“The G.O.A.T.,” Episode 9: “The Stretch Run”
The Statesmen visit the Pittsburgh Piledrivers, but the game is currently delayed because of rain. Kendricks arrives and all eyes are on him. Bishop asks if Kendricks is okay, and Cam says he's been sick, but now he's better and he's going to be VERY focused on baseball moving forward. The rain clears up.
Alvin Huebner introduces a new player, Domingo Santana, who is a utility player.
Game: (1st) Kendricks hits a 2-run homer. (3rd) Grady Duhart has given up 5 runs and is pulled from the game for Eddie Parker, who gets them out of the inning. (4th) Kendricks hits a solo homer. (5th) Winston Pulsipher, Kendricks, Gus Bennett and Ronnie Pitts hit homers back-to-back and the Statesmen go ahead 7-5. Despite being on the best team in baseball, coaches Craig Glover and Ferd Langwieler are unhappy about where things are. (8th) Kendricks hits another solo homer. (9th) Parker finishes out the game for the victory, his 20th on the season, all in relief.
Sen. Bob Gibson of the Federal Cult Prevention Task Force does a PSA telling kids that Cults Are Not Cool.
On Sports Central, Inesta and Major discuss their upcoming joint vacation. Sharon Alligood comes in to talk about the complicated playoff picture. Major makes his picks for who will make it to the playoffs. The crawl reveals that hurricane season continues unabated, Labor Day parades avoided predicted violence and the government has started a heat wave advisory panel. This world is different: Charles Xavier is a famous fashion designer.
In the Sports Central Studio after the show, Alligood runs into Dwayne McDaris. He asks her to put in a good word for him with Michael Weisman so he get more airtime. But she says she doesn't even like him so she won't help him.
On NBS news, Jeffrey Brack reports that pro-independence forces have taken control of the government of Puerto Rico and are demanding separation from he U.S.
At the Red Sheep Ranch, Ishmael has completed his training and is participating is instructed by the Figure and Abraham in the cult's purpose and activities. The cult's goal is to create chaos on Earth so they can receive rewards in Hell. As the ceremony starts, Abraham explains the details to Ishmael. The bodies of Maya Marin and another person are brought in and their heads are severed. This ceremony will extend the effects of a previous ceremony and the blood and bodies are used for other purposes.
Cult member Leila Rassi is disgusted and afraid of the ceremony. Leila goes to her room and watches video of her mother asking for her to come home. Leila wakes up in the night when she hears people outside her room. She was waiting for it though and quickly makes her way out the window and jumps 10 feet to the ground. She escapes with cult members hot on her heels.
Shirley meets with Owens for a general meeting. Off the record, Shirley asks questions about the team. Owens realizes Shirley knows nothing about baseball. Just as the interview gets started, Owens is interrupted by the arrival of Manda Starr. Shirley parts ways and the two women say they'll stay in contact.
Manda Starr has returned to hear Owens' answer about selling the team. Owens rejects the sale. Starr doesn't react.
As Shirley is leaving, she runs into Ashley Hernandez, he reads her work. They exchange cards.
Captain Levin leads the private PDDC briefing and is short-tempered. She says the case has shifted from searching for the suspects to making sure the public doesn't panic and the economy is disrupted. She tells everyone that Till and Myers are both dead and that it must stay secret or people will be fired. She says Myers was beaten to death in prison. Levin says the public manhunt will continue to keep up appearances.
After the briefing, Levin asks Rita to set up an appointment with the America First PAC. Eversmith overhears this and raises an eyebrow.
Levin meets with Eversmith, Cody and Jeremy Spencer. Levin slams Eversmith and Cody for losing Applegate's body. Eversmith tries to tell Levin that The Setup had been tampered with and that they have conclusive proof of the cult's activity. Levin puts her on indefinite suspension and threatens to fire her. Eversmith accepts the suspension and leaves. Levin says Spencer is on indefinite probation, but he refuses and quits. Cody is also put on indefinite probation and she accepts the punishment rather than quit like Levin wants.
Spencer leaves and drives to the Red Sheep Ranch. He knows the secret passwords and hand shake and makes his way inside. He meets with the Figure, who reveals that Spencer's cult name is Isaac. Isaac/Spencer completed his mission at PDDC, but we don't know what that is.
Jamelle Lewis fires Ashley Hernandez for the ThunderBrew commercials. Lewis says the firing came from Owens and Ashley leaves.
Kendricks works on his pitching as Howell, Langwieler and Glover watch. Kendricks is clearly unhittable and doing very well. Langwieler is worried about letting him back so soon, but Howell and Glover say the results speak for themselves. Jones comes out of the locker room for his own workout and he's not doing as well as Kendricks. He may have to go on the disabled list for two more weeks.
At National Stadium, Bishop asks Jones if they can have a chat. They step outside and Bishop says he doesn't know what to do about Betty and worrying about it is hurting him at the plate. Jones asks if Bishop has talked to her yet and when Bishop says no, Jones tells him to go do it now. He does and when he arrives, she's about to leave on a date with a man named Stanley. Betty asks Bishop to come with them. Stanley doesn't mind, so Bishop agrees reluctantly. They go to a carnival and Bishop gets competitive with Stanley over carnival games. Stanley wins ring toss. Bishop wins baseball toss. Stanley wins the hi-striker. Bishop wins skee ball. Bishop wins at basketball 3-point shots.
At home, Dwayne McDaris interviews alt radio host Alex Watkins. McDaris does an ad for buying gold. Alex tries to prove to McDaris that there is a magical blue glow around Kendricks' bat when he hits well and that it's gone when he doesn't. McDaris is skeptical.
In Roswell, Ajax Cloud plays, but not particularly well. His new teammates bug him about Kendricks, but he's glad to be away from the hype and said he's considering quitting and going home.
Huebner calls all the coaches except for Gray in for a meeting. He says that the team is falling apart and they should take action. Howell tells him this discussion is a bad idea. Langwieler gets up and leaves. Lawthon and Kimbell think things are going well. Tannehill and Glover reject Hubener's claims to disrespect the team. Huebner appeals to Howell, but Howell isn't buying it. The other coaches leave, upset at Huebner.
Shirley types up a blog post about Cam Kendricks, revealing all the evidence that Kendricks isn't really dating Tina Warren and that he abused her. The video is included in the post. She finishes and hits publish, but it glitches and she loses the post. When she tries to log back into the site, the servers are down.
She heads over to Chad's house and ask him about the site. He says it isn't a big problem and to check back later or call customer support. Chad gets a notification that a bunch of new documents have been uploaded to the FTP server. He starts downloading them. Shirley double-checks with Chad that no one can connect her to the blog and he reassures her.
Cult members in their free time: Abraham preaches to students at Catholic University. Jacob drives a city bus and flashes a secret sign to another cult member driving a different bus. Both of them are using their routes to scan the city using tech from The Setup. Working as a waiter, Esau steals customers' credit card information. Ishmael gives a secret tour for "patriots" at the American History Museum. Rebecca works as a DJ for a college radio station, she plays a satanic song "Fetuscake," by the Elder Sign Cuties. A teen signs up for the band's e-mail list and a cult member enters the teens information into a recruitment database.
Ashley calls her cousin Sandra who has some kind of investigative job and asks her for a favor. She e-mails the details and 30 minutes later Sandra gets back to her. She figured out that the video was shot by Maya Marin, a friend of Tina Warren's. Marin's last contact was with reporter Shirley Muldoon, who Ashley says she just met. Sandra says that Marin is missing.
Ashley calls Shirley and says it's about Cam Kendricks. Shirley is interested and Ashley sends her an e-mail.
Shirley logs into the FTP client and she starts viewing the files. Eventually she comes upon the crime scene photos of the 16-person murder scene. She's disgusted and calls Chad to help her upload the photos to the Dispatch website. Meyers finds out and takes them down. He fires Shirley with extreme prejudice.
Jones talks to Richard Speck and gets contact info for Speck's dealer, Spyder. Jones meets with Spyder and buys Winstrol, a steroid.
Michael Weisman hosts the Sunday Sports Chat Show with guests: Frank Lassiter, Harrell Flowers, Skipper Westmoreland and Albert Whaley. Gray watches from home and is upset that Whaley is on the show. Topics include: How each player stopped playing this season, what the environment is like in the Statesmen clubhouse and what the future holds for each of them. Whaley attacks Kendricks and the entire team, but the other three players turn on him and blame him instead. Gray finds this hilarious. Whaley reveals that he's looking into playing overseas and the panel laughs at him.
Whaley basks in the social media glow of his Chat Show appearance and there's a lot of hate for Kendricks, but social media loves Cam Kendricks, too.
Whaley speaks on the phone to an anonymous coach. The coach tells him he's toxic and nobody wants to hire him. Whaley says he hired his agent and the coach says he'll have to play baseball overseas if he wants to keep playing.
Owens shows Benjamin and article that says Manda Starr and Carmesi Molto are launching a hostile bid to take over the team. Owens is confident it will fail, but she gives Benjamin Starr's card and asks her to see what she can find out.
Betty and Bishop hang out at the Pinch. Betty tells Bishop that she is poly and asks if that bothers him. He says it does, but that he likes her and wants to try anyway. They kiss.
Cult members in their free time: Abraham does a Satanic spoken word piece at the Pinch. Jacob delivers drugs to a rural address. Esau poisons a customer at the restaurant and that customer dies from the traceless toxin. Ishmael designs stickers for the cult. Rebecca DJs at a club and plays songs with fire-related imagery.
Brack lists the names of the latest murder victims: Pearl Connor, Minnie Williams, Julia Smith, Edna Van Tassel.
Huebner meets with Owens and he asks her to do something about Gray. She says she agrees with him, but there's nothing she can do before the end of the season.
Shirley visits Tina Warren, but no one's home and the house is dark.
Benjamin reads the article about the hostile takeover and thinks back to the advice Professor Joy gave her in college. She picks up the phone and calls Manda Starr.
Weisman watches McDaris' interview with Alex Watkins and is disturbed. He calls McDaris and tells him he can't be on the Chat Show anymore.
Ashley tries to contact Maya but fails. The she calls Shirley and leaves a message that they should talk.
Game: The Statesmen host the New Jersey Titans. (1st) Kendricks starts. Howell is confident he'll do well, Gray isn't so sure. Kendricks strikes out the first batter, hitting 105 mph. (7th) Kendricks has allowed no hits through seven. (9th) Kendricks gets a no-hitter.
Jones gets an e-mail from Narvaez who realized that Jones was using Vaseline. He shames Jones for cheating. Jones dumps the Winstrol down the drain. He goes and does his physical therapy instead.
Whaley sits in a seedy motel in the middle of nowhere with a sex worker and passes out drunk.
McDaris passes out drunk and alone in a seedy motel outside of Akron.
Shirley goes to Chad's house and he quickly pulls her inside. He shows her a police report that shows that the police killed the lead suspect in the murders BEFORE the most recent incidents, meaning both that the killers are still on the loose and that the police killed an innocent man. They decide to talk to Paige and Eversmith.
The Figure goes into a private apartment at the Red Sheep Ranch and takes off her mask, revealing that she is Manda Starr.