The curtain falls on another great camp
Thursday, January 24, 2019
The rain threat that I had seen on the Weather Channel website some two weeks ago showed up in earnest today. It was clear when Greg and I arrived at the complex. But by the time we had the morning meeting, which we moved up in order to attempt getting at least one game completed, the front had arrived on the Treasure Coast.
It rained torrentially for about an hour, forcing the postponement of today's pair of games. Those games will be made up tomorrow at 9:30 and 2:00. The pro game will have to be cancelled as there won't be time to play it. We each had the chance to hit off of a pro today in the batting cage and not at batting practice speed. The highlight for many of us today was seeing Nelson Figueroa, Sr. batting against his son in the cage. Junior did not take it easy on his old man and threw some "gas" on a couple of his pitches. "Papi" made contact on a few, but it was a thrill to see this family moment take place right in front of us.
Figgy developed a blister on his finger and needed to depart to tend to it before I got my spot in the cage. I batted against Chad Kreuter, who was a catcher for the Mets at one time. He caught the great Nolan Ryan while with the Rangers and told Coolio, G-Dawg and myself some great stories about Nolan and Bo Jackson and Robin Ventura among other stars of the game at the time he played. He threw me about 10 pitches which made my bat speed resemble Arte Johnson as the little old man on "Laugh-In" who would always get hit with Lily Tomlin's purse. Know what I'm sayin'?
After that we were done for the day. I put together one of the two bags which my friends at Federal Express will send back to my house in frigid Minneapolis.
To backtrack to last night's Kangaroo Court for a moment. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of KC, it goes something like this. We all love a good laugh now and then and when we, as carbon-based life forms make a mistake, it always seems like there's someone there to be eyewitness to something we'd rather forget. That's what Kangaroo Court is all about.
Webster's Dictionary defines Kangaroo Court as "a court characterized by irresponsible, unauthorized or irregular status procedures". The etymology is divided as to authenticity. My favorite theory is that the term comes from courts where the evidence is clearly "jumped over" in an attempt to ignore evidence that would help the defendant in a case. Teams all across baseball, at virtually every professional level have kangaroo courts. They keep the clubhouse loose and are meant to be taken in good fun. But sometimes things go awry.
That aside, the court was presided over by judges Bobby Wine and Todd Pratt. Judge Pratt was a pinch-hitter for Judge Figueroa who was late to the proceedings due to the alarm clock not going off when the afternoon nap went long. But the proceeding went pretty much as they often do. Plenty of fines for things like wearing the wrong jersey top to play a game thus not matching your teammates' attire. One camper not only put on the uniform jersey of the person in the locker next to his, but did the same WITH HIS PANTS!
This year's Court fines were donated to an organization which assists our service men and women. In addition to how much was raised at the Court proceedings one camper gave $2,500 which will definitely go a long way for the charity organization. I came away unscathed as far as fines were concerned, but still donated $30 to the cause, as I appreciate our military personnel a great deal.
So tomorrow we get back on the field to do what we came here to do.
I have TWO great quotes today. The first is from Wednesday morning. During stretching exercises, as we are lying on the ground and stretching one leg over another, my teammate and great guy Frank Sanchez says, "Oh no, I took Advil P.M.!
The second goes to future Hall-of-Famer (not while he's alive, but someday) Pete Rose who said, "I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit just to play baseball."
That's how most of us at camp feel.
The rain threat that I had seen on the Weather Channel website some two weeks ago showed up in earnest today. It was clear when Greg and I arrived at the complex. But by the time we had the morning meeting, which we moved up in order to attempt getting at least one game completed, the front had arrived on the Treasure Coast.
It rained torrentially for about an hour, forcing the postponement of today's pair of games. Those games will be made up tomorrow at 9:30 and 2:00. The pro game will have to be cancelled as there won't be time to play it. We each had the chance to hit off of a pro today in the batting cage and not at batting practice speed. The highlight for many of us today was seeing Nelson Figueroa, Sr. batting against his son in the cage. Junior did not take it easy on his old man and threw some "gas" on a couple of his pitches. "Papi" made contact on a few, but it was a thrill to see this family moment take place right in front of us.
Figgy developed a blister on his finger and needed to depart to tend to it before I got my spot in the cage. I batted against Chad Kreuter, who was a catcher for the Mets at one time. He caught the great Nolan Ryan while with the Rangers and told Coolio, G-Dawg and myself some great stories about Nolan and Bo Jackson and Robin Ventura among other stars of the game at the time he played. He threw me about 10 pitches which made my bat speed resemble Arte Johnson as the little old man on "Laugh-In" who would always get hit with Lily Tomlin's purse. Know what I'm sayin'?
After that we were done for the day. I put together one of the two bags which my friends at Federal Express will send back to my house in frigid Minneapolis.
To backtrack to last night's Kangaroo Court for a moment. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of KC, it goes something like this. We all love a good laugh now and then and when we, as carbon-based life forms make a mistake, it always seems like there's someone there to be eyewitness to something we'd rather forget. That's what Kangaroo Court is all about.
Webster's Dictionary defines Kangaroo Court as "a court characterized by irresponsible, unauthorized or irregular status procedures". The etymology is divided as to authenticity. My favorite theory is that the term comes from courts where the evidence is clearly "jumped over" in an attempt to ignore evidence that would help the defendant in a case. Teams all across baseball, at virtually every professional level have kangaroo courts. They keep the clubhouse loose and are meant to be taken in good fun. But sometimes things go awry.
That aside, the court was presided over by judges Bobby Wine and Todd Pratt. Judge Pratt was a pinch-hitter for Judge Figueroa who was late to the proceedings due to the alarm clock not going off when the afternoon nap went long. But the proceeding went pretty much as they often do. Plenty of fines for things like wearing the wrong jersey top to play a game thus not matching your teammates' attire. One camper not only put on the uniform jersey of the person in the locker next to his, but did the same WITH HIS PANTS!
This year's Court fines were donated to an organization which assists our service men and women. In addition to how much was raised at the Court proceedings one camper gave $2,500 which will definitely go a long way for the charity organization. I came away unscathed as far as fines were concerned, but still donated $30 to the cause, as I appreciate our military personnel a great deal.
So tomorrow we get back on the field to do what we came here to do.
I have TWO great quotes today. The first is from Wednesday morning. During stretching exercises, as we are lying on the ground and stretching one leg over another, my teammate and great guy Frank Sanchez says, "Oh no, I took Advil P.M.!
The second goes to future Hall-of-Famer (not while he's alive, but someday) Pete Rose who said, "I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit just to play baseball."
That's how most of us at camp feel.
The saddest day of the week began with clear skies and a temperature of about 55 degrees. The rains from yesterday had subsided and we looked forward to playing two games. I started off the day with a bit of a joke on myself. After my fielding prowess, or lack thereof, I picked up some black duct tape last night. This morning I took a knife and fork from the cafeteria and taped them to the pocket of my glove. One of my coaches, Nelson Figueroa made the comment that with the week I had fielding I should just use my glove instead of utensils. I left the glove in his locker and he thought it was quite humorous. He also said that if I hadn't picked it up when I did he was going to crazy glue a baseball into the pocket. So I'm lucky to have not had that occur, to be sure.
I also got together with my great buds G-Dawg and Coolio. Earlier this week we'd talked about a scene from the movie "The Rookie" with Dennis Quaid. I told them both that we should reenact it in the clubhouse and they agreed with me. So with my iPhone we shot the scene six times, once for each machination of positions. Cameraman, character with dialogue, character without dialogue were the three roles we took on in a rotating basis. They came out pretty well, actually. We'll have to get those up on facebook soon. I've wanted to do that scene in real form for a long time.
With the attrition level beginning to rise in our ranks, as well as on other teams' rosters, we had to improvise on some of the defensive alignments. In the shakeout, I ended up behind the plate for the first time since the final day of camp in 2017. Back then I caught just the last two innings of that game. But today I would be behind the dish for an unknown amount of time. Catching is not my favorite position. It never has been. When I was growing up I played third base mostly, because no one else wanted to play it. Nowadays no one wants to catch, as seen by the level of quality catchers in major league baseball today. I brought my own catcher's/umpires mask down to PSL. The team supplied the shinguards and the catcher's glove. My mask is black with a Mets logo on one side and a New York Rangers logo one the other. While putting on what have come to be known as the "tools of ignorance" I realized that my shinguards were not from the same set. Sure, there was one left and one right, but while one was manufactured by Under Armor, the other had rolled off the assembly line of Easton. So, while feeling just slightly out of balance, I made do with the pair that I had. Tools of ignorance? They should be called the "tools of insanity".
We scored a bunch of runs and also gave up an even larger bunch of runs to our opponents. I caught all seven innings, somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 pitches. 23-14 was the score of the first game. But this time the mistakes we made were not any that I had made personally. The game ran incredibly long and it left us not too long to grab some lunch and head off to play game two.
Game two was much more enjoyable. I had gone hitless in the first game and wanted to finish the week well. I did go 1-for-3 in game two which left me at 1-for 6 for the day. I finished the week with an average of .476, which is the best average I have ever had at any camp. I did have a stretch where I had hits in eight consecutive at bats. We did win game two by a score of 8-5. In the process of this win we did something that we believe may have not been done at MFC in a long time, or possibly ever. David Lansner, a teammate of mine on Crash & Burn and a gent who is in his 70s, played all nine positions in seven innings. It was pretty cool to see and he finished the game behind the plate as I handed him he catcher's glove with but one out left for us to record. We recorded the final out and Mr. Lansner had set what we believe may be an MFC record.
After the final game we headed off to the clubhouse and then back to the hotel to prepare for the awards banquet at the Island Club. The championship game was played at First Data Field and started about 45 minutes after the other games did this afternoon. That way those campers whose games had ended in a normal amount of time could head over and watch the end of the contest between the Spin Rates and the Rumble Ponies. Before I'd left the clubhouse I saw members the Spin Rates entering, which told me right away who the victors may have been from the championship game. The Rumble Ponies would no doubt be in shortly carrying their newly-earned trophy.
The awards banquet was a great event, as it usually is. Commissioner Eric Hillman did a great job all week and was our master of ceremonies for the event. The awards were handed out for defensive and offensive prowess, along with team most valuable players. It was great to see the reactions on the faces of the winners when they were called up. Special props to Laura Brenneman who won the best defensive player award. To the best of my knowledge she became the first woman to win a non-team mvp award. She can definitely "pick it". Possibly the highlight of the evening was when we gave the award for our team mvp to Nelson Figueroa, Sr. To be around during the week and watching the two of them sharing the experience, all of the members of Crash & Burn were privy to a great thing. "Papi" as some of us referred to him, had never played organized baseball before. He plays softball, but you would never have been able to discern this fact about not having played baseball. On Thursday we got to see son throw bp to dad in the batting cages. It was another moment that they will remember for a very long time to come, as will those of us who had a chance to see it in person.
Tomorrow is "getaway day" as the hotel will empty in the morning. Many will catch the bus, driven by our good buddy "Fast" Eddie down to West Palm Beach at 7:30 am. I will hop into the Jag and head north to Orlando International for a flight to Minneapolis where the Ice Station Zebra is currently located. It is predicted that the temperature will not rise above zero between next Tuesday and Thursday.
After the final game we headed off to the clubhouse and then back to the hotel to prepare for the awards banquet at the Island Club. The championship game was played at First Data Field and started about 45 minutes after the other games did this afternoon. That way those campers whose games had ended in a normal amount of time could head over and watch the end of the contest between the Spin Rates and the Rumble Ponies. Before I'd left the clubhouse I saw members the Spin Rates entering, which told me right away who the victors may have been from the championship game. The Rumble Ponies would no doubt be in shortly carrying their newly-earned trophy.
The awards banquet was a great event, as it usually is. Commissioner Eric Hillman did a great job all week and was our master of ceremonies for the event. The awards were handed out for defensive and offensive prowess, along with team most valuable players. It was great to see the reactions on the faces of the winners when they were called up. Special props to Laura Brenneman who won the best defensive player award. To the best of my knowledge she became the first woman to win a non-team mvp award. She can definitely "pick it". Possibly the highlight of the evening was when we gave the award for our team mvp to Nelson Figueroa, Sr. To be around during the week and watching the two of them sharing the experience, all of the members of Crash & Burn were privy to a great thing. "Papi" as some of us referred to him, had never played organized baseball before. He plays softball, but you would never have been able to discern this fact about not having played baseball. On Thursday we got to see son throw bp to dad in the batting cages. It was another moment that they will remember for a very long time to come, as will those of us who had a chance to see it in person.
A couple of seasons ago one camper spoke about how great it was to be surrounded by so many "good people". He was absolutely correct. The people in that room were all high-quality and it was a pleasure to be around them. Someone else said that in your rookie year camp is about the fantasy. In your second year it's about the baseball. And in your third year it's about the friendships that you make going forward.
At the end of the banquet we all found our best buds to hug and tell each other how much we appreciated sharing this week with them. The beauty of fantasy camp is that it brought together about 107 men and 2 women who have a common bond. Some of us have minor physical issues. Some of us have major physical issues. Some have issues back at home which we don't want to return to. Some of us have issues at home which we can't wait to get back to. But for one week virtually none of that mattered to any of us. It was the melting pot that we all wish could exist in society on a daily basis. If only it were that simple.
Barry Lyons, a former catcher for the Mets, may have summed it up best. He said that Mets Fantasy Camp is about brotherhood, friendship and a love of the New York Mets. He's exactly right. We all have a mutual love -the Mets. So many of us come from different backgrounds. Different lifestyles. Different parts of, not just the United States, but of North America. Our belief systems differ. Our stances on politics differ. Our stances on religion differ. The triumphs and tragedies that we have each experienced differ. But all of those things go away when we talk about "the Orange and Blue".
Many of us will "reconvene" during the spring in New York for the reunion. The weekend of May 11th will find us at New Shea to see our boys of summer take on the Miami Marlins and their less-obnoxious new logos. Those reunions are glorious events where we get to pick up the last conversation with some people as though we saw them only 6 or 7 days earlier. Once again I will be able to see the childlike expressions on the faces of the rookies as we are introduced on the field and have our names announced on the public address system. I will even get to see those friends who attended week 1 who I missed this year. And that's just the beginning of it....again.
Many of us will "reconvene" during the spring in New York for the reunion. The weekend of May 11th will find us at New Shea to see our boys of summer take on the Miami Marlins and their less-obnoxious new logos. Those reunions are glorious events where we get to pick up the last conversation with some people as though we saw them only 6 or 7 days earlier. Once again I will be able to see the childlike expressions on the faces of the rookies as we are introduced on the field and have our names announced on the public address system. I will even get to see those friends who attended week 1 who I missed this year. And that's just the beginning of it....again.
To follow the theme which started the week, that our lives sometimes have a soundtrack, I came up with the song that would play over the closing credits to my week. It's a song called "Souvenir" by Billy Joel. Not many people are familiar with this song. It's only about 2 minutes in length but it is a sweet and poignant tune which crystallizes some of the feelings all of us campers will feel.
Thank you for sharing my week with me. I hope you enjoyed it vicariously through me.
I will close with one of my favorite quotes, which also appears in rotunda at CitiField:
Thank you for sharing my week with me. I hope you enjoyed it vicariously through me.
I will close with one of my favorite quotes, which also appears in rotunda at CitiField:
"A life is not important except for the effect it has on other lives" - Jackie Robinson.
With this in mind, go out and have a positive effect on someone's life.
That's what I'm gonna do.
That's what I'm gonna do.
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