It's been a while since I've done this, (and, sadly, I've left my notes at home and will be doing all this from memory), but here goes nothing. Let's hope I can still deliver the goods....
Good, Wholesome Fun For All The Family!
Way back in the 1930's, a man with a vision, a man by the name of Charlie Francis Waldren began building his empire. Times were tough back then, the Depression and all, but Waldren believed that if you could lift people's spirits, then you could change the world, so he set out to build his Magic Kingdom of good, wholesome family entertainment. Short films, cartoons, and ultimately movies of all shapes and sizes eventually made him beloved, among the American people - The Steamhouse Gang, including Buster & Baby Doll, were just a few of the characters that helped make him famous... and then, of course, there were those Waldo movies, a seemingly never-ending stream of them, starting out with
Deputy Waldo's On Patrol, continuing with
Waldo's In Charge, and
Waldo's Off To War, and going all the way through
Waldo's Over The Moon, and, quite importantly,
Waldo's Out On Strikes. There's really too many of them to mention here, but some say these films, starring a man named Willson Jacks as simpleton Waldo Doolittle IV, really brought a humanity to Waldren's growing empire, and really gave the group their heart and soul. He connected with the fans in a way that very few ever had before... which was probably why Waldren went with him so often, and made so many Waldo movies.
Waldren, of course, was also very much a baseball fan, and, with baseball very quickly becoming America's great national pastime, and what with Waldren himself very quickly becoming America's leading entertainment mogul, (or at least one of them), he thought it perfectly natural that the two must come together. Waldren wanted to get in on the action, but it seemed there was always something getting in the way - owners, managers, players, rules, regulations... always
something.
In the successful film
Waldo's Out On Strikes, (which has also been released under the title
Waldo's At The Plate), the fan-friendly everyman found himself front and center for a then-fictional team called the
Orlando Wizards, their name an obvious nod to so many of the classic films that had made Waldren's empire... well, an empire. Just a few short years later, the team finally became a reality. Waldren's son, Francis Jr - AKA: Frankie - was put in charge of the team... by then, Waldren himself had found a new mountain to climb, and was looking for his next accolade.
'Frankie' had about as much business being in charge of a baseball team as Waldo had being President of the United States... (See:
Waldo's Commander In Chief... not his best work, but still....), but he did share his father's devotion to the fans. Few championships found their way to Orlando during those first year, some of baseball's ruling caste even questioned whether Orlando really needed a team at the time, but Frankie always made sure the fans had a good time. The stadium, Waldren Park, was (arguably), the best around, a sort of Magic Kingdom for baseball, boasting all the comforts of home and hearth, and an army of mascots that were always above and beyond when it came to entertaining. The team, and the park itself, soon had a fan loyalty that was second only to Chicago... no matter their win-loss record.
Sure, Frankie was always more worried about the fans having fun than the game itself, and he was more likely to spend his money on special attractions than on big name players who might get them to the championships, (a fact that constantly drove team managers crazy, and, over the years, turned the team into a virtual farm club for the New York Hawks, as every time some prospect became a big money proposition, Frankie quickly sold him off to NYC for his latest project), but he did make the team pretty popular.
Years later, Frankie's son and Old Man Waldren's grandson Bobby took over the club, and he was finally able to do what Frankie never thought about
: turn them into a contender. As luck would have it, the good fans in Orlando enjoyed the team winning every bit as much as they'd enjoyed all the good times and great memories they'd been treated to before.
Who knew?
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That's kind of the abridged version... my original draft was... several pages long, (and actually three or four pages long before it even got to anything about baseball). I re-drafted it from memory here at the library, pretty sure I didn't forget anything. I don't think I've mentioned the Wizards before... I've had them in mind for a while now. Their colors, as I've always imagined them, are something like those of the Orlando Magic. That might affect the originality a little, but it is what it is.
My time's about to run out on me now though.
