|
In October of 2005 the author attend the Dave
Henderson Fantasy Baseball Tour in Arizona.
The following is a recollection of that event.
Baseball Fantasy
Camp…October 2005
Part I
Introduction
Ray, people will come Ray. They’ll come to Iowa for
reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll turn up
your driveway, not knowing for sure why they’re
doing it. They’ll arrive at your door as innocent
as children longing for the past. “Of course we
won’t mind if you have a look around”, you’ll say,
“It’s only twenty dollars per person.” They’ll pass
over the money without even thinking about it; for
it’s money they have and peace they lack.
And they’ll walk out to the bleachers, and sit in
shirt-sleeves on a perfect afternoon. They’ll find
they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the
baselines where they sat when they were children and
cheered their heroes. And they’ll watch the game,
and it’ll be as if they’d dipped themselves in magic
waters. The memories will be so thick they’ll have
to brush them away from their faces.
People will come Ray.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has
been baseball. America has rolled by like an army
of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a
blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball
has marked the time. This field, this game, is a
part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that
was once good, and it could be again. Oh, people
will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.
W.B. Kinsella in Field of Dreams
People say sports in general, and baseball in
particular, is a microcosm of life. I guess it
might be. Most people I know think baseball is
baseball…it’s fun, hard, rewarding humiliating, a
kick in the butt, a slap on the back…and that life
is life, which, I guess can be all those things too.
Tried to hit some grounders to a friend by
throwing up a ball and taking a swing. Didn’t make
contact until the 25th toss. My
goal at camp is to make some kind of contact to some
pitch at some point during the weekend. I
don’t care if it’s a foul ball. I’d think
about bunting, but since Behrman can now outrun me
to first, I don’t think it would help. I did
take some grounders and only one hit me in the face,
but no blood so I was happy. I tried turning
two. I don’t remember the distance from second
to first being so far. After 2 bounces it got
there on target so hopefully there will be no fast
runners. I’ve only been this excited and
nervous a couple times in my life. Teeing it
up on number one at St. Andrews is one of them....
Stephen Boskin...Camp participant who hasn't played
baseball since the 3rd grade in 2005 e-mail
Life is life. Baseball is just baseball.
|
