All Signs Pointing Down
Massive twitter discourse that the Yellow Springs Nine were on a quiet quest to land at least one big-name addition at the trade deadline appears to have, once again, crumbled. This, of course, comes as no surprise. The Nine are a perpetual heartbreak machine.
“I remember a time when we used to at least make it to the Landis before coughing up goat guts,” wailed June Rendazzo, a fan at Sullivan’s protein shop. “There was that time when the team made a big deal to bring Rick Wade in.” Her eyes got misty the, and she sipped on her spiked coffee. “Good times.”
This malaise has gotten to the stage that no one is particularly surprised that the target(s) of said quest were even named—only that the name or names were “significant.” This, again, is not a surprise. The last time that any Nine fan will probably ever remember being riled up about a trade was the infamous French Frying of the club’s front office, a term the fans use for the club being shut of a massive deal to acquire Supd star Dennis French (the Boise franchise essentially turned down an entire team of Nine youngsters). The club took a pretty major black eye from fans afterward.
“The front office can’t get the job done,” Rendazzo explained. “Maybe the league’s got us blackballed, or maybe Collins is just an idiot.”
“Why limit yourself?” her friend said. “The league’s shutting us down and Collins is an idiot.
“Yeah. We all know that.”
TEAM TOUTS COSTELLO
On the PR front, it’s perhaps worth noting the team has been openly discussing the expected return of outfielder Luis Costello to the team after recovering from his broken leg. The veteran outfielder will spend a week in Indianapolis before being recalled.
“It’s as good as a trade for us,” assistant GM Jose Cabrera said.
Yeah, right.
ROAD TRIP PUTS TEAM ON BRINK OF DISASTER
Add to this that the month of August has been essentially one big catastrophe of a road trip, and that the Nine are now officially a half-game back of the upstart Nashville Bluebirds (who, per league pundits, are succeeding despite not having a single decent player), and you’ve got a sense around town that after leading the Heartland division for most of the year, the Yellow Springs Nine may well not even make the playoffs.
“We suck,” one fan said.
“Usually we wait until October to mail this kind of shit in,” said another.
Technically, this is possible. The Nine are six games up on the last Wild Card slot, and have gone 9-12 so far in the dog days of August. Another such stint in September would almost certainly see them in post season peril.
“Well,” said Kacey Downs, anther patron at Sullivan’s. “They promised they would find a way to keep from losing in the Doubleday.”
