Sticking Points 2057.1: New Skipper Preaches Endurance

[JimSlade]

"Endurance is rarely out of reach," says new Rockville Pikeman manager Francisco Catazara, hours before the team's 6-0 defeat at the bats and arms of the Mexico City Aztecs. Catazara is talking about the history book detailing Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated 1915 voyage to the Antarctic on the ship of the book's title, in which the ship got trapped in ice and sank yet Shackleton and his crew of 27 men miraculously survived.

"We don't expect smooth sailing," continued the former Vancouver Mounties manager who replaced longtime Pikeman manager Denny Dooley during the final week of the 2056 season, "but hope is just over the horizon. What I admire so deeply about Shackleton was his commitment to keeping his crew focused on any little gain that would get them to safety. We need to stay focused on small gains."

Judging by the 2057 Pikemen's first month, it's going to take a boatload of hope and then some. The team is 7-22 and at the bottom of the Johnson League in just about every offensive category. The team's pitching and defense don't fare much better. It's hard to say the team has any particular strength.

"Beside The Philosopher," Catazara said, referencing shortstop Socrates Kazantziakis, "we don't have stars in their prime. But we've got got foundational guys who can help us bridge to the younger players developing in our organization: Eric Wagner, Nathaniel Davis, Cam Whitten...They won't be playing for the postseason, but they can get us to next season."

It's a lot to ask of solid players in their prime to build a foundation for the kids, not to mention decorated veterans on the downside of their career, like pitcher Danny Leach, third baseman Brian Dixon, and outfielder Julio Barajas. Leach can still grind out 6 innings at 37 years of age, but it's not pretty. Dixon is as steady and unspectacular as ever. Barajas has been reduced to a bench player, spelling DH and bat-first catcher John McMuttray for his occasional starts behind home plate.

"I see Danny and Julio working with the young guys. We've had to rush Paul Strickland into a starting role in centerfield. Julio is at the cage while kids like Paul and Ruben [Alvarado] take BP."

Catazara also cited the guidance veterans Leach and Davis have been giving Luis Gonzalez, who has resumed a role in the starting rotation after spending the previous 4 years as a high-leverage reliever. "Danny tells me every week, 'He's ready Skip!' And Danny's right."

David Wade and Christian Walker are masterfully holding down the front end of the bullpen, as little as a team playing .241 ball needs one, while journeymen like Adrian Horn, Jimmy Fisher, and knuckleballer Yoshimatsu Miyauchi soak up all the innings the Pikemen find themselves behind the 8-ball. Although the organization's AAA and AA teams have another wave of role players ready to step in for injuries or to replace traded players, centerfield depth at those levels is so thin that AAA Man of a Half Dozen Positions Sergio Rodriguez was called up to back up the raw, moderately talented Strickland. Sergio endures.

So, traversing ice floes it will be until the 2058 and 2059 seasons arrive. Perhaps some of the floes carrying primetime players will drift off to teams that can better use their talents. Spring is in the air, but it's feeling more like a long, brutal winter in Rockville.