The next morning, Ken was ushered onto a plane and made his way to Erie Pennsylvania. The scenery was breathtaking. He had not known that Lake Erie was so beautiful, especially from above.
A part of him was a little nervous to be moving to a new place by himself, but a larger part was filled with excitement for what was to come. It was always daunting joining a new team, but Ken was far better at socializing than he used to be.
As he went into arrivals, a driver was waiting for him with a sign. He was ushered into the sedan and taken to the team facility. It took around 45 minutes, of which most was spent by Ken looking out the window at his new home.
It suddenly dawned on him why the team would be called the Sea Wolves. The town was essentially a fishing town. Being so close to the water, fishing seemed to be quite popular.
They soon arrived at UPMC park. Ken thanked the driver and got his bags out of the car, taking a moment to take in the sight. From this point forward, he was a professional athlete and this would be his home ground.
"Ah, is that you Ken?" A soft voice with a lisp called out.
Ken turned and saw a large imposing man with a mustache. Ken performed a double take, surely this was not the man who had spoken before.
"Welcome to the Sea Wolves. I'm David Rimmer, the strength and conditioning coach for the team." He said, holding out his hand.
Ken was a little unsure. The man's voice did not match his aesthetic. However, he swallowed his doubts and grabbed the outstretched hand, "Nice to meet you coach."
Instantly, he could feel the firm grip of the man's hand, forcing him to put more strength into his own. Ken's eyes darted to the man, only to see a broad smile on David's face.
"Mmm, you have a good grip. I can't wait to see how strong you are in other areas." David said, sending him a wink.
Ken's hand shot back and he shuddered unconsciously. 'What the f—'
"Anyway, we'll have plenty of time for that later. The Head Coach and the medical team are waiting inside for you. Let me grab your bags." Coach Rimmer said, collecting his bags with ease.
"L—Lead the way…" Ken said, gesturing the man forward. There was no way he would trust the man behind him, not after such an interaction.
After being led into the facilities, he was met with quite a few people, almost too many. The coaching staff, player development staff and team administrators. Thankfully, they were not all as eccentric as Coach Rimmer.
The Head Coach Barry Matthews was an older man with a southern accent. He seemed like the no nonsense type, but he was surprisingly easy to talk to and seemed genuinely excited for Ken's arrival.
Martin, his player development coach was rather young and wore thick glasses. He seemed like one of the nerdy data types, but this did not bother Ken at all.
After a brief introduction and chat, the coach took Ken on a tour to visit the team and the facility. He was briefed about protocols and their training schedule as they walked the halls.
The locker room looked as if a bomb had hit it, but judging by Coach Matthews expression, it was nothing out of the ordinary.
"The players are on the field now, I'll introduce you to them." He said, leading Ken through the tunnel.
It was around 11am in the morning and the sun was nearing its peak. In the cloudless sky, it shone down on the well-maintained field. Like the inside, it looked a little old fashioned, but Ken did not mind. It gave the place character.
On the field, the team were going through their own individual training. The first thing that Ken noticed was that these people were older than him.
The thought made him laugh internally. What did he expect? These players were professionals and they all held the same dream, to be called up to the Majors.
"Right, gather up you lot!" Coach Matthews called out, getting the attention of the players.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and made their way over to the coach. Since Ken was still in his casual gear, he felt a little out of place, not to mention so many sets of eyes were on him at this moment.
"This is Ken Takagi, he was drafted by the Ligers and will be spending time in the team to develop. You know the drill, make him feel welcomed."
As soon as the coach said this, Ken could feel one of the gazes directed at him turn hostile. Ken's eyes darted to the source. The guy looked a little younger than the others. He was probably in his mid twenties.
They locked eyes briefly before the guy in question let out a scoff and walked away, returning to his individual training. Ken's eyes lingered briefly before he was bombarded by his other new teammates.
"Damn rookie, what are they feeding kids these days?" A voice called out. It was a shorter man who had to crane his neck to look up at Ken.
He wasn't sure how to respond to such a thing, so Ken just smiled. "I'm Ken, nice to meet you."
"The names, Rick. We're gonna be good friends in the future." He said with a lopsided grin. "Why? Cos I'm the starting catcher hehe."
"Don't scare off the rookie Rick, the guy looks terrified as it is." Another voice spoke up, nudging the shorter man out of the way.
Without waiting for the shorter man to object, he stepped forward and held out his hand, "I'm Cain, I play in the outfield. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Ken, I'll be in your care." Ken replied, still feeling a little awkward. His eyes moved to the guy who had seemed hostile earlier.