2046-6 The One That Got Away

[indiansfan]

The One That Got Away

This story isn’t about anyone on the Calgary Pioneers. Well nobody on the team now, but it is about a guy that the team had high hopes for. He got a shot, maybe not enough of one and then the team gave up on him too early. He’s the guy that got away.

This player was drafted by the team in the 4th round of the 2034 draft. It was not a particular good draft for Calgary with no real prizes taken that year. This player was drafted for his glove, with the view that he might make it as a utility player. That was if he learned how to hit.

He spent 2 seasons at Rookie ball and another at Short A, along with 3 seasons in the now defunct Winter League. He was not remarkable other than winning a FPL Great Glove Award at 2B in 2037. That earned him a bump up to Quebec (A Ball) where he spent the next season and a half. He learned how to hit and the team took notice, moving him to AA Duluth midway through the 2038 season.

After hitting .298 in Quebec and .305 in Duluth, the team moved him up to AAA St. Pau; the next season. At 22 years old he was on track to make it to the big leagues and he didn’t disappoint. While he didn’t hit like he did in Duluth, he hit well enough to keep his glove in the lineup as he learned to play the infield positions. He even got a call up to Calgary in September.

The next season, to his great disappointment, he spent the whole year at AAA and even got ignored in September. Finally in 2041, now 24, he got the chance he had been waiting for and spent the entire season in the BBA. Except it wasn’t the break he hoped for. He spent the whole season on the bench, waiting for an injury to give him his shot, but it never happened. He only got into 24 games and just 3 as a starter. The end of the bench was as far as he got in Calgary.

Back to the minors for the whole 2042 season and finally the Pioneers waived him to make room on the 40 man roster. He got picked up by Charlotte and of course it was back to AAA for another season. It looked like he was destined to go down as a good glove, no hit AAAA guy. Another time on the waiver wire in 2044 and another new team when San Antonio picked him up, but this time it was different.

In San Antonio he was really going to get a shot with a team that respected defense. He stuck on the major league roster as a utility man and actually got to start 50 games over the next 2 years. He proved he had a BBA glove, but the .239 batting average saw him get released into free agency in November 2045. Of course he did get a Landis ring in San Antonio, so no matter what else happened he forever could say that he played on a Landis winning team. This could have been the end of the line, but as he closed in on his 29th birthday the BBA world had one last surprise for him.

On December 17th, he got a 2 year, $2.2 million Christmas present from the Phoenix Talons. Now that is utility player money, but it meant he had another chance to make it in the BBA and if not, he could live off it for awhile. To his surprise, maybe to everyone’s surprise, he came out of Spring Training as the team’s starting shortstop!

In 2046 Ian Patrick Anderson started 156 games for the Phoenix Talons. He only hit .214, but he stuck in the starting lineup all season. The gave him his chance, because of his glove and he didn’t let them down. He led JL shortstops in Total Chances, Put Outs, was 2nd in Assists, Games Started and 3rd in Double Plays. Most importantly he posted an 18.3 ZR topping 2nd place Ignacio Venegas, of Calgary, by 5.1 points. For his efforts Anderson will be awarded the JL Zimmer Award for shortstop this year to go along with his Landis ring. He will never grace the galleries of the BBA HOF, but he now has more to show for his career than most BBA draftees ever get.

Footnote. Phoenix lost out by 1 game to Calgary for the final JL Wild Card spot, so Venegas got to play in October instead of Anderson. I guess you can’t win them all.