Once again the weather was totally uncooperative with the hearty soles at MFC 2016. The original plan this morning was to have each team play ONE game on field 2. Field 2 has an artificial turf infield and wouldn't get too trashed even with the rainy conditions. My team wasn't due to play until 2:30, so more batting practice would be the order of the morning.
The first game on field 2 never actually got started, as a new cluster of clouds doused the field and with that the day became a "total wash". The open bar get-together moved from 9:00 to 4:00 at a local Italian restaurant called Tutto Fresco. My team hung around to have dinner together and share stories about ourselves. My team is loaded with some great guys, really. I wish we had performed better in our first three games, giving us a chance to win a championship. But, alas, we are 0-3, without a chance to win a ring.
I took the time to sit in on an impromptu q&a with the Doctor, Dwight Gooden. It was great to hear him tell stories about his career. Some we knew, some we did not. I told him that not long after I'd moved to Tampa in 1979 I began to get requests for autographs while simply walking through shopping areas. He got a huge kick out of that. It was fun to see his reaction as I talked about parts of town that we each knew very well.
I've had another "small world" event this week, having to do with Butch Huskey. In 1999 Huskey, while playing for Seattle, played in Minneapolis in late July. During that game the Mariner left fielder went back on a ball hit over his head by Jacque Jones. He got to the warning track and then forgot what the track was warning him about. He then proceeded to face plant himself and nearly knock himself out cold. The next night someone (It turned out later to be Ken Griffey Jr. and Jay Buhner) made a chalk outline of Butch on the outfield wall with chalk. It was fantastic! (Check it out on youtube). I got hold of a couple of the jerseys used in that game and after years of it taking up a hanger in my closet I was able to bestow it on Butch at MFC.
The pre-dinner event was attended by many and I met Valerie Teufel as well. She is a great lady and it turns out that she and Tim are from Greenwich, Connecticut. Greenwich is the town that borders my own hometown of Stamford. So we grew up in the same geographic area, which is kinda cool.
Tomorrow looks like we will be able to get back on the fields once again. The rain appears to be pretty much over and the clouds are starting to dissipate. The weather tomorrow is forecast to have a high of about 71 degrees. The rain, which amounted to about 4 inches has sent our schedule into a tizzy which may cost us the chance to play against the pros. It will certainly be a fantasy camp that will be remembered for the weather, not only here in PSL but in New York City as well.
When Phil's Bombers take the field tomorrow we hope to take the great instruction we've received from our fearless leader Lance Johnson and put it into practice by putting a beatdown on our opponents. I think we can do it. I really do.
It's kind of a sad day, in that it's the final full day of camp. We lost two days to the weather but it will add to the memory of this year's camp. Three games per team and the awards banquet tomorrow night before we pack up and head out on Saturday morning.
It has gone too quickly. Far too quickly.
My team, at dinner last night, decided that all of our players would wear "eye black" today in a sign of unity. Now, my eye black is usually known as my cheekbones. But I was "down" with the team effort. For those of you who are unaware, "eye black" is coloring you see below the eyes of athletes who play outdoors an don't want to use sunglasses. The premise bring that the sunlight will be absorbed by the coloring. The color is often gotten by burning a piece of cork and swabbing it onto your face. Nowadays you can buy adhesive strips which resemble the cork-borne smudges. I was looking at mine in the restroom mirror when a player from another team says to me, "You ready?" My reply was from a movie called "The Rookie" starring Dennis Quaid as a pitcher named Jimmy Morris. Quaid looks into the mirror and says to his teammate, "You know what we get to do today? We get to play baseball!" Then I walked away. I love that quote.
We won our first game today, our first victory of the week. I played left field during the game. My coach, Phil Regan asked me if I played left field. My reply was an enthusiastic, "I do now!" So off I went to the outfield to attempt not so much to make good plays but to not make a three-base error and cost us a game. Our second game was won in a bit of a rout. I hadn't hit well at all in our first four games. I walked in my first at bat and scored a run. For my second at bat I donned a pair of sunglasses which have a video camera in them. I got them for myself during the holiday season and had not used them until today. I start the recorder, put the glasses on and then put my helmet on my head. The only problem was that the helmet fit so tightly that the glasses wouldn't sit squarely on my nose. So I go to the plate and proceed to stroke a double to the gap between the center and right fielders. I was quite pleased by my at bat. In my next at bat I tried to get a more comfortable fit on my face but was unable to do so. So I then stepped to the plate an laced a double down the third base line for another double. "Maybe I don't need to see all that clearly after all," I wondered. I look forward to seeing the video upon my return home.
Before game three came the lunch break. We had a very close game in our third contest of the day. Originally scheduled for six innings it went eight innings and we won it by a run. We all moved over to the championship game which was being played on an adjoining field. They were having a nail-biter there as well, with much higher stakes than our recently-completed game had.
The game came to an end and the winners celebrated on the field. It's always interesting to watch the losing team watch the winners celebrate. People have asked me why this happens. I think this question has two possible answers. On one hand they can attempt to place themselves in that same situation, hopefully, in the future. On the other hand, some of them may have won a title and they can totally relate to what they are seeing. I was lucky enough to have been one of those winners back in 2014, thus I fall into the latter group.
Things are a bit different now, however. The winners will have their team name on a large trophy which will be displayed in the Mets Hall of Fame at Citi Field. Also, members of the winning team will receive rings. The rings resemble the 1986 rings won by the team after defeating Boston in that season's World Series. I got to see Phil Forman's ring on Monday. Was I jealous? No. Was I envious? You bet your sweet bippy.
I made my way back to my locker to change clothes and clear my locker, as this would be my last time in the clubhouse this camp. My locker number was number 149, only two lockers away from 151, which was my locker in 2013. But my locker neighbors this year were "Doc" Jacobsen in 148 and Jimmy D'errico in 150. Jimmy was a teammate of mine in 2014. They were both on the winning team this year and I was pleased for them.
I congratulated a number of their teammates before I made my way out of the clubhouse for the final time. I stopped just short of the doors which lead out to the parking lot and the practice fields. I turned and panned the room with my eyes. I considered taking out my phone and taking a picture, but something in my mind said that it would be more vivid in my memory than on my iMac.
Back to the hotel I went, to take a shower and prepare for tonight's awards banquet.
My report about that and the closing of this year's camp will be in tomorrow's blog.
See you then.
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