A Crock of Gunt: The Tophams
KOA Radio 850
7/12/2011: Aurora, Colorado – Mark Gunter and George Crocker sat down with Borealis President Michael Topham and his son, GM Will Topham, prior to the PEBA 2011 All-Star Game to learn more about the new Aurora owners, their thoughts about the season, the PEBA and their plans for the future.
Gunter: Welcome to A Crock of Gunt, a daily show in which I, Mark Gunter, and my co-host…
Crocker: Hey, that’s me, George Crocker! Call me the copilot!
Gunt: Thanks George… we’ve met some interesting members of the Borealis family thus far and have discussed the season, their careers, interests, just about anything…
Crock: Anything! And dude, it’s been, like, crazy, man! Today’s going to be REAL special. Today we catch up with new
Gunt: First off, I guess we can all welcome each other to Aurora, as we are all new to the organization.
Mike: Yes indeed. Thank you so much for inviting us to your show. If the first half is any indication, we are in for a wild season.
Crock: Yep. A 66-23 record and a 9-game lead so far. Are you ready to proclaim “job over” in the Desert Hills?
Mike: Not quite yet, George. We are encouraged by the performance thus far. Jim White, John Knight and Wilson Berry got off to quick starts. Mark Richardson’s injuries are in the past and he’s heating up. White signing a contract extension was the last act as GM that Chris Rodriguez made, and I have no qualms about that move. A solid signing.
Gunt: Speaking of GMs, I understand there is a lot of tension already between the two of you. Would you care to speculate why that might be?
Will: He’s a jerk. You know what he said…
Mike: Well, first and foremost, we must look at things from a humanitarian perspective. Chris must surly be in shock. His father dies and the family business that he put his heart and soul into is taken away. Then he loses control of the very decision-making process that allowed him to build a dynasty in the PEBA. I think we can all sympathize over the angry feelings he must have. But let’s not discuss this. We’re here to discuss the team.
Crock: So let me get this straight. You buy the team and put your teenage son in charge. How much did the kid pay you? Did he, like, promise to wash the toilets for a year? What’s up with that?
Will: Ew… groady! Nah, I told him to keep the allowance and pay me half of what Chris made. Big bucks, baby! (rubbing hands together)
Mike: No, nothing like that. It’s not as if he’s had a totally free reign here. I’m keeping an eye on him, and I want Chris to work with him too. I think when Chris is ready to move forward, he will have a lot to teach Will from the business prospective. And he has been involved; even with his… colorful complaints, he’s been important and a contributor. The Tophams plan to be in Colorado for a long time, and Chris is welcome.
Gunt: So why the move? Why not leave Chris in charge if you planned on retaining him?
Mike: As I said at the announcement in April, I believe that learning the ins and outs of the business at an early age gives you an advantage. Will has a lot to learn, but so did I when I began at Golden when I was 18. I will be his mentor and I will ultimately be responsible for what he does. Chris will be a mentor as well. I will point out that he does know what he’s doing baseball-wise. The trades so far have been Will’s ideas.
Crock: So do you have any plans to leave your boy alone in a dark room with Chris Rodriguez any time soon? That could be gnarly fun! Any Vegas odds yet?
Mike: I don’t think so, George. By the way, I love the Bushmen’s jersey you’re sporting today. I saw Maun play a few years back when I was in Botswana. They had this old guy who could just rake the ball.
Crock: Dude! No one has ever known what this jersey is!
Mike: You may have heard of this old guy. He played MLB before they closed their doors. A guy named Barry Bonds?
Crock: Wow! No way! So do you think I can get a job with them? I was taking BP the other night and I hit one. I was so stoked…
Gunt: Aside from hiring William to be the GM, many people wonder why you elected to keep Chris in the fold. Was it simply for his baseball acumen?
Mike: Well, in part, yes, but my father and his were old war buddies. We grew up together. Not super tight, but we’d see each other from time to time. John, Sr. was a great man and, like my father, he demanded certain things of his children. Chris didn’t meet those expectations. When John came to me with the offer to buy the team, well, I jumped at it. The press almost blew the cover off the story a month ago. He asked me to take Chris and work with him, and I couldn’t say no to a man who warranted such respect.
Crock: So you then screwed him by putting a boy in his job. Smooth move, Sherlock! Genius.
Mike: As I believe I’ve said, family first. It’s the Golden way, George.
Gunt: And if Chris doesn’t play nice? Then what?
Will: Then it’s “Adios muchachos”! (with a wave of the hand)
Mike: We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I’m fully confident that Chris will get over it and contribute mightily to our winning the title this year and many more in the future. After all, he has an interest in the team being successful, too; he is the architect of the team I inherited. Guys, enough Chris bashing: remember who hired you. Let’s move on, shall we?
Gunt: So there have been a number of trades thus far, starting with trades with New Orleans and Reno.
Will: Well, it’s the one with New Orleans that we DIDN’T make that’s the pisser.
Crock: You mean for the “Barbarian”?
Will: Yeah. I wanted that trade BAD! I thought that’d be the icing. But with the first trade we got rid of Salgadro, who’s struggling, and we’ve been able to replace him with Ernie Card, who’s doing a nice job. The picks we got in that trade netted us Orlando López and Juan Toro; both are hitting well thus far in SS-A. López is hitting .371 so far. The deal with
Gunt: Of course there’s the Big One; the trade for Pexego.
Will: Hee hee… yeah. Secretly, I wanted that all along. He is my favorite player. I asked Dad about it right away, and he said no. But as the season went along and the trading frenzy began, it was us or Tempe, Palm Springs… or Crystal Springs…
Crock: Ha! I love it… relegate them to a spring! Beautiful. I’ve gotta remember that one. Man, when we see them next time, I’m going to give Murdock such a hard time! We were All-Stars together, and we had such a blast during the workouts. Playing “Three Flies Up”. It was ridic…
Will: Ah… Mr. Crocker, you never were an All-Star. Besides, that was a Freudian slip. Crystal Springs is where we get our water at home. We learned in my
Crock: Ummmmm…
Will: Anyway, we needed to keep up with the Jones’, so to speak. It’s looking good so far; he’s hitting nearly .400 with us. Basically it comes down to our bats against Tempe and Crystal’s arms.
Gunt: What has surprised you the most so far?
Mike: Aside from the sheer activity, teams moving players at warp speed? I’d have to say the work of Bill Bradley and John Knight. Knight has come out of nowhere. I understand he busted his ass over the winter and it shows what hard work will do…
Will: He even has volunteered to be tested…
Mike: Will, we don’t talk about that stuff in public. Some things must remain private.
Will: …clean!
Gunt: Bradley has been stellar, but you have others in the wings.
Will: Yep! We hope to fit “Sugar Bear” in; don’t you just love that one? “Sugar Bear” (shakes his head) and Chávez are really ready to go. We’ve hard choices in the future. Only Roachie is signed long-term as far as the staff is concerned.
Crock: How about you, Boy Wonder? What’s been your highlight thus far? Meeting the cute girls in Duluth? Come clean, dude. I see you chatting the girls up before games. Score any digits?
Will: Well… (blushing) there was this one girl in Omaha…
Mike: Baseball, Will, keep it to baseball.
Will: Sorry Dad. I’ve enjoyed chatting the other GMs up, working deals, getting to know them. You know, as Dad says, “building relationships”.
Crock: So what you been doing lately? Did you do any skiing? Great slopes an hour up the hill. Best snow. Do ya ski? Board? You look like a boarder. Let’s go thrash a bit, you and me. I’ll show you the best places to rip!
Mike: Thanks for the offer, George. I do ski, never would board, but I spent most of my time focusing on the draft. Having such a strong team to start with allowed me a chance to dissect the draft pool and position us for the future. We’ll have the core of this team together for another three years, and during that time I’d like to see our AAA team in Thornton and AA team in Gatineau be as dominant as the Borealis. If that can happen, then we will be in great shape.
Crock: How about you, kid? Thrash any?
Will: Nah… gave it up when I broke my leg.
Gunt: How’d you do that?
Will: (looks sheepishly at his father) Chasing a girl down the race course. Caught an edge on a rock…
Crock: Dude! Way to rock & roll! Total yard sale? Did you, like, score afterwards? Come on… she had to make it up to you! Didn’t she?
Will: I was twelve, Mr. Crocker.
Gunt: Well, I think that’s all the time we have. Thanks to Michael and Will Topham for being here, and thanks to all of you out there listening.
Crock: Yeah. You know, Mike, I got clocked in the head boarding once; never been the same. Kind of made me batty. Kalyzoo didn’t like that. I told them I could still play…
Gunt: Good night, folks.
