9-News: 37.084 – Jordan Blasts GM

[RonCo]

The reality of what it means that the Yellow Springs Nine sit at 74-76 and out of the playoff picture in every way except mathematically seems to be settling in on the front office. Perhaps worse, it’s settling in on the owner and it’s conglomerate board of investors.

“This wasn’t the season anyone expected,” said owner and BBA Hall of Famer Bo Jordan during an interview with Sports Inclusive this week. “I told Ron (GM, Ron Collins) before the season started that I thought we had the horses to win the division and take a Landis title, and I still believe we did.” He went on to suggest that team ownership would review the club’s performance after the dust settled but it was clear that the longtime baseball businessman wasn’t happy.

Other measures sure to come up in that off-season review: the team’s attendance is down to 45K per game from last year’s 55K, resulting in a revenue drop of $27M. The club lost four of its super stars in a very public free agency fiasco, and only retained Lucas McNeill after the infielder played Collins like a fiddle to get a pact that paid him $40M this season, a season in which he hit is 300th homer, sure, but was otherwise essentially a replacement kind of player. In addition, Collins punted two established coaches in Robert LaLoosh and William Campbell—and while Sam Brewington’s addition as hitting coach seems to have been a hit, Dan Walker as pitching coach has overseen a season of under-performance and big injuries that YS9 fans haven’t seen in long enough to consider it forever in sports time.

As the 2037 season rolls into its last two week, “uncertainty” seems to be the word of the day. The team’s long-time manager, Bret Richards, is in the last year of his contract, and at 68 has seemed to show that the game is passing him by. Old Guard pitchers Jose Chavez and Tim Oliver were hurt this year, and could be on the way out. McNeill is a problem to be dealt with—can he recover and make that contract look like something beyond the bust that it’s surely been? But perhaps the biggest question of them all starts at the top. What will Bo Jordan do, and how much groveling will it take for Collins to retain his job?

Watch this space.