Saturday, January 26
Kerry said it's going to be a small camp this year, the smallest one he's attended. There are only 96 participants, meaning only 8 teams will be fielded. Part of this is due to some last-minute dropouts (a common occurrence) and the rest is attributed to the economy and the events of Sept. 11. Several of the long-time campers have had family members with serious illnesses to deal with as well.
On the good news front, Frank Robinson has already checked into the hotel and will be present all week. And Moe Drabowsky is expected to participate for the entire week as well. He's still battling cancer but the chemo has been quite helpful. In addition Scott McGregor is going to be down for the entire week this year, a first for him. And on the "exciting news" front, the goal for next year is to get every member from the 1983 World Championship team down to commemorate the 20th anniversary of that event. The big drawing cards for most people would undoubtedly be Cal and Eddie but Kerry is particularly looking forward to the idea of meeting his favorite Oriole, Ken Singleton. In case anybody is interested in doing this, you should contact Steve Freeman of the Orioles after the season starts for all the information. I'll warn you now that participants are not likely to be known until late into the fall but you've got the scoop as to what they're hoping to do.
As for the game action, Kerry played on Stu Fishelman's team yet again in the veteran's tournament. He's played with Stu Fishelman in three of the four years he's been to fantasy camp so he's becoming quite familiar with The Fish's ways. Kerry said none of the "stud" pitchers made it to camp this year and I reminded him that this will put a premium on players who can actually catch the ball since more balls will be put into play.
A word about Fantasy Camp rules. They play baseball but with some modifications to the rule book. For starters, there are no stolen bases in fantasy camp. Second, there is a "Three Run Rule" which says that no team can score more than three runs except in the final inning. Once a team has scored three runs, the inning is over. Furthermore, the games are only six inning games and if the game is tied they play one extra-inning. This means some ties typically occur in the regular tournament. There is also a mercy rule but I don't recall the specifics. (Craig, can you help me out on this one?)
They lost both games, which he wasn't real pleased about until he remembered that if they aren't playing in the veteran's tournament they can rest on Monday prior to the start of the regular action. Given that he's already banged up (more on this in a moment), that didn't sound so bad to him. They lost Game One 4-3, allowing three runs in the the first. They managed to tie the game but they gave up the winning run in the bottom of the sixth. Kerry said he was in front of everything, as is usual for him at camp. Hitting second he flied out to center in his first AB, popped up to third in his second AB, and walked in his third. He did better in the second game, beating out an infield hit between short and third in his first AB, walking in his second AB, and hitting a clean single to center in his third AB. He also managed to score a run in their 8-5 loss. The game was tied at five thru six but they gave up three runs in the top of the seventh and failed to score in the bottom of the inning. On the mound, he pitched a scoreless inning in each game, giving up two walks and one K in the first game and reversing those stats in the second game. (Note: Players can only pitch one inning per game in the veteran's tournament.) In the field playing short, he fielded a line drive, a popup and made the defensive play of the day (his words, not mine!) when he went way behind second to field a ball, then flipped it to second to force the lead runner and end the inning. He said the infield was rock hard and this led to both of his injury problems for the day. He took two hard grounders off the heel of his glove and after he had showered he discovered a bruise on his hand near the wrist. He'll have the trainer look at it in the morning but he's been icing it and said it doesn't look too bad. He also got a raspberry on his knee from sliding into second the two times he had to do that. The trainers treated it and will wrap it with a protective bandage for him tomorrow.