Front Office, Searching for a Scapegoat,
Fires Trainer Amid Flurry of Injuries
Team Source: "Someone had to go."
Chicago, September 1, 2051 - The Black Sox front office, scrounging around for a scapegoat onto which they could heap blame for the team's utter mid-season collapse, has fired Joe Holden, the Black Sox trainer since 2048.
The team currently has 18 players on the injury list -- nine from the major league roster and nine from various levels of the minors. The remaining injury time of all 18 totals more than 50 months. "Four years worth of injuries is a lot," said a team source. "Ultimately, Joe has to be held accountable." The tipping point, according to our source, was the week of August 10, when five pitchers--two from ML and three from AAA--were placed on the IL.
The Black Sox trainer's room on August 31, 2051.The team replaced Holden as trainer with 54-year old Pablo Garcia, who was trainer for the Montreal Blazers from 2039-42. Since 2042 Garcia has been working with a Taiwanese sports medicine company that markets dietary supplements and ergonomic home workout devices. "I think my supplements, even if they lack FDA approval and skirt the law, can make a difference in this clubhouse," Garcia told the Black Sox Blog. "Lord knows it can't hurt."
Yet it is clear that injuries are by no means the total reason for the embarrassing collapse of the Black Sox, who were contending for the Heartland in April and May. The team on June 1 was eight games above .500 and just five games out of first. Now, three months later, the club is nine games below .500 and more than 20 games out of first (as well as far out of the wildcard chase).
The current injury list.The injury parade for the Sox began on just the second game of Spring Training when aging slugger Fernando Castillo tore his Achilles tendon, an injury that knocked out the team's highest paid player for four months. He returned earlier than expected, on July 23, but thus far is hitting just .241 with only four HR and 17 RBI, not even replacement level.
The latest injury bookends Castillo's at the start of the year -- 1B Aarnoud Budding, who leads the team with 91 RBI, suffered an intercostal strain and is out until the final week of the season. The new trainer, Garcia, was said to be feeding Budding lots of mysterious green pills in hopes of an earlier return.
