Vancouver Volts - Low Voltage

[majormet]

It was a typical day for me as it has been for the past 8 years. I get up take a 5 mile walk into town and then help out at the local church I established when I was sent here some 8 years ago on Mafia Island off the coast of Tanzania. This was supposed to be a 3 month assignment and after my divorce, it was meant to be wonderful distraction and then 3 months turned to 8 years and my mission has been long completed here, but I still hang around disconnected from the real world. It is May of 2019 and I left Long Island around 2011 for this assignment and have not come home and certainly have lost touch with the days and nights of this world.

I had sold my company for a modest amount of money in 2010 and was semi-retired at 44 years old now I am 53 years old and quite bored. That is why on this day my life was going to change as I was at the perfect crossroads.

My name is Gus Marino and the story begins when out of nowhere an old friend showed up while I was repairing a watercraft. It was Brad Ford. Brad was an old high school friend that had built a dating application and had was raking in large amounts of money. We knew each other back in the day before I was a heathen and he was ordinary. We had gone to Squeeze concerts, Met Games and watched pro wrestling before it was acceptable. Today he showed up many miles from civilization to see me and well we had not talked in 12 years or so, when I decided not to invest in his dating app.

Brad was not dressed up but I am sure his button down shirt was rent money for most people. We shook hands and embraced. Clearly no hard feelings as our histories predate smart phones and phone applications.


Brad: Hey old friend, when did you become a mechanic.

Me: Well if ain't Mad Brad, how are you. I am by no means a mechanic just a man with a lot of time on my hands.

Brad: I can't believe you ended up over here, I know Valerie left you but you could have moved to Manhattan or got a Porsche like most middle aged guys.

Me: It was tough, it just wasn't Valerie, it was life and all of it's meaning or non-meaning. I got to a point in life and thought I had it all and then I had nothing when I came here and it was a beautiful thing.

Brad: I don't know how you do it, this place is as 3rd world as it gets.

Me: (chuckling) I think the first world didn't offer that much. Just fancy names for foods and a never ending quest for joy in the wrong places.

Brad: (nodding head): I get that brother. So not sure if you heard the news.

Me: News? What is that. Did the Mets finally win a world series.

Brad: Well MLB folded in 2012. Just didn't make the money, so players ended up all over the world, but baseball is back in 2019 as that Tesla fella started his own league.

Me: Weird had no idea, I barely have checked the internet in the last 8 years. So no more Mets? Yankees?

Brad: Yep, seemed kids lost interest over the years but now the gambling books have taken over and pay for all the attendance.

Me: Wow so the games are all fixed now?

Brad: You would think, but there is some regulation. But the reason I am here is that I own a team and we have problems.

Me: (incredulous look): You own a team?

Brad: yes, this league has 60 teams and I actually own the Vancouver team.

Me: Vancouver? Why there?

Brad: They had a stadium and their fan base has been hungry for a team?

Me: Does Seattle have a team in the league?

Brad: They do too, but attendance is secondary to gambling bets. Anyway, I have some big issues. The GM of the team is Ethan Cohen and well he got 30 years in jail for wire fraud and the manager is Billy Greco who you remember from high school.

Me: (puzzled) What? Greco knows about as much about sports as I do about bird watching. Wasn't he a ballet dancer?

Brad: yes but he is a friend and I gave him a job. Problem was that Cohen was in jail and missed the inaugural draft so we did not draft anyone and we are 0-31 to start the season

Me: 0-31, that is not possible in any sport.

Brad: It is that bad, I can pay you a lot and you be the GM and Manager.

Me: What? Me? I haven't been in North America since 2011

Brad: You are the baseball expert. You started a business with no money and sold for 10 million dollars.

Me: But I have never managed or dealt with GM's and all of that.

Brad: Let's face it you can't do worse than we have now

Me: I am looking for something new in life, tell me more about the league these days.

Brad: The league has 60 teams in 6 divisions with no American and National League. Each series is 2 games and you play each team at least 2 games. The 6 division winners and the 2 wildcards are the playoffs. There is only one MVP, one Cy Young etc... and only division of league leaders. The DH is the standard.

Me: Wow a lot of travel I think. Not that I have a family or anything and can't be worse than the food here. When would I need to start

Brad: I would need you immediately would fire Cohen and Greco right away.

Me: I would say... let me think about it.. but i would be lying... I need to get out of this place. So I will say yes.

Brad: Great I thought you would say that... I given you all the information here so you can get familiar with the team and the league. There is a crazy amount of work to do, but I am sure you can turn this around. I mean you got Pete Wilkins laid you can do anything (Pete Wilkins on his 21st birthday after many failed attempts lost his virginity as I was able to sweet talk a woman into his backseat)

Me: That wasn't an easy task, but if you are 0-31, then my job is to get us some wins. Is the talent that bad.

Brad: (Pointed to the briefcase): All the information is in there

Me: I sense this is really bad. Is this as bad as Coach Joyce's body odor. (our middle school basketball coach who had a rancid smell all the time)

Brad: This makes Coach Joyce's aroma seem like lavendar.

Me: Oh Boy!

Brad: Well I gotta get back to the mainland, You have a bunch of connecting flights but you will be in Denver tomorrow night to play the Cannabis on the road.

Me: Denver Cannabis, is that a team name. Geez.

Brad: last game of the series then you head home to play Honolulu.

Me: Hawaii has a team?

Brad: yes so does Mexico City, Anchorage, and Montauk

Me: Montauk?

Brad: Yes weird times we live in.

Me: Well I will go over things. Thanks for the diversion... I mean opportunity.


With that Brad left and I had a lot of reading to do and some goodbyes to say.

[majormet]

To say that this team is a mess would be a compliment. The team has 19 players on their roster and no teams in their farm to say that Cohen failed Brad was an understatement. None of the players on the team have a major league pedigree. There are only 4 position players and 15 pitchers, so pitchers have been playing in the field and batting in the lineup. This is a complete disaster. We are going to have to sign some guys before the next game and get them to Denver for game time for sure.

The 4 positions players are:

1. Mike Roberts - He is a 29 year old guy from Pomona, CA who has 7 homers and 19 RBI's which is impressive over 31 games with a .287 batting average. At least one player I can count on. Roberts had been in some independent leagues and was a minor leaguer at one time.

2. Reinaldo Blaesvelt - Wow, this is a 35 year old guy from Brazil who was a soccer player. I have no idea how he got here to play baseball but he has a .245 batting average as a middle infielder with 2 homers so he will have to do.

3. DJ White - This is a 31 year old guy Falmouth, MA with a .252 batting average and 2 homers. Another guy we will have to live with.

4. Ramon Ramirez - This guy was added after the season started and is hitting .378 in 74 at bats with 2 homers and 8 RBI's. He is from Venezuela and was playing in their league Another middle infield guy.

Seems with these 4 guys I have an infield.... there are no more hitters on this team.

I am going to make offers to guys with resumes who I have not seen play at all.

These are the guys

RF Leon Cantagalli (30 Venezuela) referral from Ramirez

LF Bertil Van Dijk (28 Netherlands) not much known on him he is Dutch and has played a lot of cricket. Oh boy... beggars can't be choosy.

3B Chris Bieganowski (31, Sioux City IA) this guy is a midwestern player who was in the Japanese league but he got caught snorting cocaine and was released. Seems like an upgrade

LF Armando Diaz (31 Venezuela) just another of Ramirez' buddies so I will take him.

We made rich offers to these guys we are desperate like 3:30 AM in a bar in Buffalo on a Tuesday night with one middle linebacker at the bar to hit on.

We can add some pitchers too so we can trade a few guys as we don't have a catcher anywhere on this team and there are no catchers in the player pool. Crash Davis where are you

SP - Ray Poat - experienced guy released by the Charlotte Stingers for some reason. I don't care if he has the plague we need him.

RP - Dennis Cook - Cook is 39 at this point in time, he has experience and he is a warrior, he may not want to end his career here, but generous offer ahead. He had been cut by the Chicago Loops

RP - Victor Hernandez - (31 Dominican) Was cut by the Seattle Grunge, which means he is used to the Northwest, he can help us for sure

Our existing pitchers

SP - Jeremy Garcia (30 Claiborne, LA) Made one good start for us but he has been used in the Outfield so that probably is why he is never not tired

SP - Victor Peraza (33 Camden, NJ) - Has made 3 starts he also plays in the field so that will end, and he should be more effective.

SP - Kyle Wright (26 Mason, OH) He is 0-3 but somehow these guys are not rested and I think when we have 13 hitters on the team these guys will be better. Wonder who has had to catch, are these pitchers catching games?

SP - Asadel Abdul-Malik (31, Syria) yes a syrian refugee with a great arm and no experience. He is 0-7 not sure if he is going to be here, I mean not sure if he is overworked.

SP - Dustin Rhinehart (22, Toledo, OH) - His ERA is over 20 that is crazy, well he is a kid, can develop him.

Hopefully we can add Peat and not use these guys in the field. Also will be shopping some of our relievers to get hitters.

Relievers are

Jose Francolini (30 Venezuela) - ERA is over 43, wow

Matt Gurley (39 Council Bluffs, IA) He was released by the Detroit Drifters and has had one appearance for Vancouver. This was a high school pitching coach ugh..

Bryan Johnson (23, Fort Pierce, FL) - no not the league singer of AC/DC. ERA is over 25. Well now I see the problem is the pen.

Travis Johnson (33 Levittown, PA) - ERA over 30 and 30 appearances which means he has been in all but one game, wow, this guys' arm is going to fall off

Jeremy Logan (33 Detroit, MI) - Made 11 starts and is 0-9, have to really look at these guys as I feel that they can't be this bad.

Jeremy Pfeiffer (39 Sun Valley, NV) - ERA over 40, I think Michelle Pfieffer would be better. Good Lord.

Juan Ramirez (26 Cuba) - ERA over 44, it gets worse

Joel Scheetz (28 Durham, NC) - ERA over 34, Holy Scheetz

Bert Urias (28 Athens, OH) - must have had a scout in Ohio, ERA is 61.01 in 30 appearances, that is unreal

Roberto Novoa (34 Dominican) He is the closer but he has not pitched.. guess he is in the field.


This year will be tough but we can sign free agents and the 2020 draft we will just have a lot of guys at the show pretty early. There is hope but I think the 2019 season is going to be like having gallstones all year.

[majormet]

I landed in Denver and worked out of my Hyatt all day to make trades and get these guys to the ball park. Where we have made offers to free agents and trades that are being mulled, we closed 4 trades that should give us a starting lineup of 9 guys today in Denver against the Cannabis.

We dealt Joel Scheetz to the Richmond River Otters for LF Ian Parmley. Parmley is beyond awful he was 11 for 107 in the minors for Richmond but he can play LF which means we don't need to use a pitcher there. Parmley can tell his grandkids he played for the worst team ever, his 1962 Mets story.

That Travis Johnson character was sent packing to the Rockford Foxes. Yes Rockford has a team that is owned by Robin Zander of Cheap Trick, can't make it up. We got back in the deal Jack Phillips. Phillips is a first baseman but he can be our DH at this point until some guys sign. He went 3 for 8 for Rockford this year but really struggled at .136 in the minors

Jeremy Logan and his 0-9 record was shipped to our division leaders in the West who are the San Diego Railers. We get RF Nealy Phelps back in this trade. Once again we don't need to use a pitcher in the OF. Phelps was 0 for 2 for San Diego so he will be happy to get playing time.

Last deal saw us send Jose Francollini to the Chicago Loops for Ben Egan who is a catcher. I got the acceptance here and was so happy we had a real catcher on our team. The problem is that Egan was 4 for 60 in the minors.

I never met the 4 guys I traded so had no hard feelings we do need all 7 guys we made offers to... sign with us, so we can have 25 guys on our team.

Issue is that most teams barely have 25 guys so trades are hard to come by.

I have 5 hours to get to Coors Field and meet the team and play the game.

[majormet]

Today was surreal and within 48 hours my life was completely changed from missionary to baseball executive and manager. Brad introduced me to the team and from what I could see, the team was in a malaise. I have to get them out of it, but with a busy schedule and everyone all fatigued it is going to take work. I found my voice and this was harder than getting Tanzanians to read the bible. I did not get to meet any of the players individually, did not deal with the press, will do that when I land in Vancouver tomorrow to face Honolulu who are 9 games ahead of us in the standings meaning they have won 9 games.

Coors Field is a park I am familiar with and Denver is a rabid fan base. I had to put things together and that Brazillian guy was very fatigued and that left me with 7 hitters of which Ramirez was complaining of tiredness as well, but he had to play I still shoved 2 relievers in the lineup as I put Urias in CF and used Juan Ramirez as the DH which meant the 8 and 9 spots in the lineup where dead for offensive production and I started all the new guys who had jetlag. What a fun introduction to the majors.

I was able to put Parmley in LF and Phelps in RF. New guy Phillips at 3rd base as he said he played third base in college at times. Egan caught the game, but the issue beyond the pitchers in the lineup was that almost every guy had a dead arm. I started the Syrian Abdul-Malik and had a plan to use him Gurley and Wright and hope to get 24 hours as I assumed we would lose the game. I am terrified of home games as 27 outs will be tough.

We lost the game 17-0 which is a small triumph as this team had given up 40 or more runs in most of the last 10 games. Abdul-Malik, Wright and Gurley got me into the 6th inning then I had to use dead arm guys like Novoa, Pfeiffer, Johnson and Rhinehart who I was hoping to rest. Gurley and Pfeiffer showed me nothing, and Gurley got traded to Anaheim so don't have to watch that 39 year old mess again. We also got to trade Juan Ramirez to Boston to get another catcher.

Bill Freehan and Eddie Bressoud did the damage against us with Bressoud hitting a grand slam and Freehan getting 3 hits and 4 RBI's. Denver had 17 runs and 16 hits, we didn't stand a change and won't until we have a 25 man roster and give guys rest. We have offers to those 7 guys, hopefully they all sign and we can build this team properly and win a game at some point.

We had 6 hits and Ramon Ramirez had 2 of the hits, that guy looks to be a real hitter. White and Roberts had hits and those guys have been consistent. I was proud that we got hits from Parmley and Egan who just came over via the trade route.

As we head home I will give Peraza the start and pray he can go 6 innings and piece together the rest. Blasesvelt won't be suiting up again but we will have 9 batters in the lineup as we got Woody Woodard from Anaheim for Gurley and landed another catcher in Con Daily from Boston for Ramirez. The downside is now we have only 9 pitchers but if we get the 3 free agent pitchers we will be at 12 arms, so help could be on the way.

I will meet with Roberts and White tomorrow to see their temperature and then we play the Honolulu Waves. Hoping to hold them under 10 runs.

[majormet]

Well we headed home to Vancouver to host the Honolulu Waves and we got blitzed 38-1. Now I see how it is easy to give up that many runs. All the arms are dead and you have 5 outs to get, it is a sure fire way to blow out your pitching staff and also a long afternoon as Honolulu got 17 runs in the 9th inning.

It did not help that Peraza gave up 7 in the first inning. I kind of knew that we were in trouble once that happened. We did score our first run since I took over as newly acquired Woody Woodward drove in a run on a ground out. Dicky Rose drove in 9 runs for Honolulu and Devon White had a game as well with 6 hits and 7 RBI's. They feasted on our pitching. I made fun of Bryan Johnson being the lead singer of AC/DC but he is the one bright spot not getting touched at all. We are trouble for the next game as we don't have any fresh arms. Garcia will start and I will have to try to get an inning out of everyone and hope we can get a guy to sign on the dotted line.

Joe Nathan is on waivers from the Los Angeles Quakes but not sure we can afford him. We did come to terms with Armando Diaz and he will play centerfield and now we have 20 guys on the roster. I may try to trade a guy to get an arm but hoping Poat and Cook sign with us.

I did get to meet with Roberts and White, both guys were gracious and know that the team being this bad is what got them to the show in the first place. That is the good thing with this roster, none of these guys would be anywhere if they weren't here. This is a pitiful squad.

We have 2 games in Portland and then get a rare day off before heading to Richmond which will be in the air, but that will get bodies rested and it is really rest that will help turn us around a little.

[ayaghmour2]

Pretty big undertaking here, lot of mess to fix. But the feeling of reward after they're good is going to be something else. Love how it connects with your other dynasty as well. Best of luck fixing the mess!

[majormet]

Originally Posted by ayaghmour2

Pretty big undertaking here, lot of mess to fix. But the feeling of reward after they're good is going to be something else. Love how it connects with your other dynasty as well. Best of luck fixing the mess!

Thanks for the feedback, I was looking for a challenge and was not running a team in this league but saw that start and thought this will be fun. I mean somehow they got left out of the inaugural draft, and ended up with a mess of 15 fictional players that are two stars or lower. They had lost a game by giving up 87 runs. When you have a team this bad 27 outs is the challenge, almost prefer road losses with 24 outs.

[majormet]

We were right there in front of 385 fans as this team is not drawing anyone but youth groups right now. Luckily for me, I don't even have the press at the games, we are like a team in the majors getting treated like a Sunday afternoon softball team and that is how I like it right now.

So this one was 2-2 after 6 innings, we were in the game finally but Bernie Carbo hit a 2 run homer in the top of the 7th and we got one back to make it 4-3. Honolulu got 1 in the 8th to make it 5-3 and then we were out of pitchers and it was a 14 run 9th inning and we lost 19-3... so disheartening.

I think we have a stud in Jeremy Garcia as he pitched 2 1/3 innings to start the game and did not allow a run. He had been the catcher before I signed guys who actually catch games. His knees have to be gone already. Carbo took my Back in Black guy Bryan Johnson deep, after Novoa, Wright and Pfeiffer held Honolulu mostly in check. We actually hit 2 longballs today as Michael Roberts got his 8th and yes... Nealy Phelps went yard. I actually spoke to Nealy a little today, he seems like a fun guy but of course if some of these resume guys sign, he will be a platoon player at best.

I think of Billy Martin, Tony LaRussa, Dusty Baker etc... and think i am in the same sentence now as a big league manager. However i went to Denny's after the game and was treated like a trucker on his way to Edmonton. Well one day at a time.

I was able to make another trade as I am getting to be good friends with Jayden Crum who is the GM of the Rockford Foxes. Rockford is 14-20 and they took Woody Woodward off our hands and sent us a starting pitcher for the game in Portland and that is Al Javery. Javery had good numbers in the minors not sure why he was available. As for Woodward, he is an arse kisser and off putting so not missing him and would be surprised if he could hit the ball out of the infield. I think his bench press is under 95 pounds.

We play the Portland Timber who are beatable as they are 15-19. They are in 8th place in our division. Then again the Honolulu Waves are the 9th place team. The over/under on our games tends to be 35 and the spread is always 10 plus, so betting action is predictable. It is my job to curb that quickly.

Let's hope for success in Portland, last time I was there I was hanging out in the Satyricon and enjoying the Dandy Warhols. Now I am more pale than Andy Warhol after 3 games managing this outfit.

[majormet]

Rarely does one smile after a game in which you get drubbed 18-1 on the road in Portland, however I was smiling from ear to ear. Why? Because we went the entire game and I did not have to use one of my rotation pitchers to get out of an inning.

Al Javery gave me a quality start in my eyes, when he pitched into the 5th inning after taking 3 flights to get to Portland to start the game. The relievers will end up doing better, they are extending their appearances several batters beyond their expiration date which are leading to walks and big hits.

We gave up 6 in the 7th and 5 in the 8th so the game wasn't as bad as it seemed on paper. Calvin Murray came off the bench to hit a grand slam but the bigger issue was that we made Andy Hassler look like a stud and that is hard to do. Hassler not known for winning many games in his life shackled us with a complete game where he allowed 1 run and 2 hits. DJ White gave us a timely hit after Con Daily singled and stole a bag.

Right now, the concept of lefty/righty matchups and all strategy can't be be executed with a limited roster.

The odd thing about this game is that this smallish guy in a Vancouver uniform showed up in the dugout in the 4th inning and I thought we get a new batboy but it was Rafael Belliard. I was like Rafael "f'n" Belliard, we just got rid of Woody Woodward, what flight was Mario Mendoza on to get here next.

Now I am sober, don't drink, don't have dementia so not sure when I put in a waiver claim for Belliard one of the worst hitters in the history of the game and a guy that is 5'6 on paper but 5'2 in life, but turns out that Cohen from prison put in a waiver claim on him before I took over and the Honolulu Waves cut him. Well I hope Belliard can pitch some 9th innings because in my universe he should never put on the batting gloves.

Kind of ticked off because we lost out on Joe Nathan for this guy. Ramon Ramirez came into my office requesting a game off and cited that we have Belliard to play shortstop. My reply was simple, we have a travel day between Portland and Richmond so that is your day off, I don't care if he has the runs, I can't watch Belliard play with the lineup being as bad as it is now.

Gonna be a tricky getaway game with Abdul-Malik pitching, if he can get us 3 innings we may survive. You know you are going to lose just have to keep preserving guys so when all 6 FA's sign and we have 27 signed players we can start to run like a big league team. At least I have no pitchers in the outfield any more and hopefully have no starters pitching in relief on their off days.

If all goes well, we will carry 12 hitters and 13 pitchers and 2 guys on the taxi squad.

[majormet]

This was a decent game in that we only lost 9-0. Portland had started Frank Pastore who has been un Pastore like this year and went 6 2/3 innings allowing 0 runs and 2 hits. Rocky Biddle actually got the save in this game as this was a 2-0 game with Vancouver threatening. We got a rally going but of course did not convert with runners on the corners and then allowed 2 in the 7th and 5 in the 8th and the game got ugly with a grand slam homer by Johnny Wockenfuss.

Abdul-Malik looks to be raw but quite decent he pitched 3 2/3 innings of shutout ball and we really benefited from double plays as we got 4 in the 8 innings. Rhinehart has been very consistent and that is not good as he always gets shellacked. I got to use Belliard and he pitched an inning of scoreless ball, so he may have a value after all. Cesar Colombo for Portland was a damaging bat in this series and had 3 more hits.

Once again guys are being asked to get more outs and that is going to subside each game. Victor Peraza already told me he is fresh and ready to go deep for me in Richmond.

We did make an offer to Moose Solters who is available but he kind of stinks. No one else has committed so each day we have a limited roster.

On the plane ride cross country it seemed the team was bonding and you never know Richmond could be the place where we get that first win, we are 0-36. Need Peraza really to get 6 innings in this one as we can rest more arms and have Javery and Abdul-Malik in the next games, for some reason Garcia is still aching, he may look good but seems to need 10 days between starts.

[majormet]

Trouble when you manage a bad team with no talent that always one thing will plague you. We lost in Richmond 22-3 where we gave up 10 runs in the 7th inning but we committed 6 errors in one game. We were in the field for 8 innings and that is just not acceptable. There was one thing I was happy about after my first week is that we aren't a bad fielding team and just when we get 11 hits in a game, this happens.

I liken this to a blow up pool when there is a hole on one side, you patch it and then another hole surfaces on the bottom. Victor Peraza promised me a deep game and he tried and pitched 5 innings and once again I did not use a starter to at least there is that hope that we are fixing the overuse issues. Rafael Belliard by God's grace pitched 1 1/3 innings and did not allow and unearned run.

Armando Diaz hit his first major league homer and had 2 hits. Ian Parmley who I have no faith in had 2 hits and has a .238 average. It was an Alex Grammas grand slam that took us out of the game. Gary Roenicke was also challenging with 5 RBi's.

I spoke with owner Ben and we so happy with the first week and was so happy to be working again. He sounds like a guy that was selling me time sharing in Tijuana across from a brothel. This week was brutal. I know I am a fixer but this is going to be a long game with a lot of pain along the way.

None of the guys we have offers on have committed, in fact Ray Poat asked for more money as the Atlanta Charm gave him a better deal, we really need Poat as our rotation can't have Kyle Wright in it, i can live with Poat, Javery, Garcia, Peraza and Abdul-Malik. Once you put a guy like Wright in there you overuse your pen.

Bert Urias may be the worst arm I have ever seen. He has given up 191 earned runs in 28 innings. He has 7 strikeouts and 117 walks. His WHIP is over 9. And yet with the dearth of pitching he probably will be with us all year.

[majormet]

A new week and a new game and the impossible happened the Vancouver Volts defeated the Richmond River Otters 8-6 today. You had a feeling it was happening as Jeremy Garcia started the game and pitched 6 innings allowing 5 runs but also striking out 6 innings. We were down 6-5 and earlier in the game I pinch ran Rafael Belliard for very slow footed ex soccer star Blaesvelt and with 2 guys on I was biting my nails and regretting the move as Belliard was up in the tight spot.

And wouldn't you know it.... Belliard crushed a 3 run blast over the leftfield wall. My mouth is still slackjawed, I mean it was crushed. Belliard has no power to the effect of 17 years in the majors with 2 career homers... That pitcher named Bobby Paula for Richmond is probably drinking heavily tonight after watching that ball sail out of Richmond.

In order to protect the lead I went to AC/DC but he was still tired and was going to be kerosene and we needed this game so I went with 2 starters in Abdul-Malik and Al Javery and we won. Abdul-Malik gets the franchises first ever win and Javery gets the save. Both those guys are in the rotation so I don't want to mess with that.

Abdul-Malik will have the trivia questions of "who won the first ever Vancouver Volts game" and "who was the first ever Syrian born player to win a mlb game".

We got other good news after our win that all the free agents we negotiated with outside of Moose Solters signed with us, Solters is still talking. Dennis Cook is a guy who has seen a thing or two and at 39 should be effective for us and Ray Poat will get the start at home against the Sacramento Demoniacs, the west coast version of the New Jersey Devils I suppose.

Chris Bieganowski signs he is 31 from Sioux City, IA. He will be our thrid baseman. He comes with some high regard from scouts and we had to battle to get him.

Bertil Van Dijk is from the Netherlands and he is 28 and should our rightfielder now. Many say he has a quick bat.

Leon Cantagalli is 30 from Venezuela and will be our leftfielder from now. Ramirez said the guy is a stud in Venezuela and we see Ramirez playing well and good production from Diaz as our CF that we will be set at all our positions with Blaesvelt moving to the DH role.

We will go with 1B Roberts, 2B White, SS Ramiez 3B Bieganowski LF Cantagalli, CF Diaz RF Van Dijk C Daily and DH Blaesvelt and have a bench of Egan, Belliard and Parmley

Our pitching adds Dennis Cook, Ray Poat and Victor Hernandez who is 31 from the DR. Not sure if anything to expect from him but 8 arms in the pen will help with a rotation of Poat, Javery, Garcia, Abdul-Malik and Peraza... we are starting to look like something.. my tums supply won't be needed as much