Cubs Fantasy Camp, Part Five

Meant to post this last night, but the semi-decrepit motel they're putting us up at (The Dobson Ranch Inn in Mesa, for those of you keeping score at home) has been without functioning internet for the last 15 hours. So this one's comin' to ya live from a local Starbucks, and is gonna be kinda brief.

We lost both games yesterday, though the scores were relatively close: 3-2 to Willie Wilson and Todd Hundley's squad in the AM, and 6-2 to our "hated rivals" Moreland/Coomer in the afternoon. Our bats have gone almost entirely cold — even the incredibly consistent Steve Sasser, who had (by his own modest admission) "about 12 hits in a row," has begun hitting 'em where they is instead of where they ain't. I almost beat out a grounder to first in the AM contest, urged on by a chant of "Wheels! Wheels! Wheels!" from my team mates that had Willie Wilson (pictured above) laughing so hard, I thought he was gonna cough up a lung.

But other than successfully fielding a grounder and throwing out a runner while Ron Coomer unsuccessfully tried to distract me with shouts of "Help me, Jesus!", the highlights of the day were the ones off the field. The evening's player-run BBQ not only provided us with the bext camp food we'd had all week, but gave me a chance to rap at length with Coomer, one of the most hilarious and down-to-earth dudes you could ever hope to meet. He's a big music fan, and he told me about how he and Paul Molitor bonded over their love for Springsteen and used to follow Bruce's tours in the off-season.

Best of all, though, was that I got Don Kessinger to sign the above ball "Don Kessinger — Disco Demolition." Though he's obviously best-known as half of one of the Cubs' greatest keystone combinations, Kess also managed the White Sox in the late '70s — and was their skipper on the night of the infamous "Disco Demolition" promotion at Comiskey Park. "A real highlight of my career, lemme tell ya," Kess laughed, when I approached him about it. "People were chanting 'Disco Sucks! Disco Sucks!' before we even came out for batting practice...I almost got my head cut off by a flying record!" I asked Kess if he'd sign my ball "Disco Sucks";"I'll sign it Disco Demolition," he responded. That'll be fine, Kess; that'll be fine.

Okay, gotta hit the clubhouse and suit up for the last full day of play. We've gotta win both games today to finish .500 for the "season," so hopefully our bats (and our legs) will come back to life in time!

Comments

[Tom Rose]

Go get 'em today! I'll be bummed when this ends. It's true, I've really been "living" through this over the past few days. Rawk!

[Stu]

yeah, you've really brought it home for those of us freezing our asses off in Czechago. Go team!

[Don]

I'll tell you what's killing me- every picture you put up I know exactly where you are and it makes me freaking jealous. Just thought I'd mention that.