-25 and then come the Baltimore Cannons who have clearly embarked on a serious rebuilding run with their trades of SP Rabbit Day and OF Lou Kelly. [IMG][/IMG] Over in the FA the New York Gothams (26-16) are leading the way not surprisingly. The Goth's made the big trade to add Rabbit Day and combine him with Jim Londaro as maybe the best 1-2 punch in all of baseball. But their lead is very slim over the young St. Louis Pioneers (25-17) and Boston Minutemen (24-17). With these 3 teams within a 1 1/2 games of each other it promises to be a very exciting race. In 4th place are the defending World Series Champion Philadelphia Keystones (22-20) who are just 4 games back. Starting in the top slot in the 2nd division are the Pittsburgh Miners 20-21 who are just 5 1/2 back. The Chicago Chiefs are getting a monster season out of veteran 3B Joe Masters but it is not translating to wins as they are struggling at 17-23 in 6th place and don't appear to be a factor. The surprise is definitely the early season fall of the Detroit Dynamo's who have been in the top 2-3 in the FA for recent memory. Currently this year the Dynamo's are just 17-25 and haven't really shown any signs of coming out of it. The Washington Eagles are currently in 8th, 11 games out at 15-27. The Eagles are under new management and they are re-working their roster but have got some pieces for the future to build on. Players of the Month (FA) Hitter of the Month is awarded to the Philadelphia Keystones RF Bobby Barrell (23) who has just laid waste to the pitching in the FA. For May Barrell hit 440 with 5 home runs, driving in 33 RBI's and scoring 27 runs. On the season Barrell is hitting 412 with 6 home runs and 42 RBI's. Pitcher of the Month - The Award is given to St. Louis SP Sam Sheppard who went 6-0 with a 4.32 ERA. The 26-year-old benefitted from some tremendous support from his St Louis teammates and is 7-1 on the season. Rookie of the Month - Boston's CF Chick Donnelly's has really impressed fans with his style of play and he was rewarded with the Rookie of the Month honors in the FA. Hitting 381 with 9 doubles, a triple and 3 home runs, Donnelly scored 20 runs and drove in 26 while also playing a very good defensive CF. CA Players of the Month Hitter of the Month goes to New York Stars 3B John Lawson (31) who hit 333 with 4 home runs and 32 RBI's for the month. On the season he is hitting 333 with 5 homers with 38 RBI's. Pitcher of the Month - Another Barrell in the winner circle this time it is Brooklyn SP Tommy Barrell who went 6-0 with a 2.37 ERA in 7 GS. On the season Barrell is a perfect 8-0 with a 3.12 ERA and is a huge reason why Brooklyn is in 2nd place in the CA. Rookie of the Month - Goes to the Baltimore Cannons LF Al Horton (25). in his first full season he has shown he can definitely hit in the big leagues. In May Horton hit 314. with a homer and 11 RBI's. On the season he is hitting 302 with 1 home run and 20 RBI's and 28 runs scored. Trades during the Month The Chicago Cougars acquired SS Clyde Hinzman (27) from Toronto. On the season Hinzman is struggling with the bat hitting just 207 in only 29 AB's. The Wolves will receive the #110 prospect in baseball as the return as RF Reginald Westfall (20 Class B) is hitting 352 with 4 home runs in 91 AB's. The blockbuster deal in May was the one between the Brooklyn Kings and the rebuilding Baltimore Cannons. As part of the rebuild the Cannons traded veteran SP Ken Carpenter (36) 3-2 3.68 ERA to the Kings for a pair of minor leaguers, C Buster Farrar (22 Class B) and 3B Milt Butler who was hitting 430 at AA. Neither prospect is highly ranked in the return so the verdict between GM's is the league was split but most agreed that Brooklyn added a key piece to stabilizing their rotation.

12-16-2020, 07:13 PM	#134
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	The First Week of June 1934 Friday June 1st, 1934 Cleveland Foresters 30-11 @ Toronto Wolves16-25 Double-Header Pitching Matchups for the Double-Header Walter Murphy 4-1 3.06 vs Bill Anderson 4-5 3.71 Ben Turner 4-2 4.81 vs Birdie Smith 3-5 5.29 Game #42 - Cleveland Foresters 3 @ Toronto Wolves 0 Walter Murphy has been much better than the Cleveland front office felt he would be as he notched his 5th victory of the season shutting out the Wolves on 7 hits in game 1 of this Friday double-header. Murphy even drove in a run in the game going 2-3 at the plate. WP - Walter Murphy 5-1 2.67 (9IP 7H 0R 2BB 3K) LP - Bill Anderson 4-6 3.62 (9IP 9H 3R 3ER 2BB 0K) HR - None Notable - Jim Kyle 2-3 1R Game #43 - Cleveland Foresters 3 @ Toronto Wolves 4 (10) The 2nd game of the double-header came down to execution and unfortunately for the Foresters the 3 errors in the game cost them. In the bottom of the 10th Max Morris had moved out to RF earlier and with 2 outs LF Andre Ward hit a foul ball down the line which Morris dropped. That error proved fatal in this game as Ward came back and singled on the next pitch scoring the game winning run. WP - John Reimers 2-1 5.34 LP - Frank Phillips 3-2 2.77 HR - None Notable - Dawson 2-4 DB, Pidgeon 2-5 TP, 2RBI Summary - A game we really should have won. Ben Turner pitched well enough to win but gave up a run in the bottom of the 9th (where was our stopper?). We only gave up 4 runs in a double-header and 2 of them were unearned and the mounting errors cost us this game. It's a frustrating loss against a team we should have beaten, but the club is still flying high at 31-12 with an off-day tomorrow before a pair of games against the Philadelphia Sailors. Philadelphia Sailors 22-22 vs Cleveland Foresters 31-12 2-game series June 3rd and 4th Season Series - Cleveland leads 4-2 Pitching Matchups Philadelphia Sailors vs Cleveland Foresters George Johnson 4-3 4.33 vs Eddie Quinn 6-2 2.92 William Jones 3-2 2.43 vs Dean Astle 6-2 2.11 Game #44 - Philadelphia Sailors 8 vs Cleveland Foresters 7 Sailors C Joe Cameron was the player of the game going 3-4 with a double, 2 runs scored and drove in 2 runs, but it was the at-bat where he didn't get a hit that won the game. In the top of the 8th with his team up 2 runs, Cameron came up with the bases loaded. He was then plunked by RP Frank Phillips to drive in a run. It ended up being the game winner. The Sailors committed 4 errors in the game but Cleveland did not make them pay for their poor play as none of the runs scored were unearned. WP - George Johnson 5-3 4.80 (8IP 12H 7R 7ER 5BB 3K) LP - Eddie Quinn 6-3 3.32 (7IP 13H 6R 6ER 4BB 1K) HR - None Notable - Dan Fowler 2-3 2BB 2R, Leon Drake 3-5 R, RBI, Jim Kyle 2-5 2RBI Game #45 - Philadelphia Sailors 11 vs Cleveland Foresters 7 In an uncharacteristic outing, SP Dean Astle was rocked by the Sailors and only last 4 innings. Astle gave up 8 hits and 7 walks and was probably lucky to only give up 6 runs. Somehow the Foresters managed to tie up the game heading to the 9th and then Jim Cavender probably suffering from rust from lack of use was bombed for 4 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. The Foresters couldn't mount a comeback after that. WP - Hal Upton 3-1 0.64 LP - Jim Cavender 0-1 3.65 HR - None Notable - Moxie Pidgeon 3-5 2RBI 1R, Max Morris 2-4, BB, R, 3RBI Dan Fowler 0-2 3BB 2R Summary - What an ugly couple of games as our usually reliable starting pitching just sort of crumbled. We are now 9-7 without TR Goins but I am wondering if the recent stretch of poor pitcher outings is just numbers catching up to us or if the staff is missing it very clear leader. Johnny Turner has managed to get his average back up to 240 with a few hits here and there but he is not producing at a level we have been hoping for. While he remains the starter for now, Jake Moore is getting increased playing time especially against RHP. Turner who is know for his glove work at 3B has not been having a great season at 3B defensively either. Whether it is his hitting that is causing him to press or his lack of attention to instruction, his opportunity in Cleveland as the every 3rd baseman is beginning to look precarious. Injury news update - Trainer King feels that TR Goins will be back in action in 2 weeks. Hopefully we can stay in first place while he is out. Bit trip to Chicago to play the Cougars who are starting to look like they are coming out of their funk. Cleveland Foresters 31-14 @ Chicago Cougars 21-25 3-game series in Chicago June 6th-8th Season Series - Cleveland leads 6-0 The Foresters will head back up to the Windy City for a big 3-game series against the Cougars. Big series you as against a team that is 21-25, in 6th place and 10.5 games out. Yes anytime you play Chicago it is a big BIG series. We have been fortunate enough to be 6-0 against them this year but it like not trying to wake a sleeping giant. The Cougars have won 11 out of their last 18 games. We loaded up our starting rotation so that our top 3 starters would be in line to start games in this series. Pitching Matchups Cleveland vs Chicago Roger Perry 5-2 2.22 vs Tommy Wilcox 3-7 3.80 Eddie Quinn 6-3 3.32 vs Dick Lyons 2-1 3.64 Dean Astle 6-2 2.68 vs Jim Crawford 3-4 5.74 Game #46 - Cleveland Foresters 4 @ Chicago Cougars 1 The Foresters continued their mastery over the Cougars behind the sterling pitching of Roger Perry as he 3-hit the Cougars in picking up his 6th win of the year. WP - Roger Perry 6-2 2.07 (9IP 3H 1R 1ER 2BB 2K) LP - Tommy Wilcox 3-8 3.82 (9IP 11H 4R 4ER 2BB 1K) HR - None Notable - Ralph Joiner 2-4 RBI, BB Dan Fowler 2-5 RBI Game #47 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Chicago Cougars 17 Worst game of the year for the Foresters as they committed 6 ERROR's, gave up 17 hits and 2 walks in getting trounced. SP Eddie Quinn did not pitch well giving up 7 hits in 3.2 IP and 9 runs, but only 1 of the runs was unearned. Chicago's Mike Taylor blasted 2 home runs and Doc Love added another. The only bright spot for the Foresters in this game was likely Moxie Pidgeon hitting the team's first home run in the month of June, his 11th. WP - Dick Lyons 3-1 3.79 (7IP 13H 5R 4ER 1BB 4K) LP - Eddie Quinn 6-4 3.29 (3.2IP 7H 9R 1ER 0BB 1K) HR - (Cl) Moxie Pidgeon 11th, (CH) Mike Taylor (2) 6th and 7th, Doc Love 5th Notable - We made 6 errors in this game. Nothing else really mattered other than 6 pathetic errors. John Turner had 2, Brooks Meeks, Jim Kyle, Dan Fowler and even George Dawson also each added 1. Game #48 - Cleveland Foresters 7 @ Chicago Cougars 14 Well the Foresters have managed to do it, they have woken up the slumbering offense in Chicago as over the last 2 days the Cougs have scored 31 runs. Dean Astle was pounded for the 2nd straight game and has seen his ERA rise from 2.12 to 3.45 in his last 2 starts. Taylor and Love both homered again for the Cougars. And for all of you keeping track at home the Foresters made 3 more errors as the bullpen gave up 5 unearned runs, not that it mattered. Have the Cougars officially served noticed that they are BACK? WP - Herm Lowman 1-0 2.61 (5IP 6H 1R 1ER 1BB 5K in relief) LP - Dean Astle 6-3 3.45 (5.1IP 13H 9R 9ER 3BB 1K) HR - Mike Taylor 11th, Doc Love 6th Notable - We miss TR Goins! Weekly Summary - Maybe 2 of the worst games I have seen as the GM of the Cleveland Foresters. There is no way that this team should ever give up 31 runs in 5 games. The Cougars had 22 hits in that last game, 22! On the bus trip out of town I get with Manager Jim Wilson and Team Trainer Henry King and have them got go talk to and check out Dean Astle. Hopefully nothing is wrong with him physically and its just between the ears. If it is just in his head, Jim Wilson will be able to get him righted hopefully soon. 3B John Turner besides his 2 errors in the middle game of this series went 0-9 and earned himself a seat on the bench next to hitting coach Jack Ralls. I am ordering extra batting practice for Turner and if he doesn't turn it around soon he will be back in Cincinnati. Trade Front Rumors - We are checking in with most teams that have a decent 3B player who might want to discuss a deal. It's been hard getting through to some GM's as there seems to be a lot of conversations happening right now, and that is unusual since it is early June. We don't have a ton of needs but I would like to investigate options at 3rd. Division Race - Losing those last 2 games against Chicago, besides being embarrassed also cost us something else besides Dean Astle's ERA title aspirations. While we are talking up the Chicago Cougars a funny thing happened and the Brooklyn Kings slide past us into first place by 1/2 a game. When we started the month we were 4 1/2 games up on Brooklyn but dropped 5 games in the standings this week. Attached Images

12-16-2020, 11:32 PM	#135
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	June 9th -17th On the Road in Philadelphia and Montreal On the surface a couple of 4-game series that we could fare well in. Until the start of last week we were 4-2 against Phily but now the season series stands at 4-4. Against Montreal we are 5-1 so far this season. Overall on the road we have been really good going 18-6 so we hope that we can bounce back during these games before going to Baltimore. When we head out to Baltimore we should have C TR Goins back. Cleveland Foresters 32-16 @ Philadelphia Sailors 25-24 June 9th-12th 4-Game Series in Philadelphia Season Series tied 4-4 The Sailors are really limited offensively as far as power goes. They are last in the CA in home runs and 5th in runs scored with 230. On offense they are led by 2B Jack Cleaves who is hitting 356 which is about 50 points higher than in the last 2 seasons, but his power is down so far this year. The previous 2 seasons he has hit 26 home runs but this year so far he has been limited to just 1 and 12 RBI's. While the batting average is great this team needs run producers and right now he isn't producing many in the #5 spot in the order. On the pitching side they have given up 250 runs (4th) in the CA and their starters ERA is 4.73 (7th). Pitching Matchups Cleveland Foresters vs Philadelphia Sailors Walter Murphy 5-1 2.67 vs George Johnson 5-3 3.80 Roger Perry 6-2 2.07 vs William Jones 3-2 3.50 Walter Murphy 6-1 2.49 vs Russ Reel 4-4 4.78 Eddie Quinn 6-4 3.29 vs Doc Newell 4-5 4.95 Oscar Morse 6-3 4.05 Game #49 - Cleveland Foresters 4 @ Philadelphia Sailors 1 SP Walter Murphy cruised in this one giving up just 4 hits and 1 run. Max Morris hit his 10th home run of the season in the 4th. WP - Walter Murphy 6-1 2.49 (9IP 4H 1R 1ER 1BB 1K) LP - George Johnson 5-4 4.70 (9IP 8H 4R 4ER 4BB 5K) HR - (Cl) Max Morris 10th Notable - Dan Fowler 2-4 DB, R Walter Murphy 1-3 2RBI Game #50 - Cleveland Foresters 4 @ Philadelphia Sailors 5 Max Morris went 3-5 with a double and 3 RBI's but it wasn't enough to bail the Foresters out in this one as they drop another close game. Sailors CF Dan Merchant hit his 1st home run of the season a 2-run shot to aid the Sailors to another win. WP - William Jones 4-2 2.98 (7.2IP 6H 2R 0ER 2BB 4K) LP - Roger Perry 6-3 2.24 (6.1IP 10H 5R 3ER 2BB 1K) S - Hal Upton 4th 0.55 Notable - Morris 3-5 DB 3RBI Game #51 - Cleveland Foresters 3 @ Philadelphia Sailors 9 Walter Murphy has been going great, but he wasn't able to come back on short rest with Dean Astle still fighting a flu bug (aka I screwed up). Also the mounting error problem lead to 7 unearned runs for the Sailors. The only good news (sarcasm) was 3B John Turner was helped off the field and pulling a muscle getting a hit (figures). WP - Russ Reel 5-4 4.50 (8IP 13H 3R 2ER 0BB 3K) LP - Walter Murphy 6-2 2.44 (5IP 8H 8R 1ER 2BB 1K) Notable - Max Morris 3-5 2 DB 2RBI Turner's injury will likely cost him the rest of the season. Game #52 - Cleveland Foresters 0 @ Philadelphia Sailors 7 The Foresters are no-hit! Sailor SP Doc Newell no hit the Foresters today. Newell went 9 the distance with 5 walks and 7 strikeouts. For the Foresters the month of June has been very difficult so far and this just kind of epitomizes their recent struggles against the Sailors and in general. WP - Doc Newell 5-5 4.41 (9IP 0H 0R 5BB 7K) LP - Eddie Quinn 6-5 3.63 (6.2IP 11H 6R 6ER 3BB 1K) Notable - Not a damn thing! Summary - So closes a very frustrating trip to the so-called City of Brotherly Love. The Sailors took 3 out of 4 and our current fall from the lofty top perch of the CA is now 2 full games behind Brooklyn. The Sailors did a fancy switch and replace Merritt in that last game with Doc Newell. There was nothing about Newell this season that screamed I'm about to throw a no-no against us, but that is exactly what he did. Not a lot of things are going right at the moment. The club is sort of in a stagnant state right now and for the first time in his young managerial career Jim Wilson is having to deal with some adversity. The team is now 500 since TR Goins injury going 12-12, but good news is coming soon about Goins as he will join us in Baltimore next week. The issue was Johnny Turner was coming to a head as he was down to just hitting 222 on the season and his defense was not making up for his short comings with the bat. The torn abdominal muscle will keep him out at least 3 months so unless we are desperate at the end of the season, he will not return this season or maybe even ever. Jake Moore will take back over his former spot at 3B and while he will hit better than Turner, Jake has lost a couple of steps and his defense and range at 3rd leave a lot to be desired. For now we will have to press on, but we are on the lookout and are negotiating with several free agents and making calls. Cleveland Foresters 33-19 @ Montreal Saints 25-27 4-game series June 13th-16th Season Series - Cleveland leads 5-1 Probably not a place where a team that was just no-hit would want to venture too. Montreal's Parc Cartier is one of if not the toughest ballparks to hit in the entire FABL. Couple that with the Saints top end pitching staff and that doesn't spell for a lot of confidence. The Saints are the worst offense in the CA and the FABL as a whole. They have managed just 205 runs this season (3.94 rpg). Montreal came out fast this year going 11-1, then fell to 14-11 and fired their manager. Now since the firing they are 11-16 and falling off the pace in the CA by double digits. Not the end of the season but there are a lot of rumors swirling in Montreal about trades and the lack of offense. Pitching Matchups Cleveland vs Montreal Dean Astle 6-3 3.45 vs Skinny Foster 1-1 1.80 Roger Perry 6-3 2.24 vs Chick Wirtz 4-2 3.47 Walter Murphy 6-2 2.44 vs George Thomas 4-7 4.06 Ben Turner 4-2 4.87 vs Milt Fritz 5-5 5.12 Game #53 - Cleveland Foresters 5 @ Montreal Saints 3 After being no-hit in Phily the Foresters manage 14 hits including 4 extra base hits in beating the Saints. Dean Astle who seems to have recovered from the flu picked up his 7th win after his recent 2 poor outings. Maybe the break did him some good, or maybe it was just a poor offense against him. WP - Dean Astle 7-3 3.41 (9IP 7H 3R 3ER 1BB 5K) LP - Skinny Foster 1-2 3.27 (7IP 13H 5R 5ER 5BB 6K) HR - (Cl) Max Morris 11th Notable - George Dawson 4-5 DB, TP 1R 1RBI, Ralph Joiner 3-5 DB 1R 1RBI, Max Morris 2-5 HR 2R 2RBI, SB Game #54 - Cleveland Foresters 2 @ Montreal Saints 4 Vic Crawford hit a double in the first that drove in 2 runs as the Saints score 4 runs in the first 2 innings against Roger Perry and cruised to a victory behind Chick Wirtz. WP - Chick Wirtz 5-2 3.33 (8.1IP 9H 2R 2ER 2BB 6K) LP - Roger Perry 6-4 2.47 (7IP 12H 4R 4ER 1BB 3K) S - Howie Snyder 5th 2.52 Notable - Jake Moore 2-4 DB 1R 1RBI, Leon Drake 1-4 TP R Game #55 - Cleveland Foresters 5 @ Montreal Saints 3 SP Walter Murphy just keeps plugging along and winning for the Foresters. He had been thought of as the other SP acquired in the spring (behind Eddie Quinn) but so far he has emerged with Roger Perry as the staff star. Dan Fowler hit a home run in the 9th to break open a close game. WP - Walter Murphy 7-2 2.51 (8.2IP 10H 3R 3ER 2BB 4K) LP - George Thomas 4-8 4.15 (9IP 9H 5R 5ER 2BB 1K) S - Frank Phillips 7th 4.24 HR - (Cl) Dan Fowler 10th Game #56 - Cleveland Foresters 4 @ Montreal Saints 5 Bottom of the 8th as the Foresters led 4-3, SS Tony White became the hero for Montreal with a 2-run single that put the Saints up 5-4. While there was speculation that Milt Fritz was on the move, he pitched what might be his last game in a Saints. WP - Howie Snider 6-2 2.33 LP - Ben Turner 4-3 4.74 (7.1IP 5H 5R 3ER 5BB 3K) HR - (Cl) Moxie Pidgeon 12th Notable - Moxie Pidgeon 4-4 HR, 2DB 3RBI 1R, Ralph Joiner 0-5 2R Comments - That was a bad way to lose that last game. Frank Phillips couldn't bail Ben Turner out of his walks and it cost the team a much needed win. The split in Montreal was at least better than the 1-3 in Philadelphia, but that marked the end of our 28 games without our all-star C TR Goins. We end the stretch 14-14 but it feels a lot worse than it was because of the poor play we have had in June (6-10). With Johnny Turner's injury I neglected to mention that we purchased the contract of veteran 2B/3B Vince Frazier from Cincinnati to back up Jake Moore. Unfortunately Frazier's defense is not much better (if at all) than Jake Moore's. We really have a glaring weakness at 3B in our organization so that will only intensify our desire to make a deal. In the meantime we have begun discussions with a couple of minor league free agents who might get a chance to come up and be a late inning defensive replacement. Team Shakeup - So the obvious move is the activation of C TR Goins and getting him right back in the lineup. No rehab assignment for him. Making room for Goins will be Herman Rachford who will go back down to AAA Cincinnati after going 1-11 in very limited action in backing up Jim Kyle. Next I decided that our top flight pinch hitter acquired from Montreal Al Wilson was struggling too much this season in his limited role. So he was optioned to Cincinnati to get some playing time and maybe get his bat going once again. He was hitting just 184 in 38 at-bats with 1 RBI. Coming up was a familiar face in PH/Utility guy Ray Cochran who was as usual crushing the ball at Cincinnati hitting 365 with 2 homers and 30 RBI's. Wilson was a left hander and Cochran is a righty so we have tweaked things a bit. SP Heinie Bretz was pitching well in Cincinnati in our program to re-strengthen his arm after being off all of last season. Bretz was 5-0 at Cincinnati with a 2.22 ERA so we decided to bring him up and pitch a game in the rotation next week in Baltimore. To make room, I looked at several options like DFA RP Jim Cavender but in the end Cavender continues to prove he has 9 lives. So instead to keep getting him regular work we sent down SP Ben Turner who had struggled some with command in going 4-3 with a 4.74 ERA. Who knows if Bretz pitches well maybe he either stays in the rotation in here or is dangled as a trade chip. Trading News - Well there is nothing close here in Cleveland to a deal despite numerous calls to other FABL GM's. But our current lack of movement hasn't stopped other trade rumors. Nothing has happened yet, but it does look like the Chicago Cougars are burning up the phone lines and making a lot of calls. Also busy appears to be Montreal's GM as well. Where will it all fall? Hard to say, it could be just conversation but I feel like something is brewing and it might be big. Next - Goins returns, do the Forester re-claim their form prior to his injury? Attached Images

12-18-2020, 05:07 PM	#136
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	June 18th-24th The Return of TR! On the train to Baltimore I was talking with manager Jim Wilson who was asking me when Goins would be rejoining the team. I let him know that he just cleared his physical and would be joining us in Baltimore in time for game 2 of the series. At that time we would option Rachford back to Cincinnati. Cleveland Foresters 35-21 2 Baltimore Cannons 16-41 4-Game series Jun 17-19th with a DH on the 19th Season Series - Cleveland leads 4-2 The Cannons have the worst record in the FABL this season which wasn't unexpected after trading SP Rabbit Day and OF Lou Kelly in the off-season. Then late last month they traded away veteran SP Ken Carpenter to the Kings. So this is a major rebuilding effort for manager Ossie Julious and the Cannons upper management. Julious who is 2nd all time in wins for a manager is having his patience tested and at the rate of how this season is going it will be another couple of years before he can break the all-time record for wins. Currently he is about 120 wins away from breaking it so many sometime in 1936 he can if he is still with the team. Pitching Matchups - Cleveland vs Baltimore Eddie Quinn 6-5 3.63 vs Bob Miller 2-10 6.00 Dean Astle 7-3 3.41 vs Pinky Conlan 3-4 3.52 Roger Perry 6-4 2.47 vs Ben White 2-8 5.91 Walter Murphy 7-2 2.51 vs Joe Newsom 1-7 5.07 Game #57 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Baltimore Cannons 3 SS George Dawson went 3-5 scoring a run and driving in 2 in support of SP Eddie Quinn who went 7 innings and looked like he got back on track for the Foresters. WP - Eddie Quinn 7-5 3.55 (7IP 5H 3R 2ER 1BB 4K) LP - Paul Vandenberg 1-5 6.75 S - Frank Phillips 8 3.66 HR - None Notable - George Dawson 3-5 1R 2RBI, Jake Moore 2-5 2R 1RBI Game #58 - Cleveland Foresters 8 @ Baltimore Cannons 4 TR Goins returned to the lineup in a big way for the Foresters as the C returned to the lineup and went 2-4. In the 5th inning Goins hit a 2-run homer and he drove in 2 more runs with a single. WP - Dean Astle 8-3 3.50 (8IP 11H 4R 4ER 1BB 2K) LP - Pinky Conlan 3-5 3.72 (8IP 4H 5R 5ER 6BB 2K) HR - (Cl) TR Goins 5th, (Bal) Al Horton 2nd Notable - TR Goins 2-4 HR 2R 4RBI, George Dawson 2-5 2R Double-Header Day - Game 1 Game #59 - Cleveland Foresters 7 @ Baltimore Cannons 1 Baltimore had no answer for Forester SP Roger Perry who overwhelmed the Cannons. TR Goins went 4-5 and drove in 3 runs as the Foresters took game 1 of the double-header. WP - Roger Perry 7-4 2.28 (7.1IP 4H 0R 0ER 1BB 7K) LP - Dutch Leverett 1-3 3.95 (7.2IP 10H 6R 3ER 7BB 0K) HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 8th Notable - Leon Drake 1-3 HR, BB R 2RBI, TR Goins 4-5 DB, R 3RBI Double-Header Day - Game 2 Game #60 - Cleveland Foresters 8 @ Baltimore Cannons 6 The Foresters came from behind with 5 runs over the last 3 innings to sweep the double-header and the 4 game series. Leon Drake was 3-4 with a walk and drove in 2 runs. Ray Cochran hit a huge 8th inning 2-run home run to tie the game before Dan Fowler knocked in the winning runs with a single in the 9th. WP - Bret Henggeler 3-1 3.79 LP - Buzz Ham 2-2 2.90 HR - (Cl) Ray Cochran 1st Notable - Leon Drake 3-4 2RBI BB, Moxie Pidgeon 1-3 BB 2R Summary - Nice to get a big 4 game sweep but honestly we shouldn't have expected anything less. It was great to see TR Goins get back in action and the team is certainly glad to have him back. SP Heinie Bretz got back to the rotation after a season and a half and didn't exactly have the Cannons guessing. Bretz gave up 12 hits and 7 walks along with 6 runs and was fortunate to get out of the game without the loss. He will get some opportunities before the All-Star break to see if he can shake the rust out. We have an off-day on Wednesday before a big 4-game series with the 1st-place Brooklyn Kings. Cleveland Foresters 39-21 @ Brooklyn Kings 40-20 June 21st-24th Season Series - Brooklyn leads 4-3 The two top teams in the CA will get together to do battle for a big 4-game series at Kings County Park. The Kings who lead the season series by 1 game also lead the CA by that 1 game. The series will feature the 2 top scoring teams in the CA with the Kings #1 with 373 runs and we are 2nd with 352. The Kings are led on offense by a group of capable hitters. 2B Jake Shadoan is hitting 328 on the season with 6 homeruns and 30 RBI's and SS Harry Barrell who I see and just wish that I hadn't traded. He was our #1 pick several years ago and he is looking like a future HOF player. Barrell is hitting 306 with 1 homer and 26 RBI's. Few people outside baseball realize that Brooklyn is the Barrell capital of America with SS Harry, 1B Dan, C Fred and ace SP Tom Barrell. Pitching Matchups - Cleveland vs Brooklyn Walter Murphy 7-2 2.51 vs George DeForest 3-3 3.38 Eddie Quinn 7-5 3.55 vs Jim Chandler 0-0 0.00 Dean Astle 8-3 3.50 vs Tom Barrell 11-0 2.94 Roger Perry 7-4 2.28 vs Mike Murphy 6-3 3.52 Game #61 - Cleveland Foresters 6 @ Brooklyn Kings 5 In a game where both SP's gave up 5 runs each and both hit doubles and scored a run, the Foresters prevailed late to escape with game 1 of this early season showdown. Both teams are now 40-21 and tied for the lead in the CA. WP - Walter Murphy 8-2 2.74 (8.2IP 13H 5R 5ER 2BB 2K) LP - George DeForest 3-4 3.66 (8IP 9H 5R 5ER 6BB 6K) S - Frank Phillips 9th 3.74 HR - (Cl) Moxie Pidgeon 13th Notable - Dan Fowler 2-4 2R BB, Max Morris 1-4 TP 2RBI, Moxie Pidgeon 2-4 HR 2R 2RBI BB, Leon Drake 1-4 TP, 3RBI Game #62 - Cleveland Foresters 3 @ Brooklyn Kings 0 A great effort by SP Eddie Quinn as he shut out the high powered Kings on 8 hits. Quinn's outing spoiled a nice debut effort for King's SP Jim Chandler. With the win the Foresters take sole position of 1st place in the CA by 1 game over the Kings. WP - Eddie Quinn 8-5 3.26 (9IP 8H 0R 3BB 5K) LP - Jim Chandler 0-1 3.00 (9IP 7H 3R 3ER 2BB 2K) HR - None Game #63 - Cleveland Foresters 7 @ Brooklyn Kings 2 The Foresters won their 7th straight game on the road and also managed to give King's SP Tom Barrell his first loss of the season (11-1). Forester SP Dean Astle outdueled the CA Allen Award leading contender with support from TR Goins (6th) and 2B Ralph Joiner (1st) hitting home runs off Barrell. WP - Dean Astle 9-3 3.38 (9IP 10H 2R 2ER 1BB 5K) LP - Tom Barrell 11-1 3.21 (7IP 5H 6R 6ER 4BB 8K) HR - (Cl) Ralph Joiner 1st, TR Goins 6th Notable - Dan Fowler 1-3 BB DB 2R 2RBI Game #64 - Cleveland Foresters 3 @ Brooklyn Kings 4 The Foresters, in a bid to win their 8th straight tied the game in the top of the 7th on Jake Moore's 2-run home run. In the bottom of the 7th CF Jim Gentry bailed the Kings out with a solo home run and the Kings avoided a sweep at home. The Foresters leave Brooklyn leading the CA by a game over the King's by virtue of taking 3 out of 4 here in New York. WP - Mike Murphy 7-3 3.48 (9IP 7H 3R 3ER 1BB 6K) LP - Roger Perry 9-5 2.49 (6.2IP 8H 4R 4ER 5BB 1K) HR - (Cl) Max Morris 12th, Jake Moore 2nd. (Brk) Jim Gentry 2nd Notable - Max Morris 2-4 HR R RBI, Jake Moore 2-4 HR R 2RBI Summary - Winning 7 out of 8 this week gives us a record on the road of 28-12 now on the season. The team really has played extremely well away from Forester Stadium so far. With the city and the ownership stadium situation is it a lack of pressure when they are away from home that has spurred the team? Hard to say but we expect sometime in July there will be some statements from the Forester ownership about the future of the franchise in Cleveland. C TR Goins made a great return to the lineup this week going 8-24 with 2 home runs and 10 RBI's for the week. He is the Forester star player of the week without a doubt. At 3B Jake Moore has hit 290 so far this season so while his defensive range is still an issue, he is hitting well and contributing on the field. Speaking of the 3B situation, I am growing frustrated by my lack of ability to get anything done on that front. We have reached out to multiple teams regarding 3B guys but so far have not had much success. We will continue to try and shore up that situation and we did sign a veteran free agent to a minor league deal in Mel Almasy (32). Almasy last played for the Kings organization but was released earlier this season when he was hitting 260 at AAA Minneapolis. The prior 2 seasons before that he hit 317 and 335 at Minneapolis. He could play a factor in the 2nd half of the season if we don't make any further moves. Next Up - The End of June Attached Images

12-20-2020, 11:58 PM	#138
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	Cleveland P-I Sports FABL Trades Column By Ronald William Apter GM's across both the Continental and Federal Leagues have been very busy this month as team jockey for the pennant. We have never seen so many trades in one month as we saw in June. While for many it seemed a bit early to make some of these deals, the feeling was the both leagues were wide open this year. While I am not sure that is the case, it made for an exciting month in the FABL. We will look at and break down the deals, and with July heating up there is likely to be more deals that get down. Trade #1 St. Louis trades Shropshire to Montreal In a relatively minor deal, the Pioneers will receive a 7th round draft choice in the December draft in exchange for 1B Frank Shropshire (23). The 1B was once the Pioneers top pick (#3 overall) in the 1928 draft out of Sacramento High. Once he was drafted he seemed to immediately fall out of favor in the Pioneers organization as he sat around and never played in a game in either of his first 2 seasons (29-30). Finally in 1931 he made his minor league debut for the Class C Moline club and hit 279/358/745 in 139 games. He moved up to Class B Charlotte for the 32 and 33 seasons where he hit 330 and then 370. This year prior to the trade he was in AA Nashville where he was hitting 379. He isn't showing usual home run power with a first baseman, but he has 42 doubles and 48 triples during the 32-33 seasons. For the Saints who are looking for hitters and run producers at just about every position, a 7th round pick is a small price to pay for Shropshire's once considered high potential. The kid can hit for average and has really good speed as based on his doubles and triples. He has also stolen over 100 bases in 3 minor league seasons. Trade #2 The Chicago Cougars trade Max Wilder to the Boston Minutemen! In a deal that shocked many, the Cougars traded former Forester SP Max Wilder (36) to Boston for a couple of minor league players including the #60 overall prospect SP Karl Wallace. Boston who is hoping to give the New York Gothams a run for their money is looking to add a veteran presence to their effort. Wilder who is still pitching well despite his advancing years has gone 4-5 this season with a 4.14 ERA. Whether time is catching up to him or it is just the malaise that the Cougars are in, he hasn't been as sharp as he was last season when he went 15-10 with a 2.70 ERA. Still he is a player that most of his peers look up to and is a guy that is very popular with fans. His career record is 150-123 with a 3.55 ERA. Boston sent a pair of young SP to Chicago in return and the price has to be 20-year-old prospect Karl Wallace who was 1-2 4.70 in Class B. Wallace is the type of pitcher that Chicago likes to go after as he throws 4 solid pitches and his fastball is now up to 92-94 mph. The other pitcher included in the deal is Johnny Cox (23) who is a RHP with 4 pitches. He doesn't throw it quite as fast topping out at around 89 but he has pitched well since coming out of college as an 11th round pick in the 1932 draft. The move from Chicago is curious as they have been thought to be a serious contender but have struggled to just get to 500 so far this season. Unless there are some other moves coming (which there are) they might be throwing up the white flag on the 34 season. Trade #3 Boston Strikes again for a SP getting Stedman from the Stars In another move to stregthen their starting rotation, the Boston Minutemen traded 2 prospects #151 SS Joe Angevine (18) and SP Earle Killebrew (21) #191 to New York for SP Charlie Stedman (32). The 32-year-old Stedman is a 7+ year FABL veteran LHSP with a career record of 113-92 3.54 in almost 1950 IP's. Stedman was originally a 1st round pick in 1923 of the Chicago Chiefs in 1923 and was traded to the Montreal Saints in 1925 along with C Ed Pinkham. In 1929 Stedman won the CA Allen Award as the top pitcher in the circuit when he went 21-10 with a 2.99 ERA. Later he was traded by the Saints in July 1931 to the New York Stars for SP Earle Whitten, 3B Ed Smith and CF Bob Worley (all who currently play in Montreal for the big league club). Stedman was 4-4 so far this season for the 500 Stars and he is an extreme groundball pitcher. The Stars get the pair of prospects. Angevine was draft out of Portland HS this last draft in the 2nd round (#18 overall) and was hitting 229 at Class C. The youngster has a strong arm and impressive speed and loves to swing a bat. Earle Killebrew was at Class for his 3rd season after being a 5th round pick in the 1930 draft. He was 3rd in the GSL Reliever of the year voting in 1932. He projects as a RHSP with 4 pitches and was 7-4 with a 3.15 ERA at the time of the trade. Trade #4 SP Milt Fritz (24) packs his bags again! Montreal traded SP Milt Fritz who is still just 24 years of age to the New York Gotham's for a trio of prospects. Fritz who Montreal acquired just last July will be going to his 4th team since being draft in the 12th round out of Omaha HS by the Chicago Chiefs. He made his Major League debut as just a 19 year old in 1929 and went an impressive 18-8 with a league leading 3.22 ERA. He followed up that rookie season with another fine season going 16-9 with a 3.63 ERA in 1930. During the off-season he was surprisingly traded by the Chiefs (along with a 9th and 10th round pick)to the Brooklyn Kings for a 1st round pick, P Dave Rankin, C Tom Aiello 1B Ron Rattigan, SP Rod Barney, and RP Taylor Hamilton. He went 39-27 in his first 2 seasons in Brooklyn but struggled badly (along with the rest of the Kings in the 33 season) and was dealt again. In his career he is 93-64 with a 3.43 ERA and will likely get his 100th career win before the age of 25. The Gotham's have a loaded rotation with Jim Londaro, Rabbit Day and Harlin Bates already but it just got better. The trio of prospects heading to Montreal include #29 overall prospect C Heinie Zimmer (19) who was hitting 303 in class C. Zimmer was a 2nd round pick (#17 overall by New York) in 1932 and scouts like his makeup. He projects to be sure-handed and reliable behind the plate he should be an excellent hitter. Zimmer has great potential to be a future starter behind the dish. 3B Gary Carmichael (20) is the 96th rated FABL prospect and was drafted in the 4th round of the loaded 1932 draft. He started the 34 season in Class B and hit 388 earning a promotion to class A prior to the trade and was hitting 296. He is a good defender and has a top flight contact potential that should translate into a very good 3B. Finally LHSP Billy Stall (20) who was at AA at the time of the trade and is the #129th overall FABL prospect is coming to Montreal. Stall throws 4 pitches and has strong control which should limit the free passes. His velocity has been steadily improving and is up to 92-94. Trade #5 Montreal continues to search for hitting landing OF Bobby Sprague from the Cougars. 27-year-old OF Bobby Sprague comes to the Saints who send SS Woody Armstrong (29) and #122 SP Joe Foote to Chicago. Sprague is a solid 300 hitter with a 350 or so OBP and is a player who is always hustling on the field. While not possessing a lot of power he can hit doubles at a good clip and has good speed. He is an elite contact hitter and a plus runner who could steal 25 bases a season. He has played all 3 OF spots and is very good in LF and CF defensively. Woody Armstrong was once a Forester 1st round pick in 1926 (16th overall). He was sent to Montreal in June of 1927 long with C Frank Haab for SP Wayne Robinson (who the Forester's GM foolishly traded away later, but that is another story). Armstrong is capable at both SS and 2B and while not a superstar is a capable hitter who has on occasion shown so pop in his bat hitting 10-15 homers. SP Joe Foote (19) was a 6th round pick in 1932 who has 3 pitches and has seen his pitch velocity (something the Cougars love) go up rapidly the last several years up to 92-94. He should generate a high number of ground balls and his command should help him keep the ball in the park. Trades #6 and #7 (software rules) Just when you think Chicago has thrown in the Towel.... The Cougars acquire one of the best hitters in the history of the FABL in grabbing 3B Joe Masters from their crosstown rival Chicago Chiefs. Also coming to the Cougars from the Chiefs is Dave Rankin. Heading to the Chiefs are a bushel of prospects and VP SP Jim Crawford (28). Masters (35) is the headliner of this whole deal. He is a career 336 hitter who has hit 247 home runs which is 4th on the career list behind Max Morris (653), Rankin Kellogg (347) and the retired Hal Eason (269). This season for the Chiefs he was having another outstanding campaign as he was hitting 349/420/974 with 11 home runs and 61 RBI's. How he fits in with the Cougars and long time 3B John Kincaid will still be seen. Dave Rankin (28) is a SP who hasn't had a ton of success in the big leagues, but has been on the Chiefs who have not been in many pennant races the last few years. He was 5-9 this season with a 4.19 ERA and is 24-47 with a 4.94 ERA. Rankin on a better team might be able to turn things around as he is viewed by scouts to be a polished 4-pitch SP with the stamina to go deep into games. His acquisition will hopefully help offset the loss of Crawford going to the Chiefs. Speaking of Jim Crawford (28) who was picked up in an indy league trade in 1930 with AAA Sacramento. He burst onto the scene with the 1931 Cougars going 18-11 with a 3.15 ERA and had a 59-38 3.98 overall mark with the Cougars. I think the Cougars are really going to miss this guy, but they have a lot of arms in their system to make up for it if they pan out. The Prospects trade by the Cougars to the Chiefs SP Bill Ross #84 (21) (A 5-3 4.46) SP Walker Pierce #81 (19) (C 0-1 3.00) LF Ed Reyes #80 (21) (AA 423/471/559) 2B Red Moore #113 (22) (AA 295/338/386) CF Ernie Carson (20) #87 (B 316/350) (out with a fractured ankle 3-4 months) RF Joe Joseph (20) #214 2B Elmer Hutchins (23) (AAA 323/366/434) The Cougars gave up a lot of young talent for one of the best hitters in league history. Will this move provide the jolt the Cougars need for the 1934 season 2nd half? The reviews on the deal are mixed but prospects don't always pan out, so who knows. There are rumors of more deals that are being worked on and with the All-Star break coming up next week you can expect a couple of more deals (that's called foreshadowing) that will likely take place. Will the Cleveland Forester's be in the mix for anyone, or will GM DD Martin just continue to talk? The Foresters are stated that they are "all in". We shall see if that is true.

12-21-2020, 12:09 AM	#139
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	NEW FABL PRESIDENT IS NAMED The Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues have a new President. With the office vacant for several weeks following the death of longtime President Robert Owings, rumors had been swirling that 61-year-old Rufus Barrell, Director of the Omni Scouting Bureau and father of several current FABL players would be hired to replace his long-time friend. But Barrell himself refused to comment on the issue and it remains unknown whether he was actually considered for the position. 40-year-old Samuel Belton, a native of Albany, NY has been named FABL's third President. Belton had a brief, one-year career as a professional baseball player before attending Grafton University and then Henry Hudson Law School. Belton practiced law in New York City for five years before becoming a judge. He was appointed as a U.S. Circuit Court judge in 1929 after earning a reputation as a tough, but fair adjudicator. Speaking on behalf of the FABL owners, Pittsburgh Miners owner Daniel X. Fitzpatrick called Belton "the right man for the job." The owners search committee that ultimately hired Belton was composed of Fitzpatrick, Boston Minutemen owner Jesse Barton and New York Stars owner Al Mielke. Rumor has it that in Cleveland the ownership preferred the alternative for President in Rufus Barrell. Cleveland has run some interesting dealings with their stadium and Elmer Marshall felt that Barrell might have been more favorable to them than Belton might be. Its a closely guarded secret that the Foresters ownership ran a speakeasy at the stadium in the baseball during the prohibition era as Marshall's father passed away. The thought inside the Forester organization feels that Belton's judge background might not look upon the organization too fondly for blatantly breaking those rules. Of course the talk of the alleged speakeasy is just heresy as there appear to be no hard facts to back up the allegation.

12-21-2020, 04:48 PM	#140
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	The First Week in July All-Star Game Next Week We are at home this week for 2 more games against Toronto (who beat us on Sunday) then have another big series against the Chicago Cougars. I don't want to sleep on Toronto on these 2 games so while we are lining up our rotation for the Chicago series, we will send out Walter Murphy and Eddie Quinn for these games to give us the best chance to get July off to a good start. Our June record was only 14-14 overall and we are likely lucky to be just a game back of Brooklyn. Most of that was without our starting C TR Goins who while having missed a month has given us a great 2.7 WAR in about 1/3 of the season. Pitching Matchups of the last 2 games Toronto @ Cleveland Birdie Smith 5-8 vs Walter Murphy 8-2 2.81 Chuck Cole 4-7 5.40 vs Eddie Quinn 8-6 3.35 Game #70 - Toronto Wolves 3 vs Cleveland Foresters 7 Cleveland third baseman Jake Moore helped his team beat the Toronto Wolves, 7-3. Moore, who finished 5th in the CA in doubles with 44 in 1931, went 2 for 2 for the Foresters. Cleveland now has a record of 45-25 with the win. George Dawson dealt the Wolves a blow in the bottom of the sixth. Batting with the bases loaded and Cleveland leading 4-3, Dawson, who is tied for 4th in the CA in stolen bases with 11, hit a 0-2 fastball for a 2-run single. WP - Walter Murphy 9-2 2.75 (9IP 7H 3R 2ER 5BB 5K) LP - Birdie Smith 5-9 4.71 (8IP 9H 7R 6ER 4BB 1K) HR - None Notable - Leon Drake 2-4 2DB 2R RBI, Jake Moore 2-2 DB 2BB 2R RBI, Walter Murphy 1-3 DB BB 2RBI Game #71 - Toronto Wolves 4 vs Cleveland Foresters 5 The Cleveland Foresters defeated the Toronto Wolves, 5-4, at Forester Stadium. Cleveland first baseman Max Morris had a superb performance. He was 2-3 with a home run and a walk, while scoring 2 runs. With the win, Cleveland raised its record to 46-25. Cleveland took a 5-4 lead on Moxie Pidgeon's 14th home run of the season. The 2-run home run came off Toronto pitcher Chuck Cole in the bottom of the eighth. WP - Eddie Quinn 9-6 3.39 (9IP 9H 4R 4ER 2BB 4K) LP - Chuck Cole 4-8 5.42 (8IP 9H 5R 5ER 4BB 2K) HR - (Cl) Max Morris 13th, Moxie Pidgeon 14th, (Tor) Bill Eastep 6th Notable - Max Morris 2-3 HR BB 2R RBI, Moxie Pidgeon 1-1 HR R 2RBI, Jack Cornelison 1-2 DB 2BB Summary - The team took care of business and won a game Tuesday that was similar to a game we lost on Sunday. 4 runs in the 8th to steal a big game. The victory put us in a flat footed tie with Brooklyn atop the Association standings. Now we have Chicago coming to town. Even though the Cougars are down so far this season they are one of the more scary teams in the league. They combine a powerful rotation with a lot of good power hitters and guys that know how to get on base. Even though they are just 35-37 coming into this game, DO NOT COUNT OUT THE COUGARS!....EVER!!!! Chicago Cougars 35-37 (6th place) vs Cleveland Foresters 46-25 (T-1st) 3-Game Series July 3rd-5th 1934 Season Series - Cleveland leads 7-2 The Cougars come to town and they are armed with some new players. 3B Joe Masters has come over from the cross-town rival Chicago Chiefs and so has SP Dan Rankin. We will likely see plenty of them both as Masters will likely move into the starting lineup and Rankin is scheduled to pitch game 2 of this series on the 4th of July. The Cougars have recently moved past us in run scoring and are now 2nd in the CA with 399 for 5.54 rpg. Most of that was accomplished without Joe Masters in their lineup (only 2 games as a Cougar). All-Star C Mike Taylor and LF Doc Love also bring a lot of hitting prowess to their lineup. The pitching which has been a strong suit for the Cougars over the years has not been as sharp this season. The Cougars have given up 343 (4.76 rpg) which is 5th in the CA but their run differential is +56. You would figure with that kind of positive run differential that this team would be about 8 wins better than their current record shows. SP Tommy Wilcox (27) is one of the best pitchers in baseball is 7-9 with 3.14 ERA. He will pitch in game 1 of the series for Chicago. Rankin will make his debut for the Cougars in game 2 of the series. Famous Forester killer Dick Luedtke will pitch the final game of the series for Chicago. Pitching Matchups - Chicago Cougars vs Cleveland Foresters Tommy Wilcox 7-9 3.14 vs Dean Astle 10-3 3.38 Dave Rankin 5-7 4.15 (with Chiefs) vs Roger Perry 8-5 2.53 Dick Luedtke 7-8 5.38 vs Heinie Bretz 0-0 4.50 Game #72 - Chicago Cougars 1 vs Cleveland Foresters 2 (14) Cleveland picked up a win at Forester Stadium, bumping off the Chicago Cougars, 2-1. Pitcher Dean Astle was a major reason the Foresters emerged victorious. Cleveland raised its record to 47-25 with the win. The game came to an abrupt end with no one out in the bottom of the 14th. On a pitch from Tommy Wilcox, Moxie Pidgeon hit a sacrifice fly. It gave Cleveland the 2-1 win. This was one of the best pitcher duels that we have seen in a long, long time. Forester ace Dean Astle pitched into the 12th inning when he was relieved. Chicago ace Tommy Wilcox went the distance throwing a mind boggling 194 pitchers in one of the biggest iron man performances in modern FABL history. One can only hope for Cougar fans that the outing doesn't have a negative future impact (more foreshadowing there). Cleveland SS George Dawson was injured in a play at 2B. He will likely be out for a week to 10 days. WP - Bert Henggeler 4-1 3.22 LP - Tommy Wilcox 7-10 2.97 (13.1IP 8H 2R 2ER 3BB 4K 194 pitches) HR - None Notable - Dean Astle 11.2IP 7H 1R 0ER 1BB 2K 148 pitches, Game #73 - Chicago Cougars 1 vs Cleveland Foresters 6 Happy Independence Day from Cleveland, Ohio as the Foresters celebrated America's 158th birthday in style. Cleveland turned a good effort from starter Roger Perry into a win over the Chicago Cougars at Forester Stadium. The final score was 6-1. With the win, the Foresters have a record of 48-25. Perry delivered a quality start for Cleveland. The 6' 1" left-hander allowed 1 earned run on 7 hits over 9 innings of work. WP - Roger Perry 9-5 2.41 (9IP 7H 1R 1ER 0BB 6K) LP - Dave Rankin 0-1 6.75 (8IP 10H 6R 6ER 1BB 2K) HR - TR Goins 7th Notable - TR Goins 2-4 HR 2R RBI, Roger Perry 2-4 DB, 2RBI Game #74 - Chicago Cougars 2 vs Cleveland Foresters 3 The fading Chicago Cougars lost their 6th straight game, while the Foresters won their 5th straight to start the month of July. Cleveland Foresters starter Heinie Bretz turned in an exceptional performance against the Chicago Cougars at Forester Stadium, resulting in a Cleveland win, 3-2. The Cougars, at 35-40, have lost 6 straight games. The game came to a dramatic end. In the bottom of the ninth, with Cleveland trailing 2-1, Leon Drake hit a cutter from Dick Luedtke for a 2-run home run, giving the Foresters the walk-off win. WP - Frank Phillips 4-4 4.33 LP - Dick Luedtke 7-9 5.24 (8.1IP 6H 3R 3ER 3BB 2K) HR - Leon Drake 10th Notable - Leon Drake 1-4 HR 2RBI R (GW) Summary - Well that was sure a great way to win a series. Drake has been a real emerging star. It is hard to believe that a GM in the league when we were shopping for a 3B stated that "Drake doesn't do it for me.". Well he does it for me and I am likely not going to shop him again, not for anybody. The game story read that Heinie Bretz game today was "exceptional". I am not quite sure that is the word I would use to describe an 8 walk effort. He allowed 13 base runners in his 8 innings and some how only gave up 2 runs. He hasn't impressed me so far in his brief (3 start) return. I will keep him up through the All-Star week next week and then make a decision on him. Not sure he will get another start or not as I will likely not send him out against the Kings next week during that 4 game series. We have an unique double header tomorrow at home against the Phildelphia Stars. They will be in town just for the one day. July 6th Double-Header Philadelphia Sailors 37-38 (5th Place) vs Cleveland Foresters 49-25 (1st place 2 game lead) Season Series - Sailors lead 7-5 Pitching Matchups - Philadelphia Sailors vs Cleveland Foresters Game 1 - Oscar Morse 9-4 4.22 vs Walter Murphy 9-2 2.75 Game 2 - George Johnson 7-6 4.32 vs Eddie Quinn 9-6 3.39 Game #75 - Philadelphia Sailors 7 vs Cleveland Foresters 13 The timely hitting of Ralph Joiner helped the Cleveland Foresters down the Philadelphia Sailors, 13-7. Joiner was 4 for 5 with a home run and 3 singles, while scoring 2 runs and driving in 6 for the Foresters. Bert Henggeler was credited with the save. He has now successfully converted 2 of 3 save opportunities. Cleveland improves to 50-25 with the win. They lead their division by 2 games. Doing his part for Cleveland was pitcher Walter Murphy, who stroked a 2-run double in the bottom of the fourth. For the game, Murphy threw 6 innings allowing 7 runs. WP - Walter Murphy 10-2 2.82 (6.1IP 10H 7R 3ER 1BB 4K) LP - Oscar Morse 5-9 4.50 (5IP 8H 7R 6ER 6BB 0K) HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 11th, Ralph Joiner 2nd Notable - Ralph Joiner 4-5 HR 2R 6RBI, Leon Drake 2-3 DB, HR 2R 3RBI 2BB, Jim Kyle 305 TP, 3R 1RBI, Walter Murphy 1-2 DB 2 RBI R Game #76 - Philadelphia Sailors 4 vs Cleveland Foresters 10 Foresters win 7th Straight T.R. Goins was a major factor in the 10-4 Cleveland win over Philadelphia. The Foresters catcher went 3 for 4 with a double, 2 singles, and a walk, while scoring 2 runs and driving in 2. The Foresters have now won 7 straight. Dan Fowler swatted a 2-run home run for Cleveland in the bottom of the fourth. The center fielder went 2 for 5 for the game, including 1 home run and 1 double. He scored 2 runs and batted in 2. WP - Eddie Quinn 10-6 3.38 (8.2IP 7H 4R 3ER 1BB 2K) LP - George Johnson 7-7 4.82 (4.1IP 10H 8R 8ER 2BB 5K) HR - (Cl) Dan Fowler 12th, Jake Moore 4th Notable - Dan Fowler 2-5 DB, HR 2R 2RBI, Ralph Joiner 3-5 DB 1R, TR Goins 3-4 DB 2R 2RBI BB, Leon Drake 2-5 R 2RBI Summary - So we have struggled with the Sailors this year as going into this series they were the only team with a winning record against us. The two wins now tie the season series at 7-7. We survived the 2nd game even though we committed 5 errors in the game. Dawson replacement at SS Pat Schuring made 3 of those errors. July 7th-9th (reporting on only July 7th and 8th as the 9th is the next sim) Cleveland Foresters 51-25 @ Toronto Wolves 33-44 Season Series - Cleveland leads 6-3 Pitching Matchups - Cleveland vs Toronto Dean Astle 10-3 3.08 vs Chuck Cole 4-8 5.42 Roger Perry 9-5 2.41 vs Otis Cook 1-8 4.95 TBD vs Bernie Johnson 10-6 4.10 Game #77 - Cleveland Foresters 7 @ Toronto Wolves 6 (10) Despite a great performance by Toronto right fielder Al Nance, the Cleveland Foresters defeated the Wolves by the score of 7-6 at Dominion Stadium. Nance went 2 for 4 with a home run. He scored 2 times and drove in 4. Bert Henggeler was credited with the save. He has now successfully converted 3 of 4 save opportunities. With the win, Cleveland raised its record to 52-25. Cleveland needed the clutch hitting of Leon Drake to notch the win. The left fielder hammered a solo home run in the top of the tenth inning to put the Foresters on top, 7-6. For the game, Drake had 1 home run and 1 single in 5 at-bats. WP - Frank Phillips 5-4 4.45 LP - Chuck Cole 4-9 5.43 (9.2IP 12H 7R 6ER 3BB 4K) S - Bert Henggeler 3rd 2.77 HR - (Cl) Leon Drake 12th (Tor) Al Nance 3rd Notable - Ralph Joiner 1-5 DB 3RBI, Leon Drake 2-5 HR, 2R RBI Game #78 - Cleveland Foresters 8 @ Toronto Wolves 2 The Cleveland Foresters stopped the Toronto Wolves, 8-2, at Dominion Stadium. The Foresters got a big game from T.R. Goins, who was 3-4 with 2 doubles and a walk. He scored 2 times. Cleveland improves to 53-25 with the win. They lead their division by 3½ games. Who knows how it might've ended, had it not been for Pat Schuring? The Cleveland shortstop had a 2-run single in the top of the sixth inning to put the Foresters on top, 4-0. For the game, Schuring had 1 double and 1 single in 5 at-bats. WP - Roger Perry 10-5 2.40 (8.1IP 8H 2R 2ER 4BB 3K) LP - Otis Cook 1-9 4.95 (7IP, 8H 4R 4ER 2BB 2K) HR - None Notable - TR Goins 3-4 2DB 2R RBI, BB Pat Schuring 2-5 DB 3RBI Summary - A great close to an unbeaten week as we start out the month 9-0. The All-Star is next week and voting will be disclosed later today (separate post). Next week we will have a game here in Toronto on Monday, then the All-Star game will be on Tuesday. We will have an off-day then will start a 4-game series against Brooklyn on Thursday. It is a strange set up as we will play 2 games (Thursday-Friday) then have an off-day in the middle on Saturday and then will play Sunday and Monday. With a 3 game lead heading into that series those will be some important games. SS George Dawson will miss the entire Brooklyn series but should be able to come back from his foot injury on the Tuesday after that. We will continue to play a man down and have Brook Meeks backup Shuring at SS. Attached Images