Late last season the Las Vegas Hustlers locked up SS Zebediah "Yahoo!" Williams to a team-friendly extension through the 2000 season. Williams was coming off a season in which he started 124 games at shortstop, having seemingly established himself as a MBBA starting shortstop after bouncing through three teams the past two seasons. Williams, while speedy, was never an outstanding offensive player but made his name as a defensive stud. As recently as 1996, the year he joined the Hustlers after being cast aside by the Madison Wolves, Williams was a Yogi Zimmer Glove Award winner at shortstop. In the last two years, his defensive prowess has begun to slip a little. With little offense and reducing defense, it has become clear that Williams is now best suited as a top infield reserve, defensive replacement, and pinch runner. This was the role Las Vegas initially saw for him upon bringing him in two years ago, but the lack of a viable option at shortstop changed those plans.
Enter Donald "Iron Man" Nobaru. Las Vegas made this young man the 10th overall pick in the 1995 Draft, and began grooming him for a spot at the top of the lineup. After the draft, he joined Class A Pahrump and hit .353 in his professional debut. For the 1996 season, the Hustlers moved him to Class AA Reno where he played the whole season, batting .356. Last season, Nobaru again moved up a notch on the ladder to Class AAA Marquette. True to his consistent form, Nobaru hit an even .350 last year for the Suns, and earned a late season promotion to the big league squad. He batted just .214 in limited exposure but the key was getting some big league time.
Facing a challenge this spring, Nobaru made the big league club as the last man on the 25-man roster. He watched and waited but bearu fore long manager Keith Minuso knew it was time to make a move. And so he called both the youngster Nobaru and the veteran Williams into the office in late April.
"Fellas, it's time for us to start making a transition," Minuso explained. "Zeb, you've been the veteran, you've been the youngster breaking through many years ago. And now Donny's in that spot. What we're going to do is put Donny in at short against righties, and leave Zeb in against lefties."
As Nobaru smiled with nervous excitement, Williams always present smile faded into disappointment. "I'll talk to my agent," Williams said, and walked out.
Minuso took the opportunity to talk to Nobaru about what just happened. "I've seen it before, I've been there before when I played, Donny," Minuso said. "I gave up at-bats to Pete Maneri back in '79 and I was mad at first, talked about a trade, and then realized it was best for me to worry about the team first and myself second. And here I am 20 years later managing the club, and having to make a similar decision. Work with Yahoo!, but give him time to adjust. He'll come to you when he's ready."
Nobaru nodded. And a new era began.