From left Jake Wood, Steve Collard, Willie Horton
Today was day 1 of Tiger Baseball Fantasy Camp. I heard the same advice I heard at the orientation lunch, a quote by Gates Brown – “Start off slow, and taper off from there.” They seem really worried about us going out on the first day and blowing out a hamstring or an Achilles. They have reason to be worried since the average age is 54. There are about 100 guys here from 13 states. Kevin and I talked to several from New York, Colorado and Washington. They were all life long Tiger fans that have remained loyal through the years.
We attended orientation and got to hear comments from the former Tigers who serve as the coaches. Sweet Lou Whitaker is here. He received a standing ovation and the shouts of “LLLoooooooooouuuuu” that we used to love to hear at Tiger Stadium back in the 80′s. Alan Trammell is here. There is a tribute banquet to him tomorrow, so I’ll probably have more to say about him then. But today he said one thing that really stuck with me. He said that Al Kaline told him he never evaluated a player by his talent or his statistics. He always evaluated a player by what kind of teammate he was. Wow, that could apply to many areas of life.
Rick Leach is here, the former U-M quarterback. Mike Maroth is here and still looks 12 years old. Other coaches include Darrell Evans, Doug Bair, Mike Heath, Dave Rozema, Steve Kemp, Jon Warden, Jake Wood, Willie Horton, Jack Billingham and Jim Price. After orientation we attended a barbecue and had a chance to snap a couple of pictures and chat with the players. Jake Wood and Willie Horton were such gentlemen. I told Jake that I never got to see him play (he was a Tiger in 1961, the year I was born) but I remember my dad telling me how fast he was. That got a big smile out of him. Willie gave us a signed baseball card with his Christian testimony on the back. We chatted with Mike Maroth about Home Plate, and he is a rookie here too. I told Alan Trammell I went to the same high school as Kirk Gibson and his response was “That’s too bad.” : )
They announced the teams after dinner. The uncertainty of it all brought back memories of standing along the fence in the sandlot near Waterford Community Church while two captains picked the teams. You never wanted to be picked last. I am on Team 3. My coaches are Steve Kemp and Mike Heath. Tomorrow morning I get my official Detroit Tiger uniform and then we have a clinic in the morning and Game 1 in the afternoon. It should be fun, as long as I start off slow…
CHuck says Have a great time Steve, Chuck and Aaron are a tad bit wishing they were there too!
And say HI to Dave Rosma from Chuck! He knows him from mt clemens general days!