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One Camper's
Fantasy
Day 2
 Started
the day with a jog around Dodgertown for my first look in the daylight.
The main accommodations
area is laid out like a motor court with 92 units forming a lazy
looking "17" laying on its side. Most of the units follow the lazy
"7" starting with the office at the top and then heading down along
"Sandy Koufax Lane" with about 26 units to the east making the "1".
Koufax Lane curves around to intersect with Jackie Robinson Avenue
to the north and merges with the same Robinson Ave on the south.
At the southern end
where Koufax and Robinson merge is the swimming pool and BBQ pit
area. To the northwest of the pool are the tennis courts and
just north of the courts is the Conference Center which houses the
dining, conference, fitness and locker rooms. A little stop
to check out the fitness room and there's Jerry Reuss working out.
I introduced myself and then I was off again. Heading
out west from the Conference Center, Vin Scully Way leads between
2 practice fields to Holman Stadium. Finally, south of Holman is
the Dodger Pines Country Club and Golf Courses. The jog took
about 15 minutes so I'd guess the path was about a mile and a half
long.
After a quick shower
and change, I was off to the office to meet Nancy Gollnick, Assistant
to the Director of Dodgertown, just to let her know that I got in
OK. Most of the campers won't be coming in until later today
but nevertheless, it was starting to get a little hectic in there.
So I said my hellos and turned to leave and there was Steve Yeager
coming in. Having previously met Steve, I reintroduced myself,
had a few words and then went on to take some of my own pictures
of Dodgertown.
At 11:30, the locker
room opened and campers gradually started coming in, bringing their
equipment. Returning campers brought their own uniforms from
previous camps. Being a rookie, my uniform was hanging on
my assigned locker. . . Well, the home jersey, belt, and socks were.
See each camper gets two complete uniforms, home whites and away
grays, with our names and selected number on them. Being a
Little Leaguer in LA during the early 60's, my idol was Sandy Koufax
(it didn't matter that he was a lefty and I throw right); so naturally,
I selected his number, 32, for my uniforms. Anyway, I was told that
the away jersey was due in tonight, and since rookies were to wear
the home whites for the afternoon workout, I grabbed some pants
and I was set.
Some of the guys went
to lunch while the rest of us took our time dressing and got to
know each other. Met Phil, with the animation department at
Disney, Paul from the night before was there, and so was the Duke.
Yeah, Dodger great, Duke Snider arrived and joined in the chat.
As lunch ended, the locker room filled as everyone got their gear
on and got ready for the initial workout that was to begin at 2.
The excitement and anticipation grew and I don't think it was just
coming from me. Everybody was looking forward to getting out
on the field.
By 1:45 almost every
camper was on practice field number 2, starting to stretch and throwing
a ball around. At 2, we were all directed to left field and
began the workout with a 15-minute stretching session with Hall
of Fame Dodger trainer Bill Buhler. You should have heard
the grunts and groans as Bill put us through the same pre-game stretching
exercises the pros perform. Now, normally, 15 minutes of stretching
would not seem like a big deal, but in 80+ humid degrees, I was
ready for it to end 5 minutes before it did. Where was the
water, where was the Gatorade. Oh yeah, over there in the
middle of that crowd of middle aged men surrounding Bill's golf
cart. Hey, save some for me!
A little rest and a
couple of cups of Gatorade and we were ready. We were divided
up into three groups and sent to different stations. I was
with the first group and went over to the infield, the second group
stayed in the outfield and the third went to the instructional batting
cages. John Shoemaker, the hitting coach for the Dodgers San
Antonio farm club, and Jim Stoeckel, pitching coach for the Vero
Beach Dodgers, were working the infield drills and for the next
20 minutes we took ground balls at each position on the infield.
First hand thrown, then modified double plays and finally grounders
off the bat.
Next it was out to
center field where former Dodger catcher and White Sox and Mets
manager Jeff Torborg put us through the paces with fly balls.
Each camper took about 10 -12 flies, analysis and instruction from
Torborg and then the 20 minutes were over.
After a brief stop
for water, we were off to the batting cages where we were met by
former Dodger hitting coach, Reggie Smith, who schooled us in the
finer points of proper hitting. A few batting cage ground
rules, then it was on with the batting glove and helmet and into
the cage. With the pitching machine laying the ball right
in there and Reggie watching and critiquing our various batting
styles, I got a lot of cuts, some good contact and I felt in the
groove. Now it was time to test my new found hitting prowess
on live pitching. And so it was over to field 1 and hitting just like pre
game at Dodger Stadium. Seven cuts and out for the next guy,
then five and finally 3. It's amazing how fast it goes by.
But just like that it was over and time to go in. Next stop
for me was a shower. On the way I stuck my head in the trainer's
room to say hi to current Dodger head trainer, Charlie Strasser,
but one look and I could see he had his hands full. You wouldn't
believe the number of campers in there getting iced down.
I shouldn't talk; I'll probably be there tomorrow but not today.
Showered and dressed,
I was ready for the 6:00 cocktail party with an appetizer buffet
that could have been dinner. I sampled the faire and listened
in as Jerry Reuss reminisced about his playing days and his no-hitter
against the Giants. But for an error by then shortstop Bill
Russell, it might have been a perfect game, but Jerry wasn't complaining.
Hey, how many pitchers have thrown a no-hitter in their careers.
And speaking of Russell, there he was in a group with Reggie, Steve
Yeager, Jay Johnstone, Davey Lopes and Rick Monday. Bill had
stopped by with his wife for dinner on their way up to Orlando where
he will take over the reins of the Tampa Bay minor league team.
So I joined the group and got to talk to Bill about his new position.
By 7 it was time for
dinner, not that we really needed it with all the appetizers.
But off to the Dining Room we all went for a great buffet which
included Prime Rib, fish, chicken and all the garnishments.
I grabbed some prime rib and then a chair at the table with Reuss,
Johnstone, and Strasser, with Rick Monday at the next table.
Now this was an experience because, you see, Reuss, Johnstone and
Monday have this reputation from their playing days as real pranksters
and that's what we talked about, some of their more famous, or should
I say infamous activities, most of which I cannot repeat.
But soon, too soon, dinner was over and the instructors were
off to a meeting regarding the next day's activities and I was off
to my room for some well deserved rest.
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