[Brad K]

Presentation by the owner and GM to the front office staff and team manager on October 27, two weeks after the end of the World Series.

(Team owner Sean Walsh speaking, joining meeting in progress)


... bigger than winning the Series and having great attendance and having clear channel KDKA broadcast our games. We beat the most disliked team in baseball. It was so exciting for people that those without televisions stood on the sidewalks outside the local RCA and Magnavox dealers and watched the games on the TVs in the display windows.

Don't underestimate the dislike of the Yankees. Remember the book and the Broadway play with over a thousand performances and the film "Damn Yankees" where the Yankees didn't win the American League pennant. And a great touch was where it was revealed at the end that the Yankees greatest fan is Satan!

They loved us for beating the Yankees. Now we want fans nation wide to love us for us. We want to become America's team.

It won't be easy but we must seize the opporunity. Now here's Joe to explain the details.


(GM Joe Brown speaking)

1960 was a great year for us and we want to repeat it. As Mr. Walsh explained, various circumstances have coincided and we have a chance to become America's Team. A best case would be us winning again in 61. But we have our work cut out for us.

Amid the victory celebrations its easy to forget many of our key players are 30 years old or older, having reached their peaks and perhaps already on the downhill side. While we can hope, we can't expect them all to perform as they did this year.

We must begin rebuilding the team with younger players while staying in contention. We need to trade for some experienced players who are approaching their peak rather than leaving it. To get these players will will have to package some prospects with our veterans to trade them. It's a balancing act.

In addition to providing a good team on the field we need to increase awareness of us. We plan advertising in distant areas letting people know they can listen to Pirates night games on KDKA even though hundreds of miles away. And we're going to offer weekend bus trip packages for people in distant areas to attend games.

Mr. Walsh is willing to spend money to expand our market and also provide money for us to keep the team in contention. Let everyone do his best to let us achieve our goal in the unprecedented opportunity to become America's Team.

(Meeting ends.)



Analysis

This job is a mountain. The real life 61 Pirates fell to 75-79 and the combined 1961 - 1964 record was 322-317, hardly the record expected for America's Team. Can an an OOTP simulation of the historical starting point turn out better than reality? Or will Joe Brown by the mid 60s create a dismal team with losing record, overpaid veterans, and no fans?