Baseball camp is a fantasy come true for former association exec

Northwestern Financial Review, Apr 1-Apr 14, 2005 by Argue, Harry

When I retired from the Wisconsin Bankers Association in March 2004, I wanted to stay involved with banking and pursue some personal curiosities that time previously had not allowed.

Joining the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on a part-time basis allowed me to accomplish that. In mid-February, I was able to follow through on one of those curiosities that really belongs in the "dream" category.

My enthusiasm for baseball started exactly a half century ago. In the spring of 1955, my dad took me to my first major league game between the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals at old Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Ever since then, I've been a true aficionado of the game, and despite baseball's sometimes frustrating problems, my love of the game has only grown over the decades.

Throughout my little league years, it became readily apparent the only position I could handle well was the bench. As a result, I did not play the game after age 13.

About 20 years ago, someone had the brilliant idea to set up fantasy camps where former major leaguers would instruct and play ball for several days with guys for whom major league baseball was forever a dream. The timing of the camps - right before the teams began spring training - always had conflicts with my bankers association calendar.

With slightly more time available in my new position, I decided 2005 was the year to don a big league uniform and "play ball." Having closely followed the Kansas City Royals since they were an expansion team in 1969 when I lived in that area, I signed up for their six-day camp at the team's new spring training base in Surprise, Ariz.

There were 96 campers (including one young lady who impressed us all), ranging in age from 30 to 72, and 17 retired Royals. Many of them played significant roles in the team's glory days from 1976 through 1985 when they earned post-season play in seven of those years, including the World Series Championship in 1985.

On the first morning, it was almost overwhelming to walk into the Royals clubhouse and see our personalized home and road uniforms neatly hanging on the lockers. I soon realized it was time to stop being in awe of the situation and suit up to get to the field. This was just the first example of how the fantasy camp experience was precisely arranged to be virtually identical to the spring training experience of the Royals.

For example, at the end of each day's workouts and games, we simply dropped our uniforms off in large baskets. The next morning they were back on our lockers, freshly laundered for another day on the field. The team's fully staffed professional training room was open to us throughout the camp. Unlike others, I luckily only spent limited time there, mostly for a sore throwing shoulder.

After an initial workout and stretching session (something that became a twice daily routine), it was time for instruction in the fundamentals, fielding practice, batting practice and pick-up games. This was where we first heard the two main objectives of the camp that were repeated frequently - don't get hurt and have fun.

What a super experience it was to step in the batting cage the first time and have Royals Hall of Famer George Brett throwing me pitches for batting practice. Using only wood bats, I had forgotten how much of a sting they create when you make contact. I promptly invested in a pair of batting gloves.

Throughout the week, my appreciation for the talents of baseball players kept increasing. I discovered that the field is a lot larger than it appears from the stands, especially when it comes to making throws and chasing balls. What's routine for major leaguers was often anything but that for the campers. Running In on a fly ball that first day, I soon realized I had come in too far, so I jumped up at the last second and barely speared the ball. Had I judged the ball better, it would have been an easy catch. Other times I did not luck out.

The next morning we learned that the former Royals had spent a long night drafting the eight 12-person teams. We played two seven-inning games each day against the other teams. I was on the team coached by Royals outfielder Les Norman and infield great Frank White. As I came up to the plate for the first time, I just hoped to put the ball in play and not strike out. I managed to do just that, grounding into a double play! Our team gained confidence in itself though by coming back from a 7-1 deficit to a 7-7 tie in extra innings before the game was called - so we could have lunch before the next game!

There was for certain a good-natured air prevailing among the eight camper teams. This was promoted by our coaches who continually encouraged everyone and provided nothing but positive reinforcement. At the same time, the games among the camper teams generated competitive pride. We all wanted to help our teams win.

I discovered just how much that was the case in one game where our team led by a run going to the top of the last inning. Unfortunately, we gave up a run to allow the other team to tie us, meaning we had to get the run back in the bottom half of the inning to win then and avoid going to extra frames. I led off the inning. In my extreme eagerness to get a rally going, I swung at a bad first pitch and popped out to the catcher. The next thing I knew I was slamming my batting helmet to the ground, totally frustrated with myself. What a relief though when my teammates came through with a series of hits to push a run across and get us the win after all.