The week of fun and excitement commences

 1 November 2021

Today was the start of on-field activities. I made my way to the complex and had a couple of pieces of toast and some bacon. I headed back to my locker to put on my home white uniform for this morning's meeting. We discussed the awarding of the gold and brown ropes which are given out at the morning meeting. The gold rope is for excellence in play from the previous day's game(s). I've been nominated for a gold rope twice in my previous 6 camps. Most recently at my last camp in 2019. I went 6-for-6 with 4 RBIs over two games on the same day. The brown rope is usually reserved for someone who may have had a better day if they had stood in bed. Past winners of said rope have done things like shown up at the field for a game wearing the opposite uniform from the rest of the team, be it home whites or road blues.  Leaving one's glove on the team bus. Forgetting how many outs there were and leaving the field prematurely. And showing up to use the hot tub without wearing anything. AN-Y-THING. Tomorrow we hand out the first ropes of the week.

We also discussed the laundry loop. The laundry loop is used in the process of cleaning each players undershirts/socks and occasionally underwear. The loop is fairly simple to navigate. Fairly. This year Doug Dickey, our camp guru, even included a tutorial in an email just last week to make sure things run smoothly. But, alas, I saw two laundry loop mistakes myself. I helped one of the gents get it right before dropping the loop into the basket.The other I left for fate to take care of.

We stepped out to the field to go through evaluations. Infield, outfield, pitching and hitting were addressed. I skipped the pitching portion as I could pitch my way out of a wet paper sack. I last labored on the mound in my first camp in 2013. I was awful. The only positive thing I accomplished in that short stint on the bump was I participated in a trick play. My coach wanted to play a trick on a rival team's biggest hitter, Mike Arunzullo. So, the plan was set. When I reached Mike's place in the batting order I had just finished walking the bases loaded by throwing the previous nine pitches all out of the zone by which the umpire could award me a strike call. My catcher, Lynn Spuler, who is at camp this year, jogged out to the mound for a faux meeting on the mound. It wa here that she handed me an apple which had been wrapped in trainers tape and marked with a sharpie to look like baseball stitches. Lynn returned to her position behind the dish and I looked in for the sign, of which there was none to be seen. I went into my windup and let fly with the first ball I'd thrown over the plate in my last 10 attempts. Aranzullo crushed it. And I have the video to prove it. Not being at home right now does not allow me to add it as an attachment here, unfortunately. But it DID happen. The ironic part of this story is that the following season, in 2014 Aranzullo were teammates and won a championship with a team that went 7-0. He's a great guy and a great ballplayer. 

After lunch the teams were announced by their coaches back outside at the tent. I was drafted by the team coached by Rodney "Crash" McCray, Pete Schourek and Josh Thole. Our team name is Dr. Andrews' Waiting Room. This is a reference to Dr. James Andrews who is a well-known orthopedic surgeon who has performed surgeries on many high-profile athletes. 

So the Doctors take the field against All-Time 212, coached by All-time pinch hit king Lenny Harris and Joel Youngblood. We jumped out to a fast 3-0 lead but were headed by the 4th inning. We found ourselves down 8-4 going to the top of inning number 7. We were at the bottom of the order, myself being the last batter in said order. With two men on and no one out I came to the plate. I was 0-for-2 after my first two at bats but this time I was ready. Or so I thought. I absolutely crushed a Bobby Whelan pitch to left hooking toward the foul line. The left fielder got a great jump and made the catch, sending the runner on third home with a run and a sacrifice fly for myself. We went on to score 6 more runs to take an 11-8 lead going to the bottom of the final frame. A couple of long drives over our outfield produced a pair of runs but alas that would not be all that they would score. They eventually plated the game-winner and we were done. 

After the game we all gathered at a Hibachi restaurant nearby to kibbutz and get to know each other better as well as our coaches. It's a fine group of guys. A good mix of young and old. The youngsters having infinite trouble believing that I turned 60 last Thursday. But I tell them that this is indeed a fact of life. My life, specifically.

Tomorrow we have team photos taken in the morning before game 2 of our week. I hope to add a couple of base hits to the run batted in I had today, because I'm still batting .000. The only players on the team to not hit safely today were myself and Russ Bruno. OUR link is that we both played baseball (He varsity, myself only JV) at the University of Tampa. When I was there we were awful. Not long after I left they became National Champs. Go figure.  

Tomorrow night is Charity Casino Night for the campers and the proceeds will be going to charity after the event. It's a new event at camp and it should be entertaining. 

Tomorrow the line forming for the trainer's room will begin to grow. It will be longer each passing day. I just hope to not be in it once again at any point. Well, Dr. Andrews' Waiting Room is closed right now, but tomorrow morning we open with thoughts of long rallies at the plate and tight defense on our minds.

Today's quote goes to Flounder in "Animal House"who said, "Oh boy, is this great!"