The underrated part of the camp is the amazing teammates you play with, get to know, and eventually become good friends with as the week (and years) progress. This year I am going to write about a couple teammates I have been honored to get to know this week. The first one is Curt S. Curt is 78 years old and I have met him a couple times but as a teammate it is great to see him and talk to him everyday. Curt is a very good baseball player -- you can see it in him, it is just his body cannot keep up the speed you know his mind is working. He stills does pretty darn good. He can catch basically anything in the area his glove can find and he still has a very good swing (and if i remember he has a couple knocks this week). He is also a very complementary guy - I have lost count how many encouraging words he has said to me. Curt is also working with a transplanted kidney he received two years ago. He is a great ballplayer, a great teammate, and just a great guy. It has been a honor to play and watch Curt this week. Thank you Curt.
My other teammate I would like to write about is Ted (from Little Falls -- evidently he does banking there). Ted happens to be next to my locker in the clubhouse as well. Ted shows up at the clubhouse, lunch, the field, in game, and after the game with a HUGE smile on his face. This guy is having a lot of fun. Ted loves baseball. I call him Teddy Baseball -- you can just see the pure joy Ted gets by putting on the cleats and the glove. Ted is around 60 years old (I hope because he is wearing the number 60 and I cannot think of any other reason why he would wear that number) and just a great a teammate. I have been asking him all week, "Having any fun yet?". He smiles at me every time and says, "Yes". Oh and I received a signed "Ted" baseball card from him as well -- nice touch teammate!
A quick shout out to my roommate Van -- I am again the roommate who has taken over the desk, the TV remote, and the wired high speed internet connection. Van is another GREAT guy and friend here at camp. I was teammates with him last year and also again this year. It is a lot of fun to play baseball with Van and the fact that is putting up with me for a week in the hotel room shows you how much grit and guts this guy can work through.......(ok hopefully I'm not that bad of a roommate)...but he clearly is the 'better roommate'.
Injuries are starting to take a toll -- the good part is they are just some minor dings. Minor dings can get worse. Heading into thursday my legs are really taking a toll of the everyday grind. My left groin and both of my hamstrings are pretty tender. I dealt with the groin last year (right groin) but that was after thursday's games. I decided to pitch from the stretch on Weds and I was really pushing off with my left leg. The good part is the rest of my body is in good shape and my arm feels VERY good (even after 13 innings of pitching) -- I would gander I would be pitching on friday if I can keep myself all together by then. Our team lacks pitching depth so I will need to be ready if needed.
If we win two today -- we should be in the "upper" bracket for playoffs. I don't like to predict losses -- but if we finish 1-1 today - we will probably secure a 5 seed. We would then play the 8 seed in the lower bracket semi finals on friday -- if your team wins Friday, you get to play in Hammond Stadium on Saturday!
Let's play two!
-PB
~~ "You can observe a lot just by watching." - Yogi Berra ~~
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