I guess, if you don’t meet the specs of the far left, you can’t own a baseball club.
I’m NOT a ditto-head. I don’t listen to Rush nor would I go to him for insight.
However, who the hell do they think, they are in saying, I can veto you over your politics none of which are illegal.
If a Jackson or Sharpton were to try and buy a team and were told, their politics made them unsuitable, boy would you hear all the race BS flying.
Let Rush spend his money as he sees fit.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009. The day dawned partly sunny. It was cool and going to be a great day. It felt good to put on the top part of my Cubs uniform. The Cubs camp was one heck of a week.
I may use of the 24 hours I had to use the computer online and cleared up my e-mail and caught up little bit on the diary.
Oh yes, my diary entries may sound a little funny as I am dictating them using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. If I really used it a lot, would probably work even better. I tend to use it only on trips. However it is a neat gadget.
I got underway under partly sunny skies and got over to Bev Friend’s place a little after 10. The drive is slowing there is a slight detour because a train was blocking the road. We gathered up our stuff and headed out.
The drive down was easy enough and when we got to the ballpark there were people already lining up and we found a parking lot adjacent to Wrigley Field. Of course, this cost a small fortune. Bev had suggested that she drive and would pay for parking. I don’t think either she nor I expected the costs be quite the size was, $50. I did chip in, of course.
We took some photos while waiting outside as the gates open at 11 o’clock. There was quite a large number of fans we begin in when the gates opened. We found our seats with no problem and they were quite good. They were in the fifth row just to the outfield side of the Cubs dugout. I try to get an autograph or two but they weren’t signing when they went out to practice. By the time they got back and were signing autographs the mob scene was little bit too much to fight. One of the Andy Frain[sic] ushers had also been at the 45 World Series. His dad took him when he was eight. I guess there are at least two of us alive who were there.
The weather was quite nice it was overcast and there is a light wind blowing in from the lake but it was not chilly. Unfortunately, the Cubs lost 6 to 2. The game was well played but disappointing. One factor that may have been involved was the fact that a number of the starters had been benched and many of the players were the backups.
Disappointed we headed back to the car and drove back to Beverly’s place for a snack though we did stop for tea along the way. While at Bev’s she was kind enough to write a check for me so I could pay for my tiny share of the two racehorses. The check went out in the mail as we left.
We headed over to a nearby Chinese restaurant for an absolutely smashing dinner. Joining us for dinner were Bev’s friend Irv, Nancy Goodman, Phyllis and Alex Eisenstein, Diane and Bob Blackwood, and Neil Rest. Needless to say we had a rather excellent conversation ranging over a wide variety of topics.
I stopped for some very needed gas on the way back to the motel, showered, read and tried to get a good night’s sleep.
One more update on my fantastic week as a “Cub.” Here is the list of ex-Cubs who were there.
Glenn Beckert
Larry Biittner
Jose Cardenal [Our Coach]
Ron Coomer
Jody Davis
Bobby Dernier
Leon Durham
Todd Hundley
Fergie Jenkins
Don Kessinger
Ed Lynch
Keith Moreland
Joe Pepitone
Rick Reuschel [Our Coach]
Lee Smith
Willie Wilson
Bob Lacey
Garry Jestadt
Ron Davis
Bert Campanaris
Ken Rudolph
Who knows, maybe I’ll make it back again. I would like to. Heck, I would no longer be a rookie. J
25 January 2009. Up with the sun, sort of, & walked over for a light brekkie. It was a little bit cool under mostly sunny skies. It had warmed up by the end of breakfast so I no longer needed my pullover. I need to pack up my things. Mike is picking me up about noon to take me over to the camp hotel. – We got to the Dobson about 1300. After getting my room we went in search of lunch. In the bar we ran into a bunch of other campers. An enjoyable conversation or two ensued. – That evening we had a reception, & were introduced to the coaches. We were then told to which teams we were assigned. – After a short visit to the hospitality suite, I crashed early. I also met up with my roommate, Jack Otto. It appears we should get along well. The alarm was set for 0615. I’m going to try & get a complete list of the Cubbies who were there.
26 -30 January 2009. Okay, I didn’t keep this up. Hey, as you’ll see I was either tired, hurting or sleeping. J Baseball! We played 5 doubleheaders in 5 days. Whew! Doing this one realizes just how far above the average “Joe or Jane” real athletes are. I say “Jane” as there were 3 women attending the camp. Two of them were “Veterans.” One has been coming for at least 10 years. The games were all 7 innings, tho we did play a couple of 8 extra inning games, & one 5 inning game. Rick “Big Daddy” Reuschel [also “Rush” & Jose “Junior” Cardenal were our coaches.
We started poorly going 0 for 5. However, From Wednesday afternoon, which we won, on, we played pretty good going 4 & 1. On Wednesday morning we played against the SF Giants campers. It was a change as we faced pitchers instead of a pitching machine. On one pitch I was just about finished swinging & missing, before the pitcher released the ball. This came up on Saturday. J
Okay, I’m not a spring chicken, being just short of 70, but I had worked out pretty hard during the 10 weeks prior to the camp. I was a hurting wombat. Most of the campers, it seemed, were on eBay looking for new “quads” after 2 or 3 days. I, & lots others, visited the Training Room. -- The head trainer was the trainer for the Cubs. Two other trainers were the trainers for farm teams. We also had a couple interns. As we all kept them busy, I didn’t feel so bad about going in.
Should I be insane enough to go back, I think, I would like to, I’ll be using a couple exercises suggested by the coaches: Fergie Jenkinis said, walk & run backwards to work you legs. Rick said, draw a circle about 30 feet in diameter & practice moving as fast as you can to either side using a grapevine motion. If the ball is more than 15’ from you, you probably wont’ be able to reach it. To this he told us to do lots of sprints equivalent to running between 2 bases. -- We also learned the proper way to field a ground ball from Don Kessinger & how to catch fly balls to the outfield by Willy Wilson. It was hard to get much better than this.
How did I do, well, being a slow learner it only took me two misses to realize you don’t put the mitt up in front of your face to try & catch a ball. It sort of disappears. However, I did get a few hits, drove in a couple runs, & while feeding the pitching machine, fielded 4 ground balls & throw out the runners, the last one turned into a double play. I played 2nd base & right field. You know, there is a LOT!!! of empty space out there to cover. Like wow! I ran a lot. -- The parks were almost spot on to the dimensions of Wrigley Field. J
It was really neat to walk thru the gate with signs saying “Cub Personnel Only!” Oh yeah, we were wearing the exact same uniforms as the Cubs. The folk who made ours, make them for the Cubs. We had them cleaned by the chap who takes care of the Cubs when they are there. We would com into the locker room & there would be our cleaned uniforms on hangers in our lockers.
Randy said, he wanted to give fans the “Pro Experience.” Well, he really did. We felt like real ballplayers. The ex-Cubs had their lockers mixed in with ours. We were all teammates. -- I was amused by how the Cubs would rag on one another. It reminded me of the F-4 fighter pilots I met when I first began working for the Air Force & lived with them in the BOQ. However, it wasn't limited to the ex-Cubs. They ragged on us & expected us to rag back. It was all done with a good-natured attitude. One never felt he or she was being put down. We were “Teammates!” Chatting with Rush he said, the idea was to have the campers enjoy it so much, they would come back. They would be family!
We all had a treat when Ron Santo come by for a couple days. He is very much liked by not only fans, but the players as well. I got a photo with him, of course!
What else happened. We stayed at the Dobson Inn Ranch & Resort, the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs. Each afternoon there was the hospitality suite for drinks, munchies & the chance to just mix with other campers & Cubs. I got to hold Jose’s 1999 World Series Ring. It felt like solid gold, not to mention all the diamonds. Awesome. Nobody was stuck up. It was an amazing environment. How do you evaluate chatting with Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins, getting ragged on by Joe Pepitone. Yes, he is nutso. He was also fun to meet & chat with.
On Wednesday evening our team got together for dinner. This was so cool. Thursday evening was a BBQ. Good food, lots of conversation. Mike Willmoth & Jean Goddin were able to join me there. Friday evening we took our coaches & one of the trainers out for dinner. Good food, good conversation & a grand time.
31 January 2009! This brings me to Saturday. Saturday was something else. We got over to Fitch Field, where we played our games during the week. Dressed [We wore “home” whites for the game.], had our meeting & then got driven over to Hohokam Field. This is the baseball park where the Cubs play their spring training games. They do their training at Fitch, but play the other major league teams at Hohokam. This was a “real” ballpark. It seats about 10,000 with scoreboard, press box, the whole nine yards. We found some seats right behind the 3rd base dugout which was the one we used. I walked down to the field, I was supposed to be there, to check out the dugout & just look “back” into the stands where the spectators were. I was today a player not spectator.
We lined up by teams & were photographed & introduced near home plate. Then when all was said & done, we lined up on the left field foul line, the Cubs were on the right field line, & they played the Star-Spangled Banner. Standing there on the field with my hat over my heart, just as I had watched the pros doing, but from the stands, was quite emotional for me. For a short time I would be my fantasy pro ball player, maybe not “Mr. Cub,” but a Cub.
I returned to the stands to watch the other teams go against the Cubs. I had a chance to meet up with my “Cheering” section: Lynn, Sandra Childress & Mike & Sharon Ward. We each got one inning against the Cubs. Each player on the team would get one at bat. So what if we got more than 3 outs. J The Cubs only got 3 outs. – We were playing the 6th inning. So about an inning or so before I headed down to the dugout. Our team then went down the left field line to loosen up. It felt so neat to be out there throwing the ball back & forth. It was so real. – Finally, it was my turn to stand in the batter’s box. Our team was facing our coach Rick Reuschel. After fouling off the first pitch Rick started his windup only to not release the ball. Remember how I swung before the SF Giant camper had released the ball, well Rick was trying to sucker me. I didn’t swing. He gave me a nod & big smile. Then I got one I liked. I hit a ground ball between short & 3rd. With the SS running about as fast as I do, the ball had eyes & made it into left field. I was on first base with a single! This was the icing on the cake of the week. I can proudly claim to be batting 1.000 against major league pitching! I’m going to use that for a while. The next batter hit one right at the SS, & I was forced at 2nd. Who cares! I had gotten a hit. For me it was as if I had driven in the winning run for the Cubs in the World Series! It could hardly get much better than that.
The Cubs did beat the campers, but who cared. We had been major leaguers for the day. – After the game I went & got the tape cut off my ankles, showered, packed up my uniform & headed out for a bite with Lynn & Sandra. [Sandra is the major share owner in a couple of race horses. I own half a tail of one & the left hoof of the other.] After lunch Sandra headed out, & Lynn & I got ready to attend the Awards Banquet. – The food was pretty good, the speeches relatively short & we were entertained by a comic who told jokes that could have come from the Catskills. Clean, funny & silly. All the campers got a ball signed by all the Cubs & a CD by Eddie Vetter written for Ernie Banks on the Cubs. Oh yes, Eddie played on our team for one game. He is a really nice guy & super Cub fan. We were all checking out the photos for ones we were in. I finally figured out which ones would go on my “Baseball Card.” One of teammates wrote up a nice poem on & about our team. No one wanted to call it a night. I was really tired so Lynn & I decided to call it a night. I had to get up fairly early & finish packing. Lynn was going to send it to me via UPS as I had sent it down. I didn’t get much some sleep as my roommate had to get up at 0300 in order to catch his plane back to Atlanta.
1 February 2009. Lynn joined me for breakfast. It was there we found out that many of the Cubs & campers had partied in the bar after the banquet & Eddie did a number of karaoke songs & some of his. Bummer. I should have foregone sleep! Maybe next year. J We finally got my stuff together, & we headed out. After a quiet afternoon we headed back to the hotel to the bar where we joined a bunch of folk to watch the Super Bowl. As the Bears weren’t in it, I had no real favorite. I just hoped for a good game. Rush was there cheering for the Steelers as he lives near Pittsburgh. The game was good, had some dinner & generally had a very nice evening. Mike & Jean along with Lee Whiteside, another local SF fan dropped by. After the wild finish we called it a night. I needed to get up fairly early to catch my 0905 flight out. An absolutely fabulous week was drawing to a close. Oh yes, my Louisville Slugger had my name wrong. A replacement bat is being sent to me. [It has since arrived! Sooo neat!]
2 February 2009. The flights home went well. The American flight was on time. Flying 1st Class was comfortable. I was one tired wombat. Even if the United flight left out of Chicago left 2 hours late, I wasn’t too concerned. The house was warm, thank you neighbor. I turned on the hot water, puttered about & finally crashed out. The fantasy was over, but the memory lingered on.
The day dawned partly sunny & cool. I walked down the street to a nice restaurant for a full breakfast. Mike was a little bit busy so I had time to finally get on line and go thru my email. I did manage to forget to post some of this stuff to my blog. – It was early afternoon when he came by. We started off with lunch at a Mexican restaurant. From there we headed over to South Mt. Park for some beautiful views of the valley in which Phoenix sits as well as on the other side to look over Gila Valley. Really nice. Then a drive thru the Salt River Indian Reservation. After picking up & dropping off one of his pride of kittens which had been at the vets, we headed up to the northern suburbs. First for a some views in the opposite direction & then off to a touristy steakhouse. Casual wear required & enforced. If you wear a tie, they cut it off & nail it to the rafters. J I even got to speak German with the folk at the table next to us.
Spent the morning puttering on the computer, discussing learning English with the maintenance person here at the motel, walking over for some coffee and a perhaps slightly stale sweet role & reading for a little while. – I was picked up by Mike & Jean, & we headed out for lunch. From there we headed over to the Heard Museum. It was a little bit late, but I thoroughly enjoyed the walk around the archeological site. Mike had done this tour before and provided an excellent commentary. We spent our remaining time in the museum itself. Jean was more than content to stay in the car & read. We then headed back to Mesa for dinner. We met up with Mike & Sharon Ward. A couple of Rt. 66 Roadies I meet thru the web site & at the 2 Rt. 66 gatherings I’ve attended. There was good food, company & conversation. – The weather continued to be fine from my perspective. The temps have been around 20c/68f. After Albany this is still T-shirt & shorts weather. The area has had the occasional sprinkle, but no serious rain. No complaints from here.
After my usual so-so sleep I awoke to clouds. It had sprinkled overnight. I traded in my shirt & jeans for T-shirt & shorts. J – Mike picked me up around noon. I had spent the morning beginning my blog update & chatting with a snowbird from Duluth. He was in a wheelchair & had an ATV for getting around parks and backcountry. I referred him to the Rt. 66 e-group for info on driving The Road. – I also touched base with Mike Ward, a Rt. 66 Roadie, who lives in Mesa. We are planning on getting together Friday evening for dinner. I’m hoping the other “Mike” & Jean will join us for dinner. – After a light lunch ala Mexican we headed up country. I was in the mood for scenery. We headed up Apache Trail to Roosevelt Dam/Recreation area. The first stop was to get a photo of Superstition Mt. Next was a view of the scenery looking out to Needle Point. Then on to the Canyon Lake Vista. I was beginning to get a nice fill of scenery. We zipped thru Tortilla Flats. Heading downhill to Fishcreek Hill Vista. The road, for quite a while now dirt/gravel was narrow and twisty, obviously laid out by a drunken snake with hiccups. Wonderful! The passage over Fishcreek was a narrow canyon surrounded by high cliffs. We stopped for a look at Apache Lake. This was the end of my photo taking, but enjoyed the views as we drove along Theodore Roosevelt Lake. We turned onto SR 87 and headed back to Scottsdale. We spent some time with Jean at the vets as one of their cats was ill. Then Mike & I went out for Italian. It was a good day.
The trip begins. I was up early. It was clear & about -17c/2f with a good amount of snow cover. I finished packing, closed down the house & got a taxi to the airport. Passing thru security went quickly. The United flight left on time & arrived early! In Chicago I was able to switch to an earlier American flight. It also left on time & arrived early! I was able to coordinate with Mike Willmoth & Jean Goddin, who met me at the airport. It was about 25c/77f. A slight difference from when I left. After I checked in at the Motel 6 we went out for a nosh & a natter. It began to lightly shower on the way back to the motel. I watched some TV, read, stretched out & called it a good day. Well, mostly good as the lights over the bed didn’t work.
Back in the late summer I was referred to the book, “Wrigleyville,” by an old friend, Toby Chapman. It is all his fault! It is an excellent history of the Cubs. In the book was the story of Randy Hundley’s Fantasy Baseball Camp. As the book was published in ’94, I was curious if the camp was still around. The rest was, as they say, history. – I decided to attend. They stated “no previous baseball experience need.” That was me! – I did try and prepare a little bit by getting with a personal trainer I knew and increasing my time in the gym to 6 to 10 hours a week. I have ended up looking a little bit less like the Michelin Man, but not all that much. L Nevertheless I was going. After all this is a “fantasy” camp. I will have the opportunity to wear the Cubs’ Uniform. It will be my Field of Dreams. And dream I can. I was there in 1945 at one of the games of the last World Series the Cubs played in. Closure would be nice, but until then, I will do it for them in my dream week!
I was just reading how the baseball owners are supposedly going to vote for an investment broker [Look at the economy to see how well these spherical anal sphincter muscles run things.] to buy the Cubs [and insure a losing team] over Mark Cuban who expects his teams to win and will back that with money to get the players needed. Another reason to dismantle the way things are done in MLB. Weel, one of the owners is also the commissioner. Can you say conflict ofinterest?
