11/01/2018

Kuwana, Japan

Tricia Takanawa

I come to you from the Steel Fire Stadium this afternoon. I saw the head of the Kuwana Steel Dragons organization Michael Chance enter a conference room followed but as many as 20 individuals, all of whom are either employees or media. GM Mark Kierstead, Manager Jun’ichi Okabe, and team scout Cristóbal Hernández were among them. As I entered the room all of them had just seated themselves at multiple tables.

Michael Chance stood, glass in hand scanning the room to make sure he had full attention. He took a sip and put the glass down on the table.

“Today we leave a disastrous 2018 season behind and look forward to 2019. Sure there are a few more things to do in 2018, but the outlook is for 2019 and beyond. It is never too early to improve and make moves. In the League of The Rising Sun we have what I like to call magic numbers. 25 and 35 are mine. 25 is the number of dedicated players who will be on our main roster. These men are here to win and help this organization make money and be successful. Without those 25 we might as well not even be here. 35 is the number of men who lead us into playoff contention, something we have not seen in years. I miss the taste of playoff contention, just as much as you all. Today is the beginning of a new era. I have put together a 4 Phase plan with our GM Mark Kierstead, as well as the other coaches here today. Mark, tell them what we have to look forward to.”

Michael Chance unbuttoned his jacket and took a seat as GM Mark Kierstead pushed his chair back to stand. He opened a thick binder he had in front of him and handed some papers out to the various coaches and personnel around the table. He turned to the media and said.

“You’ll get your copies later.”

He looked back at the table as many of the personnel were smiling and nodding at what they were reading. Kierstead opened to the first page and began to speak.

“On page one you will see the magic number 25 and the positions that encompass that number. Catcher, 1^st Base, 2^nd Base, 3^rd Base, Shortstop, Left Field, Right Field, Center Field, 4 Utility positions. Next you will see 5 Starter spots, 1 Closer position and 7 Relief Positions. As you see next to them you have an empty name slot. As of right now have no one slotted to play in 2019. As Michael said this is a ground up rebuild. We are going to put together the best team possible during this rebuild phase. Now if you will give your attention to team scout Cristóbal Hernández.”

Kierstead sat down as Hernández stood up. He flipped a page that read Phase 1in bold. Hernández looked around a bit before saying the following.

“With our Phase 1 protocol all players will scouted and reevaluated on a monthly basis. We know this rebuild is going to take time but we want quality players on this team. Players will now be allowed to work out 7 days a week, except on holidays. Players will be handed dietary books on how to eat healthy and the cafeteria will be serving only healthy foods from now on. This should help the players feel better as well as play better through out the season. Phase 1 will introduce a new open door policy. Mr. Chance and Mr. Kierstead will now be available anytime during business hours. Players who have any questions or complaints can now take them to the higher authorities. Thank you all.”

Hernández smiled and sat down. The room had a small applause as well. Mr. Chance folded over a few papers and began to talk about Phase 2. He stayed seated this time while saying.

“Thank you Cristóbal, Phase 2 is our new drafting strategies.”

“We will have a new no gaijin draft rule. No draft pick should ever be used on a non-Japanese player. Premium Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance or (PEBA) players we can pick up through free agency. The days are over of us spending a valuable pick on anything other than quality of home grown Japan players. We are not saying gaijin players who play over here are bad. When Kierstead drafted LF Nimulodi Chekhemani (2012) who now plays for Edo Battousai, is an example of great player who is gaijin. I have money and if I need to fill a spot I will pay for it simple as that.

Mr. Chance flips to what looks like a final few pages. Sips some more water and proceeds to read again.

“Phase 3 is one of my pride and joys; this is the expansion of the stadium. Steel Fire stadium is getting an overhaul. We are adding new venders and it will have the hottest cleats on the market, The Hobo Vapor Elite. Having a shoe vender can give the fans a chance to wear that same shoe. Fans can buy them at a discounted price at the stadium and our online store. We are also going to add a water park in the center field area. This way fans can play in the water and look out for those homers.

Phase 3 also entails our Kuwana Club Card. The Kuwana Club Card will let fans earn free seats, give discounts for everything paid for online or at the stadium. It is a point system we invented to give back to the fans. Tricia Takanawawill have more on that in a minute. This was just a new look at what is going down here at Kuwana. Fans should be happy and ecstatic. Tricia The floor is yours.”

Michael sits down as I walked over and slid my booklet on the table as well as a PowerPoint presentation.

“This is more of a Phase 4 than a phase 3, as we came up with ideas as we went along. The Kuwana Club Card will be released by seasons end. Those who wish to sign up can go online or when they enter the stadium. This weekend we will have a release party for the Kuwana Club Card. All your favorite players will be there as well as Mr. Chance and Mr. Kierstead. The card is on a point system. Everything you buy gets you 10% back in points.

This enables you to use points later on to buy drinks, tickets, jerseys, footwear, etc. at the 1000 points you can buy 2 tickets. Fans who decide to become season ticket holders will get the card free. The card will be prices at $5.00 per family. That way any one in the family can use it. You will sign up online with your name and up to 5 other family members. Your address, phone number, and credit card info.

Each family member 13 years or older will get a card. Each card will have it’s own number. For those who do become season ticket holders your card will come with a player of your choices signature on the front. We want our fans to get the most out of their money. Thank you for your time and I look forward to the reveal later this week. “

I go and take my seat back with the other media, I get a few glares but I am used to it. Mr. Chance stands up and starts to speak.

“So as you all see we have major changes coming, these 4 phases will make Kuwana the place to be. Fans will have a better stadium than ever. We will be able to see more and more, the final number is yet to be finalized but I have high hops for a few thousand more. Thank you all for coming and I will take some question from the media after everyone clears out. Mark will also be here to take a few.”

The place explodes with applause with a standing ovation. The media gather around the two chairs that sit Mr. Chance and Mr. Kierstead. Both of who look to be very happy. They chatter a bit before their first question is asked.

Chance: Just so we are clear we have only enough time for a handful of questions.

“Hi There, Takahiro from ESPN Japan. How can you do a ground up build with such Chikusho players?”

A fiery Mr. Chance was about to reply and Kierstead interrupted him.

Kierstead: Listen this is a kids place and to use words like that really irk us. I am saddened that ESPN would let you, I will be calling corporate after we are done. To answer your question though, we are building from the ground up. We will have the best players we can have. We want this new set of players incoming to be our support setting for the next 5-10 years. We will do that by drafting highly scouted players and signing popular players who can help out.

Chiro Times: The Kuwana Card Club, Does this open up jobs for the local area, If so how many jobs?

Chance: Great question, much better than the ESPN guy. We are bough a lot across from he stadium two months ago. That lot has been outfitted with the best computer money can buy as well as 100 cubicles. We are going to have 100-115 jobs from manager to customer service reps working 24/7, 7 days a week.

Takanawa Times: With the new seats, what can we look for? Is the section going to have a name?

Kierstead: Awesome question hu… Tricia. The construction for the seats has to be approved by the league, but we are looking to add a few thousand seats. If we are approved for those seats it will be Kudo’s Corner. Before every home game Taro Kudo will go up and meet and greet the fans. This section will be expanded upon over the years.

Chance: I want to thank you for your time but we have to get going. Please look for our Kuwana Club Card reveal and more info on Stadium Seat expansion in the near future.