October 22, 2063 — Pearls Win Cup, Gold Have Nothing to Hang Their Heads About
The silence in the Golden Palace is unfamiliar.
For the first time in weeks, there’s no bat crack, no thunderous crowd, no scoreboard theatrics. Just the echo of a season ending not with a roar, but a quiet exhale.
The Johannesburg Gold fell short in the Grand Slam Cup by Denny’s, Marko, and Subaru, losing to the Tokyo Pearls in six hard-fought games. But don’t mistake the silence for failure. What this team accomplished under first-year general manager Graham Luna is nothing short of a miracle.
From fourth place to division champions. From afterthought to championship contender. From "maybe next year" to "we’re here now."
Let’s take a moment to remember how they got there—and how close they came.
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Game-by-Game: A War in Six Acts
Game 1: Joburg Jumps Ahead - Gold 5, Pearls 2
The opener at Manama Fields belonged to Johannesburg, and Kiminobu Seki made sure of it. The right-hander pitched six strong innings, giving up just two runs and striking out five, while navigating traffic like a Tokyo taxi driver at rush hour. Offensively, the Gold flexed their depth. Rookie Emilio Cordero opened the scoring with a solo shot in the 4th, then Essam bin Eisa and Derek Folland tacked on timely hits in a 3-run inning. Tokyo fought back to tie it, but Folland’s RBI single in the 6th and a James Belinda insurance run sealed it. Seki exited with a lead, and the bullpen trio of Jay Chapman, Edward Johnson, and Cesar Torres made it stick. It was the perfect start on foreign soil.
Game 2: Buckley Strikes Back - Pearls 8, Gold 3
Game 2 got out of hand fast. Tokyo's middle of the order -- Angwin, Le Gal, and Buckley -- went 8-for-13 and collectively carved up Max Dawe. The Gold righty gave up four runs in 4.2 innings before giving way to the bullpen. Offensively, Johannesburg scratched across three runs, including a late homer from Callum Montgomerie, but it wasn’t enough to erase the early damage. “Every team loses,” Gold manager Sanchez said postgame. “It’s how you bounce back that counts.” Series tied, but momentum shifted.
Game 3: Le Gal’s Blast Flips the Script - Pearls 4, Gold 2
Back at the Golden Palace, the Gold hoped home cooking would spark a surge. Instead, it was Jules Le Gal serving dinner, as his 2-run homer in the 7th inning off Fabiao Marcha broke a 2–2 tie. Gold starter Aaron Bridges had a weird night: 5 walks, just 2 runs allowed. Yue-jiu Lai exited early for Tokyo with a “dead arm,” leaving the door open, but Johannesburg couldn’t capitalize. Simao Hayagawa briefly ignited the crowd with a solo shot in the 6th, but the bats cooled just as fast. Tokyo led the series, 2–1.
Game 4: The Heartbreaker - Pearls 3, Gold 2 (12 innings)
A classic. And a heartbreaker. After a sleepy five innings, the Pearls broke through in the top of the 6th with two runs courtesy of singles from Kelander and Espinoza. Down 2–0 in the 9th, the Gold summoned late-inning magic: a string of singles, capped by Folland’s game-tying knock. But in the 12th, with Torres out of gas after 35 pitches, Edward Johnson entered and saw his first pitch skip past his catcher. Wild pitch. Kelander scores. 3–2, final. Pearls expand series lead, 3 game to 1.
Game 5: Seki’s Swan Song - Pearls 4, Gold 0
The worst kind of loss: wasted brilliance. Seki was nearly untouchable through 6.1 innings: nine strikeouts, no runs, vintage stuff. But after fanning Angwin to start the 7th, he slammed his glove into the mound and exited with what turned out to be a torn labrum. The air left the building. Reliever Claudio Garcia melted in the 8th, giving up four straight hits, including a two-run bomb by Tristan Lloyd. Just like that, Tokyo was up 4–1 in the series and Johannesburg’s ace 2063 status in question.
Game 6: The Final Blow - Pearls 8, Gold 6 (10 innings)
A fittingly dramatic finale. Adam MacDonald set the tone with a leadoff walk, then stole second. Belinda drove him in, and Jo’burg led early. After another Belinda RBI in the 5th and clutch hits by Montgomerie and Folland in the 8th, the Gold took a 4–2 lead to the bottom half. But Jonathan Jenkins rocked Johnson for a back-breaking three-run homer, giving the Pearls a 6–4 edge. Hamza bin Uthman gave Gold fans one last jolt of hope, a two-out, two-run homer in the 9th to tie it. But in the 10th, Michael Buckley singled, and Matthew Ewing walked it off with a majestic shot to right-center. 8–6. Curtain closed. Pearls win the Cup.
Series: 5–1, Tokyo.
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Luna’s Leap
You won’t find GM Graham Luna raising the trophy, but you will find fingerprints all over this run.
He inherited a team with a soft lineup, middling payroll, and no clear direction. What did he do?
He signed Juan Anaya out of baseball purgatory. He trusted rookies like Cordero. He traded for Dima Rozinov. He rebuilt the bullpen, overhauled the bench, and—quietly—instilled belief.
After the Game 6 loss, Luna stood in the hallway outside the locker room for a long time, chatting with staff and consoling players.
“We came one step short,” he told me later. “That stings. But if you told me in March we’d be six wins from a title? I’d have asked what you were smoking. We’re not done. We’ve built something here. And next year, we want more than a taste.”
There is a chance the Gold will be without Seki to start next year, but this group isn’t going away. Not with Hayagawa, MacDonald, and Torres. Not with Luna at the helm.
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Final Thoughts: It Still Shines
Losing stings. That’s the tax you pay for caring. But don’t let the disappointment obscure what just happened.
The Johannesburg Gold shattered every expectation. They made history. And most importantly, they proved to themselves -- and to you, the fans -- that this franchise is no longer a punchline or a placeholder.
They’re contenders. They’re coming.
And next year, they’ll be back with unfinished business.
See you in the spring.
–Jakob
