Montserrat Has ‘Tugboat’ to Troll The Caribbean

[Borealis]

Montserrat Has ‘Tugboat’ to Troll The Caribbean
by Francis Ferry, NLN baseball beat writer

December 12, 2032: Little Bay, Montserrat – A boisterous crowd surrounded the dock at the brand-spanking new port in Little Bay, cheering as a clearly old, and yet cleaned a spiffy looking tugboat motored into port. As the boat was tied down to the dock on a sparkling December day in the Caribbean – temperatures in the high 70’s, slight breezes rustling the palms, out of the deckhouse, wearing a Mystiques jersey and cap was the clubs new manager, duffing his cap to the crowd as they cheered once more.

Today the Aurora Borealis introduced their new Rookie League manager to the local community – former-Aurora Ace, Randy ‘Tugboat’ Smith – a move that surpisde no one, as it had long been expected the future-Hall of Famer would be joining Aurora’s coaching staff. It didn’t take long for Aurora GM Will Topham and Smith to iron out a lengthy 6-year deal that many expect will conclude with him moving up the chain to The Front Range.

After a 17-year career that began in Yuma and finished in Niihama-shi, Randy spent the middle 10.5 seasons with Aurora, for whom he won 150 games with a 2.66 ERA. He joins former-rotation mate Michel Provost (at Mokule’ia) as manager in the Borealis Organization.

What can we expect from ‘Tugboat’? If his last year in Aurora and Niihama are any indication, he will be a fine teacher – often seen whispering thoughts into the ears of young pitchers as how to set-up hitters – and to hitters, on reading the minds of a pitcher and catcher. Both of Aurora’s young, budding aces – Henry ‘Professor Plum’ Cluett and Brian ‘Slug’ Clark have sung the praises of their experiences with Smith – Cluett during Aurora’s 2030 playoff run and 2031 season and Clark from his Spring Training time with the big club.

When asked about his style, ‘Tugboat’ said, “You better like to work, that’s all I can say. If you aren’t willing to do the little things to improve your game, we’ll have a problem. You’ve got to work to be good at this game. That’s why I love working with the kids –often they are so eager to learn the things that will make them great.” He paused, looked at the blue sky “When I came up with Yuma, there was no one who knew what it took to win. There was me, Gunner, ‘Javelin’ – we knew we were good; we had the raw talent. Imagine what we all could have been.” Smith looked at the crowd of reporters, eyes wide “When I came to Aurora, it was like being a kid again – there was ‘Sawmill’, there was ‘Stork’ (Thornton pitching coach Ryan Holbrook), there was (Bryant) Burris – they weren’t that much older than I, but they had so much to share – from the guys before them, who shared – Kojima, ‘King’ George (Thompson, pitching coach at Mokule’ia).” Once more he looked around, excitedly “I want to continue that tradition – and this is how I best can do that – that rich tradition of sharing of knowledge that has been the root of Aurora’s success!”