The Berger boys wheels are in motion as Jason breaks from second and Scott from first during Wednesday play.

After a memorable opening day at Fantasy Baseball Camp with the New York Yankees, Roy Berger shares his thoughts about the second day spent playing baseball with his two sons. 

Scott’s Yankees fantasy camp experience didn’t get off to the start he had planned on Tuesday. Oh sure, he made a great running over-the-shoulder catch in centerfield, but his rookie debut with a bat in his hand produced a 1-6 day as his Bombers split a doubleheader.

At dinner Tuesday night, he said his goal on Wednesday was to go 4-4. After I rolled my eyes, I told him if he really hoped that might happen it would probably be a good idea to spend some time with our coaches, Homer Bush and Chris Chambliss, to help him with his swing.

Bush was a career .285 hitter in seven major league seasons including hitting .306 with Toronto in 2001. Every Yankees fan knows about Chambliss’ legacy. These guys know what they’re doing and proved it on the big stage.

What I had in mind was spending a few extra minutes with them in the batting cage before the first of another hot, grueling doubleheader on Wednesday in Tampa. Instead, Scott found Homer in the hotel bar on Tuesday night, and practiced his grip on a swizzle stick.

Mr. Bush just authored a book on hitting, available on Amazon, called Hitting Low In The Zone, so he knows of what he speaks. Whatever Scott heard, learned, or drank at the bar cerainly worked as he not only put my eye roll back into my head on Wednesday but he went three better!

Games three and four of the eight game week on Wednesday went very well for us and my youngest son. We swept a pair; beating Shane Spencer’s winless group in the morning, in one of the worst games I’ve ever been a part of. In fact, the “quality” of play was so bad, it took ten innings to finally escape with an 8-7 win in a classic adult League Little style debacle.

The afternoon featured a match-up against Yankees ’96 World Series hero Jim Leyritz and his coaching partner, the classy Al Downing, who will always be remembered for giving up Hank Aaron’s 715th home run. We beat them 11-6 in a game not as close as the score indicates to run our record to three wins and a loss, good enough for outright second place at the halfway point.

Homer Bush reacts to watching me hit leg out a double. He spent seven years in the big leagues and now has seen everything!

Scott, who won’t win a Gold Glove despite his wonderful catch, was as hot as the 89 degree west coast of Florida day. He exploded with the bat on Wednesday. His wished-for perfect four for four happened in the morning game, solid base hits all, and then he ran his consecutive hit streak to six in the afternoon before finally grounding out to short. The lad rebounded with another base hit in his last at bat for a great, seven for eight day at the plate, which now puts him at 8-14 for the four games, a couple of points ahead of Jason, who was an impressive five for eight on opening day. However he cooled in the Wednesday sun with only one base hit and stands at 6-14. The upside is Jason’s 19 game personal losing streak is over and it has now turned into a three game roll.

At camp we play eight, nine inning doubleheaders in four days. That’s 72 innings of baseball for most of us that almost never touch a baseball, save for the one week at camp. Nobody plays that kind of schedule. The MLB players union won’t allow it.

So today is the day when the injury bug normally takes its toll. It was no exception with us as we lost three guys, leaving us with only nine healthy bodies. That means a lot of innings for everyone, including the oldest guy on the team. We lost one player to a cracked wrist as he tripped over second base; one to a debilitating back and the gentleman mentioned yesterday who was so gung-ho and practiced sliding and diving head first in the clubhouse went down with a hamstring injury.

The day for Scott ended with a memory and a souvenir he will happily tote home.

As a reward for his seven hits in eight at-bats, coaches Bush and Chambliss awarded him the day’s game ball!

Taking a lesson from my son, it’s probably time for me to head to the lounge and learn how to hit.

Keep reading to learn about day three at Fantasy Baseball Camp.

Text and Images by Roy Berger for PeterGreenberg.com