Page 4 of The Show

“No. I’m not finished,” he growled.

I sat back down.

“Just because you’re not taking over the business doesn’t mean I don’t have a role for you. You will not be wasting that MBA.”

Nancy sat up straighter. The confusion on her face made it clear she didn’t know about this, which in turn made me sit up straighter.

“You know I’ve always wanted to get into sports,” he began, holding my attention for the first time since I’d walked in. “Your father loved them, you love them. And a year ago, I heard rumors of a need for a quick sale in one of the major league teams. Franklin Maypole was looking to offload some of his assets for ready cash. He’d lost a lot of money in the stock market crash and needed to stay afloat. I don’t know how many times I’ve told him he needs to diversify better, but that man is more stubborn than a mule. He also couldn’t care less about sports.”

Franklin Maypole was the owner of The New York Lions, the worst baseball team in the major leagues. Not sure where this story was going, but there and then I decided I didn’t like it.

“Anyway, I’ve known Franklin a long time and I helped him out, as much as I was helping myself. And you,” he pointed at me, and I really wished he wasn’t.

“Um, Grandpa…” Nancy leaned forward, “I didn’t know about this. This is really something we should have discussed.”

He turned to her. “No, we shouldn’t have. This is not company business, this is personal. I’ve bought it, not the company.”

“You’ve bought what, exactly?” I asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

“The New York Lions. And I’m giving it to you,” he grinned.

I sat there, my entire body turning numb, one limb at a time.

New York had three baseball teams: The Yankees, The Mets, and The Lions.

The trifecta.

The Lions used to be good.Used to be.

Though never as good as The Yankees - except for a fluke couple of years in the early 1930s, plus the decade between 1947 and 1957 (also known as the Golden Era of New York’s baseball teams) when they weren’t bad either - they’d firmly lost their briefly held status many years ago.

After The Dodgers and Giants relocated to the West Coast, The Mets were brought in under expansion, and New York’s triangle of baseball has stayed the same ever since, as has the deep rooted rivalry. The Lions never forgave The Yankees for stealing three of their prize players in successive years in the mid 1930s - including Joe DiMaggio - which knocked them off the top spot. Obviously to any Yankees fan it was a fair trade. The fans have also never forgiven the Mets for knocking them out of the number two spot after they entered the league.

Since the sixties, The Lions got progressively worse, until they hit the bottom of the National League, and bottom of the overall MLB standings in 2013 - where they’ve stayed ever since.

It’s become a running joke that The Lions is where players go to retire, because they have an easy life still getting paid to play ball. They certainly aren’t going there to win anything. Some players have even quit their careers early, rather than get traded there.

The team’s Upper West Side stadium sits on the Hudson near Columbia University, which would make sense seeing as Columbia’s sports teams are all called The Lions. I’d heard that’s how they had originated in the mid 1920s, before being elevated by the league to even the field between The Yankees, The Brooklyn Dodgers, and The New York Giants; but I wasn’t sure how true it was.

Needless to say, The New York Lions is a terrible team, and one I definitely didn’t want under any circumstances.

“What the fuck?!” burst out Nancy, wrenching me out of my shocked stupor, though not entirely.

I also agreed with her, becausewhat the actual fuck?

My grandfather ignored her and continued. “We all know you don’t want to work in the business, and that’s fine, but you still need something to do.”

“So you bought a failing baseball team?!” My tone dripped in incredulity. If I looked down, there’d be a puddle of it on the floor.

“I did. It’s my birthday present to you.”

“I don’t want it. Get a refund!” I snapped and stood up, unable to sit still any longer with the way my head was pounding.

“Can’t. The paperwork is signed.” He held my stare, grinning from ear to ear.

“How much did you even pay for it?”

“Just under a billion.”

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