[legendsport]

October 23, 1941: Washington, DC:

"Bah, this new guy in St. Louis... what a blowhard!" Rufus Barrell threw the newspaper down in disgust. He looked up and across a desk that not so long ago was his. Sitting in his old chair, his son Dan was giving him a wry look, a small smile curling the ends of his mouth.

"What, do I have mustard on my tie?" Rufus asked. The two men had just finished lunch. Rufus, back in his old digs (ostensibly to see Dan, Gladys and his grandsons), had taken the opportunity to get his favorite lunch - a pastrami sandwich with extra mustard from the local deli.

"No, but I bet you almost gave Mr. Klein a heart-attack when you walked into the deli today," Dan said with a laugh. He was more of a ham-and-cheese type of guy himself.

"Then why that look?" Rufus asked, not willing to get shifted off-topic.

"I'm always amused when you get riled up about something like that," Dan replied.

"What? That some Hollywood blowhard has bought his way into FABL and is going to stir up trouble?"

Dan leaned back in his chair and Rufus had a momentary jolt: his boy had become a man comfortable with his station in life. Dan said, "First of all Pop, Dee Rose had the money to buy the Pioneers, the other owners voted on whether he could join their oh-so-exclusive club and he was unanimously accepted. Where, or how, he made his money is irrelevant. And second," he paused and tented his hands on his chest before continuing, "you're just worried that he's going to move the team to Los Angeles."

"FABL isn't ready to have a team in California," Rufus stubbornly shot back.

"Well, I would say that's not really your call, Pop," Dan said with a grin. Then as Rufus opened his mouth, Dan raised a hand and added, "Nor is it mine. But I'll be honest, I think the LA talk is just that: talk. Rose is a movie man, and I'd say he's playing to his audience. Particularly the one in St. Louis. Best way to guarantee people take an interest in their team: act like you might take it away from them."

Now it was Rufus who sat back in his chair, stunned. Dan was right. This talk of moving the team to LA was a smoke screen. The real story was Rose's vehement denial and the follow-up that he'd build a "baseball palace" in St. Louis. He was priming the pump, trying to get the fans to re-invest in a club that had fallen on hard times.

"Smart," Rufus said.

"No one said Rose wasn't intelligent," Dan replied.

"I meant you," Rufus replied.

Dan smiled and said, "World's a-changin' Pop, you need to steady yourself because big things are going to be happening."

Before Rufus could ask for clarification there was a buzz and Dan pressed a button on the intercom sitting on his desk. "Yes, Sally?" he said.

"Mr. Barrell, Admiral Stockdale is on line one," came a tinny voice. Rufus decided he still preferred the phone to these fancy brown boxes.

"Thank you Sally," Dan replied and picked up the phone.

"Hello, Admiral," he said. Rufus wondered why old man Stockdale (who owned FABL's capital city entry, the Washington Eagles) wanted with Dan. Rufus himself had been friendly with the retired Admiral but they were of an age, so it was a little surprising that Stockdale would call Danny.

"I see," Dan said, and a frown creased his face. "I will tell him, sir. In fact, he's sitting right across from me at this very moment," Dan said and winked at his father.

"Certainly," Dan said before handing the phone over to Rufus.

"Hello, Bill," Rufus said.

"Rufus, you salty old s.o.b.!" he heard. "What are you doing in this pit of vipers we call D.C.?"

"Just visiting Dan and my grandkids, Bill," Rufus said with a smile.

"Ah, well, I won't take much of your time. I was just telling Dan that I heard some news y'all might be interested in hearing." Like Rufus, Stockdale was a son of the south, born in Virginia and raised in Georgia and when he got worked up, the old accent popped out.

"What's that?" Rufus asked.

"Well, as I recall, your granddaughter's married to an officer on the Arizona?" Stockdale's phrasing made it apparent this was a question. Rufus was impressed that his old friend remembered that Agnes had married a Navy man. But that was precisely the kind of thing the old Admiral would remember, Rufus realized. Stockdale had been the USS Arizona's first captain, just before being promoted to admiral.

"Correct as always Bill. My granddaughter Agnes is married to a Lieutenant McCullough."

"Now don't get too worked up, but there's been an accident, Rufus."

"What kind of accident?"

"Well, the Oklahoma rammed Arizona in the fog. Seems the damage was bad enough that her scheduled refit in Washington state has been postponed. She'll have to stay at Pearl for repairs."

"Oh..." Rufus said, finally getting the point. If Arizona was stuck at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, his granddaughter and her husband would likely miss Gloria's wedding in December.

"One of your other granddaughters is marrying McCullough's brother?" Stockdale asked.

"Yes, on December 6th," Rufus replied.

"I could maybe pull some strings..." Stockdale offered.

"No, no, that won't be necessary," Rufus replied. He preferred not to get preferential treatment like that.

"Well, you know that the Japanese have been rattling their sabers and it's likely there'll be no leave for personnel stationed at Pearl..."

Rufus didn't know that, but it made sense and he admitted as much.

"Thank you for the information, Bill," he told his old friend.

"My pleasure, Rufus. What's the point of being an old, retired Admiral if a man can't use his contacts to keep an old friend apprised of things?" Stockdale replied and gave a dry chuckle. The admiral didn't laugh much and sounded out of practice.

Rufus thanked him again before hanging up.

"Gloria's not going to like this," he told Dan. Dan shook his head in agreement. Then he looked at his watch. "If we leave now, we can swing by the school and pick up Michael & Steve."

That sounded like a grand idea to Rufus. He loved spending time with his grandkids. Even better, Michael was almost eight and looked to be a promising ballplayer. Steve was just five, but Rufus was already trying to apply his "scout's eye" to the younger boy too.

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