“Save the Franchise”
Tumbling, stumbling and falling into the abyss circa 2010, Master Alderson was wondering, searching, and praying for an answer. Endowed with US Marine focus, he kept circling back to the mission, “save the franchise.” Hamstrung with few financial resources after being undermined by the villain Madoff, he co-opted a man willing to take on the challenge of leading an upstart group of underdogs that were committed to playing the game the right way and battling for victory each day. Chieftain Collins, experienced in being underestimated, did not hesitate at the challenge in a city of doubt. He took the challenge and ran with it ignoring his crosstown rivals.
… and then Boom! Five years into the experiment; after turmoil, sweat, tears and hard work, it happened under Captain America’s (#5 David Wright) leadership, the Super Heros emerged. One-by-one they began to make their mark. From the shadows, emerged the Dark Knight (#33 Matt Harvey) to rest control of Gotham. Fighting a glorious battle, the Dark Knight had a wing clipped in 2013 and returned to the bat cave to recover. But he would not be denied upon his return.
His battery mate, Wolverine (#45 Zach Wheeler) picked up the slack and continued the fight in Gotham and delivered smoke and high heat to the enemy. Although the Wolverine was a mutant and engineered to not suffer human injuries, he was infected with a virus in 2014 and suffered a similar injury to the Dark Knight.
The Silver Surfer (#48 Jacob deGrom) emerged to carry on the fight, and fight he did. Regularly underestimated entering Gotham’s rotation he emerged in 2014 as the NL Rookie of the Year, and in 2015 he used his “faster than light” super power to mow down the AL All-Stars in 10 pitches in a single inning, an All-Star game record.
Enter stage right from the dugout, Thor (#34, Noah Syndergaard), “if you have a problem with me pitching inside, meet me 60 feet and 6 inches away” led the NY Mets with his big hammer, warrior spirit and willingness to challenge royalty at every turn. While the villain Moustakas fired F-bombs from his safe fortress in the dugout, and hid behind umpires, Thor picked up his hammer and went to work mowing the royalty down, to include the little kitten Moustakas.
… And prepared for battle at a moments notice, Iron Man (#32 Steven Matz), part of Gotham’s Queens Vengeance Force, used his brilliant intellect and sophisticated pitches to silence the enemy at the plate, especially from a flank attack on the left.
… and then, when the battle endured late into the night, enter The Hulk (#40, Bartolo Colon) to wage his brand of war with brute strength, craftiness and an appetite to defeat all enemies at all costs! Willing to take on all challenges and park his ego for his superhero teammates, he set the tone with the spirit of an ageless, hungry warrior.
In the year 2015, the Gotham Greats took the fight to the privileged royalties after being under-estimated all year. Their work is far from over after needing to re-group after a fierce five game battle. Outplaying their opponent for the first six innings of each game, they failed to protect their advantage late in innings. The Gotham Greats have reset, refocused and are already preparing for battle in the 2016 campaign. They are wiser, more experienced and filled with an indomitable spirit to conquer and vanquish their opponents beginning with their arch rivals, a pesky fly known as the Nats!
=319 
=332