How would you like to play baseball with former Washington Nationals players and others who love the sport as much as you do? What about the chance to ask the former players any question and get a straight answer in a bull session at the team’s major league clubhouse training facility? Would you enjoy celebrating and laughing at your foibles and those of your teammates at a hilarious kangaroo court presided over by Judge Ryan Zimmerman (complete with black robe and white wig)? How about being in the game as Sean Burnett pitches to Ryan Zimmerman, who hits a towering fly ball caught by your incredibly talented teammate?
I had the immense pleasure of spending Jan. 18-23 at the Nats training facility in sunny West Palm, Florida doing all of the above and more!
Sixty-five campers showed for the inaugural edition of the Washington Nationals Fantasy Baseball Camp. Three of us were women — one of whom was such a great player she was selected as the MVP of her team. The average age was 60, with several players in their 80s.
We divided into six teams and each team played 7 games over the course of 4 days. Coaches held work outs to test skills at pitching, fielding and hitting and then divided the teams as evenly as possible by skill set. The coaches then picked a team at random and we went to work.
My coaches were Kevin Frandsen and Sean Burnett — the best coaches you could ever ask for. The other coaching tandems were:
Ryan Zimmerman and Brian Schneider
Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen (of Field of Dreams bourbon fame)
Michael Morse and Preston Wilson
Brian Dozier and Yan Gomes
Chris Heisey and Doug Flynn
Some of the rules were modified to protect the innocent (um, I mean the elderly). No one under 35 may pitch. No stealing, no passed balls, if you hit it to the outfield you get to first base unless it is caught in the air (can’t be thrown out), if you get injured someone can run for you after you hit the ball. (And there were a few injuries . . . ).
All the coaches and players were incredibly supportive of each other. IT. WAS. ABOUT. HAVING. FUN. For example, after a pitcher pinged me with the ball, he came and gave me a hug and told me that it was an accident — in the middle of the game!
Some of the play was amazing — great pitching, hits and fielding. Other play was laughable — hilarious errors, people falling down trying to run, etc. But no matter what happened we laughed, we cheered, we cried (from laughing).
If you haven’t yet heard, Dan Kolko has been tapped to succeed Bob Carpenter in the broadcasting booth. Games will be on a network controlled by MLB — no more MASN!
Pitchers and catchers report in 8 days! More on training camp and the non-roster invitees in the next post.
Let’s become the envy of sports!
#thenatslady #theswarm
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