A Tent in the suite (return of an old boy)

[Nigel]

I don't think the staff were too keen on being under yet another new GM, but that's how things roll in San Antonio. I’m the sixth GM of the Calzones of Laredo, probably the first franchise to have back-to-back English GM’s. Certainly, I’m the first one to trailed through the Front Office on the way to the GM’s suite with my tent kit in tow.

I've spent a long time in the dessert earning not very much in a development league and also very aware that during my last years as a PEBA GM I didn’t exactly cover myself in glory, so I’ve decided that as part of my penance (and also in support of my limited bank account) I’m going to live in the GM’s suite until such time as the league accepts me as a valued GM. Anyway, I think my office looks much better with a tent pitched in the corner.

The office is kinda homely anyway, a bit of a lived-in feel to it, not dowdy but just . . . used. Things are worn round the edges and looking a bit unloved. Calzones of Laredo have been based in the 43,000 Elysian Fields since the dawn of time, well at least since the PEBA first opened it’s doors way back in 2007. The main mark that the San Antonio side has left in all those years is mediocrity. In it’s 28 years in the league so far the Calzones have made the post season just twice, once in the league’s inaugural season and once in 2018 when they were eliminated in the Divisional round by my London Underground on the way to my only PEC triumph. In all the other years they’ve only managed just eight winning seasons, only just beating the number of seasons (6) where they’ve lost over 100 games. The last winning season was in 2027 and although San Antonio have been trying to get back on track, just one game below .500 in 2032 & 33, they’ve slipped back to only 72 wins last season.

So, that’s the size of the task, to restore not only stability to San Antonio but to restore my reputation too. From the early days in the LRS with the Kuwana Steel Dragons to the glory of PEC trophy lifting with London Underground in 2018 I was a respected PEBA GM, but things went off the rails and my reputation here is pretty much in tatters currently. Hopefully now both the Calzones and I will rise once more as the decade wears on. It’s going to be hard to do more than attempt to lay the groundwork of restructuring this season, joining San Antonio just at the start of the 2035 Spring Training, but while I might not be able to do much at the top level, I will be working hard to ensure that the minor league system improves. All five minor league affiliates suffered losing seasons last year, in fact only Joplin (AAA) and Drumright (A) have had winning seasons in the last five years. It might be hard to get the Calzones moving until the next Free Agency period, but I want to at least get some progress in the minors and get at least one of them to produce a winning season, if not more.

[Borealis]

Very good Nigel! I always like the first person narratives.