November 7th, 2035
Offen Sichtlich der Kunstgriff
A couple of our beloved Crusaders rode off into the sunset today. *sniff* I'm pretty sad to see them go, as I always am with any of our wonderful players. Still, I guess they couldn't have timed it much better.
Newman Watson certainly couldn't have. He'd just won his first Brewster championship of his 14 year career. The fact that it took him so long certainly wasn't for a lack of trying! He'd been a playoff round MVP three times before. But man! Talk about retiring in style! Not one series MVP, but TWO! Including the Landis MVP! I'll be honset, Offie was kind of hoping we'd see Mr. Watson back next year, but I can't blame him for walking away. He retires with a career .306/.349/.474 line, 333 HR, 1176 RBI, a career 122 wRC+, and 36.3 WAR, as well as the 2025 Sawyer Silk award, an all star appearance that same year, and those FIVE postseason MVP awards, and one big fat Landis Championship.
Mark Stuart. Well ... um.. I guess if I'm going to pick nits, Mark Stuart could have had a better retirement. Mr. Stuart returned to the Crusaders after an six year absence for the 2034 season, and was pretty good last yaer, hitting over .300 in a platoon role. This year .. uuhh .. not so gerat. Mark clearly wasn't able to keep up with big league hitting anymore, and only saw 51 plate appearances. He had exactly one in the postseason, and made an out. Still, I bet if you ask most players how they would want to end their careers, they'd say, "As a champion." Mark Stuart did just that. This was the third Landis for the five time all star and former Gillstrom winner, his second with the Crusaders. "It's nice to finish up where it all began," commented Staurt, "amazing really. It's hard to believe it's already been a decade and a half since Ricardo, Cris and I were kids trying to find our way with a lost franchise. A decade since we won it all that first time. To be together again for this is more than anyone could ask for." Stuart retires with a .302/.371/.406 mark, good for a 117 wRC+ and 39.7 WAR, to go with those five all star appearances and three championships. Stuart has always bee one of the leaders on the teams he's played for. I've heard the team is talking to him about sticking around in a coaching or managerial capacity. That's pretty exciting! It would be great to have Mark around still!
