Off Topic
Sitting here at the cusp of another Opening Day, baseball fans across the world are Supposed top be feeling that existential sense of wonder and hope that is a clean-slate record and the promise of May flowers. We’re supposed to be filled to the brim with excited rookies and ageless wonders back for one more draught from the cup of baseball youth. Yes, Yellow Springs fans, does anyone remember laughter? The taste of strawberries?
Back in the day, General Manager Ron Collins arrived in a cloud of such hope. Do you recall that feeling? He took over those last four games of 2024, and his club that was going to wind up winning 65 games overall, went 3-1, which was enough to trigger euphoria in Ohio at the time. Sure, the club won only 69 games the following season, but 2026 came and suddenly it felt like King Arthur had arrived to escort in a new era of Camelot. And … well …um …in a way it’s felt that way, right? I mean here are some facts:
• Since 2026, the team has been to the post season 21 out of 23 seasons. Last year represented the 11th straight season the club has made such an appearance.
• Along that timeline, the Nine have won 13 division titles, including five of the last six and nine of the last eleven.
• YS9 has been to the Landis/Brewster round five times in this spree
You know what’s coming, though, right?
I mean.
Yeah.
We all know what’s coming.
The janitorial service the YS9 front office paid to keep the Brewster Trophy clean and shiny has been let go for cost cutting reasons some time ago.
When Collins was first hired, he addressed the faithful with these words: “…I have a job to do for our fans, and I intend to do it.” He also noted that “I know can get the job done. We need to weather this storm together, but we’re going to be fine after all the dust settles.”
Does that mean the dust hasn’t settled?
Or has it not?
Fans want to know.
Is this it?
Was Collins just blowing crap, or does he honestly buy into this thing he says about the Heartland trophy being the greatest achievement in baseball? Does he actually have what it takes to pull this off? In other words, what does he know, and when did he know it? Is Ron Collins for real, or is he just siphoning off his cash—rumored to be upward of a cool half-million a year—so that he can vacation on Cat Island with the McNeill’s?
When we buy season tickets—which I can tell you are going like hotcakes right now—are we supporting a team that can really win it all, or are we simply funnelling money into one big Lucy Football that Collins will rip away from us Charlie Brown fans at the moment the seasons change?
That’s the question people really want to understand.
That’s the matter at hand.
Are the Nine a real organization, or just a figment of some long con?
