Well, my week at the happiest place on earth is underway. I arrived at the airport this morning to catch the 8:55 flight to West Palm Beach. In the line next to mine were two guys wearing Mets caps. They figured out that I MUST be headed to camp. Why else is anyone 1) wearing Mets gear, 2) in the Atlanta airport, 3) in mid-January. Obviously they were correct in their assumption. I extended my hand and introduced myself to Kevin and David who live in the Atlanta area. They were to be on my flight and I explained that I was writing a blog this year as I did last year. We exchanged pleasantries and I said I would see them on the plane.
I saw them again on the plane and decided to offer them a ride up to St. Lucie in my rented car. They graciously accepted and we made our way to the Alamo center. The nice folks there looked at the bags to be transported and offered a free upgrade to an SUV. I graciously accepted that offer and we jammed the back of the Dodge Journey and hit the road north.
We arrived at the hotel and I dropped the guys off. I had arrangements with my friends the Skinners (Bob and Michele) during my time in town. The Skinners are a great couple whom I met during my early time at AirTran Airways. I hung out with them for a while then made my way over to the complex. Nearly everyone was on the fields at the time of my arrival. I walked into the clubhouse in anticipation of finding out who was going to be in attendance plus where my locker would be this year. I found my locker to be in the center aisle. I saw Phil's number 4 jersey and then saw the number 11 cream-white jersey with "COLLINS" on the back at the locker immediately to the left of Phil's. They HAD put us next to one another as we has requested. I walked around in a cloud of mild euphoria as I reacquainted myself with the room and it's surroundings.
I filled out the waiver forms which essentially releases the Mets from any liability may need to be addressed. It would be tough to sue my favorite sports team for any reason outside of gross mismanagement by the owners. So I hand in the completed form and go back to my locker to suit-up.
A few minutes later my teammate, Phil, shows up. We exchanged hugs as though we hadn't seen each other since last year. In actuality, I had not met Phil EVER, but you would've been hard pressed to figure that out by viewing from afar.
He's a super-cool guy and he will be great on the field if positive attitude and excitement mean ANYTHING AT ALL. I told him that I would be getting dressed to go out onto the field. He told me that he believed that the players were actually on the way IN and that I may have missed the workout. It was supposed to run until 5 and it was only 3:30. I jumped up and ran to the door. The fields indeed were empty. Why? I have no idea. But tomorrow would have to do. I missed the opportunity to hit the field with my 2013 Rockets jersey for the amusement of John Stearns, but that will come. I'll show it to him by Saturday.
I ran into a few more guys whom I knew from last year. They all genuinely seemed pleased to see me as much as I was to see them.
I tried to set my locker up in a way that would be most efficient. Easier said than done, to be sure. But tomorrow will be the test, when I show up at around 7:30 in a foggy state of awareness.
I left the clubhouse and went back to my guest house to change clothes. From there it was to the Island Club for the Welcome Banquet. It was great to see all involved in the same room. The rookies introduced themselves and we listened to how they made it to our little slice of heaven this year. Many guys received the camp as a gift from their wives. Some paid for it themselves. We found out that there are two brothers for whom this camp is their 14th. One guy apparently is a Rangers fan. That's all good because I grew up as a Ranger fan. But he meant the TEXAS Rangers, not the NEW YORK Rangers. He kinda got booed by many in attendance. But I can't say I was surprised.
The opening banquet is behind us. Tomorrow we have tryouts, the draft and then game 1 of our little tourney. We get to go over the rules of camp and how things are gonna run.
It's very hard to believe that it has been a year since my last time on these fields. Probably because the memories are still so vivid. And more memories are ready to piggy-back on the old ones.
The people at Disney World believe that THEY are the home to the Happiest Place On Earth.
There're wrong.
At least for THIS week.
I saw them again on the plane and decided to offer them a ride up to St. Lucie in my rented car. They graciously accepted and we made our way to the Alamo center. The nice folks there looked at the bags to be transported and offered a free upgrade to an SUV. I graciously accepted that offer and we jammed the back of the Dodge Journey and hit the road north.
We arrived at the hotel and I dropped the guys off. I had arrangements with my friends the Skinners (Bob and Michele) during my time in town. The Skinners are a great couple whom I met during my early time at AirTran Airways. I hung out with them for a while then made my way over to the complex. Nearly everyone was on the fields at the time of my arrival. I walked into the clubhouse in anticipation of finding out who was going to be in attendance plus where my locker would be this year. I found my locker to be in the center aisle. I saw Phil's number 4 jersey and then saw the number 11 cream-white jersey with "COLLINS" on the back at the locker immediately to the left of Phil's. They HAD put us next to one another as we has requested. I walked around in a cloud of mild euphoria as I reacquainted myself with the room and it's surroundings.
I filled out the waiver forms which essentially releases the Mets from any liability may need to be addressed. It would be tough to sue my favorite sports team for any reason outside of gross mismanagement by the owners. So I hand in the completed form and go back to my locker to suit-up.
A few minutes later my teammate, Phil, shows up. We exchanged hugs as though we hadn't seen each other since last year. In actuality, I had not met Phil EVER, but you would've been hard pressed to figure that out by viewing from afar.
He's a super-cool guy and he will be great on the field if positive attitude and excitement mean ANYTHING AT ALL. I told him that I would be getting dressed to go out onto the field. He told me that he believed that the players were actually on the way IN and that I may have missed the workout. It was supposed to run until 5 and it was only 3:30. I jumped up and ran to the door. The fields indeed were empty. Why? I have no idea. But tomorrow would have to do. I missed the opportunity to hit the field with my 2013 Rockets jersey for the amusement of John Stearns, but that will come. I'll show it to him by Saturday.
I ran into a few more guys whom I knew from last year. They all genuinely seemed pleased to see me as much as I was to see them.
I tried to set my locker up in a way that would be most efficient. Easier said than done, to be sure. But tomorrow will be the test, when I show up at around 7:30 in a foggy state of awareness.
I left the clubhouse and went back to my guest house to change clothes. From there it was to the Island Club for the Welcome Banquet. It was great to see all involved in the same room. The rookies introduced themselves and we listened to how they made it to our little slice of heaven this year. Many guys received the camp as a gift from their wives. Some paid for it themselves. We found out that there are two brothers for whom this camp is their 14th. One guy apparently is a Rangers fan. That's all good because I grew up as a Ranger fan. But he meant the TEXAS Rangers, not the NEW YORK Rangers. He kinda got booed by many in attendance. But I can't say I was surprised.
The opening banquet is behind us. Tomorrow we have tryouts, the draft and then game 1 of our little tourney. We get to go over the rules of camp and how things are gonna run.
It's very hard to believe that it has been a year since my last time on these fields. Probably because the memories are still so vivid. And more memories are ready to piggy-back on the old ones.
The people at Disney World believe that THEY are the home to the Happiest Place On Earth.
There're wrong.
At least for THIS week.
I got to the complex at 7:30 and had some breakfast before getting my uniform on. My buddy Phil came in and we caught up on some things. He brought a bat down for me to purchase. It's a nice piece of wood that feels good in my hands and should take me into my season with the Prior Lake (MN) Pacers.
The day started off with our commissioner, John Stearns, discussing what happens at the morning meetings. We also learned about the remainder of the day's activities. We would have player evaluations (we used to call 'em "tryouts" when I was a kid) followed by lunch and the player draft by the coaches/pros. The draft is serious stuff. Now, I'm not privy at all the draft, but we players all imagine it to be a trash-talking exhibition of monumental proportions as bragging rights a huge thing at camp among the coaches/pros.
After lunch all the players were in high anticipation of finding out what team they would be on, who their teammates would be and who their coaches would be. At about 1:15 I found out that my team would be coached by current Mets major league bullpen coach Ricky Bones (pronounced "boh-ness). His team is known as Broken Bones (pronounced bohnz). I'm not sure if his team won the championship last year, but I know they were near the top at the end.
We hit the field for game 1 of our camp schedule. We played a team called The Piglets, coached by Joe Pignatano and two others. We started the game by scoring 5 in the first inning and coasting from there. We won by over ten runs and we were ecstatic with our performance. Personally, I batted seventh in the order of 13 players. I singled to center in my first at bat. In my second I basically produced a carbon copy of my first at bat, although even after it cleared the infield dirt, the runner in front of me was forced out at second base. It will probably go in the books as a fielder's choice, but under any other circumstance, it would be a hit. In my third at bat I did not get a hit and thus my average will be either .667 or .333.
We lost our starting catcher, Livio Forte, who was one of the leading hitters in 2013 to a foul pop which hit him in the right eye socket. It hit with such force that he had to go to the hospital and may need surgery. It's a shame because he only got one full inning of play completed before the injury. Friends who know him well say that unless it's something very serious, he'll be back tomorrow.
It was great to be back on the field in game situation. Granted, its been nearly four months, but I could be better than I fared today.
After the games everyone retreated to the clubhouse where we all caught our collective breaths and tried to soak in what had just happened. None of the rookies has any real idea and veterans like myself are shaking our heads nearly as much.
Today we put on uniforms that not only matched, but the uniforms had our own names on them and we played in games that meant something. How we are going to come back to earth by the time we play tomorrow is beyond me.
Tomorrow we play games 2 and 3. Our first opponent will be known by the time we show up in the early morning. We will attempt to find out how good we may actually be, or if we just got a favorable opponent draw today. This team's pretty good from what I can tell. If we get our catcher back, we could go places.
My goal is to know my teammate's names. Who knows how long THAT will take?
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