I was looking back over the site and came across a number of drafts I pretty much completed but failed to post. Since we’re talking about baseball books and pop culture — which are timeless — and not the latest news, I thought I would make a mini-series of sorts.
Unfortunately, some of the reference material might no longer available but not enough to make me junk the idea. Such notes will appear in a different color font.
Closing in on the twelfth anniversary of covering a special Yankees Fantasy Camp. Original date, November 2019.
Speaking of anniversaries…
Hard to believe, but it’s been almost 10 years since I attended Yankees Fantasy Camp. My knees remember it well, though. In order to play as much as possible every day, I volunteered to put on the tools of ignorance in a group that had no real catcher. Haven’t been the same since.
Back in 2009, this Mets fan (and avowed Yankee hater) traveled down to Tampa to write about the first-ever program designed with observant Jews in mind. There was kosher food, a Sabbath service, guest speakers, and other components designed specifically for those fans who ordinarily would not have considered attending. My story was published in both the New Jersey Jewish News and Yankees Annual 2010 (“Koshering the Yankees”). Also on hand to capture the week, for a different audience, was Bryan Hoch, MLB.com correspondent and author of several books including the recent release, The Bronx Zoom: Inside the New York Yankees’ Most Bizarre Season. (You can listen to our Bookshelf Conversation here.)
There were nine campers, including myself as a journalistic observer, including one woman (who must have felt even more isolated since she couldn’t share in the locker room experience), so we were split up among the eight teams. Ron Blomberg was one of the coaches and Marty Appel (left) was one of those guest speakers.
Unfortunately, there was some unexpected push-back over the situation because some of the gentile campers thought they were being shortchanged somehow, although I couldn’t figure out why. If anything, it was the Jewish contingent which shortchanged because they couldn’t participate in any of the Friday night or Saturday activities, the latter of which included the highlight of the week, the game against the former Yankees (there was a Friday contest but there weren’t enough Jewish campers so some of the coaches and assistants had to fill in).
One of the cool treats during the week was the daily memento left at our locker while we were on the fields (I was installed at Derek Jeter’s spot). One day it might be a ball signed by all the former Yankees who were serving as coaches, the next it could be a sports bag.
Aside from the #18 jersey I wore, the only thing I have left from camp are these:
Still wear ’em one in a while. Pretty good shape for ten years old, eh?
And the ironic thing is, Nike is my least favorite brand of footwear.
Sadly, since I wrote this, those shoes fell victim of our then-new dog’s chewing phase.
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