This was the scene early yesterday outside of the front offices of the Tokyo Pearls baseball club of the GBC. The Keishichō
secret police had executed a raid on the Pearls front office, on suspicion of a duplicitous General Manager who is charged with illegaly operating a baseball team as a gōdō kaisha under the Japanese Companies Act of 2006. To put it simply, under Japanese law, a baseball team is not to be run under the pretext of an LLC, or limited liability corporation. Once that was announced, pretty much everyone in the baseball universe turned their eyes toward the GM of a certain LLC based in Central Arizona.
Yep, it was the Talons Reclusive GM. Secretly running the Tokyo Pearls. Again.
Since the 2053 season, controversy has reigned about the state of the Pearls franchise in the GBC, a worldwide sub-league of the BBA. As we all know, one of the most outspoken GMs in that league was given control of the team in exchange for his silence on the minor league age limits issue. When the GM won the 2053 GBC championship, as well as the championships at every minor league level, Japanese officials turned a blind eye as it was good for the publicity of the region. Later, however, as the team lost in the final in 2054 and then failed to make the playoffs altogether in 2055, scrutiny of the Pearls' business practices began to mount.
The Talons GM has since been deported and his visa revoked permanently. It remains to be seen what will become of the charges, which mostly revolve around tax evasion by misstating team revenue and tax liabilities on official reports. But in the meantime, is the team any good? Well, with pitchers like Umar Doger and Jayin Ranjani, as well as hitters like Jesus Perez and prospects like Manchu Kim, anything is possible for the new incoming GM, whomever they may be. But the unlucky chap will still have to wade through a farm "system" mostly populated by 30-somethings as well as the fact that the club was unable or unwilling to sign most of its draft picks last year.
In any case, to the new GM we can only say this: Ganbare, shinjin!
