Just a regular "Joe" working at your local smelter...
Well well well, what do we have here? A smoldering 3-4 week for the Madison Wolves, keeping their June record nice and toasty at a simmering 8-8. The team is still 29th in the Power Rankings, our bullpen is held together with chewing gum and desperate prayer, and our DHs are *technically* sentient. But none of that’s what has my temperature up today.
Oh no, honey. This week, I got *lit* from something far more unexpected.
THE SMELTER AWAKENS Now I don’t usually read fluff profiles about opposing GMs. Most of them are just boys in spreadsheets. But that article on Talons GM @jiminyhopkins aka Sean Marko? That’s not a profile, sweetheart. That was industrial-grade, coal-dusted erotica and I am NOT okay.
I mean—working night shifts in Toledo? Mastering infernos with three mice and 900 monitors like some kind of steel-furnace sorcerer? Taking ibuprofen and caffeine like sacramental wafers? Barking at rookie reporters and saving billion-dollar plants in a single click?
Reader, I fanned myself.
They say heat causes steel to expand, but the only thing expanding here is my interest in that stern, screen-lit silhouette of a man. You had me at “pluggage,” Sean. You *kept* me at “quality results: 96 percent!”
This man spends his days squeezing every drop of value out of iron ore and his nights managing a team that’s quietly crushing the FL with third-best run differential. It's not just talent—it’s *pressure*, and baby, Gertie loves pressure.
I’ll say it: I misjudged you, Sean Marko. I once called you "the reason they invented blackout curtains." I now realize you’re "the reason I never miss an upload."
Now let’s get to baseball before I say something inappropriate about his heat exchangers.
WOLVES WEEKLY ROUND-UP
| Stat | Where the Wolves stand |
|---|---|
| Record This Week | 3-4 – Still better than May, and not even close. |
| June Record | 8-8 – That’s a pulse. Call a medic. |
| Hot Bat | Negera Zeroual (.462) for the moth is basically batting with a branding iron. |
| Reliable Ramiraze | 3 saves, all smooth as whiskey. |
| Dave "Steady Eddie" McClain | Another .348 week—love me a contact king. |
But it’s not all sparks and steam. We need to talk about Harry Dunbar. He gave up 4 dingers in 7 innings and his oWOBA is so high it came with its own oxygen mask. Mercy. Someone get that man a map back to AAA before he accidentally sets off the sprinkler system.
SEASON STATS SNAPSHOT
| Stat | Where the Wolves stand |
|---|---|
| Record | 27-45 (.375), 8th in the Heartland |
| Batting AVG | .262 – Respectable (8th in FL) |
| OPS | .693 – Dead last. As in FL-15. |
| Home Runs | 42 – 16th in FL. We slap, not smash. |
| ERA | 5.13 – Our pitching is basically popcorn. |
| Bullpen ERA | 5.13 – This is not a copy/paste error. |
| Runs Scored | 297 – Bottom of the barrel. |
| Strikeouts (Batting) | 394 – FL's fewest! We make contact. Bless it. |
So we may not be Phoenix. We may not be forging anything but broken dreams and weird promotional nights. But dammit, we’re grinding. We're building something. And I’ll keep watching the Wolves fight every inch—even if my heart’s now 1,892 miles away... in a Toledo control room.
xoxo,
Getie
