Power Struggles

[Ghosts]

Niihama, Japan – July 21, 2031

“There’s no way I’m taking Brunelle back, Steve,” Vail let slip a rare hint of exasperation as he continued, “we’re all stocked up on geriatric middle infielders.” Vail deftly muted his end of the call and announced to Vanessa Chambers, “don’t you dare tell Hurley I said that.” Chambers rolled her eyes at the joke and continued analyzing the conversation on the Ghosts behalf, as the GMs of the Niihama-shi Ghosts and New Jersey Hitmen entered the second hour of their discussion. Most people would have fallen prey to a lapse in attention, even if they were baseball fans, but Chambers was locked in. This was the first time she’d been privy to one of these conversations directly and no part of her focus even momentarily broke. She studied the men, their tones, the silly games they played back and forth, and as she did Chambers refused herself one of her great joys in life – imagining simultaneously playing both sides of a negotiation and somehow winning both. Instead, she studied the process – the money, the stats, the ratings, and even the men whose opinions and decisions shaped the course of baseball. She presumed she was probably out of her depth, but she found herself tracking the rationale for each quite easily. She had several disagreements with the men’s assessments and additional thoughts that she silently passed to Vail by scribbling on a small whiteboard. She’d hung it in her bosses bay side office in anticipation of this type of conversation.

“Nah nah nah, come on Steve – it’s Garcia OR Moody, not both and I know you know that. I’m offering the top of my bullpen, the best shortstop in the league as he’s entering his prime, AND a recent 2nd round pick – you want me to take a 38-year-old salary dump on top of that?” Vail always paced a bit during high stakes conversation. Something about the constant motion made him feel as though he were outflanking any potential anxiety.

“Steve, I just can’t sell that to Vanni, he’s already put a hold on new spending,” Vail waited patiently as his New Jersey counterpart interrupted him and repeated his logic once more. “If that’s the stance you’re going to take -” before Vail could finish his sentence, he heard an all too familiar beep emit from his phone. His call had dropped, and at an inopportune moment. I guess I’m taking a hardline Vail thought to himself, as the power in his office shut down again. His workstation, running on the battery power supply he had installed, continued to hum along, but communications were down as Niihama suffered yet another rolling brownout.

“This is getting tiresome,” Vail noted, “and that hothead in Jersey is not likely to soften after he thinks I hung up on him.

“We could try the landline,” Chambers offered.

“He won’t get it – he had all our office numbers blocked an administration or two ago – apparently my predecessors were not the most charming executives. I think we just lost the trade,” Vail slumped into his chair and began to roll up the sleeves on his shirt. The executive level, with all its windows and top floor status, rapidly became unbearably warm during these power outages. Normally, Vail would send his employees home since there was no telling when the power would return, but they were so close to landing a deal for a pair of pitching prospects that could help shape the core of youth that Vail was banking the Ghosts’ future upon. He simply didn’t want to quit.

“We could use Vanni’s satphone,” Chambers offered, well aware of the importance of this deal.

“Vanni has a satellite phone?” Vail chuckled as he asked. It seemed like such a strange thing for a baseball team owner to have in the middle of a city. “Like, in his office?”

“Yes, but he’s very secretive about it. He doesn’t know I’m aware of it and I’ve only ever heard him use it in hushed tones. I would be suspicious, but it’s Vanni – that’s not in his top ten for eccentricities,” Chambers shrugged as she explained what she knew. “I would suggest you just tell Vanni what your problem is, how important and amazing this deal is, and how all you need is a phone to secure the entire future of the Ghosts. I’d also hurry because he’s probably already on his way to the Breasted Lady,” Vanessa shuddered at the mention of her boss’s catamaran. She had long ago realized when discussing it, that saying, “It’s the tackiest name I could ever imagine,” was probably understating it, since she never would have imagined naming anything the goddamn Breasted Lady. Vanni swore it was intended to be reminiscent of the classical era statues that dotted Italy’s landscape. Vanessa, having visited Italy twice, never saw a statue that might have inspired such a name.

“Oh and as far as taking back Brunelle goes, he’s still got more in the tank and the difference in salary is barely $3M. Vanni won’t care and I think we should take him. Imagine Brunelle and Hurley hoisting the trophy that you can enshrine just before our return to PEBA. We won’t win a thing with Inman anchoring the offense,” Chambers added emphatically.

Vail looked at Chambers with a healthy dose of appreciation and nodded. “I could use your help with getting Vanni to let me use his secret phone. Care to join?” Vail gestured toward the owner’s suite.
“I’ll take point, just follow my lead,” Chambers said as she brushed past her boss and headed toward the mahogany-rich office of Vanni Bruno.