One Camper's Fantasy

Day 7

The attrition has now become noticeable.  There are less than half the usual campers (maybe 20 in all) out this morning for stretching but the same if not more moans and groans.  The sun is shining and it is a light day as we have one last game to play.  We are looking forward to continuing our winning streak of one and becoming a bit more respectable.   

Definitely no pre-game hitting, no pre-game infield, just a little throwing to get those sore arms warm and loose.  That must have done the trick though because we started off with a bang.  A bunch of runs in the first and the 5^th and 3 hours later we had this game handily won. We demanded to extend camp by another week so that we could show everyone else that we were as good as we had looked on paper.  But instead, Monday and Yeager broke out the champagne and we celebrated the victory and the season.

The game took so long that some of us had to miss lunch if we were going to participate in the pop up and hitting contests that were just getting started.  I tired my hand at the hitting contest, was only mildly successful and was eliminated from the championship round.  Peter from San Francisco and Steve from Riverside battled it out with Peter inching out Steve in the end.

Then it was time to shower, change and pack up our lockers.  Only one problem, Brad, the kid from Toronto, whose locker was next to mine, couldn't find his clothes.  It seems that he gotten on the wrong side with the Instructors after he taped their uniform jerseys to the lamp posts outside the conference center the night before, and a couple of the Instructors (we won't mention names but their initials are SY and JJ) decided to treat this rookie right.  Oh, Brad found his clothes all right.  They were set out on a chair in the middle of the locker room, for all to see, encased in a block of ice.  Well that will teach him not to mess with a pro ball player!

Before dinner, the lounge was packed not just with campers but also Dodger staff.  Davey Johnson, Charlie Hough, Mickey Hatcher, Rick Dempsey, and Claude Osteen added to the mix and swapped stories with the instructors and campers alike.  Dinner was as good as it has been all week.  We were joined by some of the Dodgers staff and coaches.  John Shelby and Mark Grudzielnick stopped by and Dodger GM Kevin Malone answered a few questions on the status of some ball players and the outlook for the '99 Dodgers. We watched the play of the day; a good backhanded stop of a sharp grounder down the 3^rd baseline that was turned into a double play and then it was time for end-of-camp awards.  Steve from Riverside cleaned with the Golden Glove award, batting title and selection to the camper all-star team and Jonathan "Silverstreak" won the Rookie of the Year and all-star selection.  David took Vero's potato head award, bad hips and all, and Carl got the play of the week trophy.  In all, it was a great ending to a great week.  And with dinner over, we all met in the lounge and exchanged congratulations and goodbyes.