Saturday, February 2
Today's update is the final camp update relating game action. Kerry said the morning meeting acknowledged people who should've been acknowledged earlier in the week but, for whatever reason, hadn't been as of today. He didn't get a gold rope but he didn't expect one given how poorly he played yesterday.
He did say that Moe Drabowsky was in camp today, riding around in a golf cart to watch the various pro games as well as the championship games. Kerry did note that Mike Flanagan had pulled out at the last minute after getting sick. Nothing serious, but he wasn't able to travel. He also mentioned that after he was finished with his game against the pros, Elrod Hendricks was conducting a mini batting clinic, telling some of the campers tricks for avoiding bad habits at the plate. Kerry referred to this as "slump protection tips" and thought it might come in handy during future camps. He noted that Elrod catches in the pro games and I said that must mean Elrod is in pretty decent shape and he agreed.
As for the pro game, they divided the campers on Gentile's team into two groups and interspersed pros on both sides, with Earl managing both teams. Kerry got to pitch to three of the pros. How this worked is that whenever a pro would come to the plate, a camper would pitch while the pros would pitch to any campers at the plate. He said Ken Gerhart singled to left. In a different inning he faced Brooks and Brooks roped a single to left. Jim Spencer was the third batter he faced and Spencer ripped a line drive to Gary Roenicke who was playing first at the time. At the plate, Chris Lein (not sure if this is spelled correctly) was pitching against the campers. Lein was a minor leaguer who never pitched in the majors but he participates in fantasy camp every year. Kerry said he doubled over Bumbry's head in his first AB. He commented that if his hamstring were o.k. this would've been an easy triple and possibly an inside-the-park HR but since he can only run at 65% he settled for a double. The next batter doubled and Kerry scored and he said something interesting happened. Whoever was making the play decided to try to throw him out at the plate. But the throw was bad and Elrod went up the line to get it and Kerry wound up running right into him. He said this was a bad scene because of how big Elrod is and how small Kerry is (Kerry is 5'7", 135 lbs.). Kerry said he bounced off Elrod and then went on in to score. But it was apparently a funny sight. In his second AB, Kerry hit a fly ball to left. The guy who is normally his team's catcher was out there and the guy caught the ball. Kerry said what makes this so noteworthy is this guy is a 74-yr. old playing in his third camp. He's a retired dentist who is now teaching middle school. And Kerry noted that there several other campers in their early to mid 70's who participate every year.
As for the tournament, Rocky Johnson's team beat Jack Voight's team handily, something along the lines of 10-4. Kerry said he went over and watched some of the game action after their pro game was finished and Voight's team, which was the team that beat Gentile's game in the playoff round yesterday, played similarly to the way Gentile's team played yesterday-- just dead in the field. Kerry did comment that he thought Rocky Johnson's team was the best team in camp this year so he wasn't surprised at this result although he hadn't expected the score to be quite so lopsided.
As for the Awards Banquet, this year Kerry was named to the All-Star team for the first time ever. He was very surprised by this. He said there were three guys from his team who were named and he had split his vote amongst the other two guys who were named. I asked him how this is selected and he said it's a combination of factors. Each team votes for a player on their team to make it (as I mentioned, he split his ballot this year) and then every camper makes an "at large" vote for one camper from all the other teams. In addition, the staff also votes for a player from another team. Kerry said this must've meant that the guys from his team got a lot of at-large ballots. He was also selected as a runner-up for the gold glove award, the fourth consecutive year he's earned that honor. The gold glove award winners and the camp MVP are chosen by the staff.
He noted that there were a few additional giveaways today. Everyone got a commemorative Cal Ripken ball as well as a copy of the "Farewell Cal" book that the Orioles produced for the final weekend. And, as usual, there was a ball signed by all the camp staff. This is handed out every year.
Kerry also clarified a story he related to me last night which the Belfry readers will appreciate, so I'm going to close this year's camp reports with it. At dinner last night, he went out with a group of guys and they were commenting on their experience the preceeding night. The waitress at the place they went to noticed that one of them was wearing an Orioles t-shirt and she commented that she was dating a minor leaguer in the Orioles system, a player at Delmarva. Kerry said his ears perked up and he asked, "Oh yeah? Who was it?" When they told him it was Tripper Johnson, he said he told them, "I know all about Tripper Johnson" and then proceeded to recite chapter and verse on him. The guys looked at him in amazement and asked him how he knew this, and he told them about the Belfry. He didn't have any of Bob's cards with him at the time so he was planning to hand them out today. If someone else hadn't been writing off the dinner as a business expense, I would've suggested that Kerry put it on the Belfry's expense account since it'll likely reel in a few unsuspecting souls. <g>