Baseball Heaven
Twenty years ago, my wife, Lynne, gave me a gift that both thrilled and scared me — a trip to Cincinnati Reds Fantasy Camp (called Baseball Heaven) in Sarasota, Florida. Getting a chance to play the game I love on a major league (Spring Training) field with former major leaguers as coaches — well, that was thrilling. The fact that I, a fan who never was any good at playing the game, actually would have to hit a baseball — that was beyond frightening. Plus, I was old — 48 — and I wondered if I could even do it.
I’ve just returned from my ninth camp, which tells you all you need to know about my actual experience: The thrill was there, but the fear was unwarranted. The truth is this: There are some great ballplayers in camp who I will never be able to match. There are also a few (pardon me, guys) klutzes who just aren’t athletic at all (but are great people and fun to be with). Then, there are the rest of us in the middle. Not great. Not terrible. And the best news is, no one judges anyone. We just all root for each other and have a load of fun.
At that first camp in 1999, my coaches were former Reds Joel Youngblood and Doug Flynn. Doug is one of the nicest people on the planet who today serves as Fantasy Camp commissioner. He makes everyone feel welcome and keeps the jokes flowing.
Joel was intense — all about winning. He was up early and insisted that we join him in the batting cages, where he coaxed us into something approaching a good swing. Keep the hands in and go straight to the ball.
Half way through the week our catcher, a reporter for Cincinnati’s WLW radio, was called away to cover the Clinton impeachment hearings in Washington. Joel came up to me with a question: “You ever catch before?” “Nope.” Wanna catch?” “Nope.” “You’re my catcher.” “Joel, did you hear me? I can’t catch.” “You’re my catcher.”
The good news was, we had the best pitcher in camp. I would put down one finger or two, fastball or curve, and hold my glove just off the corner of the plate. Roy almost always hit the glove, and even when he didn’t quite, the umpires coached me to hold the glove still for a second after I caught it, allowing them to call strikes.
Our team, the Bloods, went to the championship game and won. It was exhilarating, but I’m not sure I realized how special that was. Eight camps later, I’ve been to the championship game twice more, including this year, but that first one was the only win.
When my team won that championship, I thought it was great, but I was satisfied with a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Five years later, Lynne gave me the same gift again, and again I was thrilled, but convinced that was my last camp because of my age.
Years later, the Reds moved their Spring Training site from Sarasota to Goodyear, Arizona. I decided to go one more time because my parents had a winter home in Scottsdale, and I wanted them to see me play. Unfortunately, Dad passed away before I got to camp, but Mom was there and we had a great time that week.
At that camp, in 2013, I met Karl Gittelman, who was then 74 years old. I was just 63, a youngster by comparison. Karl completely changed my thinking about being too old to play baseball. In fact, I realized, baseball camp was my motivation to work out all year to keep in shape to get through the week. Baseball may look like a lot of standing around, but a double-header every day requires a lot of stopping and starting, sudden sprints that leave the legs like jelly by day two if you’re not prepared.
Next year, our daughter will turn 30 (the minimum age) just before camp, so we are hoping to go together as teammates. This year, there were four women campers — the most ever — and they are welcomed as the players and teammates they are. Three years after that, our twin sons will be 30 and I’ll be nearly the age Karl was when I first met him. I hope Karl will be there, too. He’s 80 this year and still going strong.
Special thanks to Lynne for the amazing gift she gave me, and to my coaches and teammates over the years. It’s a blessing to have met all of you and to play this great game at an age that I never dreamed could be possible.
