As a first baseman, Duane Whitley was a near-perfect hitter, tying THE Sawyer Silk for OPS above league average and first in overall WAR among all first basemen (Paul Barfoot earned over 20 WAR at catcher). Retiring in 2019, Whitley was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020, and found success deep into the twilight of his playing career, winning his last Sawyer Silk Award at the age of 37. That's the sort of superior player that the Pikemen hired to replace Chet Rouse in 2039 after three straight pennants, and at 67 years old, Whitley retired from professional baseball having never missed the playoffs with the Pikemen.
"I wish I could have won a championship with these guys, but it's time for me to hang up the cleats," said Whitley. "I'm going to miss a lot of the day to day aspects of being here, but I'm moving on."
Despite the fact that Whitley never won less than 90 games with the Pikemen and averaged 96 wins a season for the ballclub, some people considered Whitley's run with the team a failure. After 2039, Whitley's first year with the team, the Pikemen didn't win a playoff series again until 2043, when they won their fourth pennant in nine years. It was also thought that Whitley might be scaring away free agents through his taskmaster-like rule over the Rockville clubhouse.
"We kind of liked the discipline, actually; it kept us sharp," said Rockville starter Dave Martin. "I'm 35 years old and so I'm thinking of slacking off a bit at times, and there's this sixty five year old Hall of Famer who's in better shape than we are telling us what to do, and you just kind snapped to it."
Whitley will retire back to his boyhood home of Raleigh, North Carolina, where he owns two homes and has lived every offseason since he was a rookie. North Carolina is the former home of the Rockville franchise, so Arthur Dempster has a home there as well, as does former Pikemen player Lorenzo Palacios.
"We'll have dinner down there sometimes and just talk baseball and sports," said Dempster. "We're actually all big Carolina Panthers fans."
Rockville is not sure who they will hire as their new manager. Both Whitley and Rouse were hired from outside the organization and there isn't an heir apparent; their bench coach doesn't want the job, Frank Thomas III and Billy Chapel, Jr, are going to stay in their jobs, and so it looks like the search is on.
Sticking Points 2045.2: Duane Whitley Retires as Manager
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Sticking Points 2045.2: Duane Whitley Retires as Manager
Post by aaronweiner » Sat Nov 14, 2020 4:49 pm
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