Kangaroo Court Judge Jon Warden
Tuesday morning at Detroit Tiger Fantasy camp brought the first session of Judge Jon Warden’s Kangaroo Court. Warden was a member of the 1968 Detroit Tigers team and is one of the coaches at Fantasy Camp. Most of what he says I couldn’t publish here. Each morning the day starts with his judgment of players for trespasses the previous day. Fines can range from $2 to $10 and they go to the “Jack’s Place” charity which is Jim Price’s foundation to battle autism.
Players were fined for a variety of offenses. The most common were not getting your belt through all your belt loops; or wearing the home Tigers hat with the away uniform; or forgetting to take the stickers off your new Tiger cap; or getting caught with your zipper down; or forgetting to wear a batting helmet when going out to the on-deck circle. One player was fined heavily for “wearing a headband and trying to look like one of the Village people.” The same player was also fined for running out directly to 2nd base when asked to play 2nd base (you never stand right on the base, as most tee-ballers even know) and he was fined for putting on a helmet that was 5 sizes too small and the bill of the helmet was pointing up in the air and he looked like a shark with a fin on top: ) One guy was fined for wearing soccer cleats rather than baseball cleats. One of my teammates was fined for being hit by a sniper. That is how you refer to someone who is running the bases and falls down for no apparent reason whatsoever. He actually dislocated his shoulder on the play and is on the disabled list. The whole court proceedings had everyone laughing and it made us all try to keep from being tomorrow’s victims.
My team lost our first two games and any allusion that even though this is fantasy camp nobody cares who wins or loses went out the door quickly. Our afternoon game everyone was desperate for a win and we came through with a 10-1 win. I pitched two shutout innings which was the highlight of the day for me. The arm feels good. I asked one of the other pitchers if his arm hurt and he said there was no part on his body that did not hurt, including his arm. After we got a big lead in the afternoon game Mike Maroth, one of their coaches, took the mound because they were out of healthy pitchers. He obviously was just throwing soft strikes to try to get the game over with, but I hit a double in the gap to right-center field off of him so that was my other highlight of the day. I really needed oxygen after that play. After one screwy fielding play, our coach Mike Heath yelled “Put a tent around this circus!” Baseball really has some funny slogans and moments. I guess that’s what makes the game so fun.
Our team is starting to come together and we are getting to know one another. We have guys (and one girl) from all over the country and the state of Michigan. Each has a unique story to tell. Many are rookies to camp like me, and some have been 10, 20 or as many as 34 times. Some haven’t touched a bat for years and others play in senior wood bat hard ball leagues in the summer. Tomorrow we’re planning to have lunch together and on Friday night we have a team dinner for our coaches.
Speaking of food, I also enjoyed the conversation at lunch today in the Tigertown Cafeteria. Kevin left after the picture time to visit my Aunt Elaine and Uncle Gerry Simpson who are not far away here in Florida for the winter. I sat at lunch with Doug Bair, a former Tiger pitcher who is one of the coaches. It was interesting to hear his story about college and when he was drafted and what his pro career was like. He got very animated telling the guys at our table about Roberto Clemente who he played with in Pittsburgh. I was surprised to learn that Roberto Clemente was only about 5 feet nine inches tall. Doug had the privilege to play with Roberto Clemente and Al Kaline, two of the greatest outfielders ever.
A couple of current minor league prospects who are working out at Tigertown right now joined us for lunch. One was Alex Burgos, a pitcher with the West Michigan Whitecaps, the Tiger’s affiliate in Grand Rapids. He is only 21 and was a very polite and likeable young guy. I was glad to meet him and it will be fun to see if he is able to take his career to the next level. I couldn’t tell you the name of the other player. He doesn’t speak English at all. He is a tall, lean young man who the Tigers signed when he was only 16 years old in 2008 in the Dominican Republic. He is 19 years old now. Alex Burgos speaks Spanish and he was helping the other player find his way around and served as his interpreter.
Tomorrow we have two more games, one in the morning and then a game under the lights at Henley Field at 8:30 p.m. Henley is the field the Tigers used as their spring training home until 1967. It is the field that Al Kaline first played on as a Tiger, and was used back when Charlier Gehringer and other Tiger greats came to Lakeland for spring training. It should be fun, as long as I don’t get in trouble with the judge…
