82

[Ghosts]

Niihama, Japan – September 30, 2035

Vanni Bruno sat, sort of, teetering on the edge of his seat in the owner’s box of Oikake Maze. He was surrounded by staff, for the most part, along with a few guests that could have been his granddaughters if one were paying attention only to age. The game that had his attention so perfectly undivided was taking place over 9,000 km away, at Jurassic Park in Fargo, North Dakota, USA. Vanni, though, felt as though the game was taking place within his eyes. He was as connected to this game as he was to an A.C. Milan match as a child – glued to his family’s one black and white televisione with the rabbit ears and big thick dials to change between the three channels it could pick up. Immersed as he was, he could barely register the cool, calculated discussion between his GM and assistant GM.

“How long will Harris let Middleton struggle, do you think?” Vanessa asked, in as much a speaking tone as an inquisitive one. She had become a bit more sardonic since taking the reigns as assistant GM, which might have been an effect of working for Vail, or perhaps of the stress the position entailed, or perhaps still just the natural evolution of a baseball mind. Vail, for his part, had come to take up a more upbeat persona since his near-firing.

“He’s been the player we want for a good month now. Harris won’t have to do a thing,” the 5th year Niihama GM announced. Neither broke their gaze from the digital monstrosity that curved about the back of Oikake Maze, relaying the game from across the planet. With a 7-3 lead going into the bottom of the 9th, there was confidence that the game would end in their favor, but no one was celebrating yet. It was game 162. It would be the final game of the 2035 season, one which saw the Ghosts fall flat on their collective faces as they went 10-17 in April and 11-16 in May, putting them 17 games back before June. They were still outpaced by the league-leading Toyoma Wind Dancers, and now stood 23 games back of the division, but they were on such a torrid winning pace since late August that they now owned the second best record in the SL after the all-star break. More to the point of the moment, though, at 81-80, they stood on the brink of their first winning season in PEBA.

Ernest “The Professor” Middleton opened the season as the Ghosts closer, only to lose that job, and eventually his roster spot, as he suffered late-inning calamity after late-inning calamity early on in the season. Squaring off against Alfonso Gonzalez, he fired an opening strike. His next two missed, and on the 2-1 offering, Gonzalez fouled the pitch back. Vanessa Chambers furrowed her brow reflexively and leaned toward the screen, a perfect mimic of her father’s managerial grimace. Middleton fired a fastball at waist level, leaving Gonzalez to swing and miss badly, and retiring the first of the requisite triad that might solidify this effervescent feeling that these Ghosts might actually be the real deal.

Perhaps it was fitting that Middleton was pitching these last few outs, Vail mused. So many of the Ghosts youth had struggled terribly to adjust to the majors or recapture their rookie success: Stowe, MacVurich, Yamashita… Middleton was just one example of the inconsistency that plagued the team early on. Yet, here he was, at the end, meeting expectations and competing. His young core had failed miserably and then proceeded to perform wildly. The veterans followed suit. The energy in the clubhouse was vibrant, but Vail knew all too well that it could evaporate in an instant.

Fernando Valdez stood in, the power-hitting catcher pinch hitting as the Dinosaurs only had two outs left to give. A slider that ran long and away was Middleton’s first toss. The second appeared, to Vanni’s dilated eyes, a changeup that Valdez popped weakly to first base, a playable foul. Gilberto Fernandez secured it with ease, and the Ghosts were one out away.

Chambers eyed Pat Watson as he settled into the batter’s box. She’d led preliminary trade talks for him toward the end of last season. He performed well for the third consecutive year, playing in more games than he had since 2030, proving she wasn’t crazy for pursuing him. Ultimately, the price wasn’t right and Fargo preferred to keep the so-called “glass god”. C’est la vie. Three straight balls put Watson exactly where he liked to be, well ahead of the count where he can pick his pitch. The fourth offering, a fastball, caught him off guard and he let it pass for strike one. Maybe he didn’t think Middleton had the guts to throw heat right down the middle? The next pitch, off speed, Watson fouled down the line. 3-2. Come on, Professor. A repeat offering and again, Watson, heels back for a fastball, jumped ahead of it and fouled it away. Ok, kid, he’s all yours. A slider found its mark, and Watson clipped it, chopping it roughly toward 2B Esteban Rodriguez. The Jaguar scooped it cleanly and tossed it to Fernandez. Ballgame.

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Vanni whooped and slapped his knees. Vail stood, a little quicker than was typical and extended a hand toward Vanessa. They’d made the Ghosts PEBA winners for the first time. She stood and grasped it tightly, her mind already racing over the offseason to come. With unnerving cavalierness, Vanni produced what appeared to be an authentic katana – from where neither Vail nor Chambers had the faintest idea – and decapitated an unsuspecting bottle of champagne. Technically, sparkling wine Vanessa couldn’t help but note to herself. Vanni dumped the bottle atop a tower of glassware, repeating the swordplay twice more before distributing the crudely filled glasses among his special guests and closest staff.

“It is with the most grand and humble gratitude, gratitudine, kansha that I raise my glass tonight,” Vanni didn’t bother to restrain the tears welling up in his eyes as he beamed with the brightness few but children could muster. “Tonight, the humble Niihama-shi Ghosts… cast aside while others from the League of the Rising Sun proved worthy adversaries to baseball’s highest level of competition… forgotten, neglected, and disrespected… a dwarf among giants… now stand before you as WINNERS!” Vanni hoisted his glass in the air with such vigor that he hurled the contents out of it. Smiling widely and exchanging his glass, he raised it once again and shouted across the vast, emptiness of Oikake Maze, “TO 82! SALUD!”

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[Borealis]

BRAVO!!

What a great year for the Ghosts - just one more piece added to the super-competitive SL!