Growing old in Cairo (2041-15)

[Fat Nige]

Catcher Woes in Baghdad

Sunday 9th of June was a really black day for the Chariot Archers and has made sure that the month will be another poor one for Cairo. We were already on a four-game losing streak when we arrived at Baghdad’s ballpark for the second game of the series with Kings on the Sunday. Cairo already had gone with backup catcher Jose Sanchez for the game, when he came up for his second AB of the night. He reached base on an infield hit and successfully legged it from first to third on Aubrey Anderson’s hit, but was slow to get up at third after his desperate dive beat Angel Marquez’s throw from centre. The doctor came out and Sanchez was taken out of the game. Starter Bungay Martin went behind the plate then for almost the rest of the game, but he too was taken out of the game in the top of the ninth when Vankrimpen hit him on the hand with a pitch. Martin trotted down to first but the trainer refused to let him continue as his thumb was already swelling up.

Martin’s X-Rays showed that he had a fractured thumb so he headed for the IL until early July and worse still Sanchez was diagnosed with Patellar tendinitis which would keep him out for most of the month. Being at the start of a week would mean we would have to play five games without a recognised catcher in the squad. LF Elijah Curry got two games behind the plate, his only ever other appearance at catcher was in 2036 for Brooklyn in the BBA. First baseman Mauro Garcia got his first game behind the plate since he appeared in a BBA game as catcher for Calgary in 2036, OF Adrian Young got a game & a relief appearance behind the plate, his first since he had an outing for Las Vegas’ Triple-A side Milwaukee way back in 2032 and Felix Arrojo also got his first ever go behind the plate at 33-years -old. Amazingly Cairo actually won two of those five games despite failing to throw out any of the three base runners running on the stand-in catchers and allowing six passed balls.

Triple-A Nairobi’s starting catcher Luis Valdes received his callup orders to be the solitary catcher on the roster and reported in time to play against Manama on Sunday 16th. Valdes has already appeared in three UMEBA games for Bucharest in 2040. He was on the winning side for his debut, but Cairo lost the next five games with Valdes behind the plate and hitting just four times in 20 AB’s. One of those hits was a double and he also walked once as well as scoring a run.

Cairo will finish out June with Valdes and Sanchez (when he returns from injury) as the catchers on the Chariot Archers roster and Alfredo Gabriel as the only catcher on the Nairobi roster. Cairo have offered a couple of catchers a minor league contract to fill their roster hole, but they do not expect either to have a future in the organisation beyond the next few weeks.