The Fairly Fictional Annals of a GBC, errr.. BBA GM Part 3

[Chuck V]

*NOTE I mention Mike Bauer in here and hope that I have not dimmed anybody's opinion of him. Mike was a longtime GM of Edmonton who contributed a ton of his free time to making the BBA a top online league in the OOTP world and judging by the farm system he left me, a pretty shrewd judge of talent. Any liberties I have taken are mine alone and in no way reflect my opinion of Mike.

The Airbus 660 glided smoothly and quietly in for a landing at Edmonton International Airport, the touchdown of the wheels gently waking Chuck Valenches from his sleep. The taxi to the terminal gave him a chance to close his eyes and think back on the last few weeks. It was all piling up, one on top of the other. Just a week ago he was caught up trying to untangle a mess with the Sydney Sharks that had apparently seen an agent with a number of Shark’s players he had signed all coordinating to fake injuries to not risk an actual injury before the group of four or five players was signed as a block to a BBA team. Now, he was the actual GM of a BBA team. The Edmonton Jackrabbits. It came out of the blue. Long time GM Mike Bauer had resigned with little warning, expressing a desire to spend more time with his family. A very long distance phone call later and Chuck was on the phone with Jackrabbits owner Jim Leonard. A few phone calls and an emailed contract later and Chuck found himself as the new GM of the Edmonton Jackrabbits. His dream had come true. He was back in the BBA and this time he was the one at the top. This was his chance to build a team from the ground up and in looking at the roster on the flight here, it looks like few teams were closer to the ground than the Edmonton Jackrabbits. The team had gone 65-97 in 2058 and had never competed in any area. They were near the bottom in runs scored, runs allowed and defense. Outside of pitching hitting and catching, everything was great. To further complicate matters, the player development department had absolutely imploded when Mark Bauer left. Really, not much of a surprise, when a popular GM like Mike Bauer leaves, there will always be a few that will leave as well out of loyalty and Bauer had a very good reputation in the league. But this situation was ridiculous. His third base coach had left, his AAA manager and pitching coach had left, his entire AA staff had hit the exits. The A Ball Charlesbourg Hitting coach had skedaddled and the entire Rookie League staff had bailed as well. Valenches was going to have to fill the rosters and more than half his minor league coaching staff.

The bell sounded to let him know he could exit the plane so Valenches grabbed his hastily packed bag and leather backpack and headed for the exit. Shortly after stepping on to the moving sidewalk a ragged looking young man with a Qube vaulted over the sidewalk guard rail in front of Chuck and stuck the Qube in his face. “Geoffrey Moddejonge, Edmonton Noramco Sun dot Com! Can you tell me if Alonso Chavez will be out of a job?” He said the entire thing in one breath. No pauses.
“Who the hell are you?” said Valenches.
“GeoffreyModdejongeEdmontonNorancoSundotcom!WillAlonsoChavezbefired?”
“Slow down kid, you’ll stroke out. Are you in anyway related to Gerry Moddenjonge who used to cover the Jackrabbits30 years ago?”
“That’s my father.” Said Geoffrey, his eyes lighting up at the recognition.
“Your dad was a piece of shit and an even worse writer. He didn’t know the first thing about baseball and most people we are passing by on this sidewalk have more brains in the head of their dick than your dad had in his entire fucking body.” Valenches moved to step around the young man. “Is that not a nice way to say I have no comment at this time? Because I don’t. I haven’t even been to the stadium yet. I’m sure we will put out a statement and have a press conference soon.”
He kept walking, leaving the writer slack jawed behind him, stunned like he had been hit between the eyes with a baseball bat. Valenches eventually grabbed his bag off the carousel and walked outside to the pickup lane. A man in a yellow sports coat with the Edmonton logo on the front was holding a sign that read “Chuck Valenchez”. Chuck walked up to him.
“I hope that’s not how they spelled my name on my business cards”
“Are you Chuck Valenches our new GM?” replied the driver. He was just a kid and seemed nervous.
“One and the same” Chuck, out of the corner of his eye saw the Edmonton reporter sprinting for the doors, so he quickly got in the car.
“Let’s head to the stadium and” he said pointing at the reporter sprinting his way, “if he gets in the way, feel free to run him over. And if you are not sure you hit him, back up and try again.”
The young man in the Jackrabbits coat looked nervously at Valenches and then gave the command for the car to move.
Chuck, in the back seat, opened his back pack and took out a larger Qube and began flipping through it. He stopped and looked up at the reflection of the driver in the rear view mirror.
“What’s your name son?”
“Jimmy Gaultier sir.”
“Nice to meet you, Jimmy. Have you worked for the Trappers long?”
“About three years sir. I started out working in the clubhouse and just this last year moved up to Baseball Operations. I’m mostly a gofer right now, but I’m trying to learn all that I can.”
“Starting in the clubhouse is a great way to start. You see just how human these players can be and how they act when the cameras are not on. 95% are good guys just trying to survive in the game and working hard to get better.” He stared out the window and looked at the Edmonton skyline. “Is Sherlock Holmes still open?”
“No sir. They closed a few years ago.”
“Damn, they had a good Shepherd’s pie.”
Just about then the car pulled into AGLC Field. The AGLC stood for Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Field. Valenches mused that with the record of the Jackrabbits the last few years, drugs and liquor may not have been the worst thing to get through the season.
Chuck exited the car and turned towards Jimmy.
“What part of the ballpark do you work in Jimmy?”
“I’m all over, making copies, getting coffee, but normally I am in Mr. Roberson’s office, or, at least, outside of it.”
“Mark Roberson, the Assistant GM?”
“Yes sir”
Valenches began walking towards the Administrative Offices door, nodding to himself and at the door stopped an turned back to the car, “Make sure you try and get some duties that have you do more than just fetching coffee. Knowing what pitches an opposing pitcher throws is a hell of a lot more important than knowing what type of coffee he drinks”. Having imparted these final words of wisdom, Valenches turned and entered his new home.
Inside the waiting area was the owner of the Edmonton Jackrabbits, Jim Leonard. He was a capable looking man, a bit younger than Chuck, who was in his early nineties. Leonard stepped forward and greeted Valenches with a firm handshake. “Welcome aboard Chuck. I’ve gotten excellent reports on you from my sources in the league and I thoroughly enjoyed picking your brain in our Qube conversations. I am looking forward to seeing what you can do with our team.”
Valenches looked around. At the front desk, where 56-year-old Mrs. Falmour would be manning the phones and greeting visitors in Sydney, here the front desk was manned by a gorgeous red head, at the most in her 20’s, wearing a headset that would put the controllers at NASA to shame. The lobby was fitted out in expensive furniture, expensive carpet and at the center a display case displaying the Edmonton Jackrabbits three Monty Brewster Memorial Championship Trophy’s.
Leonard saw Chuck eyeing the trophies. “I want you to bring me another one of those trophies Chuck. Do you think you can do it?”
“I think that we have a lot of work to do and every move I make, every player I scout, sign, trade, promote, demote, release or pick up on waivers will be done with one goal in mind. Winning a championship.
“Fine”, said the Jackrabbits owner, “Let’s go to my office and discuss how you plan to do that.

[RT60]

Looking forward to seeing what happens in Alberta.

[JRamirez]

Is there supposed to be a part one or two?

[Chuck V]

They are actually in the Sydney Sharks forum. I will copy and paste them over here. Or I could pretend I have Quentinin Tarantinoesque qualities and I am just doing the story out of order, ala Pulp Fiction.

[JRamirez]

Ohhhh, okay. I thought they must be somewhere else but didn't know where to look