2022 Mets Fantasy Camp

  The day opened with another stellar day of weather. The high actually reached 91 and I reflected on things back at my home where my three dachshunds are indoors and it's snowy and in the mid 20s. But I didn't think about it for long, I had baseball to get too. When I arrived at the complex the playoff seedings were not completed. There was still one game which needed to be completed before those positions were finalized. Once that was done we found that we would be taking on the #8 seeded team at 2:00. We actually played a "scrimmage" game in the morning which had no bearing on the standings. We won that 2-1 with the coaches actually doing the pitching for their respective teams. I went 0-for-2 against Eric Hillman during the game. But the real game was set for just after lunch was completed. I got a large number of compliments from players who enjoyed my suit last evening at the Casino Night event. The suit, I expl...

Rusch Hour has started Day 3 started like the first two. A little brekky in the morning and then we broke to go to the fourplex for photos. We took a couple of the entire group and then we did individual pix with the coaching staff. Our first game was played on the turf field. The field is entirely turf except for the pitchers mound. All of the base paths and the areas around the there bases and home are turf as well. This didn't deter us from putting up a very good effort in a game which saw Seth Carini wheel and deal us through the first six innings of a game which we dominated from the start. I had two hits myself in the game, a wristed liner to center and solid line drive to right. The hit to right felt better to me because it was the result of my plan when I went to the plate. Lenny Harris taught me years ago that when you get to the place you need to "have a plan. If you get to a place where there are two strikes on you,  scrap...

Day 2 of Week 2 of 2022 MFC started off like almost any other in the past. I got to the complex around 7:45, leaving me an hour to get some brekky and get into my uniform for the 8:45 meeting under the outdoor tent. My team, coached by Nelson Figueroa Jr. and Glendon Rusch is known as Rusch Hour. We were scheduled to play our first game in Ft. Pierce at Indian River State College. The remainder of the teams would play each other at the complex beginning at 9:30 am. I grabbed my equipment bag and pulled it out to the Academy bus which would transport us to IRSC. As I handed him the bag to go in the bus' cargo area Fast Eddie, our driver, asked me if I had my shoes. He'd noticed that I wasn't wearing my baseball cleats. I had replaced them, for the bus ride, to a pair of Mets logo-emblazoned padded shower shoes. I assured him that they were indeed inside of said DeMarini equipment bag. I actually returned to the clubhouse to look for, of course, my sunglasses. I then r...

A nonstop Delta flight yesterday morning and a drive down the east coast of the Sunshine State found me in the city which is home to what I refer to "a little heaven on earth", Port St. Lucie. Back when I was a resident of this state I had the opportunity to attend New York Mets spring training games when they played their home games in St. Petersburg. But during the mid-80s there was talk that the team may move their spring headquarters away from there. It only made sense. The ballpark was past its prime and the team was still sharing the Al Lang Field facility with the St. Louis Cardinals, who had trained there since 1946.  When I heard this I was none too pleased because it had been so convenient to see them in March. There were games against the Pirates in Bradenton, the Tigers in Lakeland the Reds in Tampa and the Orioles in Sarasota. But when official work came that they would be picking up stakes and going to PSL I was s...