Kerry

Kerry and Craig's

2003 Orioles Fantasy Camp Experience

(as relayed to Meg Goldsmith)

More Photos!

Kerry's official Fantasy Camp photos, taken by the Orioles photographer (Jerry Wachter), are now available here on the Belfry.

You can now see pictures of his prestigious award! (March 23)

Followup, Feb. 10

Kerry brought a number of things home with him, including a picture taken of himself with Rick Dempsey and the '83 trophy. Figuring that many of you may not have seen the trophy and none of you have seen Kerry's wrapped arm, I thought I'd post the photo here on the site. Check it out below.

Saturday, Feb. 8

Kerry's team started the morning with the Pro game. Like last year, they interspersed campers with former Orioles players but this time Dave Ford managed one dugout and Earl Weaver handled the other dugout. (Last year, you might recall Earl managed both teams, ensuring a victory for himself no matter who won.) Kerry couldn't bat-- and when you see one of the pictures he's ordered you'll understand why-- but he did play centerfield. In the afternoon, his team played Jim Gentile's team for The Ring. Kerry said there was a bit of a commotion because one of the unwritten rules says that no pitcher can be used for more than six innings in the playoffs. But it turns out that the actual rule reads that no pitcher can be used for more than six innings a day. So Gentile took advantage of the written rule and came back with his best pitcher after having used him in yesterday's game. Even with that being the case, Kerry's team took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth. They managed to get an out but it was clear that their pitcher was wearing down. Kerry said he gave up two singles and a walk and this led Grant Jackson to make a trip to the mound. He left the pitcher in as a result but Kerry was hoping he'd get the ball at that point. As it turns out, this might've been a good idea. The pitcher proceeded to walk the next batter to force in a run and giving a situation where the bases were still loaded with 2 out. Grant Jackson then put in another guy to pitch. Unfortunately, this guy hit the next batter to force another run in, making it a 3-2 game. Then, one of the very best hitters in camp came to the plate and hit a single, scoring two runs. The next batter hit a fly ball for the third out of the inning but the damage had been done. Kerry's team then went down 1-2-3 in the top of the sixth, thereby losing the championship game. He did come home with a nice trophy as the consolation prize but there won't be a ring for him this year.

Craig fared better in his final day. His strategy of swinging for the fences really paid off as he went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and a single, along with 4 RBI's in the Consolation game. He said it was a real blowout. And while he couldn't recall the exact score, he said it was something along the lines of 14-3. They used coaches to pitch and he got all of his hits off Pete McCahon. (My apologies if I've spell the name incorrectly.) Craig played left in the entire game. In the pro game his team played, he managed two line drive singles off Mike Boddicker and caught a fly ball hit by Al Bumbry where he had to go back in centerfield by five or six strides. He commented that he had a case of shin splints from all the running that left his legs feeling pretty uncomfortable.

At the Awards Banquet Saturday night, Kerry came home with the Trainers Award. This is an award that the trainers make up themselves and it's quite a sight! I'll try to get some photos taken soon. The base is composed of balls of tape and on the top is an empty box of Advil, an empty bottle of Flex-All, an empty Pepto Bismol box, and a baseball. He said that by the end of camp, he was on a first-name basis with all of the trainers--both at the major league level and minor league level. Apparently they were pretty impressed with his broken hand. (And I might note that the wrap is pretty impressive.)