2005 Fantasy Camp Diary

Veteran's Tournament Day 2

(Sun., Jan. 30, 2005)

by Meg Goldsmith for Kerry and Craig

Not a very good day for Kerry and Craig's Veteran's team.  They're on Carl Vizzi's team this year and they lost both their games.  Kerry said that by the time they got to the consolation game (second game of the day) nobody's head was in it.  So not only did they lose, but they lost big.  The scores were 6-5 in the first game and 7-1 in the second.  

That being said, Craig was still smacking the ball hard today.  He went four for four with a double and two RBI's.  One of the RBI's was a strange one.  It came on a sacrifice fly to the second baseman.  Kerry said the guy caught it just into the grass but must've forgotten about the runner at third because that guy headed for home and scored without a problem.  This sort of thing can be seen with some degree of regularity at Fantasy Camp.  In the field, Craig again played the outfield and first base and he made all the plays he was supposed to make.  Nothing of any consequence according to Kerry.

On the other hand, Kerry is still very unhappy with how he's doing at the plate.  He said he's crushing the ball during batting practice but not doing anything in the games and he's feeling frustrated by it.  Tomorrow morning, he's asked Davidwb to throw him some BP because David has a legitimate curve and Kerry wants to see that mixed in with some other stuff.  He went one for four at the plate with one run scored today.  He said that part of the problem is that he got behind in the count due to some pitches out of the strike zone being called strikes.  

In the field, he played shortstop.  Nothing major, four grounders and a couple of line drives that he caught.  He said there was one play in the first game that was kind of interesting.  With a runner on first, the batter hit a ball over their left fielder's head that went to the wall.  Kerry went well out into the OF and gunned down the baserunner as he was trying to head into home.  On the mound, he threw one inning in the first game and didn't pitch in the second game.  He said he gave up consecutive singles and the next batter hit the ball but it was kicked to load the bases.  The next batter hit the ball but it was kicked and then thrown away, allowing two unearned runs to score.  Kerry decided the only way to avoid the Three Run Rule (Veteran's Tournament rules dictate that an inning end after the third run is scored) was to strike out the side.  So that's what he did.  He took something off his breaking ball, turning it more into a sloppy curveball instead of a slider.  He said this really fooled the hitters and he got the next three batters to strike out.  No doubt he'll draw on that pitch during the regular tournament games.

The daily injury report is still pretty good.  Craig is a bit sore in his ribcage area.  Not sure why but probably nothing more than the usual aches and pains of camp.  Kerry bruised his left big toenail again.  This has become an annual occurrence for him.  The trainers told him they'd drain it tomorrow morning.  The trainers are the true unsung heros of Fantasy Camp.  They patch all these guys up every day and help keep them on the field.  

The big news of the day is that the rookies made it to camp.  They were a couple hours later than initially planned but the staff managed to get them through all their evaluation drills and the evaluation games so they could hold a draft late in the afternoon.  The draft results were announced at a reception for the rookies at the hotel this evening.  Kerry, Craig, and John Reed (also a member on the Belfry message board) were all drafted by Wayne Gross.  Davidwb was drafted by Jack Voight.  Kerry, Craig and John will be playing for the Grizzlies, whose only coach is Dave Ford, while Davidwb will be playing for the Vultures.  

Kerry seems very pleased with his team, telling me it has "serious talent" including three legitimate shortstops.  Typically, the players who end up at short are the best players on their team because they have to be able to catch the ball, throw it, and move.  Kerry told me he probably won't play any short this year and will likely spend all of his non-pitching time at third.  He also noted that they only have 11 players on their team, meaning people won't have to sit out too many innings.  Some of the teams have 12 players.  I told Kerry his team only needed 11 guys because of how good they are. <g>  Kerry does think they have a good chance to get to the championship game (aka: The Ring Game) this year.  In all his years coming to camp, he has yet to be on THE championship team.

Craig's Stats:

Kerry's Stats:

Previous Reports:

Veteran's Tournament Day 1

Preparing for Camp