Fantasy Camp - Day Three

After waking up at 5am (the excitement still hasn’t worn off!), Aaron had breakfast at the hotel and was in the first van to the stadium. He roamed the clubhouse and hung out with several players, including John Mayberry and Brian McRae. He took pictures with them and other Alumni – I can’t wait to see these!

As Aaron was walking through the clubhouse, he accidentally bumped into someone beside him. As he apologized, he noticed it was none other than the new Royals Manager, Trey Hillman. They shook hands and spoke for a while. Aaron welcomed him to KC and the Royals and they had their picture taken together. Then the doors opened, and new Royals recruit Yabuta walked through. They spoke for a few minutes, then had Kangaroo Court. Trey Hillman was a special guest speaker, and spoke about how excited he is about coming to the Royals.

The first game of the day was the battle of the unbeatens – Aaron’s red team vs. Frank White, John Mayberry, and Dennis Leonard’s team. On their way to the game, they saw Billy Butler taking ground balls on Royals Practice Field #1. aaron noted that he is a “large boy.” Billy just turned 21 last summer and will be in his second year with the Royals. Back to the game…They won 5-1. Aaron was 4 for 5 and Frank White said it was the best game he’d ever seen in the history of the five fantasy camps. Quotes from John Mayberry today included “Penny can field”, “Penny, unbelievable play at shortstop!”, “Man, Penny, you’re killing us!” and my favorite, “Penny should be playing AA ball!”

Lunch was catered by Mr. Goodcents – lasagna, chicken alfredo, salad, and cookies. John Wathan noted that his players needed to eat more. :)
He visited the trainer’s room to get a rubdown with Flexall 454 by trainer Paul McGannon.
The gift of the day was an UnderArmour Fantasy Camp polo!

The afternoon game was kicked off by a pep talk by Greg Pryor, who told the team that if they won their game, they would qualify for the championship game at the end of the week. Pressure’s on…but they’re pros this week, remember? They won 15-11! This was not Aaron’s best game, but in the end it’s the score that matters. He was 1 for 4 and hit three infield popups and a grounder to short. Coach Pryor told Aaron he set the Fantasy Camp record for highest popup…and broke his own record twice :)

After the game, Aaron and Coach Pryor had a great talk including Dick Howser, and a game at the K when it was 125 degrees on the field. Pryor hit a home run in the 16th inning to win the game and a dozen golf balls – he’ll tell you the rest of the story…

After a shower, Aaron went straight back to the trainer with shin splints. He had another cold tub bath and ibuprofen, and was good-to-go. After a stop at the beer fridge, the clubbies and Dina Wathan came in with 40 pizzas from Streets of New York Pizza. George Brett, Steve Farr, and Frank White told Royals stories over dinner and beer.

Tonight, Aaron will have a well-deserved hour-long massage. On tap for tomorrow: the campers play against the Alumni in the main stadium!! Stay tuned for details…