A week from today, on Feb 3, I’ll head to Ft. Meyers, FL for a week of middle aged men pulling muscles while living out childhood fantasies of being pro ball players.  I didn’t get all the way down to the 215 I claimed when filling out the sizing form for the uniforms but I’m close.

I went to the batting cages this afternoon at about 3pm.  What was I thinking?  The place was filled with 8 to 14 year olds and their dads and coaches getting a jump on the spring.  So I went back at 8:30pm and pretty much had the place to myself.  I had been at Grand Slam 2 before- about 6 years ago when I as coaching my sons who were 16 and 14 at the time.  I was happy not to have kids wondering what the old guy was doing in the 35mph cage.  I was also happy to graduate to the 55mph cage after one token.  In the 55 cage, I hit every one of the 160 pitches that 10 tokens gets you.  I’m sure the pitchers at camp will be faster and they will be wilder and "curvier".  But for not having swung the bat in anger for a long time, I was pleasantly surprised.

I purchased a few items at the batting cages, including batting gloves.  I retrieved 2 decent pairs of cleats from the garage.  I have 3 gloves- 2 infielder gloves that Chris and John used in high school and my voluminous softball glove I’ll use if I play in the outfield.  Even though I’ll be one of the older campers, my hope is that I’ll get some time in the infield- maybe at second.

I’ve been reading online accounts of other fantasy campers.  To a man, they say this is one of the best times they have had in their lives.  I’m excited.