Date:  March 29^th, 2011

It is a sad, sad day in the PEBA universe today as we bury its late commissioner John Rodriguez, Sr.  It has been a stressful month of March for me, ending in a way I did not expect it to.  March 23^rd: Rodriguez, Sr. died at the age of 88.  A Northern Lights News report stated that John went into cardiac arrest shortly after arriving at the hospital and that the doctors were unable to revive him, pronouncing him dead at 6:02 AM.  While I stand quietly away from the crowd watching the ceremony I have a million thoughts running through my head.

I look over the crowd here in attendance at historic Riverside Cemetery in Denver, Colorado.  Almost every coach, general manager and PEBA sports fan can be found here today.  I keep my distance from the crowd as I try to keep my eye open for any suspicious people.  I find Riverside to be a good place for John, as he has done so much for Denver in his time here with the Aurora Borealis and as Commissioner of the PEBA.  I hear he is being buried near Colonel James Archer, who did much for Denver in the past by helping establish the utilities in the growing city in the late 1800s.

I stand here confused, though, because it was not long ago that John was in my office in Newark requesting my help.  Then I did not see a frail and sick man; he looked as healthy and full of energy as any man 40 years his junior.  Because of this, there is some doubt in my mind that John really died from cardiac arrest.  I contacted Mr. Jennings, asking whether I should look into John’s death more, and he just told me, “I said at the start John wasn’t important… focus on the Pruszków mafia and their possible movements in New Jersey…” To make my suspicions worse, all the watching I had been doing of General Manager Michael Czosnyka had me realize that his assistant, Mr. Kuklinski, has been missing for some time now.  I had not seen him by Czosnyka’s side since a week before John’s death.

This really rubbed me the wrong way.  I wanted to go to John’s son, who had taken over as Commissioner in his father’s steed, but I stopped myself, thinking this might not be the best time to bring up the mafia’s movements in the league.  I am not even sure if his father had told him anything about it at all.  He wanted to keep it as secretive as possible when we first met.  I frown to myself at the situation I am left with.  When I get more concrete proof, I will definitely go to John, Jr. and tell him everything that has been going on.

In the meantime I have many other leads that I need to look into.  The previous information that Mr. Jennings had provided me about some sketchy signings by Czosnyka seemed to be true.  On March 23^rd, two trades were made, acquiring some low-level talent from other teams.  The Palm Springs Codgers traded Mishe Sascheikov to the Hitmen, and the Arlington Bureaucrats sent them Yura Kajgaliev.

Arlington is on my list for places to check out for clues, as the owner of the Bureaucrats, former Senator Daniel J. Woods, could potentially make matters worse for me.  If the mafia is already working with or pushing around a former senator, then who knows how deep the Pruszków have managed to push into our country?  I also plan to make a stop by Palm Springs to have a word with their General Manager Denny Hills.  I remember Denny attending the preseason meeting that I had bugged in order to get information on Mr. Czosnyka.  He seemed upset about money the team was losing through revenue sharing, as well even complaining about some so-called conspiracies and “Evil Empires”.

One comment did pique my interest, though, as I bring out my trusty tape recorder, “I would also like to state for the record that we did NOT attempt to murder Commissioner Rodriguez last year.” With John’s recent passing I do not want to take anything for granted.  Denny’s recent behaviors makes him sound suspicious, so I will have to try and get in touch with him.

These two acquisitions though now join Peter “Fury” Kaminka at New Jersey’s single-A affiliate, the Union City Hillers.  I don’t like that all three Lithuanian players found themselves so conveniently together there… Pruszków is thought to be in cahoots with the Russian mafia group known as Solncevo (note to self: read up on Solncevo starting on page 59), which has be known to hold a large presence in Lithuania as well as many others countries.  Kaminka got his nickname “Fury” from the many bar fights his short temper has gotten him in, I am told, so I will definitely need to keep an eye on these three men.

Mr. Jennings also recently called to tell me of another Lithuanian player that had entered the league unnoticed.  A Lukasha Baichenko joined the Barrow Frozen Bullies just this February.  Kentucky Thoroughbreds owner Bill Shatner has had previous issues with the death of his players and even has had run-ins with the authorities already.  There are rumors that Bill had spent time traveling around Poland recently as well.

All these “coincidences” appear to be mounting up now.  There have been too many strange things happening and stories coming to light since I have started my investigation.  The mafia involvement appears to be growing by the day and I just don’t know how safe the PEBA is anymore.  I fear that the more digging I do, the more corruption I will continue to find.  If things continue to get worse, I am not sure if there will be any saving the integrity of the game.

I glance around a few times as I lean against a tree out of the sight of the others paying their respects.  This has become a recent habit of mine.  I will not lie to myself; I have been on edge as of late.  Ever since my scare with being watched back when I got close to Mr. Czosnyka, I have been overly twitchy and observant of sudden movements and sounds.  My firearm is on me at all times now and I am constantly fidgeting with its strap.  I’ve had to keep my distance from Mr. Czosnyka out of my own safety and hope that I am out of the eye of Mr. Kuklinski and any of the men he possibly employs.  I’ve even asked my secretary, Jenny, to stay at home more often these days to do work from there.  I don’t want her at the office by herself when I am not around for fear that someone might approach her.

That night has even gotten me a bit paranoid, as I am not sure sometimes whether a car I see has been there for awhile, watching me, or if it is just parked there empty with no one inside.  But I am just going to have to live with these fears till this is all over.  But who knows if this will ever be over?  This might end up being more than I can handle.  I gather my composure, say my goodbyes to John Rodriguez, Sr. and head back to my car.  I better get Jenny to order me some plane tickets; it’s about time I stop watching and start finding some answers…