Wow Twins Fantasy Baseball camp was unbelievable. I had such
an incredible time. The guys were so friendly and down to earth. It was a
really cool feeling walking into the Twins Locker room and seeing my uniform
hanging in my locker. It gave me chills. Unfortunately the first day was a rain
out. I was so excited and antsy to play that I couldn’t sit still. Frank Viola
said “You need to settle down I bet you are going to come home and sleep in
your uniform.” I had a smile on my face the entire week. Lee Stange said to me,
“Hey smiley do you ever not smile?” So I was smiley for the rest of the week.
The second day we started out with stretching with Bill soup Campbell. Then it
was Batting Practice with Rick Aguilera. I was ripping the ball. He said, “What’s
your name and what position do you like to play”. At that point I knew he was
going to draft me. Next was injury prevention with Milt cuyler. Then more
batting cages with Kent Hrbek. I ripped a ball and hit the back pipe in the
cage and Hrbek yells out , “Jesus this kid can hit”. It sure made me smile.
Then it was infielding with Frank Quilici and Ron Coomer. They shared some of
there stories about playing ball. Then it was catching instructions from Tim
Laudner and Phil Roof. Timmy is a funny
guy. Then it was pitching with Bert Blyelven, Juan Berenguer, Frank Viola and
Dick Stigman. Talk about a group of Characters. Then it was outfield practice
with Gene Larken hitting fly balls to us. Then the rookies scrimmaged.
Matt and I got drafted by Rick Aguilera and Phil Roof. Are
team name was the warriors. First game was my best hitting game. I went three
for three. I played mostly short stop and Left center field. The third game I
pitched a complete game and we won 2-1. It went down to bases loaded, two outs
bottom of the seventh. I struck him out looking with an outside fast ball. It
was awesome. I felt redemption because
in game two it was bases loaded two outs last inning and I hit a ground ball to
3rd base to end the game.
Our team won the consolation championship. We won the game
at Hammond field which is the twins spring training stadium. It was a fun atmosphere
to play in.
The rookies got to face the pros in a game. I batted against
Bert Blyelven. I decided to swing at the first strike he gave me. I wish I
would have waited for his curve ball just to see it. I hit a grounder to third.
I then I pitched against Ron Coomer, Milt Cuyler who juiced the ball off me. I
then threw my knuckler to gene Larken and he said, “ I dare you to throw that
again” So I did and ripped it. The best was I threw a split finger to Juan
Berenguer. He said “Oh shoot aiyi aiya”. He hit a weak little grounder. I then
got to face Frank Viola. I thought the same thing. I better hit the ball before
he throws me a curve ball. Well I hit the ball but it broke my bat and they
threw me out. He stopped the game and asked for the bat. He signed my bat and
game it to me. He said, “you made my day. I haven’t broken a bat in 20 years”. We lost but that doesn’t matter. It was a fun
game. It was a game I’ll never forget.
It was also very cool having the pros around to tell
stories. I hung out with Camilo pasquel, Tony Oliva, and Julio Becquera in the
lobby a couple of times. I was chatting with Bill Soup Campbell by the pool and
about his baseball career. It was neat to have all these guys around and telling
there stories. Bert Blyelven is
hilarious. Very funny guy. I chatted with Hrbek about fishing lake Vermillion because
it is his favorite place to go. Real guys that are down to earth.
It was fun week with amazing memories. I was lucky to share
it with my brother, with my parents and my aunt and uncle.
