A New Dawn in Denver?
1/15/2069
Al Vincent
Staff Writer
As a hush grew over the assembled journalists and TV reporters, a very familiar face to Denver fans bounded up to the podium to deliver what many believe to be the best news they‘ve heard since it was first announced that Denver would even have a baseball team. Seventy two years old and still as energetic as ever, Hall of Fame center-fielder Benjamin Middlebrook has announced that he has become the new owner of the Denver franchise. Middlebrook, as longtime Denver fans will remember, was the very first free agent signed by the team in their expansion year of 2038, and it was while playing for Denver that year that Middlebrook reached 3,000 hits in his career. Middlebrook has always claimed a soft spot for the Denver organization because of that.
The new owner wasted no time making changes as he replaced General Manager James Baldridge with 46-year old John Mounts, former outfielder and, more recently, the assistant scouting director of the Miami organization. Mounts has already named a manager, longtime teammate John Wilkerson (43 years old), who after retiring following the 2066 season, managed Miami’s AA squad for the last two seasons, finishing in 4th place and 2nd place. Wilkerson has already named his hitting and pitching coaches. The 53-year old Abraham Neiman will be the hitting coach. Neiman, a former shortstop who hit .305 in his career, with 597 doubles, has been a coach in the Miami organization ever since retiring after the 2054 season. The pitching coach is an interesting choice due to his lack of experience. Another former teammate of Wilkerson and Mounts, 40-year old former starting pitcher Ervin Wright retired just last season, after winning 212 games in his career.
Middlebrook had this to say about Mounts and Wilkerson: “The Miami organization is the epitome of success. They’ve won 10 championships in 15 chances in the last 27 years, so both of these guys know what it takes to win. I want that knowledge here in Denver! I want that winning mindset! I want those wins!” Winning, of course, has been all but forgotten in Denver. After reaching their first (and only) World Series in 2058 (a 7 game defeat against Pittsburgh), Denver has finished above .500 only twice (and both times just barely) and has lost 100 games 5 times, including the last 4 seasons. Last season’s 114 defeats marked Denver’s worst season since 2040, when they were still just a fledgling franchise in it’s third year of existence. With the franchise teetering on the brink of collapse, Middlebrook has stepped in wearing his shining armor.
The new GM discussed his opinions on the state of the franchise, saying that he felt there were a lot of reasons to be positive. “John Dear is one of the best sluggers in the game, and at 29 years of age, he is still very much in the prime of his career. Anytime you can put a guy like that in the middle of your lineup every day, you have a chance to win.” When asked if he had given any thought to trading Dear, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, for younger talent, Mounts said: “Obviously, when you’re losing 100 games a year, nobody is untouchable. But Dear is a guy you build around. I would like to keep Dear in Denver for as long as I can, and I would like to win with Dear in our lineup.” Mounts added that he felt outfielders Harold Willems and Ryouichi Koan had a lot of promise, as did 19 year old starting pitcher Angel Gonzalez, though he was displeased that Gonzalez had spent so much time at the major league level last season. “A guy that young has no business pitching in the bigs against major league hitters.” John Wilkerson had good things to say about outfielders Samuel Mendosa and Bryan Corner and added that having so many talented young outfielders was a pleasant problem to have. Despite the optimism, Mounts conceded that the team suffered from an overall lack of talent, especially the pitching staff, and that he would have his work cut out for him trying to improve that. “No question, this franchise is in dire straits. When you don’t win, the fans stop coming, and when the fans stop coming, it is difficult to generate revenue. Without money, it’s not easy to bring in better players to help you win more, and so you keep losing. It’s a vicious cycle. We will turn this thing around, however. You can count on that.”
Outfielder/designated hitter John Dear was excited after hearing the news, saying that the last few years had been very hard on both the players and fans alike. “Losing this many games, every year, is tough. I just want to thank those fans that
have stuck with us these past few years. It can’t be easy, but they keep coming to the games. I don’t think there is any question about who has the most loyal fans in the league. Maybe now, with a new owner, GM, and coaches, that light at the end of the tunnel is approaching.” Dear was also excited that he would be getting to play for Wilkerson: “He was such a great player, and coming from an organization like Miami.... I mean, this guy has played with some of the all time great hitters...Axel Perez, Gillespie, Farr, Salvaggio, Hayes, Romeo... the list just goes on and on. Plus, he been around some great pitchers as well... Barger, Granville Jarvis, Rene Finley, Manzanares... If there is a guy out there who can give you advice on hitting and pitchers, Wilkerson is him. I hope to learn a lot from both him and Neiman.” On his impending free agency, Dear simply said: “This is the organization that drafted me. I came up through their system. I’d like to end my career as a member of their system. I want to play for Denver, and I want to win with Denver.”