Roy Berger continues his week at the Yankees Fantasy Baseball Camp and he dives into double-header games. When his brother receives bad news about an injury, Roy has to continue on without him and even ends up leading his team.

Dear Mom and Dad,

Happy 64th anniversary. A wonderful accomplishment and one that the calendar of time will never let me reach. That’s okay- you’ve done it and we are so very proud of you both!

Your son Mike, while sharing in your excitement of today, certainly did not have a day to remember.

He had a rough Tuesday night with his injured leg and arrived at the Yankees complex at Steinbrenner Field before 7 am today to be evaluated. The training staff took a look, did some poking around and determined he had a partial tear of his calf muscle that sidelined him for the day and most likely the rest of the week.

Bummed, he returned to the clubhouse in time for kangaroo court, the longtime baseball clubhouse tradition, where players get fined for indiscretions both on and off the field. Any intention Mike had of buying you an anniversary gift instead was donated today to Yankees Charities as a court fine.

Before camp, in need of baseball shoes for the first time in 45 years, Mike went shopping and decided blue shoes would be the ticket. Problem was he bought the wrong shade of blue. Instead of Yankee blue, he wound up with the Los Angeles Dodgers shade of blue.

It was noticed right away by the coaching staff on Tuesday and this morning Mike was summoned by the court brass – coaches Oscar Gamble and Homer Bush – to make an appearance before the less-than-honorable judge, Mickey Rivers.

Rivers let Mike off easy- a $5 fine – until former great pitcher Ron Guidry protested and said “that’s bullshit, he has two shoes!” At which point Judge Rivers doubled the fine to $10 and then added another buck because Mike did not have a belt on his uniform pants. (Why he was wearing a uniform for a guy that wasn’t playing is a very reasonable question anyway.)

So the $11 present that Mike was going to buy you for your 64th hit the dust and my brother, the big spender, is looking at something in the range of $20 for your 65th next year.

Our team, the Clippers, is probably the most unique team I’ve been placed on in five camps. It’s the youngest of my five with an average age of 51 and I am the second oldest on the team behind a 66 year old who has six gloves and six bats with him. Nobody knows why. Our youngest player is 44. Average age through the whole 110 in camp is mid-50’s.

We are 12 guys from seven states (New Jersey, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania) with careers ranging from an orthopedic surgeon to an oil and gas exec to a couple of guys in sales to healthcare to manufacturing to hotel procurement to retail and one that specializes in disaster refurbishment. I told that guy I hope he’s never busy. A dozen of us paying big bucks to live our Yankees and baseball fantasy.

As the only one on the team to have previous camp experience, I was chosen by default as team captain. It had nothing to do with leadership or playing ability. Instead it was “you’ve been here before so you are the guy.” The captain’s role is pretty tough. I have to collect the clubhouse staff tip money and organize the team dinner on Friday night. I can handle it.

Our team for being so young has some individual talent but we can’t blend into a solid unit. Mike being out was a very big loss for us in the infield and we have another guy, a very talented athlete who has never played baseball before, and the ball seems to find him wherever he is on the field and he’s struggling.

So with two losses yesterday we began our day today at Himes Development Center, the minor league training complex for the Yankees, where we faced the defending camp champions, the Bambinos, coached by former pitchers Jeff Nelson and Gil Patterson. They were 8-0 last season and virtually the entire team returned. They won both their games on Tuesday and had no problem this morning beating us 13-4.

Personally it was a mixed emotions day for me. Disappointed to see Mike sitting and watching as this was our week together. Satisfying, as it was the best offensive game I had in five camps with a very solid four hits in four at-bats, an RBI and a run scored. Every shot was crisp and my week was made as I faced Jeff Nelson in the eighth inning.

Nellie, 46, came in to mop up for his side. He stands an imposing 6’8″, used to throw the ball well into the 95 mph range and has 48 big league wins with a 3.41 lifetime ERA.

He doesn’t see many 6’3″, 205 pound, balding, 61-year-old, Jewish CEOs from Birmingham, Alabama. I’m guessing Jeff Nelson has never been to Shabbat services. His stats didn’t deter me as I took the second pitch he threw- upper 50’s to 60 mph- and with one swing of the Thomas Brooks model Mizuno bamboo bat, hit a line drive over the second baseman’s head to right centerfield for what I’m certain will be my offensive highlight of the week. Worth every penny for that memory and the epitome of what camp is supposed to be about!

We took our lumps, never had a chance anyway, and even our manager Jim Leyritz had us as a 12 run underdog. At least we covered the spread. I got my memory and my brother to vouch for me.

The afternoon game was played on Steinbrenner Field where the Yankees play their spring games. Very humbling to make that walk from the clubhouse to the tunnel and onto the great green expanse. The stadium seats about 10,000 and five of those seats were filled for our clash against the Bombers, coached by Bucky Dent and wise guy Tanyon Sturtze.

I got a bit emotional today as we took the field. I ran out to first base, paused to absorb the moment on the main stage and consider how lucky I was. I then looked into the first base dugout and there sat Mike. Emotionless and virtually immobile. I really felt terrible for him and very sad that our week together has made him a spectator. He would have thrived as a lifelong Yankee in this atmosphere. Instead Mike spent the nine innings in the dugout chewing sunflower seeds with one of our coaches, Oscar Gamble, and bench jockeying.

We lost again, 12-7, and now have run our record to 0-4. I hit the ball hard but right at people and was 1-4 with a run scored. Through our four games I am a satisfied 7 for 15 at the plate. Worse for me, it’s the eighth straight camp game I’ve lost dating back to last January in Braden ton with the Pirates. As Mike said, “after watching this I can’t imagine how you lost eight in a row.” Me neither and I am not taking it personal. Yet.

So, Mom and Dad enjoy the rest of your anniversary. These tales of defeat are getting more and more difficult to write and with Mike sidelined and this rag-tag bunch making more mistakes than imaginable, I have a feeling there is no end in sight. If you don’t hear from me tomorrow then you can safely assume my losing streak has reached double digits.

I hope I have something to write about.

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If you haven’t ordered The Most Wonderful Week of the Year, now is the time to do it. There are only 15 copies remaining. It’s only $21 including postage and handling and some great charities will benefit. As of course will my retirement fund.
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For more of Roy Berger’s Fantasy Baseball Camp experiences, check out these:

• Fantasy Baseball Camp: Making it to the Yankees
• Fantasy Baseball Camp: Training Like a Yankee, Part 2
• 5 Places to Catch Baseball’s Spring Training
• Adventure & Sports Travel section

By Roy Berger for PeterGreenberg.com