Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

[CampWest]

In January 2012, I will be fulfilling a decade-long promise to myself to attend and participate in a Royals Fantasy Camp. I purchased my spot in the Royals Fantasy Camp through the silent auction at a charity fundraising event (the price I couldn't pass up).

My participation is a bit tenuous due to some old injuries and ailments. As a child I had Perthes Syndrome, which essentially is a loss of blood supply to the hip which resulted in a weak and somewhat under-sized femural head. In high school, I fractured a piece off of my femoral ball and I have been living with pain and arthritis ever since. I have recently been consulting with surgeons on a full hip replacement. After the hip replacement, my doctor is strongly recommending I not play softball or baseball. Therefore I am kind of looking at this as my one chance to fulfill my desire to play in a baseball fantasy camp.

Also, I have what is referred to as a "snapping scapula" in my throwing shoulder. Basically the shoulder blade grinds, pops, snaps and there is significant loss of strength and range of motion to go with the pain and discomfort. I have been to two doctors so far and neither has been able to determine the cause for my snapping scapula. A third doctor is scheduled and hopefully we'll find a good treatment.

So now you know I am a 37yo with the hip and shoulder of a 65 year old. With luck (cortisone injections and pain killers), I hope to be able to hobble and limp my way through a week of baseball and not embarrass myself too bad.

Stay tuned. More to follow as I will track my progress in this thread from today through Camp which runs January 30 - February 3.

[Shipp_96]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

Good luck! I have always wanted to do one of those with the Pirates, or Steelers. I used to play sports up until my junior year in college, then "retired" from competitive scholastic sports. Though I continued going to the gym and lifting & swimming, age sucks!

I am now at the end of my 30s, much like yourself, and found out after joining a summer baseball league and a company softball league that being strong and fit does not account for: A) Older reflexes B) Trying to compete with guys who could be your kids C) PAIN.

It's not so bad now as the season/s progress, but before that I got skinned/blistered hands from hitting, a ball off the infield that bruised my calf and a bruised thumb and knee. All within the first month !

Like Indiana Jones said, "It's not the years, it's the miles".

[CampWest]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

First order of business is going to be deciding on a couple bats.

I am disappointed to see a lack of customization options from Louisville Slugger. I do not see a way to order a personalized and customized pro-stock bat. The personalized bats in the gift shop would not be suitable for what I want to take to fantasy camp.

Therefore, I am leaning towards Phoenix bats. Their bats are used by one of my favorite players can order specific models and sizes and they offer two lines of free engraving along with several finish options. And they offer both Ash and Maple at far better prices than the others I've looked at.

Leaning towards the W241, 33" 31oz, probably one ash and one maple. The maple will be royal blue handle and an unfinished barrel. Ash probably flame barrel and clear-finish handle. Custom engraving "Wes Campbell {} 2012 KANSAS CITY ROYALS FANTASY CAMP".

[WadeInBmore]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

If you need/want Hoosier bat company info let me know and I will forward it onto you. The bat orders take about 2 weeks to fulfill and bats are available in 3 different types of wood (I think). For an additional $1 or 2 you can get a name laser engraved on the bats.

wade

[freddiefreeman5]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

Congrats to you! And I hope that your health improves in the future.

[geoff]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

Congrats Wes on the fantasy camp.

[ferro39]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

awesome, man...and dont feel bad. im 31 and my body is so screwed up, i couldnt even attempt to try one of these anymore. if i fall into money, maybe ill show up and be a 1st base coach or something

does brett show up for these? if so, that would be worth the price for me. he was my elvis growing up

[eisenreich8]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

Best of luck to you Wes!

I couldn't wait to turn 30 (the required minimum age) to attend Red Sox Fantasy Camp. Just never got there. Now 51 and can't wait till I'm 60 so I can attend, without so many damned distractions in life lol.

You're a great guy. How's about I send you a complimentary fresh game issued Jim bat to take along in your bat bag. Just lemme know!

Joe

[gingi79]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

Wes do me a favor. When Kansas City sends its scouts to this camp and signs you as their new utility infielder, make sure they spell all your ailments correctly. Nothing annoys me more than seeing Perthes Syndrome spelled wrong on the 15 day DL.....

Stretch as much as you can from now until then, keep the cortizone close by and breath deep when the experience becomes painful. Weeks later, all you will remember was how sweet the feeling of being a Kansas City Royal felt.

My father had a great comment for things like this. Rather than overstate or put pressure on me when great things happened, he simply whispered in my ear:

Enjoy this.

[tigerdale]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

Enjoy every minute...for sure!! I was lucky & went to the tigers camp in 1995...in my young 30's. It is still one of the best weeks I ever had!! Its your camp...your fantasy...play as much or as little as you wish. Do go there in some type of shape, as many people showed up & went all out & blew out there hammys from being inactive all winter & out of shape. The guys in there 60's has as much fun as guys in there 30's. Pick out your batting gloves, wristbands..everything!! I even bought my own tiger helmet to wear so I could bring home that memory too!! You will have a GREAT time!!!

[CampWest]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

Thanks everyone.

Wade, I'll look into Hoosier, thanks for the offer.

Joe, thanks for the offer, but I'd hate to waste an Eisenreich bat, but he does go to the Royals Fantasy Camp sometimes, so I might need something to get signed...

Gingi, I hope there are no scouts... I'd hate to see their notes. "Old. Slow. Weak. If he was a buffalo, he would sacrifice himself for the herd." - Something like that anyways. Regarding "Enjoy this", great advice. I have a tendency to put too much pressure on myself. I might just write that on the underside bill of my cap as soon as I get in the clubhouse.

Dale, I will play as much as they will let me. And I will definitely be "geared-up". Good call on the helmet, I'll have to figure out where to find an authentic helmet - I definitely want to take that home with me.

Also, I gotta say, my wife was incredible... We had talked before that I was going to do this at some point, but I bought this on a whim at the auction while she was home with family that was in from out of town. When I called and told her I spent a lot of money at the charity auction, she screamed "Yay" without hesitation. She's all for it and very encouraging.

[jppopma]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

Best of luck Wes! If you are looking for a pro stock bat, you can also try to look into BWP bats in Brookville, PA. I've toured their factory there a couple of times and they seem very accommodating.

Like others have said, get yourself ready for it. Visit the cages a few times here and there, or just go and play with the kids.

Regarding the personalization of the bat, I do not think that anything can have the full team name on it unless it is ordered by the team. That is why we see even pro players bats without a team name if they are ordered directly, by an agent, or others. That being said, you can always leave off the KC part and have the inscription read "2012 Royals Fantasy Camp", since Royal or Royals can be anything.

[island_style]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

Congrats on the Royals camp, Wes!

I did a Dodgers camp in Vero Beach and had a great time. The interaction between campers and instructors is just as fun off the field as it is on the field.

A few months before my camp the Dodgers sent me a chart of stretching exercises to do. It helped, but that's not to say that I didn't end up on the trainer's table a few times. The trainers were great, and they did a great job of getting the campers back on the field. It was especially helpful in-between doubleheaders.

Everyone took their turns at-bat, but some needed pinch runners. Those runners lined up by the first base line with their backs turned away from the plate. They ran when the batter made contact.

Definitely bring your own helmet. Otherwise, you need to use the ones provided by the camp, and you never know if one your size will be available when it's your turn at-bat. Try to check out southsportsinc on eBay. They have Royals helmets from time-to-time.

I ordered six ash bats from Carolina Clubs (they personalize...no team name, though), and the box of bats was waiting at my locker when I arrived.

Check to see if your Royals camp will provide a thumb protector (like Pro Direct). It's a rubber piece that slides over your thumb and rests in the palm of your hand. It will help against getting bruises while hitting with a wood bat.

Have fun, and please keep us posted!

Kind Regards,

Ron.

Rsamiano@aol.com

[CampWest]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

Thanks for all the thoughts and ideas everybody...

So, I've started getting stretched out a bit, played a couple softball doubleheaders and have been getting to the cages once or twice a week. Slowly I feel the swing coming back, though I cant handle anything above 70mph just yet. Hopefully won't run into much faster than that.

I had a conversation with the Royals coordinator a couple weeks ago.
I think she might be John Wathan's daughter. Anyhow. here are a couple of the details to come out of the conversation:

The Royals typically take 72 campers - split into 6 teams of 12.

They won't have the list of Alumni that will be in attendance finalized for a while, maybe another month or two. It sounds promising that all the "guys that always attend" should most likely all attend next year as they normally do. She said the core staple of guys that attend pretty much every year are George Brett, Frank White, John Wathan, Big John Mayberry, Dennis Leonard, Willie Wilson and Kevin Seitzer. Plus additional alumni.

I had heard that George Brett didn't attend all the time and I guess that was incorrect. George has only missed one year and that was because he was moving into a new house that week and couldn't make it. On the encouraging side, she made it sound like there was no reason to think George wouldn't be there this year. So, I am keeping the fingers crossed for that. Also, there may be a camp "rookie" in Mike Sweeney this year since he just retired this season.

Picked up some royal blue cleats, wristbands, batting gloves and a batting helmet to fill in some parts of the uniform. All from baseballexpress.com. And, Ron/IslandStyle, thanks for the advice on the Pro Hitter, thats been great in the cages.

[CampWest]

Re: Royals 2012 Fantasy Camp!!!

I received the official registration form in the mail a couple days ago. Partly just name, contact infomation, and uniform sizes. More interestingly, I need to select my jersey number. I always wore #3, #9 or #39. I'm leaning towards #9. #3 has not been very good for the Royals in recent memory. And I think I am too skinny for two numbers. Using that logic I should probably go with #1 since it is the skinniest number.

Almost all of my favorite players wore #5 (Brett, Brooks, Bagwell, Pujols - Jim Thome wanted #5 but it was retired so he went with 5x5 for #25). I think I'll pass on #5, because that is George's number and the Royals retired it. It seems disrespectful for me to use his number even in a fantasy camp. #9 seems like a good number. Ted Williams wore #9.

Also, I need to select my top three position choices. Wow, thats a tough one. I've played every position. I'd love to play first to keep busy, but I think I should leave that for some 60 year old. I'll probably mark down Shortstop, Second Base, and 1st. I'll play anywhere though I think infield seems best to get more action, not sure how much hitting there will be.

Lastly, today I received an order of bats. I ended up getting my bats from Phoenix Bat Company. Their founder, Charley aka Lefty, was very friendly and responsive in helping me find a bat model that wasn't in their standard offering as well as confirming a powder blue finish that wasn't an online option.

I ordered three model RB27, which is equivalent to a Louisville Slugger B363. The B363 was created to specifications requested by Jeff Bagwell, basically an I13 with a slightly scaled down barrel and an enlarged knob. Yeah, an enlarged knob. I've always taped the knobs of my bats so I figure this big flared knob would be a comfortable fit. It came in handy being a game used bat collector, because I was able to pick up about 40 different models and find what felt most comfortable. The B363 felt great and very well balanced.

The first bat is made of maple finished with a Powder Blue (I refuse to call it Carolina blue) handle and a Natural/Unfinished barrel. Second is made of ash and has a Smoke Black handle and a Flame barrel. Finally, my wife's favorite, made of maple finished with an Antique Cherry handle and a High Gloss Black barrel. All three bats are 33" and engraved on the barrell with the model and length, followed by Wes Campbell, 2012 Royals Fantasy Camp.

Phoenix was awesome to deal with.