[j.tom]

Arup Manushi is a really nice guy who...
- Isn't greedy
- Doesn't want to ruin the Brewers chances of getting back to the Major League by taking up their entire T-II payroll
- Really loves playing in Milwaukee.
- Feels some sort of responsibility for the team's relegation as its star player.

These are the kinds of players we love as fans. Not "love to watch," but the guys who we actually buy the ticket to see. Arup Manushi has stuck with his team through thick and thin, led them to a World Series title, won every award available for him to win, and when he had his boot on their neck, with every reason to collect his checks while the team fell down through the tiers, he not only lifted up his foot, but offered a helping hand.

Frankly, it sucks to see guys like this lose out. Not that Arup is struggling here, he does still have multiple commas on his net worth. However, if you're someone who cares about more than commas, and he's given me no reason to believe he isn't, the next couple decades of watching your name slide down the record books, until they don't waste the ink on it anymore, as the fanbase you love slowly forgets that it loves you back, it stings.



There is still room for Arup Manushi's legend in Milwaukee to grow, even if it isn't what we may have pictured...



I've watched a ton, three centuries worth, of baseball in this pro-rel system (in an alternate universe destroyed by an evil hard drive), one common trend: Teams relegated to the Union League usually have one year to make their way back to the Major League. After that, their (extremely) expensive players decline quicker, they can't sign better players because of their expensive players, and typically end up shipping off said players with heavy retention as they slide down the tiers. The Brewers window to avoid irrelevance for years or even decades is right now. Of the 10 most important games Arup has ever played, 7 were in the 2052 World Series. These next 3, will be the others.

On August 3rd, 2059, after 98 of 100 games in the Union League, Manushi's Brewers are one of four teams fighting for two promotion spots. They get help in the form of San Antonio Bullets and Arkansas Travelers losses, and none at all from the Norfolk Royals, who fall to the San Jose Hawks. Tied for second, one game back of San Antonio and one ahead of Arkansas, the Brewers look dead and buried by the Pittsburgh Pirates before the bats of SS Roman Holub, CF Tim Flaherty, and 3B Mike Staley come alive, and turn a 7-1 deficit into a 8-7 walk-off win. Arup Manushi goes 1-3, R, BB, 2 K.



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On August 4th, 2059, the San Antonio Bullets clinch promotion with a 3-1 win over Newark, and Arkansas falls out of contention after being shut out by the Boise Cutthroats, leaving Milwaukee and San Jose to fight for the second promotion spot. The Brewers get another nail-biting win over Pittsburgh, and they catch a break as the Hawks lose to Norfolk on a walk-off error. Arup Manushi goes 0-3, 1 K in the Brewers win.

With one game left, the Brewers control their own destiny. Win, and they return to the Major League.


August 5th, 2059


Richard Gonzalez was another player who decided to stick it out with this year's Brewers. He had $10,000,000 reasons to do so, but in a rotation that returned only two starting pitchers from last year (Juan Avila), the Brewers don't mind the help, even if they can barely afford it.

Gonzalez gets the ball in game #100, pitching a clean top of the 1st inning before the Brewers blow runners on the corners in the bottom half:



Pittsburgh is dealt the same hand in the top of the 2nd, and capitalizes.



Arup Manushi gets the best seat in the house to watch his own at-bat leading off the bottom of the 2nd:



And in the bottom of the 3rd inning, with everything hanging in the balance for the Brewers, it happens. The moment Arup Manushi envisioned when he decided to return to Milwaukee and bring them back from the dead.



*Dramatic music plays*
*Fireworks shoot off*

...


...

Oh! My bad, didn't mean to crop the screenshot that much. Here:



The Brewers give their ace everything he needs to cruise through the heart of the game, he retires the next six batters in order, before running into trouble, ending his night allowing only the one run over 6+ innings.



*Phone rings*



"Hey coach, who do ya want?"

"Give me Hernandez."

"Who? Hernandez? Do we have a Hernandez?"



The decision by Brewers manager Adhamhnan Muljana to have rookie reliever Oscar Hernandez, signed 16 days ago, make his professional debut in this situation is... certainly a surprising one. Let's see how it goes.



Hernandez puts out the fire Gonzalez started in the 7th inning, then locks down the 8th.




Manager Muljana triples down on Hernandez, keeping him in to close out the game. Even as he gives up two homers, the skipper keeps the faith, and the rookie finishes things off...




The Milwaukee Brewers make promotion by the skin of their teeth, ending the season just two games ahead of the San Jose Hawks. Their younger stars showed up when it counted in the final weeks of the season, going 10-4 down the stretch. In a season that came down to the wire, they needed contributions from every single player.

Every single one.




If you look at baseball as big data, that its all numbers in a spreadsheet, then Arup Manushi's 2059 season has nothing for you. Even with the simple approach of "WAR = wins" Manushi's 0.5 didn't give the Brewers the 2 wins they needed to get over the hump. If you're a finances guy, the only value you'd find in having him is selling jerseys (notice Manushi switched to #4 this year).



Big picture, Arup Manushi sacrificed millions of dollars to put up mediocre statistics against mediocre opponents. But, no stat could tell you the true impact of a player like this, someone who sticks around with a team at its lowest, taking less when they have ample opportunity to take more, hoping to revive a baseball fanbase he loves.

I believe this is a game that's prepared for best by numbers, and remembered best by moments. If we only look at the data, we never look closer, and we miss a couple moments that make all the difference...