THIS IS THE STORY OF ‘SLICK’ AND ‘THE MAN’--A BLUE JAY EPIC
He’s brash, he’s cocky, he has an innate feel for young, inexpensive talent; he has a nose for the game; and he’ll be the first to tell you. He’s smart and savvy and he’ll work for cheap. His ambition knows no limits, and his style shows no flaws. His hair is slicked back; he wears designer clothes, and nobody better get in his way. He’s got all the angles covered. He’s slick. And Slick looks good. Slick comes to town looking for a cool job. He meets The Money. Now, The Money took a large kick in the backside their first year. They are extremely anxious to learn everything there is to know about the game, and the business-- while they still have one. They’ve shed themselves of the mediocre management philosophy that had existed for years, and are eager to find a new philosophy, a new direction. Slick uses the situation as his main asset. He paints a colourful picture and uses two power words constantly—successful and economical. And he has the background to prove it. The Money nods in agreement. After having seen the older candidates come to town with high expectations, and large salary demands, they were refreshed by the new, inexpensive, philosophy. When they agreed that a drastic change was necessary and that time was needed to make these changes Slick knew—he was in, and in control. And this makes Slick look good. Now for Slick to keep looking good he was going to have to get rid of The Man. The Man could make Slick look bad. The Man was definitely not a Slick man. But The Man was a respected long-time member of the club, and had also been promised control when he was hired. The Man was also a respected member of The Public and was used to spearhead the marketing campaign aimed at bringing lost consumers back to the game. But The Man had a philosophy of his own, a completely different philosophy than Slick. The Man liked motion--he liked the National League. But the Man didn’t seem to realize that this was an American League club, and the American League has big hitters and small parks. It is a league where the hitters wait for their pitch, and if they get it they hit it out of the park. If they don’t they take the walk and let the next hitter wait for their pitch. The Man was out of place. He could not stay. But Slick had to be careful. The Man was loved. Slick didn’t want to do anything that would make him look bad. After all, Slick has to look good. The plan came slowly to Slick. When Slick went out into the marketplace he found that the players he wanted to move were unwanted. Some were too expensive for even the few teams that could afford them; some were met with indifference at the mere mention of their names; and some were too valuable to simply throw away with the trash. Slick managed to acquire some talented and inexpensive youngsters and was able to dump some of the expensive wood. Slick also convinced The Money that, unfortunately, it would take time to dump the rest. Meanwhile, The Media saw the obvious differences between Slick and The Man and passed on this information to The Public. Slick was quick to ward off conspiracy theories. An air of uncertainty settled over the team. How long would it take before Slick took out The Man? The pitching staff was in disarray from the start of training camp. The veterans were hurt and the youngsters were very young. Instead of picking up experienced pitchers to help bridge the gap Slick had picked up marginally talented pitchers to round out his minor league rosters. If one of those players contributed to the major league team that would make Slick look good. And if the pitching staff was terrible that first month…and if the players became distracted by the feud… then the team would struggle. And that would make The Man look bad. The vultures began to fly over The Man each day. The first month of the season was a disaster. Slick wasn’t accountable—he said it would take time. He also said that because of the depleted pitching staff The Man should not be held accountable either. It looked like Slick was being fair and that made Slick look good. The players he had acquired played well, and that made Slick look good. And the team was failing and that made The Man look bad. An opportunity presented itself to Slick, and Slick doesn’t pass up opportunities. The second month was filled with games against top teams. It would take a miracle for The Man to turn around that losing record. The third month was the turning point. The team played a variety of mediocre teams—and if they started to win then everyone would feel good, and look good. And The Man couldn’t be around to look good. But the media got wind of Slick’s plan and passed the information on to The Public. Slick had to talk fast. Suddenly Slick was being held accountable. Slick didn’t have a plan, he said. Slick was merely evaluating, and to make certain that nobody ever doubted him he modified his plan. Slick would wait a little longer. But the team started to play well, and with those mediocre teams coming up he couldn’t take the chance that The Man would start to look good. Slick fired The Man. The team then started to win over those mediocre opponents, and that made Slick look good. Friends of The Man could not stay and work for Slick. The guilt would be too strong. This proved to be a pleasant surprise for Slick. The house was now clean and his people were in place…until next year when Slick’s main man comes to town, with probably his own people. The players began to relax and play well. The feud had become a great mountain that the game of baseball couldn’t move. Slick showed that he was in complete control, and now he can continue to make the necessary changes and form the team more into his own image. And that makes Slick look good. |