Campbell Ousted as Manager in Tempe

[Apollos]

July 6th, 2037: In a move that came as a surprise to noone today, the struggling Tempe Apollos sacked Manager Jason Campbell on the heels of a 7-3 loss to the Kalamazoo Badgers. Sitting at 40-41 on the season and 12 games back of the Desert Hills-leading Aurora Borealis, the Tempe front office had grown impatient with Campbell’s seeming inability to steer the Apollos to a winning record. Tempe announced they will promote Miguel Lozano, the club’s accomplished Manager from their Short Season A affiliate in Whitehorse.



Campbell was hired by the club during the 2033-34 offseason and lauded for his personable attitude and ability to connect with players, though his lack of more heavy-handed disciplinarian techniques may have ultimately been his undoing as he has faced increased calls over the last two seasons to take a harder line with his players. Seen as a developmentally-focused coach who could squeeze the most out of a young, developing roster, it was expected that Campbell would provide extra teaching to refine a group of young, lauded prospects into star and contributing members of the current Apollos club. Instead, many of those young prospects now in the early part of their careers have appeared to remain stuck in neutral either repeating past performance or in some cases, trending in the wrong direction.



Campbell ends his Tempe tenure with a cumulative record of 248-319 though it must be noted that the club improved its record in every season under his stewardship, going from 60 to 72 to 76 wins over the preceding three seasons. Still, much was expected from this club and the front office indicated prior to the league’s opening day that their baseline expectation was for Tempe to be competitive for a wild card spot during the 2037 campaign. After a strong initial two months to the season which put the Apollos firmly in the playoff mix, a mid-June stretch which saw the club go 4-16 from 7-30 June was enough to ensure the end of Campbell’s tenure and the club drifted from a mere two games out of the top spot in the Desert Hills, to their current position of 12 back. Even more alarmingly, the offense which ranked amongst the league leaders for much of the season’s first two months, has been mired in a near lineup-wide slump and now sits firmly in the middle of the pack in all significant categories, while the pitching rotation -of which great things were expected this season- has also found itself mired in mediocrity for the better part of the campaign.



Replacing Campbell is the team’s three-time minor league coach of the year award winner, Miguel Lozano, who has deep respect within the Tempe front office. While far from a household name, Lozaon has been credited with helping develop several of the young cornerstones of the current major league roster. Despite the constant turnover at Whitehorse, Lozano has maintained a consistent winner throughout his tenure at the club, producing a winning season each year, four first place finishes in their division, and an aggregate record of 368-221, good for a nearly .625 winning percentage. Lozano, a bit more rigid than his predecessor, is expected to maintain roster continuity in large part, but has been given few long-term assurances by the Tempe GM, who instead of speaking about an anticipated long-term commitment to Lozano at a hastily arranged press conference, appeared to lay out the terms by which he would be judged in this, his first big league coaching experience: “Miguel has been a solid contributor to our organization and we have confidence in his ability to wring the most wins out of this roster in 2037, but our expectations for this club remain unchanged, now and going into the future.”



Lozano will have his work cut out for him as the club begins another difficult month in July with series against playoff competitors Crystal Lake, Duluth, Reno, and Shin Seiki. A rocky start to his managerial career could put him on thin ice heading into the stretch drive, and without an interim tag on his title, nor a long-term commitment from the front office, it is possible that Lozano’s future with the club will be determined solely in how he guides the Apollos over the season’s remaining three months.