Day 4, Fantasy Camp

I woke up this am feeling a little bit better. Either I was in so much pain I was numb or the trainers have been working a bit of magic. My arm feels great, it is still my lower back and groin which are killing me. The day started with another meeting in the tent lead by Commissioner Stearns. He talked again about the schedule for the day and the brown/gold ropes from the day before. Pat Zachary won the brown rope, it tuns out he went bowling the night before and blew a hamstring during his game. Since we finally won our first game, Gaspar's Ghosts were sure to have a few offensive starts nominated. I received a gold rope nomination with my complete game win the day before, but nobody else. I couldn't understand it, Timmy DePalma had an insane day, something like 6-7 with a boat load of RBI's!

Game 5 was an important one for us. We had won our last game of the day yesterday, and another win would put us into third place in our division. This game was all about the Gersh brothers. Damon pitched a complete game while giving up only 2 runs. David was fresh off of cage work with Coach Gaspar. They spent a lot of time talking about hands and hitting line drives. Turns out it all clicked for him this game, as he had his biggest game in his fantasy career, collecting a few hits and some big RBI's. We were down 2-0 going into the 5th inning and our bats were cold once again. Steve Lynch was catching for the other team, turns out he had to catch since they had a few injuries. I kept pleading to him to set-up inside and groove me a fastball. I lead off the 5th with a single, and the flood gates opened. Voorhis had a hit, Roachy had a hit, Jack had a hit, Timmy had a hit, Gersh had a hit and it was officially our first rally. We ended up scoring 7 runs that inning, and it was all we would need as Damon was pitching a gem. I mentioned that if I was to ever face Steve Lynch that I would have to go "away, away, away", well Damon grooved one to him and Lynch hit an absolute bomb. I was playing CF and had him played perfectly, I didn't even have to take two steps. Speaking of bombs, Jack took a pitch to the base of the wall in LF. We all thought that he had gotten enough to put it out. That is what this camp is all about, getting that one chance to try and fulfill a dream, and Jack's is to take one out. He didn't do it this game or this camp, but he came pretty damn close. The only thing I want to know, is how do you only leg-out a double on that ball? Anyway, we won the game and had our first winning streak. Everyone played well and got their hits. The only two runs that we gave up came on a squib hit in front of the plate which was thrown away. Since Ken Kneessey was playing 1B with a bum hammy and the throw wasn't backed up, the squib hit turned into a 2 run home run. Oh well, we won the ball game and that is all that matters.

Between games I went and got more treatment on my legs. I wasn't pitching during the afternoon games, but I wanted to make sure I was feeling my best for the playoffs. During lunch our team ate together and swapped stories from the game. This team is really starting to come together, unfortunately it is the last full day of games. Even though we have only been playing together for a few days, we have absolutely built team camaraderie. This is what playing baseball is all about.

Our afternoon game was delayed because of three teams were tied at the top of the other division and had a playoff. It was a sudden death game that ended up taking 9 innings. It was a very entertaining game to watch. We took the field a bit later but we had Roachy on the mound and he was set to go. It is funny how baseball works, as hot as we were during the morning game, we went equally as cold in the afternoon. It wasn't like we were facing a guy that was overpowering, we just couldn't get timely hits. Roachy only lasted a few innings, early reports is that he did something to his elbow. Voorhis came in to finish off the game and did a great job. Matty stepped up to the plate as a lefty and got a rally started for us. The Gersh brothers kept their hot streaks alive and David had another great game at the plate. We didn't get the big hits with runners on base and ended up losing this game. Jack and I had pretty uneventful games, a few hits, no RBI's. The sun was absolutely brutal as it was setting behind our field. Every ball hit to the outfield was a circus. We ended up losing........however.......

Howie wanted to continue a tradition he had started at other fantasy camps. At the end of the last game, regardless of the team's record or the outcome of the final game, everyone on the team would meet outside the locker room with two beers and have a beer celebration like we just won the World Series. I have some great pictures of us spraying each other with beer and celebrating like we won it all. Once I get them from the photographers from camp, I will post them. It was a great way to continue the team camaraderie and the "fantasy" in Fantasy Camp.

This evening we had our end camp dinner. As I said in an earlier post, I was lucky to be put on a team that had both a 1969 and 1986 World Series champion. At the dinner I got some great pictures of me wearing both rings. How amazing is that! Wearing the only two rings in the franchise history at one time. Coach Gaspar was an absolute gentleman again and told me that I was a good ball player. Hearing this from an former pro ball player who has a World Series ring is very flattering. During the dinner Commissioner Stearns gave announced camp awards and team MVP's. Timmy DePalma won our team MVP, he had a fantastic camp and played very well. Damon Gersh was honorable mention for the Tom Seaver pitchers award. It was a great evening. Gaspar's Ghosts is built with great guys who are solid ball players. I have enjoyed playing on this team.

Tomorrow we will be playing three innings against the Pros. I am excited about taking the mound and roaming the outfield of Tradition Field. I believe the pros are 168-3 against the campers over the past years.

Day 3 Fantasy Camp, and the Dream Continues:

I am 30 years old and I simply can't walk today. I am one of the youngest guys here, so I wonder how the 40 and 50 year old guys are feeling. The competition has been great and Gaspar's Ghosts are looking forward to getting a winning streak started.

After breakfast we had the morning meeting in the tent. Here Commissioner Stearns talks to us about our laundry loops (the Clubhouse guys, lead by Jack, do an amazing job of making sure your uniforms are washed and everything is set and ready to go) to the schedule of events for the day. At the end, they give away the brown and gold ropes for the prior day. A brown rope is given to a player (or coach) who did something not so smart or good the prior day and the gold rope is given to the player who had a great performance. In game 1 the prior day I struck out a guy and ran off the field pumping my fist thinking it was the third out, when in fact, it was only the second. What a dumb-ass! As soon as I did this, I heard Anthony Young yell "put that in the book", which either meant a brown rope nomination or I would be fined. So, as I figured, John Stearns asked me to stand-up and noted my blunder for the day. Even more funny was who the next brown rope nomination was for Jack. With a man on first base he made a diving stab at third, but stupidly went to touch the bag at third thinking there was a force, which there was not. We didn't win the brown rope, thankfully! Nobody on our team received a gold rope nomination, probably because we lost two games.

Game 3 was on one of the back fields with a pro-turf infield and grass outfield. Prior to the game Randy Niemann helped me with my curveball, all of 10 minutes of coaching and I was breaking off a little "charlie", as he would like to call it. I was playing CF and Jack was in LF. It was a brutal day for defense as the early morning sun was directly in our eyes. I lost two fly balls that would have been easy outs. I felt bad for Roachy, our pitcher, because he was throwing an awesome game, tennis elbow and all. We had a tough first inning, letting up a few runs, all unearned. Our offense was quiet once again, being set down by a pretty good pitcher. Late in the game we mounted a rally but couldn't close the gap enough. It seems every team we play makes 5 or 6 web gems. Things are not going our way. The game was ended on a sick double play. We tried to get on the other pitcher during the rally, but it didn't work. Randy introduced our team to some lingo from back home. After a walk he would yell "nice peepers". Jack ended up having a golden sombrero, 0-3 with 3 K's. I ended up 2-3 with two singles. Roachy threw a complete game and deserved much more support from our offense. We hope to get the bats going in the afternoon game and pick-up our first win. Other notables, Timmy DePalma has been playing a solid shortstop for us. From what I understand it is only a matter of time before he starts to light up the pitchers here. Yesterday one of the Kneessey brothers, Doc (nicknamed this because he is a plastic surgeon), pulled a hammy, however he is still hitting and had a good game at the plate. Howie, who plays first, had another good game in the field despite the horrible sun. It was a great effort, but we came up short.

I spent a good part of the afternoon lunch break in the trainers room. I was slated to pitch again that afternoon but I was unsure how I could make it as I couldn't walk correctly. The training staff worked out a few kinks, wrapped my ailing groin and I was set to go. Game 4 was played against a team that was also win-less. I took the mound and quickly put us in a 3-0 hole as I walked four guys in the first inning. My back, legs, groin and arm were all screaming at me to stop. I felt bad for the guys on my team as it must have been so frustrating to watch me pitch. I brought out the Niemann "charlie" for the first time, and struck a few guys out looking with it. Niemann loved the "charlie". We finally broke the bats out during this game. DePalma had a huge day at the plate and played a solid short once again, Matty Benson, my catcher, hit the ball hard and caught a great game and had to leg out first to home during a big inning (the second time this camp he has gone first to home), John Kneessey played a solid game even though it seemed his mind was on the Pats game that night, Roachy hit the ball hard and played well in the field considering he just threw 7 innings during the morning games, Randy called a great game when he caught, the Gersh brothers played solid defense to help preserve our first victory and Howie hit the ball great and made two fantastic catches on hard hit line drives. Coach Gaspar was late for the game, and we all though he should have been fined, either for his tardiness or for wearing a glove in the third base coach's box. We are coming together nicely and are starting to play like a team. Give us a few more games and we would be difficult to beat. I was happy to help get our team its first victory (I pitched a complete game with 6 k's) and it was nice to "high five" the boys around the mound after the game knowing we got our first victory for rookie coach Gaspar.

After the game Coach Gaspar spent about 45 minutes at DePalma's locker talking hitting with Roachy, DePalma, Voorhis and few other guys. This guy is simply a gentleman and I could listen to him talk about hitting and baseball all day long. He was giving us advice about "throwing" your hands out at pitches and how to approach an at-bat. He was also telling stories of the great miracle Mets and his time with the team. I can't say enough how much I appreciate having someone like him as my coach. He is making this fantasy camp experience even more amazing. We all look forward to spending more time in the cages and on the field with coach Gaspar.

I spent a good amount of time in the cold tub after this game with other fantasy campers, including veteran camper John Mulligan. This is basically a jacuzzi that is like 40-50 degrees and helps to ice your entire body in one sitting. Hopefully this will help me feel better for tomorrow.

On another side note, today I met Adam Freifeld who was introduced to me by Bill. As it turns out Adam also runs a softball team in the YSA fall league, the Rockers. They are a great team and beat us this past fall. He is writing a blog for NBC Sports, so be sure to check it out. He is playing for the team we played in game 1, and wasn't too happy with me as I jammed him with a fastball that left a nasty bruise on his hand. Sorry about that Adam.

Tonight we had our Kangaroo Court, where Bobby Wine and Doug Flynn ran a great evening of busting the balls of fantasy campers/coaches/staff and fined them from wearing the wrong uniforms, cutting underwear to pee, getting caught being called a pet name by a girlfriend, getting naked in front of women ball players and other hysterical things. All in all, we raised over $3,000 for the Breast Cancer Foundation. After court, a bunch of us went to Duffy's to watch (sorry John) the Pat's loose. Some of the pro ball players were there, including Anthony Young. He told us a fantastic story about how he found out he had been called to the "show". It went something like this:

He came to the triple AAA field on the day of a scheduled start and his manager at the time informed him that he was not going to be pitching that day. AY was asked to keep the chart, this is what starting pitchers do the day before a start. It was explained to him that he was throwing well and that this was not a demotion. Well, during the game AY went to the locker room to go to the bathroom. The game was naturally playing on the locker room radio and as he was going to the bathroom AY heard one of the announcers say "Anthony Young is not starting today because he has been called up to make a start with the big club". This is when he stopped, "mid-stream". As he made his way back to the dugout, his manger saw a glazed look on his face, and knew AY had found out.

Can't wait for tomorrow for games 5 and 6. Game 5 will be our last "regular season" game, and game 6 will be playoffs.

The best day ever! However, let me paint a picture now for you. My body is so sore that if I had to pee I would probably just piss myself right here in my bed. My arm feels great but from my lower back down, I am a disaster. So much for those tough Spin classes leading up to camp. Jack is a disaster right now too, his legs are shot and he banged his hand up. Our housemates Ed and Bill are walking slowly now, too.

So, today was the best day ever, part 2. Jack and I got to the clubhouse around 7:30. We had a fantastic breakfast of eggs, bacon and pancakes. The Mets Cafeteria arranges breakfast and lunches for the campers. They put together a great menu and keep us satisfied for the upcoming days events. I then went to the training room and got some heat and stretching on my lower back. I felt like I was in college again, playing football and hanging in the locker room. It had the same smell, and I got the same "butterfly" feelings. Let me just say that the training staff is awesome! This is basically their spring training for the real Spring Training. The guy that worked on me was great. We had a nice conversation about the mini camp last week. He said that Maine, Wright and the other guys looked really good. He also said that Pedro was on track and was working out really hard. As the week continues I am sure they will work a few minor miracles.

The morning session was set up with stations. Each group went to a hitting, infield, outfield and pitching so the Pros could evaluate us. I had a few coaches ask me who I was, I guess it was a good thing assuming they were scouting me for the draft that afternoon. At the hitting station I had the great Mickey Brantley break down my swing, and he knew right off the bat that I play softball. He helped with a few things. During the batting practice portion of the sessions we met a few nice guys while shagging balls, one is Lynch from Harrisburg, PA. He played baseball at Leb Valley, who was a conference rival of my college, Susquehanna University. He is a catcher, but because of some prior knee problems, isn't sure he wants to catch while he is here. This guy is built like linebacker. I must make a mental note that if I face him to go "away, away, away".

We broke from lunch and Jack had to run off and get a cup. I told him many times that he needed one, but he never listens to me. Must be the younger brother thing. Lunch was great, I stuffed my face with meatballs, lasagna, tuna, fruit and water. I probably ate a bit too much. After lunch I went back to the training room to get some heat on my arm. At this point there is not too many people getting treatment. It is still guys who just want to get loose or taped, not so much dealing with pulled muscles. When I was in there the teams were posted. Jack came in to inform me that we were on  Rod Gaspar, Randy Niemann, and Al LeBoeuf's team, the Gaspar's Ghosts. What a great treat. We had both a 1969 and 1986 World Series Champion as coaches. I could speak with Randy about all of the Met's pitching prospect and Rod about the Miracle Mets. Randy recently took a position with the Mets as Head of Rehab for pitchers. We talked about Heilman, Sanchez, Pedro, Ollie, Bannister and Maine. He said that Bannister is a great talent and maybe the best of all the young guys, minus Pelfrey, who he said once he develops his curve will be a stud. Gaspar is an absolute gentleman and has one of the most infectious personalities. He knows baseball and loves to talk to anyone who will listen (which is our entire team).

It is strange, within 45 minutes we found out our teams, got dressed, hit the field and started to play baseball. I do not know any of the guys on my team, other than Jack. We have three sets of brothers (the Kneessy's and Gersh's make up the others) and a mixture of Fantasy veterans and rookies. I found out that I would be taking the mound for game 1. We were slated to play Anthony Young's and Rafael Santana's team. As it turned out, this team was the best at camp, it was formed of guys that play together back home. I was pretty nervous, and it showed as I couldn't find the plate starting the game. It is so f-ing hard to throw a strike when you are this nervous. The game ended with a 1-0 loss. I pitched a complete game with 9 k's, 1 earned run, 3 base hits and 3 hits batsmen. I felt so bad, I hit a guy so hard in the knee that the ball rolled to the first baseman, Howie. I was trying so hard to get my change-up across but I had no feel for it. Coach Niemann came out a few times and talked with me, and I thought to myself how cool it was that this guy is visiting the mound that I am pitching on. The team we played had the best pitcher in camp, and he was bringing it. I went 0-2, Jack had a great game, he went 2-2 which were the only two hits of the game. The umpire approached me after and said that I pitched a fantastic game. Apparently it was the buzz of the camp that we had a pitchers duel. Our team is great bunch of guys, just a good group of guys who are having fun living their dream. I look forward to learning more about them.

Between games I went and got some heat on my back as it tightened up big time on me. Thankfully they didn't need me to pitch game two, Coach Niemann put me in CF, which I was very happy about. We ended up loosing this game, but the guys played well. Damon Gersh pitched very well, and Fantasy camp rookie Randy Voorhis came in to pitch a few solid innings. Randy never played baseball growing up, and today he lived a dream. He played a fantastic shortstop, caught me in game 1 and pitched all in the same day. He is an avid softball player and attended camp with buddies Timmy DePalma and Roachy. I hit the ball hard a few times in game 2 and ended up 2-4, not too bad. I had a few balls hit to me in CF, but nothing was too eventful. We still lost game 2, Jacked ended up with a few hard hit balls, and one was a three run double that would have tied the game, very unlucky. Funny side-note, Eric Brown, author of another blog about fantasy camp, wrote about this game. He is the one that made an outstanding play at third with the bases loaded on Jack's laser down the line.

I hope I can get out of bed tomorrow. My body is KILLING me. I am contemplating sleeping in my contacts because I don't want to get up and take them out. I have a bag of ice on my leg, which I got from Outback Steakhouse. Jack, myself and Ed and Bill went tonight to eat a few steaks and rip some beers. We met Lynch and his wife there for some Miller Lights. So far this camp is absolutely amazing. My body is in pain, but it just doesn't matter.

I have returned from the what I consider to be one of the best experiences of my life.  I didn't have internet connection at my hotels, so I will be posting my blog entries from fantasy camp over the next few days.  Here is part 1:

Day 1 Mets Fantasy Camp.

Are you F ing kidding me? Remeber when you were 7 years old and you woke up on Christmas morning and couldn't wait to get down to the presents because Santa Clause was there? Well, that is EXACTLY how Jack and I felt today when we walked into the locker room and saw our jerseys in our locker. It was a long day, our flight was delayed becasue of the bad weather. We finally got to West Palm Beach where we rented a car and had an easy drive to Port St. Lucie.

We arrived at the Stadium and got dressed for the voluntary workout. I was so excited I couldn't get dressed fast enough. I put one sock on, then my shirt, then shorts, then my shoe, then my hat, then my other sock. I couldn't think straight! The fields here are sick! Jack and I are familar with Dewitt Clinton park in NYC. No grass, glass everyhwere. The fields here are cut like the fairway at Augusta National. They are spongy and perfect. We threw the ball around and took a few rounds of BP. Hitting with a wood bat is much different, and lots of guys were breaking bats right and left. I hit pretty well, by my third round I was seeing the ball pretty well. Jack had a few great rounds, too, hitting lots of line drives and even inching one to the warning track. We met Guy Conti, John Stearns, Ed Kranepool, A Young and a bunch others today at the field. John Stearns is a chatter box, funny guy who is great to be around.

Some of the things that were amazing to me:

1) In the locker room there is a refrigerator that is packed with water and other sports drinks, however, it is also stocked with all types of ice cold beers. After running around taking BP and shagging balls, we were greeted with this beautiful sight in the locker room and ripped beers as we organized our lockers and fit our uniforms.

2) Also in the locker room are two buckets, one filled with David Sunflower Seeds and one with Bubble Gum. Are you kidding me, free seeds!

3) There are a few women here that have awesome swings.

4) Everyone here is very, very nice and has been saying that this will be the best time of our lives (so far, it is living up to that).

5) Jack has a really big head, and I always make fun of it. He had to get the biggest Mets hat possible. Funny thing about this is that it looks really good on him and not like a big horse head.

After the voluntary workout we checked into our suite and went to the opening dinner. We are sharing our suite with two other guys, Ed from Long Island and Bill from Manhattan, they are both very nice. They just got back to our room with a bunch of beers. It is a small world, Bill, as it turns out, played against me in our Fall softball league this past year. They beat us by forefit because the lights at Dewitt Clinton went out. Again, typical shitty NYC Softball, especially because it is run by YSA. But I digress. Our other "housemate" is a huge Tom Seaver fan. He told us a great story about meeting him for the first time, and how Seaver was uncharasteristically nice and accomodating.

The opening dinner was fun. We all had to introduce ourselves and this is how Jack's introduction went "Hi, I am Jack, from Manhattan New York and live downtown in Tribeca and this is my first camp. I am here with my brother and I am here to show him who is the boss." Now, I have no problem with this, other than, why do you have to mention Tribeca? I wanted to get up and say, "Hi, I am Scott, and I don't live in Tribeca, I can't afford it." We sat with other Fantasy Camp veterans and shared stories of the past years and what to expect for this year.

Anyway, good times so far. Tomorrow we get to the stadium and have breakfast then we have our morning evaluations. The coaches will scout each player and at lunch will have a draft to select their team. We will then play two in the afternoon. I can't wait to get out there again and hit, run and throw. It is going to be a fantastic day. Just living the dream!