Anticipation

Welcome to the new Rockies official club blog, and please leave your comments here all season. To begin, FSN Rocky Mountain broadcaster Drew Goodman will be posting his experiences at the 2008 Rockies Fantasy Camp from Tucson, Arizona over the course of the next 5 days.

January 28, 2008

Packing away late on Monday night.  Tomorrow will begin my fourth Rockies Fantasy Camp and I still remember that first phone call to my wife after day one four years ago.  I am generally not overly verbose, especially on the phone, but I must have been bubbling over because she said, "I can hear your smile!"  I didn't know what to expect - a little baseball, big league uniforms, nice people and a few beers in the evening.  What I and everyone else got was all of that and five days of belly laughs, not to mention meeting several people who have become good friends. 

I tell people I know and many I don't that the Rockies Fantasy Camp is an "A" experience made an "A+" because of Clint Hurdle.  I spend the entire summer with Clint so I'm well aware of his quick wit and his enjoyment of locker room banter, pranks and good natured verbal jousting which is part and parcel of baseball life in the big leagues.  Well, Fantasy Camp and its participants provide him with an incredible amount of material!  Bodies of all shapes and sizes, baseball experience from none to decent, though most haven't exactly had much time to play the game consistently anymore. 

The shared bond of not only the campers but the coaches as well is a love of the game.  I have used my platform over the last few years to ask some of the players and staff that have participated if they actually enjoy fantasy camp, and to a man they answer with an enthusiastic 'yes.'  In fact Jeff Francis volunteered to come back this year as did Cory Sullivan.  Cory had a conflict and can't make it, but it shows just how much fun everyone has. 

I've been throwing and swinging the bat fairly regularly in anticipation of camp.  I always endeavor to see Keith Dugger and Scotty Gehret (the team trainers) as little as possible!  At 44 this allows me to be Julio Franco for a week because if I could, I'd still play everyday! Clint reminds us annually, however, that the Rockies will NOT be signing anyone out of fantasy camp...so I guess I'll have to settle for these five days which has become one of my favorite weeks of the year.

Alright, time to hit the sack, four hours of sleep, a flight to Tucson and in about ten hours, we'll be in uniform throwing the ball around Hi Corbett. Another opportunity for prolonged adolescence!