Sticking Points 2059.2: Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

[JimSlade]

The call was placed. Rockville Pikemen GM Jim Slade was greeted by the voice of 19-year-old catcher Antonio Meadows. Slade was excited to let the young man know that he was the team's first pick in the 2059 amateur draft, but it was a recording. He could only leave a message.

"He had to know why I was calling," says Slade days after the conclusion of the draft and some devastating news for the Pikemen organization, "but this was a big moment for our organization. We wanted to share the news in real time."

The team tried calling a few minutes later, then sent a vague, upbeat text. "We figured he was gathering his family and friends, so they could celebrate the moment with him," continues Slade, "but...nope."

The draft crept forward, as rumors started to swirl on social media. Forest fires in his hometown of San Bernadino, California? Family emergency? Offer to play in Korea?

"We're now into the 4th round," Slade explains. "It feels like a week has passed. We're long past being cute. We've left messages letting Antonio know he's our guy. We're not hearing back from his agent. His college coach hasn't heard from him."

The scouting staff tracks down some of his college teammates. They're stumped. Slade and his staff have never experienced anything like this. "Things had gotten so weird," he says, "that there could only be a simple explanation, something we could laugh about for years to come."

Then the first indications of a deeper issue began to emerge. Journalists found a series of 2057 tweets from Meadows' Theta account, when he was a high school junior, in which he railed against his school's refusal to let him conduct catcher mound visits in Latin.

"I’ve been very vocal in my love and devotion to the Latin mound visit," read one of Meadows' tweets, "and its necessity for the game. But what I think gets misunderstood is that catchers and coaches who make LMVs do so out of pride or preference. This simply is not true. We do so because we feel this is the purest way to express the inner workings of the game. Plus, I feel stupid putting my glove over my mouth, as if there's really anyone lip-reading in the opponent's dugout."

Meadows' dormant social media posts also included tirades against locker room group showers and a declaration that a woman's "most glorious position in sports is that of a sideline reporter."

Retweets of Meadows' LMV posts eventually led to a press release from the Order of Carthusians Baseball Association (OCBA). In dense and arcane language it stated, essentially, that Meadows had committed his life to the order and would be joining the OCBA's Whitby Abbey franchise, where LMVs are the norm.

The Pikeman organization was stunned. "I respect a person's vow of silence," Slade concludes, "but come on. Send up a puff of smoke. Something. Anything."

[Jwalk100]

Caleca worthy!

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