We are in Ft Myers for Paul's 7th MN Twins Fantasy Baseball Camp. It runs from Jan 9 - 16.

As you have probably heard, FL also has had freezing temps. It's a huge deal to the fruit growers. Way down here in SW Florida, Monday was probably the last night of freezing temperatures. Because of the cold, the directors of the camp delayed the starting time on Sunday morning. The rookies (new-bees) played games, and that's when the coaches/former pros watched them and took notes. In the afternoon the pros went into seclusion and drafted their teams. Those teams were announced that night before dinner. (The pros pretty much know how and which positions the veterans play, so the veterans for the most part didn't play on Sunday afternoon. Besides, it was too COLD!)

Paul's team is called the Nimrods. One of his pro/coaches is Dick Stigman, a native of Nimrod, MN. He pitched for the Twins from 1962-65. I sat next to him and his wife Patti at dinner one night and learned that they are parents to 9 children (5 adopted from foster care) and have 24 grandchildren. Truly nice people.

His other coach is Ron Coomer. Ron played 3rd and 1st bases for the Twins from 1995-2000. "Ron now serves as an analyst for FSN on the Twins television pre-game and post-game broadcasts."*

The other coaches, if you are a baseball fan:

Julio Becquer, Juan Berenguer, Dave Boswell, Tom Brunansky, Bill Campbell, Milt Cuyler, Gene Larkin, Tim Laudner, Rick Miller, Tony Oliva, Frank "Guido" Quilici, Eric Rasmussen, Lee Stange and Frank Viola.

Bert Blyleven, Jim "Mudcat" Grant, Harmon Killebrew and John Gordon have made appearances most of the week, though they are not coaches. They add a lot of camaraderie and fun to the whole group. Bert and Mudcat keep notes of campers' indescretions to present at two kangaroo courts during dinner meetings. Campers are fined for various mistakes, such as forgetting to appear at the plate with a helmet, not wearing shower shoes, forgetting to zip a fly, taking a third called strike, etc.

Bert "works as the game analyst for FSN North for the Minnesota Twins television broadcasts."* He is part of the camp administration.

John Gordon is the radio play-by-play announcer for the Twins.

* Quoted from the playbook issued to each camper

There are 92 campers; about 40 are rookies. Four are "hall of famers," which means they have attended 10 or more camps. Most of the people are from MN, though some hail from Iowa, Florida, Texas, Chicago, New Jersey, North Carolina, California, South Dakota, Colorado, Wisconsin, and Quebec. The only requirements to participate are to pay the fee and be 30 or more years old. Everyone plays the same amount of time. All bat every game. If the 7th batter in the lineup is last up in a game, the 8th batter starts the next game.

Some use this as an opportunity to get together with family members--five sets of 2 brothers, one set of 3 brothers, a father and son-in-law (must have a great relationship!), a brother and sister, and a father and his 3 sons. Some also sign up with a good buddy. These groups are put together on the same team so that they can play together.

Generally, they play 2 games a day. They use the Twins facilities, including the Twins' professional clubhouse manager. The campers leave their dirty uniforms in the clubhouse at the end of the day, and they are all laundered and returned to their lockers by the next morning.

Friday will be the first day of the round-robin playoff tournament and the first game is at 10:15. At 1:15 that day, probably only the rookies (due to numbers) will play the pros in the stadium.

Here are the game results up until this morning:

Monday, game 1: The Nimrods lost 7 - 6. They jumped out in first inning with all their runs. Paul pitched the last half of the game, and unfortunately, allowed an unearned run (winning run) to score. Dick Bremer (Twins play-by-play announcer on TV) pitched the entire game for the opposition.

Monday, game 2: Nimrods won 8 - 5.

Tuesday, game 1: Nimrods lost 2 - 1.

Tuesday, game 2: Nimrods won 10 - 3. Huge highlight: Paul hit an inside the park homerun! I was snapping pictures of Paul and missed seeing the ball fly over the had of the right fielder's head. When it wasl all over, I asked an assistant exactly what happened, and he said, "It went over the head of a gy who is on Medicare!" to which I replied, "Well, the guy who it it is on Medicare too!" As Paul was rounding 3rd base, his coach, Dick Stigman, yelled, "Can you make it? Can you make it?"

At the banquet that night Paul won MVP for this game.

Wednesday, the only game that day: Nimrods won 6 - 3? Don't remember the score. Paul pitched the entire game! He had several strikeouts, which is not his claim to fame. He tries to get the ball over the plate and hope that his fielders will finish the job. He did a great job all by himself.

Thursday, game 1: is being played as I type. Bye!

On Saturday morning, there will be a championship game for the "Red" Division (don't know if that is the best of the best or the worst of the best) and at 12:15 the "Blue" Division championship. Hopefully, our team will be in one of those games.

Cheers,
Joan (and the 65-year-old jock)