Lookouts Below! A Minor League Major Mess

[tenthreeleader]

I notice there are a few brave souls here who post narrative fiction to describe their experiences. That's my specialty, so I hope you will indulge me as I relate my first OOTP19 experience - starting unemployed, using Challenge Mode and hoping to wind up in the show. But first, I have to overcome the wild and woolly world of the Southern League ...
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Above all, he hated snow.


There was no reason for it, at least in his world.


He wouldn’t complain about snow on Christmas Eve, but only if it fell in way you saw in the Norman Rockwell drawings. Those big flakes that sort of floated to the ground and then stuck there for a night before melting as soon as Santa was gone.


Real life wasn’t that way, of course, but to Rob Randall, it sure would have been nice.


You can’t play baseball in the snow, at least not well, and that was one reason he hated the stuff.


But at this stage of his life, playing was a mere afterthought.


His career had been nondescript. It seemed like that was the case with the best minds in the game, and it was even the case with him. A tall, rangy firstbaseman with gap power and an above-average glove, he didn’t last long in the show.


Problem was that there were a lot of guys who were tall, rangy firstbasemen with above-average gloves, but they could put the ball over the fence more than twice a month and as a result, he found himself squeezed out of the big time after spending enough time to get into the pension plan.


That was a good thing, since he never got the big contract that everyone else seems to get these days.


He was set, though, because even the minimum salary for a big leaguer is not that bad, and he was nowhere near that level – but he wanted to work, and stay around the game he loved.


Which brought him back to the stupid snow.


He sat in his easy chair in St. Paul, Minnesota, watching a hockey game. While it snowed.


His role as a roving instructor in the Twins’ minor league system was nice for its part, but he missed being out there with the guys. He missed being part of something.


He missed his kids, too, but that witch Liza had taken care of that for him. Whatever she had done to the judge underneath his bench, it better have been good because the result of his divorce proceedings seemed to hurt Rob a lot more than it hurt either of them.


Which figured. And it wouldn’t quit snowing.


# # #

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[tenthreeleader]

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___

The old phrase goess that “a new broom sweeps clean.” That was certainly the case as the 2017 off-season crawled along.

Minnesota Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine - or, “Falvine” as they are almost universally known to fans and media alike — came with a pretty good pedigree. They had had leadership positions in Cleveland and Texas respectively, and fans were more than ready to see them build the Twins into a winner.

Falvey was just 33 when hired -- and was senior to the 45-year old Levine -- but both were vice presidents or higher in owner Jim Pohlad's organization. A youth movement, yes.

But the fans hardly cared. They just wanted to win. After LeBron James finally got the Cleveland Cavaliers over the hump to an NBA championship, Minneapolis-St. Paul became the market with the longest championship drought in any of the four major American sports. The last Minnesota champion was the Twins, in 1991, at the old Thunderdome against the Atlanta Braves.

Before that. you’d have to go back to the 1969 Vikings, who won the last NFL championship before the merger with the AFL despite losing Super Bowl IV. Since then they’ve been the Boston Red Sox of football, except unlike the Red Sox, they’ve never won anything.

Before that, you’d have to go back to the Minneapolis Lakers of the 1950s, who won the NBA championship when the “key” area was still shaped like a key and Lakers center George Mikan was so dominant playing next to it, he made the game change its rules.

The more cynical fans in the Twin Cities refer to their home as “Loserville”. 2016-17 marked the first year ever that all four major Minnesota teams — the Twins, Vikings, Wild and Timberwolves - all played post-season games in the same calendar cycle. When the Twins are bad, wags say they can’t beat the American Association’s St. Paul Saints, who play across the Mississippi River in indy ball.

So you get the idea. Fans were down on the old management team of Terry Ryan and Ron Gardenhire after their leadership saw the Twins lose nearly 400 games in the four seasons up to 2016.

Enter Falvine. And, after a time, say goodbye to what you knew.

Sabermetricians to a fault, Falvine makes Billy Beane and Moneyball look like Nerdball by comparison. With them, it’s all about numbers.

And people, to a lesser extent. Those they liked, that is.

Hall of Fame manager Paul Molitor was on notice during 2017, and responded by winning American League Manager of the Year honors despite Falvine trading away All-Star closer Brandon Kintzler and left-handed starting pitcher Jaime Garcia before the deadline.

Molitor survived. But Doug Mientkiewicz, the ex-Twin whose claim to eternal fame was making the last World Series putout with Boston to reverse the Curse of the Bambino in 2004, did not.

The outspoken manager of the Twins’ high-A team in Fort Myers ran afoul of Falvine and was either shown the door or quit, depending on who you listen to, after the 2017 season.

So did Chattanooga Lookouts manager Jake Mauer, skipper of the defending Southern League co-champions, which saw its championship series washed out by Hurricane Irma. But the official word from the Mauer camp was that Jake, who is Joe’s older brother by four years, wanted more family time.

But Mientkiewicz had also won at Fort Myers and was the choice of many Twins fans to succeed Gardenhire at the helm of the big-league club -- the job Molitor eventually got with no managerial experience.

But Mauer and Mientkiewicz were more responsible than any others for developing the Twins’ young stars such as Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano and Jose Berrios. The lean years had produced a good pool of future talent, including shortstop Royce Lewis, who the organization selected with the first overall pick in the 2017 draft. Much of that talent had yet to reach the major leagues.

Yet, the departures of Mauer and Mientkiewicz put out the word: play ball Falvine’s way, or forget it.

That was why Rob was surprised to take a phone call from Levine in early December that wasn’t news of his firing.

“We want you to take over at Chattanooga,” he heard, and Rob thought he was delusional.

“We’ve read the reports you filed as an instructor and you see the game and these players the same way we do,” Levine went on. “We also know you’ve had good relationships with the players you’ve mentored. Will you at least think about it?”

There wasn’t a lot to think about. Rob liked hockey, and he didn’t mind watching it on television, but he’d rather have been thinking about baseball. His house was empty in terms of people if not in terms of memorabilia, and Liza had seen to that. He was wondering what he was going to do that coming summer, expecting to be let go.

He thought for a long moment, his eyebrows knitting into a furrow. He contemplated the thought of a long summer on the bus with improvised sleeping conditions that wouldn’t let him rest his 6’4” frame across two adjacent seats without a ridge hitting him in the back, and the stresses that came with life in the minor leagues.

But there was also this to consider: swimming with the sharks might make him a bigger shark and get him someplace else he wanted to return — the major leagues.

He sighed.

“If you think I’m ready to learn on the job with your top prospects, I’ll entertain the idea, but if you’re pulling my leg I’ll just ask you now not to waste your time or mine.”

“I’m a busy man, Rob,” Levine said. “I don’t have time to waste. Let’s talk in person.”

They did. Two days later, the deal was done, and Rob was packing for Chattanooga.

Of course, the rest of that old adage changes its meaning a little bit. “A new broom sweeps clean,” it began, “but an old broom knows the corners.”

Rob would have to learn the corners, on the job, with the development of many of the Twins’ best prospects hinging on how quickly he could figure them out.

[tenthreeleader]

Rob learned how it was going to be early on in spring training. He had no say in the players assigned to Chattanooga.

It stood to reason that a number of players from last season’s co-champions would be coming back, but obviously others would not. His job was to play ball with what he had been given and to keep quiet.

Nick Gordon, LaMonte Wade, Jake Cave, Wynston Sawyer and Brent Rooker were all assigned to the Lookouts and that gave Rob plenty of reason to smile. That was a solid start.

Gordon, a shortstop who was trying not to be overshadowed by the considerable presence of Royce Lewis a level beneath him, nearly made the parent club out of spring training, being one of the final cuts. But the brain trust decided he needed more seasoning and so the player who had started 122 games for the Lookouts the season before was back for more.

Wade was a good-hit, so-so-field prospect who played center field, a spot positively locked up by Byron Buxton at the big league level for the foreseeable future. But the kid could rake and he would be counted upon.

Cave was one to watch. Nabbed from the Yankees in a trade for Dominican righthander Luis Gil, he had spent the last two seasons bouncing between the Bombers’ AA team in Trenton and their AAA team in Scranton, hitting 20 home runs in 2017 in the process.

Sawyer had made it a bad day for incumbent catcher Brian Navarreto when he was grabbed out of the Dodgers’ system. A 6’3” catcher who could hit was an interesting idea, and though Navaretto was far superior defensively, he would have to move down the bench on most days to make way for the other fellow.

Rooker was one of the organization’s top prospects. At 6’3” and 215 pounds, he reminded Rob of himself, only an inch shorter. The words once used to describe former Miracle Met Donn Clendenon also applied to Rooker – he could strike out with flair or drive a baseball out of sight.

On the mound, Ferrnando Romero, Cody Stashak, Mason Melotakis, John Curtiss and Tyler Jay were expected to shine.

Romero was supposedly on the fast track to the big leagues. A three-pitch pitcher with an above-average fastball, he could confound hitters by dropping his arm angle and throwing sidearm, which could make righties screw themselves into the ground swinging at his curve ball.

Stashak was an interesting candidate. Clearly a starting pitcher candidate, he had started 16 games at Fort Myers in 2016 and compiled a 3.89 ERA with a 1.8 WAR in only 83 innings of work. Continued progression would surely get him noticed.

Melotakis is the kind of pitcher everyone wants but never seems to be able to develop. A 6’2” lefthander who tops out at 96 on the gun, when his fastball is on he can’t be touched at this level. However, his only other pitch is a curve, which means hitters can sit on one of them if they get ahead in the count. He’d be a project, and a candidate for either a changeup or a second breaking pitch.

Curtiss was very popular in Chattanooga, having pitched in 21 games, saving 13, for the team last season before earning six saves in 18 games at Rochester and earning a callup to Minnesota, where he found out that pitching to major league hitters is hard. Only 25, time is still on his side.

Jay had been the fellow pegged to be the closer out of spring training. Not as fast as Melotakis, he had a changeup and two breaking pitches, making him harder to hit. Amazingly, he earned two promotions – from rookie ball to high-A to AA – while only working 11 2/3 innings all season.

There were others, of course – but they will be introduced in due time. For now, though, the Lookouts had a season to start.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

Series 1 – Birmingham Barons at Chattanooga Lookouts (5 games)
Game 1 – April 5
This was the way every team should start the season. The Lookouts were all over the Barons on opening night, behind the six-hit pitching of Romero. The righthander fanned eight and walked only one while watching his teammates score in six of their eight at-bats. Sawyer was the star of the day, homering, singling, walking twice, scoring three times and driving in three to support Romero. Cave and thirdbaseman Chris Paul also did yard work, as the Lookouts knocked Barons ace Michael Kopech out of the game in the fifth inning. Paul had three hits in three trips, three RBI, a walk and a run scored and didn’t even earn player of the game honors.
Lookouts 10, Barons 0

Opening Day lineup – Chattanooga Lookouts
Nick Gordon, SS
Edgar Corcino, RF
LaMonte Wade, CF
Jake Cave, LF
Brent Rooker, 1B
Wynston Sawyer, C
Zander Wiel, DH
Ryan Walker, 2B
Chris Paul, 3B
Fernando Romero, SP

Game 2 – April 6 – Barons (0-1) at Lookouts (1-0)
This wasn’t nearly as much fun. Starting pitcher Lewis Thorpe went out of the game in the second inning with a foot injury that forced Rob into Whole Staff mode much earlier than he would have liked. Miles Jaye pitched his tail off in emergency relief, holding the Barons to one single in four innings, and Paco Rodriguez and Gabriel Moya got the game to Melotakis in the ninth – who allowed an RBI single to Bryant Flete to make it 2-0. In the bottom of the ninth, rightfielder Edgar Corcino walked, took third on Cave’s single and scored on Rooker’s base hit to right. But Sawyer couldn’t come through with the tying run at third and the game died there.
Barons 2, Lookouts 1

Game 3 – April 7 – Barons (1-1) at Lookouts (1-1)
We take it back. This wasn’t nearly as much fun. Starter Zach Littell threw three scoreless innings to start the game but left in two out in the fourth with an ankle injury after allowing four runs. Francis Chavez was the choice for long relief this time but he was even worse, equaling Littell’s feat of four earned runs allowed in only three innings. As such, the Lookouts had lost starting pitchers to injury on consecutive days, placing huge pressure on an already overworked Lookouts bullpen. Meanwhile, Barons starter Spencer Allen zipped the Lookouts on six hits, part of a forgettable day at the ballpark.
Barons 8, Lookouts 0

Game 4 – April 8 – Barons (2-1) at Lookouts (1-2)
The Lookouts desperately needed a solid start after two days of mayhem in the bullpen. It looked like Thorpe was going to miss at least one start, and Littell the same, but Cody Stashak responded with seven strong to help the Lookouts where they needed it the most. Tanner English drove in Gordon with his first home run of the season in the first inning and Stashak made it stick, allowing only a single run in the fifth and striking out nine while allowing six hits. Sawyer drove in Jake Cave in the last of the seventh with an insurance run and closer Tyler Jay nailed down a win that squared the series.
Lookouts 3, Barons 1

Game 5 – April 9 – Barons (2-2) at Lookouts (2-2)
The rubber game of the series saw Rob give the ball to righthander Ryan Eades, who was even better than Stashak had been the previous day. Eades outdueled Birmingham starter Tyler Britton for seven innings, before the Barons starter left behind 2-0, including a long solo homer by Rooker in the second and an RBI single by Wiel in the seventh. Eades left with one out in the ninth and runners at second and third when Jay entered and immediately gave up a double to Danny Mendick, tying the game at 2-2 before Jay could get out of the inning. Jay worked a scoreless tenth before giving way to Melotakis, who worked two more scoreless innings before Cave walked everyone off with his second homer of the series to lead off the home twefth.
Lookouts 3, Barons 2 (12 innings)

It was quite a way to start the season – with the Southern League championship series that never was looming large on the horizon.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

This was, to an extent, the championship series that wasn’t.

The previous fall, the North Division champion Lookouts were scheduled to meet the South Division champion Wahoos, the affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. But Hurricane Irma washed out the entire series, leading to the league declaring co-champions. Who would come out on top one summer later?

Series 2 – Chattanooga Lookouts (3-2) at Pensacola Blue Wahoos (2-3)
Game 1 – April 11
Romero got the ball for the Lookouts in the opener and impressed again, working eight terrific innings and striking out four while allowing a single run. But his mates could manage only one run over the first seven innings against Cody Reed and Carlos Navas, with Corcino’s RBI single in the third off Reed accounting for their run and tying the game at 1-1. The deadlock remained until the eighth, when Chris Paul’s two out single chased home Cave with the go-ahead run. Sawyer’s RBI single in the ninth scored Nick Gordon and gave Gabriel Moya some insurance, the lefthander getting the last three outs for his first save.
Lookouts 3, Blue Wahoos 1

Game 2 – April 12 – Lookouts (4-2) at Blue Wahoos (2-4)
Thorpe claimed he was ready to pitch in the second game, and the trainers agreed, so Rob put him out there – against his better judgment. Lesson learned, as the Australian lefty was touched up for three runs in the home second. The key play in the inning was a Gordon error which prolonged the inning, and two singles later, the Lookouts trailed 3-1. A two-run homer by Tanner English tied the game in the third and the red-hot Cave scored Gordon with a single in the fifth to put the Lookouts up 4-3. However, Shedric Long belted a two-run homer off Thorpe in the sixth to put the home team ahead to stay. Tanner Rainey finished up for Pensacola for the save.
Blue Wahoos 5, Lookouts 4

Game 3 – April 13 – Lookouts (4-3) at Blue Wahoos (3-4)
Friday the 13th proved lucky for Cody Stashak, who improved to 2-0 with another strong start. After spotting the home team a run in the first, the Lookouts responded with a Gordon RBI single in the second to score Ryan Walker, and a Corcino double to score Gordon. In the fifth, Sawyer lined a double to the alley in left center field to score Gordon, Rooker’s single to left scored Sawyer, and Walker’s single to left scored Rooker and Wade to put the Lookouts too far ahead to catch. The Wahoos scored two Miss Congeniality runs in the last of the ninth to put a better face on a bad day at the office.
Lookouts 6, Blue Wahoos 3

Game 4 – April 14 – Lookouts (5-3) at Blue Wahoos (3-5)
Yeizer Marugo got the start for the Wahoos and barely made it out of the first inning. The Lookouts jumped him for four runs in the opening frame with Gordon and Corcino singling before the red-hot Sawyer plated them all with a three-run shot to make it 3-0 before a batter had been retired. Cave followed with a solo homer, his third in eight games, for a 4-0 lead and the Lookouts never looked back. Littell wasn’t able to start in his regular turn, so Jaye (1-0) filled in on a spot start and worked six innings, allowing two runs and five hits. Sawyer had three hits and four RBI, including a double as part of a three-run sixth that had the Lookouts in the catbird seat.
Lookouts 8, Blue Wahoos 3

Game 5 – April 15 – Lookouts (6-3) at Blue Wahoos (3-6)
With the series already in the bag, Cody Eades took the mound for Chattanooga and was hit for a first inning run on Shedric Long’s double, but the Lookouts responded with a two-run moonshot homer by Rooker, his second, in the second inning. Cave scored English with a single in the third, Wiel hit a long solo home run in the fourth, and the fight came out of the Wahoos. Eades (1-0) sailed through seven innings scattering five hits, and his mates added two more in the ninth to make the bus ride home a happy one indeed – with four road wins out of five in the bag.
Lookouts 6, Blue Wahoos 1

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

Series 3 – Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (6-4) at Chattanooga Lookouts (7-3)
Game 1 – April 16
Fresh from the momentum of four wins on the road, the Lookouts returned home and laid an egg in the opener against Jacksonville. Fernando Romero (2-1) started and was victimized by a two-run triple by Isan Diaz as part of a three-run third. The Lookouts had eleven hits but had trouble with situational hitting the whole night, managing to score twice in the fifth to trim the visitors’ lead to 4-3. Diaz, though, stole the show with four hits and three runs batted in to raise his average to .364. Five different Lookouts had two hits with Corcino reaching base four times on two hits and a walk. But the Lookouts never got any closer.
Jumbo Shrimp 6, Lookouts 4

Game 2 – Jumbo Shrimp (7-4) at Lookouts (7-4)
Lewis Thorpe (1-2) was the beneficiary of the Lookouts’ biggest inning of the young season – a seven-run second inning – and Chattanooga cruised to an 8-3 win to even the series. Mirandy Gonzalez (1-2) was strafed for six hits, two walks and seven earned runs before being relieved in the second inning. Sawyer was once again immaculate, with four hits in four trips to raise his average to .410, while Cave went one for four to “drop” to .408. Rooker hit his third home run as the crowd enjoyed an easy win from start to finish.
Lookouts 8, Jumbo Shrimp 3

Game 3 – Jumbo Shrimp (7-5) at Lookouts (8-4)
The old phrase goes “don’t spend it all in one place” when you receive a bounty, and the Lookouts forgot the old adage behind tough-luck starter Cody Stashak (2-1). The Lookouts managed only four hits on the night and couldn’t do much with Zach Gallen (2-1) for Jacksonville. John Norwood hit his fourth homer of the season for the visitors, while Cave and Sawyer both dropped below .400 for the season with a combined one-for-seven performance. Struggling ninth-place hitter Chris Paul had the home team’s only run batted in on the night, as in the eternal battle of feast versus famine, this time the home team went to bed hungry.
Jumbo Shrimp 5, Lookouts 2

Game 4 – Jumbo Shrimp (8-5) at Lookouts (8-5)
Losing a lead is never fun, yet that’s what happened to the Lookouts in the fourth game of the set. Starter Nick Neidert went six innings on just 85 pitches for Jacksonville but left behind 2-0 thanks in part to Zander Wiel’s second solo home run of the campaign. Spot starter Myles Jaye (1-1) was back in relief as Zach Littell worked seven strong, allowing only two runs while striking out six. However in the eighth inning, Jaye served up a gopher ball to centerfielder Monte Harrison, who stroked the game-winning blast over the fence in right field. After winning four on the road in their prior series, the Lookouts were now guaranteed to drop their very next home series.
Jumbo Shrimp 3, Lookouts 2

Game 5 – Jumbo Shrimp (9-6) at Lookouts (8-6)
Well, so much for momentum, as the Lookouts dropped four of five to the Shrimp by falling in the final game of the series. Offensive consistency still eluded them, as nine hits resulted in only a single run with seven left on base. In fact, they outhit their visitors 9-6, but Jacksonville took advantage. Rogrido Ayarza drove in two runs with a single and bases loaded walk off Ryan Eades – who became the latest casualty on a badly depleted Chattanooga pitching staff, leaving with what was later determined to be a torn labrum after four innings of work. He isn’t expected to be ready to throw again until August, meaning that on a day full of bad news, the Lookouts were officially down to nine pitchers.
Jumbo Shrimp 4, Lookouts 1
Standings – Second place (8-7), 1GB Jackson Generals

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

The situation wasn’t ideal. In fact, it was far from it.

All the momentum from the Pensacola series had been wasted and the pitching staff was an undoubted mess. Three injuries in the first fifteen games, all to starters, had caused mayhem in the bullpen.

But that was the game. That was how it worked. You can complain about it, but if you do, they’ll find someone who will do the job without complaining.

Run, and you are through.

Of course, it could have been worse – they could have been below .500 and farther behind Jackson than they already were – but this wasn’t great.

Wade, the center fielder regarded as the team’s best player, wasn’t hitting much. Corcino, after a hot start, was fading. Cave’s brilliance and the solid play of Gordon were holding the team in most games.

Rooker, only the second player in the history of the SEC to win that league’s Triple Crown, was hitting for power but no average, and was starting to strike out at a truly alarming rate.

So it was that after giving a post-game interview to veteran broadcaster and Southern League Hall-of-Famer Larry Ward on 96.1 “The Legend”, Rob showered, changed into his street clothes and headed to the parking lot feeling not so much like a legend, or even a legend-to-be.

The rough times had come early, and exactly in the middle of a stretch of 20 games in 20 days, he would have to look for help from the system to make it to the team’s next scheduled off day on May 1.

As he headed to his car, he came across a group of fans who were drowning their sorrows in a post-game tailgate session at AT&T Field.

“Tough series, Rob,” a woman said, and the manager smiled ruefully.

“You got that right,” he replied.

“Come have a beer with us,” a man responded, who Rob took to be the woman’s husband.

“What the hell,” Rob said, stepping towards the group. “We just lost four games at home, what’s a DUI on top of everything else?”

He shook hands around the group and the woman touched his hand softly.

“I’m Jody,” she said. “Jody Fiore. This is my brother, Brian.”

“Rob Randall, though perhaps you already knew that from the people calling me an idiot tonight from the stands.”

Gallows humor seems to go well with most sports fans. Rob thought back to a television show featuring football coach Lou Holtz in his one and only season with the New York Jets. He began one week by saying, “Welcome to the Lou Holtz Show. Unfortunately, I’m Lou Holtz.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” Brian said. “Maybe if it happens again, though …”

“A comedian,” Rob thought to himself. “That can’t be good.”

Sensing he had struck a nerve, Brian backed off. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?” he asked.

“Well, Romero, and an early bus ride,” Rob said, not looking forward to the trip. The clubbies were already hauling gear to the waiting team bus to get a head start on their work for the morning. For now, though, they were washing uniforms and packing as much gear as they could for the 387-mile journey the next morning.

“A day with the team is better than a day of work,” Brian said, and there Rob had to admit he had a point.

Bus call was at 6 a.m. and the team would check into its hotel at about noon before napping and then heading to the ballpark. Such is life at the Double-A level.

Looking at the two, Rob could tell they were brother and sister. They both had raven-black hair and blue eyes, but Jody’s visage came with two rather fetching dimples when she smiled, which appeared to be much of the time. She wore her hair straight, to her shoulders.

“We’ve been season ticket holders forever,” she said. “Win or lose, we’re here.”

“That’s good to hear,” Rob said, taking a sip of beer. “Some days, the guys need that.”

“What about you?” Brian asked. “You need fans too, right? Or does your wife handle that for you?”

Rob laughed – more bitterly, this time. “No, there isn’t one of those anymore,” he said. “And she’s got my kids, so they aren’t around either.”

“Less said, the better,” Brian agreed. “Well, I hope it gets better soon.”

“Can hardly get worse,” Rob said, finishing his beer. “But five o’clock comes early and I better try to sleep. Thanks for the beer and maybe I’ll see you around this summer.”

“Maybe you will,” Jody said. “Take care.”

Rob walked to his car in the staff-only area, and reached for the door handle, only to find a card stuck in the weatherstripping on the driver’s window.

It contained a phone number, with the words “Text me – Jody” written underneath.

“How in the heck did she get in here?” Rob thought to himself. He flicked the card aside, got inside, and closed the door.

Then he opened the door, retrieved the card and put it in his shirt pocket.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

The bus rolled toward Jackson, and Rob thought of his kids.

Ryan was fourteen. His sister Rachel was twelve.

And for all he knew, they thought he was the worst thing in the world.

He was 43 years old, riding buses in the Southern League while he tried to figure out what he wanted to be when he grew up.

If he grew up, in the eyes of some.

That would be Liza, primarily. She was the one who had fallen head over heels in love with the tall firstbaseman and married him after his rookie season in the majors at age 24.

Ryan had been born five years later, and obviously Rachel two years after that.

But then his career had ended and Liza had strayed. Rob could never figure out the reason for it – they had all the money they’d ever need even if he wasn’t a superstar.

She reminded him that he wasn’t a superstar more than once after he retired. Rob also suspected alcohol abuse was part of those denunciations but could never prove it. When they were together, she was clean as a whistle but when they weren’t, well, let’s just say she was different.

Finally, he opened one of her credit card bills and found some very curious purchases. Ordinarily when a married woman buys lingerie and rents hotel rooms, her husband is the beneficiary.

Usually…but not always.

His name was Tripp, which figured. He was twenty-two. Liza was forty.

Ryan and Rachel were eleven and six, respectively.

So Rob confronted Liza, and invited her to take a different kind of Tripp.

But once there, Ron was surprised – stunned, in fact – to hear the judge give custody of the kids to their mother, due to Rob’s employment in baseball meaning he evidently couldn’t manage his own family.

That hurt. His lawyer was still trying to get the kids back. But it was hard.

Baseball can be hell on families. It certainly hadn’t been good to Rob’s, but then he owed everything he had to the game and, like a Stepford wife, couldn’t tear himself away. He could change things, he thought, again like a Stepford wife.

Realizing he couldn’t, and having had it proven to him both in court and on the ballfield, he tried to accept his fate.

He thought he had good relationships with both his kids but three years after the divorce, he had yet to receive either a Christmas or birthday card, never mind a gift, from either one.

Not that he expected anything, mind you. It was just that he wanted to stay in touch, and after the divorce was finalized, Liza wasn’t having any of it.

Neither was Tripp, who should have had nothing to say about the matter but with the looks and intellect of a professional pool boy, he was in over his head in any event.

The two hadn’t gotten on, with the younger man trying to claim alpha-male status over a woman Rob no longer wanted to be around. So while Tripp flexed his figurative muscles instead of his pecs, Rob got on with his life.

There was visitation, of course, but in the summer that was sometimes difficult to arrange -- and it was even more difficult now that Rob was running a ball club. It was enough to make a dad despair.

The bus wheels kept turning, chewing up the miles toward Jackson. He picked up his phone.

“Hi, Jody, it’s Rob,” he texted. “Just thought I’d say hi.”

There was no answer, and finally Rob fell asleep. It was nine o’clock on a Saturday morning.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

Series 4 – Chattanooga Lookouts (8-7) at Jackson Generals (9-6)
Game 1 - April 21

Francisco Romero looked in at Sawyer for the sign. Ninth-placed hitter Jose Barraza stood in the left-handed batters box, taking short warmup strokes with his bat.

The righthander delivered, and the Jackson Generals’ catcher lofted a fly ball to deep right-center field. Defensive replacement Tanner English got a good jump on the ball, and when it was apparent the ball was going to stay in the park, Romero raised both his arms over his head.

English made the catch, and general mayhem ensued on the field.

Romero had pitched the season’s first no-hitter, a 5-0 gem that had the Lookouts back into a share of first place.

Ordinarily, the minor leagues are a place of strict pitch counts, player development and doing things the organization’s way. But Rob had let Romero work the ninth for obvious reasons – and his masterpiece was completed with only 104 pitches, 65 of them strikes.

He had faced the minimum 27 batters as well. The only two baserunners he allowed in the game – thirdbaseman Juniel Querecuto on a hit by pitch in the fourth and shortstop Josh Prince on an eighth-inning walk – were erased on double plays.

Romero had fanned six and looked ready to pitch another nine innings.
Gordon and Corcino hit back to back solo homers in the third inning to give Romero all the support he would need, but Zander Wiel hit a solo shot in the fourth.

Gordon’s two-run single in the sixth made it 5-0 and chased Generals starter Joel Payamps. It raised his average to .324 and helped show why he was the best shortstop in the Southern League.

By then the only question was whether the Generals would manage a hit. Romero made sure the answer was “no”.

In talking with Ward after the game, Rob was effusive in his praise of both his stars. Cave was also at .382 and as hot as anyone, and Sawyer was at .345.

“There’s really no telling what this group is capable of doing,” he said. “Once we get a few things ironed out, I think we’re going to be just fine.”

The very next day, the Twins organization shuffled the deck.

Gordon was called up to Rochester and little-used pitcher Francis Chavez was demoted. Zack Littell came off the disabled list and pitchers Adam Bray and Kohl Stewart came up from Toby Gardenhire’s Fort Myers Miracle. Shortstop Nelson Molina would be asked to fill Gordon’s shoes, and they were quite big indeed.

Lookouts 5, Generals 0

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

Series 4 – Chattanooga (9-7) at Jackson (9-7)
Game 2 – April 22
Jackson’s Yoan Lopez held the Lookouts to two hits and one run over six innings, leaving with a 3-1 advantage. The Generals’ bullpen promptly gave up the lead, with Scott Crichton retiring only three of the seven batters he faced in a two-run Lookouts seventh. Walker and Wade picked up RBI singles in the inning. Corcino’s sac fly scored Wiel in the ninth for a 4-3 lead but Tyler Jay couldn’t hold it in the bottom of the inning. Cave then capped a two-run tenth with a homer that put the visitors ahead to stay and capped a great late-inning rally.
Lookouts 6, Generals 4 (10 inn.)

Game 3 – April 23 – Lookouts (10-7) at Generals (9-8)
Rooker and Wiel went back to back to stake Kohl Stewart to a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning of game three. For Wiel, it was his fourth straight solo home run, putting him in the position of having four home runs and four RBI. Miles Jaye couldn’t hold the lead this time, allowing the tying run in the last of the seventh, and Moya allowed the winning run with Jay unavailable to work after his epic ninth inning the night before. Marcus Wilson had two hits for Jackson, Josh Prince had three hits for Jackson, and the Lookouts were left to absorb a loss which had been as frustrating as the win the night before had been exhilarating.
Generals 6, Lookouts 5

Game 4 – April 24 – Lookouts (10-8) at Generals (10-8)
The battle continued as Cody Stashak was nearly as good as Romero had been in the opener. After seeing Romero’s 95-mile-per-hour heat, Stashak’s 86-88 was annoyingly slower to the Jackson batters. Stashak scattered six hits, all singles, in a complete-game effort while fanning eight, walking one and looking at times like he was hardly trying. Wiel, Cave and Rooker all did yard work for Chattanooga, which worked its way back into first place with a dominant win.
Lookouts 7, Generals 0

Game 5 – April 25 – Lookouts (11-8) at Generals (10-9)
Wiel hit another solo home run but drove in two on the day – giving him six home runs and seven RBI for the year – but the hero was Isaac Ballou. The seldom-used outfielder slammed a ninth-inning, pinch-hit grand slam off losing pitcher Wei-Chieh Huang (0-2) to power the Lookouts to a 10-6 win, and four games out of five in the series. John Curtiss (2-0) was the lucky fellow in relief in a game that saw both starting pitchers struggle. There were five home runs in the game, and Sawyer and English both had three hits each for Chattanooga.
Lookouts 10, Generals 6
Standings – First place (12-8), 2GA of Jackson and Birmingham

[tenthreeleader]

“How do you like them apples?”

Rob was in a good mood and could afford to be. His Lookouts held a two game lead only twenty games into the season and was coming home to play a Tennessee team that had all the hallmarks of being truly ugly.

These five games would close out the first month of the season and give Rob a chance to assess what he really had in these Lookouts. But now, he had something else in mind.

The final game of the series being a Wednesday day game was nice, giving the team a few extra hours to rest on a happy coach ride home before the Smokies came in for five games over the weekend.

It also gave the manager time to catch up on his correspondence.

“I feel like things are going better,” she replied. “And that goes for you too.”

“Might be some fun at the old ballyard this summer,” he replied. “Any chance of another parking lot adult beverage sometime this weekend?” Rob liked asking questions where he already knew the answer.

“Nope,” she replied. So much for sure things.

“What gives?” he asked, now worried.

“No tailgating, but I’ll let you take me out for a drink. Is that better?”

The color returned to his cheeks. He was surprised that a drink meant that much to hin – or rather, who the drink was with.

“That’ll do fine,” he texted. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You wish you could see me tonight.”

He laughed out loud – too loud, in fact, which made people wonder what was so funny.

“Hey, Skip,” Navarreto called from just behind him. “Is she cute?”

“I wonder how in the hell they just know,” Rob thought to himself. Then he remembered back to his own playing days.

He’d have said something too. The fact that Navarreto, a returning player, had chosen to poke fun at the manager was a good sign. So he let the catcher’s impertinence slide.

He did indeed have other things on his mind.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

Series 5 – Tennessee Smokies (7-13) at Chattanooga Lookouts (12-8)
Game 1 – April 26
Welcoming struggling Tennessee to AT&T Field looked good in practice but in the opener, reality proved different. The Smokies scratched out single runs in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings against Romero, but two were unearned. Reserve catcher Brian Navaretto answered for the Lookouts with his first homer of the season but Tennessee broke a 4-4 tie in the seventh when Ian Rice homered off new pitcher Adam Bray. The Smokies added two more in the ninth off Matt Magill and that was that.
Smokies 7, Lookouts 4

Game 2 – April 27 – Smokies (8-13) at Lookouts (12-9)
Lewis Thorpe was wonderful in the second game of the series for the Lookouts. The Australian lefthander fanned nine Smokies in seven innings of work and allowed only one hit but his four walks meant he didn’t last past the seventh inning. LaMonte Wade’s second home run of the season, coming off Smokies starter Tyler Clifton, was all the Chattanooga pitching staff needed. Gabriel Moya and Tyler Jay split the eighth and ninth inning as the home team squared the series.
Lookouts 1, Smokies 0

Game 3 – April 28 – Smokies (8-14) at Lookouts (13-9)
Kohl Stewart had a strong start for Chattanooga, allowing only one run and four hits over seven strong in game three of the series. But it was the unfortunate Matt Magill who struggled in the late going. It was Rice, hitting his second homer of the series, who put Tennessee ahead to stay in the eighth inning as part of a two-run uprising. Rooker slammed a pair of homers for the Lookouts, his seventh and eighth of the young season, as he showed why he was one of the Twins’ better power prospects. Despite allowin Rooker’s second homer, reliever Duane Underwood earned the win for the Smokies in game three.
Smokies 3, Lookouts 2

Game 4 – April 29 – Smokies (9-14) at Lookouts (13-10)
Wade had the big bat for Chattanooga in game four, going four-for-four and driving in two runs as the Lookouts won the fourth game with ease. Runs in each of the first four innings staked Cody Stashak (4-1) to a 9-1 advantage and the Lookouts cruised. The unfortunate Thomas LeBron allowed nine runs, all earned, and 13 hits over three innings of hard labor, while Stashak was nicked for Erick Castillo’s solo homer the sixth. Stashak didn’t have his best stuff, allowing single runs in four innings, but the Lookouts were too far ahead to catch. All nine Lookouts starters had at least one hit, with six having two or more as part of a 17-hit attack.
Lookouts 12, Smokies 4

Game 5 – April 30 – Smokies (9-15) at Lookouts (14-10)
Watching Zack Littell pitch his way into and out of trouble for 5.2 innings was nerve-wracking, but he emerged completely unscathed as the Lookouts won the rubber game of the series. You could argue that Dailyn Martinez pitched better for Tennessee, but the worst news of all came in the fourth when Cave – the league’s leading hitter at .385 with five home runs – landed awkwardly while diving for a fly ball and fractured his wrist. He’s expected to miss about six weeks, a crushing blow to a team finding itself. However, the red-hot Nelson Molina, promoted to the leadoff position, drove in two runs and raised his batting average to .367 in the process. Yet this win came at a cost.
Lookouts 4, Smokies 0
Standings – 15-10, 1st place – 2 GA of Jackson, 3 GA of Birmingham

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

“So,” Rob began. “Tell me about you.”

“Love the game, don’t love everyone in it,” she said. “I’m forty, I’m an attorney and, no, I do not consider this a consultation.”

She smiled. “I love good wine, a ballgame on a warm summer evening, text messages when you least expect them, and giving people nicknames they don’t know they have.”

The wine seemed to be reaching Jody’s cheeks. Either that or she was blushing.

“That can’t be good,” Rob replied. “I probably have a ton of those nicknames.”

“You have a few,” she teased. “I hear things in the stands.”

“Well, Counselor, if you’re trying to impress me, that’s not really the best way to do it,” Rob replied, now channeling his inner Frank Furillo.

“Nobody’s perfect,” she said. “I even have nicknames, not all of them positive.”

“I’m surprised you’d make an admission like that,” he replied, swirling the remnants of his beer around the bottom of his glass. Their waitress noticed and soon he had a replacement.

“I’m a lawyer,” she said. “You know what people think about lawyers.”

“At least you aren’t a politician,” he joked, with enough of a shine in his eye to make her realize he was kidding.

“Oh, I’ve been called all kinds of things,” she said. “I’m a family attorney so I get called a home-wrecker, a kid-stealer, man-hater, you name it.”

“And I thought being called a dumb SOB was bad,” Rob replied. “Does it bother you?”

She laughed, this time sarcastically. “Of course it hurts me,” she answered. “I may be a lawyer, but I’m human too.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Oh, I know,” she answered. “But you try to do the right thing for people within the law and you get called a witch. Or worse.”

He changed the subject. “You said you didn’t love everyone in the game,” he said. “What does that mean, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Well, you never asked me if I was married. I was, to a ballplayer,” she replied. “Ten years ago. Do you remember a pitcher named Ozzy Hamm?”

Rob shook his head.

“Neither does anyone else, and that was the problem,” she said, a genuine smile returning to her face. “He wanted everyone to call him Ace, and then he went to the Eastern League and got the crap kicked out of him before getting released. He played here for a year and I just fell for him.”

“Any kids?”

“Thank God, no,” she answered. “After he got released he couldn’t handle not being around things any more. He drank. He drank a lot. His parents named him after Ozzy Osbourne so he thought he had to live fast.”

“He drank, and so you’re here drinking with me.”

“Well, there’s a difference when you drink with a grown-up,” she said. “We lasted two years.”

“So why…” he began, before stopping. “Never mind.”

“You want to know why I stayed around the ballpark,” she said, guessing correctly. She took another sip of wine. “I’ll tell you. I wasn’t going to let some jerk named Ozzy take away one of the things I love most in my life, which is baseball. I’m a Tennessee girl, I love my city and I support its team. Does that answer your question?”

Rob sat back and took a pull from his glass. “It does,” he answered.

“So, what about you? What brought you back?”

“Same thing, I guess,” he said. “After Liza ran off a few years back, it was either get back into baseball or rot.”

“So baseball is all you know?”

“I hate people who say that, but yes,” he answered. “I was a roving instructor for a few years and since I never got to see my kids, that was a way to keep me from going insane. But it’s hard when you’re sitting in a hotel room in Elizabethton on a Thursday evening with nothing to do before the weekend series, wondering how your life went to crap.”

“So you hated the life and then became a manager,” she said.

“Touche,” Rob replied. “I guess I deserved that. But let’s just say I like the life a lot better when I’m around people who make it worthwhile.”

“Don’t talk about my brother that way,” she teased.

“I don’t,” Rob answered. “But, I think you know that.”

[tenthreeleader]

Series 6 – Chattanooga Lookouts (15-10) at Mobile Bay Bears (13-12)
Game 1 – May 2
They had a day off, finally, even though half of it was used to bus from Chattanooga to Mobile. That gave Rob a chance to spend some quality time with Jody.

The old joke goes, “do you want me to call you in the morning or just roll over,” and as hackneyed as it was, their night at the bar had resulted in the latter.

It turned out they both needed the moment, so when they rolled over the next morning, there were no regrets – and in fact, plans for a repeat performance.

Then it was off to Mobile for the start of a series between two teams that looked like they could be half decent before the season was over.

The Bay Bears were 13-12 but that was only good for fourth place in the hyper-competitive South. The Lookouts had the better record but appeared to be playing in the weaker division.

There was one problem as the teams started the series: the absence of Jake Cave. The team’s best hitter (.385, second-leading home run hitter (five) and RBI leader (11) was out with a broken wrist. Starting thirdbaseman Chris Paul, who had been hurt early in the prior series, was diagnosed with a broken kneecap and would miss several months. Starting pitcher Ryan Eades had a torn labrum. Same story.

So a banged up Lookouts team turned to Fernando Romero to right the ship in the opener. He didn’t have his usual stuff, allowing four walks and four earned runs in five inning of hard labor. Walker and Xavier Turner drove in runs in a two-run third to keep the Lookouts in the game while new middle reliever Logan Lombana worked two scoreless innings. But the Lookouts could manage only one more run in the seventh and the Mobile bullpen made it stand up.
Bay Bears 4, Lookouts 3

Game 2 – May 3 – Lookouts (15-11) at Bay Bears (14-12)
As frustrating as the opener had been, game two of the series was worse. The Australian, Lewis Thorpe, took the mound and was strafed for a six-spot in the first inning, with Jose Briceno’s first homer of the season doing most of the damage. Thorpe lasted into the third before giving way to Myles Jaye, who was like gasoline on a fire. The middle reliever gave up a run in the fourth and four in the fifth as the Bay Bears staked Jesus Castillo (2-4) to a giant lead. To make matters worse, reliever Jeremy Rhoades zipped the Lookouts for the final three innings to get a save in a game where it was never that close. Rooker’s eighth homer in the fourth inning was the lone bright spot – and if the Lookouts hadn’t turned three double plays, it would have been even worse.
Bay Bears 13, Lookouts 2

Game 3 – May 4 – Lookouts (15-12) at Bay Bears (15-12)
The beat goes on, as they say. Michael Santos took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Zander Wiel barely missed a home run, instead settling for a long double to left. The firstbaseman’s odd stats – seven home runs, nine runs batted in – was perplexing. Almost as perplexing as what was wrong with Kohl Stewart, which nobody could figure out. The starter was terrible, giving up seven earned runs and ten hits before being mercifully invited to take an early shower in the fifth inning. Edgar Corcino was in a major slump – he was oh-for-eight in the series and stood at .162 for the season despite being the team’s everyday rightfielder. It was ugly.
Bay Bears 8, Lookouts 2

Game 4 – May 5 – Lookouts (15-13) at Bay Bears (16-12)
This time the Lookouts got a decent start – and finish – from Cole Stashak, who went the distance, allowing four hits and two runs while needing just 96 pitches. Unfortunately, his teammates gave him exactly three hits and no runs of support as the Lookouts sank to their fourth straight loss. Corcino dropped to .155 after a size three collar made him oh-for-11 in the series. Jonah Wesely got the last three outs for the save but the Lookouts could have put the ball on a tee and not managed a hit.
Bay Bears 2, Lookouts 0

Game 5 – May 6 – Lookouts (15-14) at Bay Bears (16-13)
Looking to avoid a five-game sweep behind new guy Adam Bray, the Lookouts took their first lead of the series in the second inning when Brian Navaretto, catching to give Sawyer a day off, doubled and was chased home on Sean Miller’s single. Navaretto tripled home Isaac Ballou in the fourth for a 2-0 advantage, only to see the second of two errors by Nelson Molina lead to two unearned Mobile runs in the fourth. So the game went until the ninth, when righthanded stopper John Curtiss allowed a walk-off RBI double to Brendon Sanger to put the Lookouts into the pit of misery. Corcino went oh-for-four to drop to .147 after an oh-for-15 series.
Bay Bears 3, Lookouts 2
Standings – 15-15, third place (2GB Birmingham)

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

There was a reason Corcino was playing, and suffering, every day.

Rob had eleven position players. That was it. As he watched the players take BP back on friendly soil, he tried to be philosophical.

“S**t,” Rob smiled, spitting a sunflower seed onto the field with a practiced flick of his tongue. The major, and minor, league crackdown on smokeless tobacco had meant Rob was reduced to eating seeds. He liked the kind that tasted like ranch dressing.

He had been looking for a reason to quit chewing anyway, and the rule change turned out to be that reason. But he had other fish to fry.

“Look at this team,” he told his pitching coach, the Venezuelan Ivan Ortega. “I’ve got one bench move and a spare catcher. That’s it. You know that. Cave’s out. Gordon’s gone and thank God for Molina or we’d be completely hosed.”

It was like the old game of Ker-Plunk, where you’d put straws through holes in a plastic tube and throw marbles on top. Then you’d take turns pulling out the straws one by one, trying to figure out how many straws you could pull before everything went to crap. Most marbles in your tray at the end of the game loses.

But Rob was about to lose his marbles, which was both good and bad.

The Ker-Plunk analogy described was his starting lineup. Navaretto and Perez were the only bench moves – after that it would be pitchers playing in the field.

“Falvine takes a lot more than he gives, but that’s the minors,” Rob added. “He has a job to do, but we still have to keep it real down here and not let it all go to pieces.”

He paused. “Look at Corcina. The kid tries hard, God love him, but he’s literally and objectively oh-for-May and I can’t give him a day off that he probably needs.”

“Thad’s had bad press,” Arteaga said. The major league roster and the major league front office were more important, as is always the case in organized ball, but “Falvine” had fallen upon tough times.

As such, the Venezuelan was right. After signing Logan Morrison to a contract, the Twins had almost immediately shipped him off to the National League, trading him to the Cardinals. Jake Odorizzi, who Levine had traded to get, was in Rochester.

And, most disturbingly to Rob, Gordon had just been traded. With his Lookouts teammates in need of position players, on May 7 he was packaged along with outfielder Robbie Grossman to Houston for pitcher Charlie Morton and about three million dollars.

As promising as Gordon is, the presence of first overall draft pick Royce Lewis in the Twins’ system meant that Gordon might well be overshadowed – making him trade bait. That’s part of the business.

But Levine had taken some abuse in the press for trading Morrison and a young prospect before the season was even two months old. Despite a 3.63 ERA, Morton had lost three of his four starts for the World Champions and was winless.

Worst yet was the Twins trading for cash. The argument had long been that the Pohlad family was tight with a nickel despite taxpayers building them the 81-date ATM known as Target Field, and getting three million in cash didn’t look very good.

And Gordon? Well, the kid who was hitting .324 at Chattanooga this year and who played in 122 games for them last year was sent to the Dominican Rookie League by the Astros.

“That sucks,” Arteaga sighed. “He deserves better than that.”

“Maybe they’re waiting for a roster spot to open up,” Rob suggested. “Damn, baseball can be cruel.”

# # #