We spent Monday morning at an optional conditioning session in Clearwater, about 30 minutes from our Tampa base. It was at the old spring headquarters of the Philadelphia Phillies and about 23 Yankee fantasy campers coughed up the $80 for the three hour session. It was a really good workout of stretching, running, hitting and defense. We were both really glad we did it.
Tonight was the opening banquet where you get to meet the Yankee legends that will be our coaches for the week. A total of 99 guys will be in camp divided into eight teams with about a 40 percent return rate once again this year.
The legends list is impressive. On hand tonight were former Yankee greats and notables: Al Downing, Bucky Dent, David “Boomer” Wells, Homer Bush, Jake Gibbs, Jeff Nelson, Luis ‘El Tiante’ Tiant, Mickey Rivers, Mike Torrez, Oscar ‘Big O’ Gamble, Ron Blomberg, Roy White, Chris Chambliss, Paul Blair and Orlando ‘El Duque’ Hernandez. Compared to my first two camp experiences a really stellar list.
BarryO and I were sitting around having a nightcap on Sunday night going over the list of ex-pros and agreed it would be fun to play for any of them for the week but if two names really didn’t pop our corks it would be Homer Bush and Oscar Gamble.
Guess what? Teams were unveiled tonight and our coaches of course are Homer Bush and Oscar Gamble. Can’t make this stuff up.
Gamble had a long major league career spanning 17 seasons and seven as a Yankee. The 62 year old former outfielder hit 200 career home runs and knocked in 666 runs. He may be best known however for having perhaps the number one all-time afro in major league history!
Bush, second baseman and shortstop, played seven seasons in the bigs and the parts of three years with the Yankees in 1997-98 and again in 2004. He’s young, 39, and hit .348 in pinstripes being a member of the 1998 World Championship team. In 1999 he was part of the Rogers Clemens trade to Toronto that brought Clemens to the Yankees for his great run. Bush’s heyday in the bigs was with Toronto in the early 2000’s.
With David Wells at the Banquet
The banquet was nice. We got to mix with all the legends and all were extremely outgoing, friendly and photogenic. Bush sat at our table and was an absolute delight. We might have gotten the short end of a ‘legend’ but I guarantee he will be the clubhouse leader in personality.
As part of the banquet they showed career highlights of all the Yankees in the room and of course the roof about came off with the Bucky Dent and Chris Chambliss pennant winning home runs and David Wells perfect game!
Things start for real tomorrow early. Very early. We report to George M. Steinbrenner Field at 7:30 am where our Pinstripes await in the Yankee clubhouse which will be ours for the week.
A pair of nine inning doubleheaders follow the picture session, one at 10 am and the other at 2 pm. Nine innings. That’s a lot of innings at any age but with the average camper age of about 55 it will take it’s toll very early in the week. And I am really worried about BarryO’s leg but he’s not which is very good.
Can’t help but once again think of the Detroit camp mantra from last year: “Start slow and gradually taper off.”
We may not have much choice.
Catch Part 1 of Roy’s Yankees Adventures right here and check back for more Fantasy Baseball Camp adventures.
And for more fantasy baseball reading, check out:
- Roy Berger’s previous adventures starting with: Pt. 1, Fantasy Baseball Camp: Choosing Your Camp
- 5 Places to Catch Baseball’s Spring Training
- Adventure & Sports Travel section
- Top Five Baseball Stadiums to Visit this Summer
Text and Photos by Roy Berger for PeterGreenberg.com
