Today in the CBO
Settlements Today
by Nat Wright-Kowalski
6 May 2302 - Beantown Brewery via Train Travel
Riding on Trains with Boys
I turned in my Monday morning story at 8 AM sharp at the Publick Occurrences Office, now a BNN affiliate, of course. Then I found my security detail, my travel bag, and a couple of boxes of Sugar Bombs for the day of riding trains.
My station was south of Diamond City at the Boston Police Rationing Site. I got on board at the station at 10:45 with a few other brave souls and headed west to Mass Pike Tunnel West Station. While a few people got on at the station, I was the only one who got off the north-bound train. No, my train was heading south where I was to meet up with the GBRL’s Atomatoys Factory Buttercups baseball club at the Egret Tours Marina Station. The south-bound arrived 12 minutes later, and then I took the 14-minute ride to Egret Tours Marina.
Boston Police Rationing Site - My first station for this all-day adventure
When I got off the train and switched to the other side, I saw the Buttercups standing there waiting for the north-bound coming from the BNN Headquarters. At some point, it will come all the way from Providence, but we’re not there yet.
The manager of the Buttercups, a tall, slender man sporting an Old West mustache stretching from lips to midway up his cheeks. He introduces himself as Bubba Doorley but tells me I can just call him Bubba. He is flanked by his assistant coaches, Tommy Foster and Gabe Apackofcigs. Twenty-nine of the team’s 31 players are also there—one key missing part being 2300 2nd-round pick RF Vince Eller who currently leads the team with a .348/10/21 line. They carry trunks by the pairs filled with clothes, supplies, uniforms, equipment, and weapons. Boys.
The boys loaded up the rented cargo car and then we all boarded our rented private compartment. The train will continue all the way near Outpost Zimonja, but we are stopping at the Beantown Brewery.
Our north-bound train with more cargo than cars for passengers
I am introduced to a few members of the team. They all want to talk, of course, tell their stories and get on the Settlements Today feature. Trapper Minnick speaks up that he is the “old man” on the team. He’ll be 22 in November and in his second and final season of eligibility in the GBRL. He was drafted in the 2300 Rookie Draft in the 9th round. His teammates joke around that he’s “Pops,” and he hopes that nickname won’t stick.
“I already have a nickname,” he declares. “It’s Trapper because that’s how I helped feed my family when I was younger.” Now? “I play baseball. It’s not a lot of caps right now, but it’s more than we ever had.”
If we’re looking at age, there is one interesting player on the team, the youngest, CF Brenden Titleman. He played with the Wellfleet Settlement Beacons. Though he was technically draft-eligible for the 2301 Rookie Draft, no team took him. The Diamond City Swatters franchise decided to sign him on April 12, and here he is at 16 years old.
“I didn’t want to head back to Cape Cod after not getting drafted,” he said. “I figured I would work hard to make it to the CBO or find a job out here doing something else.” He has a spot on the team, but he has not had much of a chance on the field, failing to record a hit in his only at bat.
Minus the star Eller, 1B Needham Tickler is the next best player on the squad. The Swatters’ 2nd-round pick of the 2301 draft out of Thompson Heights of the Boston Youth Development League. Tickler is taking well to his transition, hitting .344/6/14, all second on the team. He is expected to step up for the three-game series at Beantown in the Buttercups’ hopes to stay in first place in the South League’s Southeast Division. Atomatoys is tied with both Poseidon Energy and the South Boston Patriots for first at 9-5.
Needham Tickler, a talkative fellow
Their opponents, the Beantown Brewers, are in second place in the Southwest Division at 8-6, one game behind the Big John Salvagers.
“Beantown’s like us,” Tickler tells me. “All hits and no pitching.” He looks around to ensure none of his teammates heard him.
The Brewers are owned by Egret. They have a heavy-hitting lineup led by University Point Deathclaws’ former 1st-round pick, RF Rick Pickle who has bounced back and forth from the GBRL to the BMU and back again. This season he is hitting .383/2/15, and he will have no choice but to stay in the BMU or make his way to the CBO where he is eventually expected to land. 1B Jonathan Plencner (.390/5/12) currently holds the statistical edge. He was drafted in the 4th-round of the 2300 draft. He, too, could eventually work his way up to Egret. Outfielders Birdie Burdi and Last Owens are the other players that lead the Brewers in batting.
After Oberland Station, we made a special stop at Beantown Brewery. An attendant had to pull up a ladder for us to disembark. The train would be on its way to Graygarden next, and then Starlight Drive-In, and then Bedford Station, Tenpines Bluff, and finally on a final stop just west of Outpost Zimonja.
I looked out at the large factory, one of two in the Commonwealth producing beer, and I got thirsty. The boys were determined, grabbing their marked trunks and carrying them towards the field located on the other side of the factory. The field for the Beantown Brewers is an old parking lot that was cleared to make a baseball park. It’s aptly named Beantown Brewers Lot #1 Field.
Beantown Brewery - I need seven beers
For those who work at the brewery, they mostly live in either Oberland or Graygarden. A few make the trek to Oberland Station and take the train to other places after their shift has ended, but most have settled in this area where they get a lot of baseball as entertainment. Some shuffle out of work and straight to the Lot #1 Field after their work has ended. That is usually on Monday only when the T-51s are in town. If the T-51s are away, then they may make their way out there on Tuesday and Wednesday, too. This week, few will watch the Brewers play unless they come on Thursday because the T-51s host the Goodneighbor Hancocks on Tuesday and Wednesday.
This week, the two teams agreed to delay their Monday game and play a Tuesday through Thursday series instead. The whole league has changed to a Monday through Wednesday only schedule with doubleheaders on Wednesdays when teams play a divisional game. This week, the two teams play in different divisions, so they will only play three. My contacting the teams about a feature has both teams all riled up.
The boys from the Buttercups finally finished unloading the train, and then it went on its way to Graygarden. It was 5:28 at this time, and I was pooped. The Beantown Brewery has a restaurant, which usually closes at 6 PM, but they agreed to keep it open for the Buttercups and me. I made my way there. Some of our old buddies from Diamond City, the Bobrov Brothers, own the brewery. They used to have their own makeshift brewery at the place they owned when we lived inside The Great Green Jewel called the Dugout Inn.
I finally sat at a table at 5:47 PM, ate, and drank too much beer. Vadim Bobrov tried to tempt me to have some of Bobrov's Best Moonshine, but I declined. A caravan waited to take us to stay in Oberland. Game One would be tomorrow.
For me, it is now 8:33 AM, Tuesday, May 6. The train bound to the Boston Police Rationing Site does not arrive until around 9:30, so I have time to wrap this story up. It was a different trip, and I enjoyed it. Instead of the usual peace and quiet of my last few trips around the GBRL facilities, this one was rowdy and fun.
I don’t always ride in trains with boys, but I know that when I do, I get some of my youth back. At 28 years old, I am older than all but 176 CBO players as of today. There are another 166 older than I am in the BMU. As far as the GBRL is concerned, I am older than all of them since the maximum age is 21. Most are younger than that.
I will not stay to watch the matchup between the Buttercups and Brewers because I have more work to do. Like get this story back to the old Publick Occurrences office for publication. And then it is back to work. Back to responsibility. Back to a different adventure that is nothing like this trip. Trains. And boys.