December 17^th, 2009

Trading a superstar is always a tough thing to do.  The fact that the said superstar has a damaging injury and is in line for a huge payday does not make the trade any easier.  In fact, it makes it harder.

It is akin to a Saturday morning garage sale where you have placed your old precious childhood memories on sale.  You feel sick to your stomach as you accept that five dollar bill in exchange for your old pair of roller skates.  Like a soulless mercenary, you give away the skates that you previously held dearly onto.  The very same skates that you scratched and saved your weekly allowance for.  You saved for months just to come up with $35 to buy those skates and now you sell it for $5.  That just makes you sick to your stomach.  Your heart plummets at the very thought of severing ties with the skates that brought you fond memories of disco derby skate dates.

For 3 years, Mark "Ice Cold" Richardson delivered fond memories to Jacksonville.  Game in and game out, Richardson dazzled Florida fans with towering homerun shots and immaculate glove stabs.  Now, in a blink of a Winter Meeting, Florida fans find their favorite star trekking past the Midwest and over the Colorado mountains.  Weeks before, the debate was whether to trade or keep Richardson.  With that a formality, the only debate left is whether severing ties with the player that brought you fond memories or realizing you just sold him for "5 dollars" is more painful.

Now there was only one more painful thing to do.  Having just conducted the trade, GM Kevin Lewis reached for his Blackberry and made the phone call.

"Hi Drew.  I just traded Richardson."

December 25^th, 2009

Fourteen-year-old Jerry Wallace is old enough to no longer be enamored with the lore of Santa Claus.  Despite the loss of innocence, Christmas morning remains special to Jerry.  For as long as he could remember, the Wallace family always gathered together Christmas morning to share a cup of eggnog, open up presents and share stories of the fleeting year.

2009 has been a memorable year for young Jerry Wallace.  There were so many memorable moments to pick from.

• January 3^rd –  winter break Aspen trip
• March 7^th – spring break cruise to the Caribbean
• April 16^th – birthday party
• May 21^st – first kiss
• June 1^st – made the Sarasota Sailors baseball team
• July 4^th – dog poop prank
• November 26^th – Thanksgiving family reunion

Of all of those moments, Jerry treasured his birthday the most.  On April 16^th, his birthday, Jerry was awakened with an unexpected phone call.  He received a phone call from his role model and idol, Mark "Ice Cold" Richardson.

With the collapse of MLB and the rise of the PEBA, Jerry gravitated towards the Florida Featherheads.  Throwing away his allegiance to the Florida Marlins, he tossed aside his black and teal cap in exchange for a red cap.  His favorite player of course was none other than number 7, Mark Richardson.  Despite several seasons of mediocrity by the Featherheads, Jerry followed the team passionately and memorized every single statistic produced by Mark Richardson.

He relentlessly wrote fan letters to Richardson.  Despite his older siblings mocking him and telling him that a celebrity would never read his letters, Jerry continued to write and write.  He wrote letters to tell Richardson that he was his favorite player.  On nights where Richardson went 0-4 at the plate, Jerry would write letters of encouragement.  When Richardson made the All-Star team, Jerry would write to congratulate him.  When the league announced that Richardson was an All-Leather winner, Jerry would write.

So it was fitting that, on Jerry's birthday, Richardson would return the favor.  Richardson called to wish Jerry a happy birthday.  The Florida slugger advised Jerry to work hard, stay strong and to never give up on his baseball dreams.  Jerry was cut last year from the Sarasota baseball team.  Jerry, who made the team this year and plays the same position as Richardson, never did give up due to Richardson's words of encouragement.  The phone call ended with Richardson promising to deliver a birthday gift to Jerry.  All Jerry had to do was tune into the game later that night.

Like an ice cold assassin, Richardson was true to his promise.  In a wild game against rival West Virginia, Richardson slammed out two homeruns, delivered 4 RBIs and scored 4 times – including the walk-off winning run in the bottom of the ninth.  The final score was 11-10 in favor of Florida and Mark Richardson was declared player of the game.

With 2009 coming to a close, Jerry celebrated the year by opening up a present that his father has saved for last.  With great anticipation and glee, Jerry frantically ripped the wrapping off the box.  His father gazed merrily with equal anticipation.  Upon opening the box, Jerry's face quickly tuned somber.  Inside the box was an authentic Florida Featherheads jersey.  The back of the jersey displayed a large embroidered number seven and name plate of "Richardson".  In anger and sadness, Jerry grabbed the jersey and flung it across the room.  He immediately left the scene and raced into his room.

His father stood there puzzled and speechless.  Unlike his son, Jerry's father did not have much of clue when it came to baseball.  The only thing he knew was that Mark Richardson was his son's favorite ball player.  Even if not a baseball fan, a father can easily find out his own son's favorite player by looking at the posters that adorn his son's room.  So like any good father would do, he scoured the malls and internet to find the perfect Christmas gift, a baseball jersey of his son's favorite ball player.  To his surprise and delight, Richardson's jersey was marked 50% off.

Unfortunately for him, he did not realize the reason for the clearance was due to the Aurora-Florida trade announcement a week earlier.

January 29^th, 2010

It's only January but Florida manager Jaime Sánchez was already hard at work.  He sat in his personal office at home staring at a piece of paper.  It was the projected 2010 baseball lineup of his team.  For seasons’ past, Sánchez reliably penciled in Richardson's name in the 3-hole.  Now, with the departure of Richardson, Sánchez was forced to look for alternatives.

He scanned his roster for Florida's new number three hitter.  Hitters like Zhu, Adachi, McNeill and Suzuki crossed his mind.  Ultimately, he settled on Shimpei Adachi.  In Sánchez's mind, Adachi possessed the perfect combination of good contact, power, and speed.  The former Omaha All-Star will be looked upon this season to carry the load.  With that decision out of the way, Sánchez contemplated a more difficult decision.

Team captain.  Who deserved to be team captain?  Selecting Richardson as captain last year was an easy choice.  The multi-time All-Star and All-Leather winner was the best middle infielder in the game.  Although quiet and reserved, Richardson let his bat and glove do the talking on the field.

Without Richardson's presence, the title of team captain becomes ambiguous.  Who should be team captain of the Florida Featherheads?  Should it be the new number three hitter in Shimpei Adachi?  Then again, he has only been with the team for half a season.  What about Richardson’s All-Star partner the last few seasons in Tsumemasa Morimoto?  Can the 23-year-old who has acted as Robin the last several seasons become the Caped Crusader?  Or what about a pitcher?  Chris Saunders is an All-Star in his own right.  Can Florida look to a player who pitches every fifth day to become their leader?  How about Kwang-chih Zhu or Kevin McNeill?  Do they have what it takes to become a leader?

Luckily for Sánchez, the answer can wait for a couple more months.  Until then, he can sit in his office and stare at his lineup card.  No, not his 2010 lineup card but his 2009 lineup card… where team captain Mark Richardson's name is firmly written in the third spot.

It is a constant reminder of what once was before one errant fastball got away.  A fastball that shattered Richardson's cheekbone and all of Florida's hopes.