Roy Berger’s Fantasy Baseball Camp experience is in full swing as he writes his fifth letter home. Here he faces the tradition of kangaroo court and fights through double-headers, win or lose.

Dear Mom and Dad,

In 1962 the New York Mets were in their first season and were horrendous. They lost 100 games and on inclement weather days Mets fans would carry signs that said, “We can’t lose today, it’s raining.”

Unfortunately the weather in Tampa on Thursday was sunny and in the 80s. No rain clouds. Which of course meant we CAN lose today. Twice. And of course we did. In spite of my promise not to write until we won, I didn’t want you to worry if you didn’t hear from me.

As is becoming habit at the 2013 fall Yankees Fantasy Camp the best stuff, for me anyway, is happening off the field.

The morning camper instructional meeting started promptly at 8:30 am and the Yankees were kind enough to give me a few minutes to talk about the book, The Most Wonderful Week of the Year. By the way, have I mentioned previously that I wrote a book? Or that you can find it at www.mostwonderfulweek.com? Or there are only a few copies remaining, so you better get one quick?

Kangaroo court followed and for some strange reason I really thought I would get through this camp free of any sanctions. I was wrong. Court supervisor Jim Leyritz called me up and fined me for “shameless promotion,” 20 minutes earlier when I was given the stage for the book mention. I’m not sure if it’s a misdemeanor or felony but I hope it ultimately results in the largest fine in Yankees kangaroo court history.

Leyritz gigged me good and the longer I was up there the more ‘shameless’ promotion it brought the book. The entire Yankees legends coaching staff was in the clubhouse and Leyritz said, “to make matters even worse you used that Yankee killer Bill Mazeroski to write the foreword.” I couldn’t resist. I responded “At least he’s a Hall of Famer, how many of the Yankees in this camp are Hall of Famers?”

That probably wasn’t the wisest response I could have offered as I got hooted and jeered and hollered at. Finally presiding judge Mickey Rivers came to my rescue and fined me $5 and $2 per book sold. I hope I have to pay a fortune.

Unfortunately, we had games to play and we moved out to the field to play the 50’s, a team coached by Tony Kubek, Steve Whitaker and Jake Gibbs, who was celebrating his 75th birthday today. They came into the contest with a win and three losses; we of course had lost four straight. By the time it was over they had two wins, we had five losses and Gibbs, a former Yankees catcher and Ole Miss quarterback, had a happy birthday.

Mike felt a little better this morning, his limp seemed to ease, so he went to the training room for treatment and told the trainers he wanted to take a turn at bat. Fielding wasn’t going to happen because he couldn’t bend but he went into the batting cage after leaving the training room and said he felt okay. How much of that was mental as opposed to factual is probably still up for debate.

Mike and the training staff are in a tough spot. The week costs $5K and there is no thrill or nothing to be gained by sitting and watching. Conversely you don’t want to do permanent damage. The trainers didn’t tell him ‘no’ but they did say ‘please take it easy’.

He came to bat in the leadoff spot this morning, reached across the plate at the second pitch he saw, made contact and crumbled to the ground. He was escorted off the field for more ice and rub. It wasn’t a good idea.

I was upset, probably a little at Mike and a little at the situation, but I also understand what he is feeling. I tried to get it out of my mind and proceeded to have a selfishly good game, despite our 16-3 spanking, with three hits in four at-bats and a run scored.

Mike headed back to the training room for more treatment before lunch. We may suck on the field but we sure are good lunch eaters. Mike said he was given the green light to try again in the afternoon game as long as he didn’t lunge. I shook my head.

Today was ‘decade day’ for us as the afternoon opponent were the 70’s lead by Ron Guidry, Ron Davis and big Frank Howard. They won two of their previous five games but of course pounded us 13-4 in a game shortened due to lack of interest by everyone but us.

I had a good afternoon and frankly, considering I am giving away about 10-15 years to younger campers, very pleased at the way I am holding up both physically and on the field. I was 2-2 at the plate with an RBI and run scored and also walked and got hit with a pitch on the shin. I am 12-21 after a slow start on Tuesday, very content and honestly playing better than I have license to.

I had another baseball first in the fifth inning as I was involved in an unassisted double play. Bases loaded, nobody out and a lefty hits a sharp shot to me that took one hop, I closed my eyes, opened my glove and there was the ball. I stepped on the base and then tagged the runner who froze for the DP. Somebody from the other dugout razzed “put that in the book.” I wish I still could. By the way did I mention I wrote a book?

Mike, smarter for the morning’s experience, did bat three times looking for something on the inside of the plate and using a pinch runner to run for him. He bounced one up the middle in three at-bats for a hit and at least got a couple of pennies satisfaction for the dollars spent. His son Robby arrived tonight and Mike is going to do his best to give it a go on Friday as we finish camp with two more games.

We’ve lost six straight with really no upside. We are terrible or as Mike said “we aren’t even as good as a bad Little League team.” He’s right.

With the six losses this week, combined with the four straight I lost to end Pirates camp in January, it’s now 10 games in a row without a win. It’s getting personal.

For More Roy Berger and baseball, check out these:

5 Places to Catch Baseball’s Spring Training
Adventure & Sports Travel section
Top Five Baseball Stadiums to Visit this Summer

By Roy Berger for PeterGreenberg.com