Later that day, Ken and the others made their way to Comerica Park for the lead up to game 6. They went through the usual light training and returned to the film room for the usual pre-game discussion.
Mark wore a serious expression as he addressed the team.
“I hope you’re all well rested after our day off yesterday. I know its been a long series, hell its been a damn long season so far. But we’re so close to finishing strong, we just need to persevere for these next two games…”
“There are two things I want to accomplish,” Mark said, lifting two of his fingers, “first, I want that damn World Series ring and secondly… I want a holiday.”
His words were met with laughter from the players. Clearly they could relate to his words.
“Now, to do that we’re going to have to go all out in tonights game. Remember, this is all or nothing tonight. If we lose, that’s it.” Mark stated, his expression serious.
“I’m going to make a couple of tweaks to our batting line up. Since Daichi was targeted last game, I’ll be moving him to 4th, Samson will move to 5th and Ken will stay 6th. This means there will be a lot of pressure on Jose and our two lead-off batters. If you can get on base, they will be reluctant to walk Daichi.”
Ken raised an eyebrow, not expecting this change. For a while he had thought Daichi was their best batter, but his grandfather had always kept him at number 5. Why would he change it now?
“Coach, I think Ken should be batting 5th, after me.” A hand raised beside Ken and his brother spoke up, addressing Mark.
Ken was momentarily dumbstruck by the suggestion. While he had increased his batting prowess thanks to his new skills, making such a drastic change to the batting lineup might cause some bad feelings within the team.
“I have no problem with it.” A voice called from the other side of the room.
It was Samson, the one who would be directly pushed from 4th in the batting lineup to 6th after this move. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem to have any issues with the change.
Mark’s gaze turned to Ken, “Well? Are you up for it?”
Ken looked between Samson, Daichi and his grandfather before making a decision, “Yes sir!”
His affirmative response caused a chuckle to break out amongst the team.
The meeting continued for another 30 minutes before it was time to head to the locker room. Everyone was in good spirits regardless of the fact they were on the back foot.
After all, this was their home field. This at least gave everyone some confidence.
However, not everyone in the organization was confident. Geoff Greenberg the GM for the Ligers was cooped up in his office, pouring over game 5 footage.
“What will we do if they keep on walking Daichi?” he muttered, biting his nail.
Cheryl appeared at the open door and saw that Geoff was deeply engrossed in his anxiety. She knocked loudly, getting his attention.
“I’m rather busy right now Cheryl…” He said, looking like he hadn’t slept in days.
“Busy stressing over things you can’t control?” She said with a smile, entering the office without his verbal permission. They had been colleagues for many years and had formed a decent relationship.
Geoff let out a sigh and closed his laptop, leaning back in his comfortable chair. “You know me… I struggle to sit idly by.”
Cheryl laughed, “I’m not sure why you chose to become a GM then. Wouldn’t you have done better as a coach or something?” She said with a smile, placing down a coffee cup onto his desk.
“Thank you.” Geoff said, grabbing the coffee. “I was never good at coaching. I tried to coach a little league team once, but they turned on me at practice one day. To this day I’m scared of kids…”
“Ahem…” Cheryl cleared her throat, doing her best to force down the laugh that wanted to escape her throat. “Well the team is in good hands. Coach Williams has been a huge boon to our squad and its only his first season as coach.”
“Mmm,” Geoff nodded, “Mr. Ilitch said so as well. Of course I trust Mark, but there are certain things that even he as the coach can’t control.”
Cheryl listened patiently, taking a seat on one of the free chairs. Whenever there was an important game, Geoff would act like this. For someone who had climbed to the very top of an organization, Cheryl thought he was a little soft.
However, there was something that she couldn’t deny. This man had the ability to find talented people.
Mark Williams, Ken Takagi, Daichi Takagi… Just these 3 were enough to inject Detroit with enough star power to reach the World Series.
Of course everyone could see how good these three were now, but Geoff had scooped them up before they truly showcased their talents. This meant that the Ligers had secured these guys for next to nothing, giving them plenty of cap space coming into the next season.
If they were to win the World Series this season, they would go into the following season with a huge momentum and with money to spend.
Truly this was ascending to the top in a single bound.
“You’re at the forefront of creating a dynasty, Geoff. You’ve done all the hard work assembling the team and coaching staff, now is the time where you should just sit back and watch things fall into place.” Cheryl said, her words shining with wisdom.
Geoff took a sip of his coffee and turned to her, his eyes filled with contemplation.
“How about I take you to dinner this weekend?”
“Hmm? That’s a little forward don’t you think?” Cheryl replied, though her tone sounded teasing.
“Well a wise person once told me that I have a good eye for opportunity.” He said with a smile.
Cheryl laughed, indeed she had told him these words long ago.
“Alright, but only if we win the World Series. If not… I’ll take you to dinner.”