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“Columbus? Why not stay here in Cincinnati?”
“It’s not that far away! C’mon, I’d be the general manager there.”
You could tell she was irritated, happy that her husband could put up a solid income and have such an amazing job title. He brought home the bread, and loved his job. Cindy couldn’t understand his logic.
“… But it’s not in the Majors… so you’re going from a Major League front office to a bush league front office?”
“There’s a big difference. I’m the Reds assistant general manager. I do nothing besides collecting a paycheck. I need to do something exciting with my life, plus I’ll still earn $200,000. It’s a big risk, but it could change my career.”
“Exactly. It’s a big risk. I mean, if you really want to take the job, I’ll support you, but I’d really suggest against it.”
“Would you and James move to Columbus? I hear it’s a nice city.”
Cindy bit her lip, deciding the family’s future.
“No. We’ll wait a season, and if it works out, I suppose we can find a home there. It’s pretty far away, even to visit. But how do we know if this league will even going to float?”
“We don’t. I’ll visit, and I hope you and James can come up occasionally. It’ll get lonely in the middle of Ohio. And think about it. Out of the eight teams, the team in Ohio contacted me. That’s something right there. ”
Cindy smiled, and I knew instantly that he was the general manager of the Columbus Captains.
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“Mr. Irvine?”
“Yes?”
“This is Mr. Harbortoun. I’ve, uh, thought about your job offer, and I’d be very excited to become the general manager of the Captains.”
“Marvelous! I wasn’t sure if you would take the job. Incredible! I’ve now got a great general manager, a great stadium, and a great future.” There was true excitement in the owner’s voice.
“Yes! Very excited. By the way, where will the club be playing?”
With a pause, Irvine answered, “Oh, yes. Yes, we are building a new stadium, for the, for the club.”
Keith picked up on the moment of indecision, and immediately fired back:
“Mr. Irvine? How much is this costing the club? Are we getting city aid?”
“Uhh.. yes, but not enough. Columbus was hit hard in the recession, and, and, the stadium being built is quite expensive. The investors have plenty of money.. but the costs keep going up, and now we’re looking for.. stadium investors.”
Harbortoun grimaced at stadium investors. Stadium investors are used by bush league independent clubs to afford a big stadium. Then, the team’s investors are split into several investors, and if the club every got in trouble, the team wouldn’t have stock in the stadium to sell. Not a great way to start.
“Mr. Irvine, I am going to go up there tomorrow and take over duties. I think we need to fix a few things with the park.”
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