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In a subdued press conference, almost beyond notice, one of the OTBA’s all-time greats quickly announced his retirement on this dark, autumn afternoon. James Ridinger bid the baseball world adieu adieu from his hometown of Montreal. No tears, no pomp, no circumstance. Like the man, it was plain spoken, right to the point. “Sorry to have intruded on your day, but I must announce that as of today I no longer play professional baseball. Only with my children do I play. I want to thank the fans in Mildenhall and Brooklyn for their amazing support. God bless.” And with that he turned and left.

Ridinger preferred the low-key approach. Few fans probably realize this is the man who now holds OTBA all-time records for complete games with an unheard of 116 for the modern era, and shutouts with 28. Fans will probably also be shocked to learn Ridinger is the third winningest pitcher in OTBA history with 265 wins. However I am sure most fans know he won the Ryan Award in ’27 with one of the greatest seasons in league history. He also has two World Series rings and was a key part of leading Mildenhall to its first 100 win season ever and first division title in a decade, at the tender age of 40. Not many 40-year olds have been better than Ridinger’s 16-6 record, 2.94 ERA, and more than a 50 Value Over Replacement rating.

And probably even fewer fans know Ridinger may have left $20 million sitting on the table when he retired. Mildenhall management refused to comment, but reports are the club held an option in that neighborhood to bring the diminutive Canadian back for an encore performance. One could only surmise two title rings, a Ryan, and a handful of all-time records are enough to satisfy any man for his life’s work. Then again James Ridinger isn’t just any man.

by I. R. Pizzd, staff writer This was a trade that no one saw coming. And I’m the beat writer for this team. The Nashville Apostles send stud pitching prospect Jorge Delgado and two second round draft picks to Minneapolis for star pitcher Antonio De La Cruz and cash.  Cruz, 26, won 19 games last year for the Beerman and has a career 3.14 ERA in 150 starts. Given the new ownership of the Nashville team a deal such as this shouldn’t be surprising in itself.  The surprising factor is that no one believed the team would trade a promising young arm and two high level draft picks for another pitcher when the consensus of the writers following the league is that Nashville would be lucky to break .500 this year. “It was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up,” team owner Jason Wert told reporters outside the stadium after the deal was announced.  ”Antonio is a brilliant pitcher and he will be able to take some pressure from John McCoy.  It will also allow us to send Jorge Aguilar back to triple A to let him get a few more starts under his belt before coming back to the club.  It’s a deal that is good for the long term future of the team regardless of how many wins it brings us.” The addition of De La Cruz suddenly gives Nashville a 1-2 punch at the top of the pitching rotation that is as good as any in the OTBA. “I’m glad he’s here,” McCoy said.  ”I’m sorry to see Jorge go since I thought we would be teammates for a long time but there’s no doubt in my mind I can learn great things from Antonio.  I know he’s only 26 but he has a lot of experience at the big league level which will help me grow and develop.” De La Cruz is expected to make his Nashville debut on the road tomorrow night at Stockholm.

NASHVILLE ARMS ITSELFTeam surprises many with trade for De la Cruzby I. R. Pizzd, staff writer This was a trade that no one saw coming. And I’m the beat writer for this team. The Nashville Apostles send stud pitching prospect Jorge Delgado and two second round draft picks to Minneapolis for star pitcher Antonio De La Cruz and cash.  Cruz, 26, won 19 games last year for the Beerman and has a career 3.14 ERA in 150 starts. Given the new ownership of the Nashville team a deal such as this shouldn’t be surprising in itself.  The surprising factor is that no one believed the team would trade a promising young arm and two high level draft picks for another pitcher when the consensus of the writers following the league is that Nashville would be lucky to break .500 this year. “It was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up,” team owner Jason Wert told reporters outside the stadium after the deal was announced.  ”Antonio is a brilliant pitcher and he will be able to take some pressure from John McCoy.  It will also allow us to send Jorge Aguilar back to triple A to let him get a few more starts under his belt before coming back to the club.  It’s a deal that is good for the long term future of the team regardless of how many wins it brings us.” The addition of De La Cruz suddenly gives Nashville a 1-2 punch at the top of the pitching rotation that is as good as any in the OTBA. “I’m glad he’s here,” McCoy said.  ”I’m sorry to see Jorge go since I thought we would be teammates for a long time but there’s no doubt in my mind I can learn great things from Antonio.  I know he’s only 26 but he has a lot of experience at the big league level which will help me grow and develop.” De La Cruz is expected to make his Nashville debut on the road tomorrow night at Stockholm.