The Story of Caleb Benavides
Cairo Chronicles, Issue 5, 2042 Season
Caleb Benavides, now officially a UMEBA free agent, pitched for four seasons in Cairo, Egypt for the Chariot Archers. He was released just last month after struggling mightily in the big leagues. At 36, it was determined that Benavides shouldn’t take up a roster spot in the minor leagues that could be given to a player with a future for Cairo. An astute reader could probably predict that this would cause strife in the Cairo front office. Or, more specifically, between the entire front office which was on board with this decision and tempestuous owner Ryan Bond who decidedly was not.
This was evidenced by the secret recording that was taken of Bond’s outrage when he discovered that Benavides was told to clean out his locker. “Wait...you guys cut Caleb!? I thought I vetoed that decision the first fifteen times you asked! If you guys didn’t have guaranteed contracts, I’d fire you all! I hate all of you!”
When asked why he had the recording, assistant GM Jim Pickett said that this became a common habit with the Cairo front office when dealing with the boss.
After a decent season last year in 2041 when Benavides pitched 101 innings with a 4.88 ERA for a lackluster Cairo squad, the Chariot Archer brass figured they could squeeze out another productive season from the longtime veteran who also pitched for nine seasons in the BBA. They were not correct in that assessment.
However, a motivator that was not known to this press outlet until recently was that Benavides was also the brother in law to Cairo owner Bond. This may explain Bond’s tantrum upon finding out that Caleb was cut.
Born to parents who survived paycheck to paycheck, with a father who was a saloon owner and a mother who was a semi-pro softball player, Benavides had baseball in his genes as well as a penchant for liquor and a stormy personality all his own. Benavides had an older sister who followed in her mother’s footsteps as a semi-pro softball player and that is how she bumped into Ryan Bond, who often frequented her father’s bar. Hey, he loved the chicken tender sandwich, so he kept coming back. Then he started coming back in hopes of seeing Caleb’s sister Corinne.
Benavides had a combined 3.70 ERA in the 2039 and 2040 seasons.
It was a decent affair, Corinne’s and Ryan’s wedding. Apparently three DJ’s were fired because they didn’t know of Ryan’s favorite song, Motorway to Roswell by the Pixies. That should have shown a window into Ryan’s impulsive behavior. Corinne was undeterred though Caleb had his misgivings.
Still, when Boise unceremoniously dumped Benavides after a 2038 season where he wasn’t pitching much at the end of the year after a 5.23 ERA and was only used in mop up situations, he was looking for work and had no offers. The year before at the inception of the UMEBA in 2037, Bond had stumbled into the league as the BBA was desperate for owners who could meet payroll for a new league to augment the Brewster universe. Bond’s wife Corinne was excited and Bond had the backing of a couple of other saloon owners thanks to his wife’s dad. He barely met the Brewster’s demand for an upfront payment for a franchise and he was in.
Knowing that Caleb needed work and could still clock 96 on a radar gun, Ryan figured why not throw him a bone? He could use some middle relief, and an ex-BBA player could add some prestige to the squad. For his part, Caleb wasn’t sure to mix family and business, but he loved to pitch. He thought he might have the owner’s ear if he had concerns. Neither party was aware of what would happen in the future.
When Cairo was considered a minor league to the BBA, Benavides turned in two excellent seasons in 2039 and 2040. Everyone was happy as the Chariot Archers won the UMEBA Burt League championship both seasons. Caleb’s production continued last year as written, but the wheels were starting to fall off, for the team and the pitcher. And then this year, things completely fell off.
The front office was aware of the familial tie between the aging pitcher and the owner. But they knew their jobs were safe and wanted to look at other pitchers. And they had the recordings of a hellbent owner wanting to keep peace at home with his wife. Well, baseball took priority with the Cairo front office and they gave Caleb the word and it was uncomfortable for the general manager when he informed the pitcher only to find the pitcher wearing his two Cairo championship rings.
“Wait, you just took over the team and you’re firing me!? I’m going to talk to Ryan and see what he has to stay about this” and with that, Caleb left to go directly to Bond’s office.
However, the front office predicted this and had already filed paperwork to the UMEBA league office and it was accepted by commissioner @recte44.
So, when Bond came into the front office room to start his tantrum, the assistant GM was ready to record. “My wife is going to be pissed!” was the main retort from Bond. Downstairs in the locker room, Caleb was cleaning out his locker hoping for a last minute reprieve from the owner who was undercut by his front office. The reprieve wasn’t coming and Caleb’s former teammates offered polite condolences and handshakes and a new era of Cairo baseball continued being established.