The video you see on this post was taken by a BCB reader -- someone who emailed me and says he reads the site, but doesn't post -- who was at the recent Cubs fantasy camp. I know several of you have been to Randy Hundley's camps in the past, but I thought I'd pass along his thoughts, along with this photo:
Here's what he sent me about the camp:
This photo is of the main meeting room where the "coaches" would chat with and amiably chastise the "campers" (they are actually in the process of ripping on a guy who wore a White Sox uniform the entire time, apparently their camp was cancelled or something -- he's standing at the far right). The coaches were (left to right, seated) Pete LaCock, Rick Reuschel, Jose Cardenal (profile in hat), Carmen Fanzone, Jody Davis, Randy Hundley, Keith Moreland, Fergie Jenkins, Bob Dernier, Ed Lynch (a cool guy though -- he told the entire story of Moreland pounding him), Todd Hundley, Lee Smith, Willie Wilson, and Glenn Beckert. It was quite the experience (I've been incredibly fortunate to have gone there five times in the past nine years).If you look the the left of the picture there is a player chart:
I'm not sure what each color means and it appears to be a bit out of date (Geovany Soto is on the board, for example). It's still pretty interesting to be able to go "behind the curtain" and see things the average fan doesn't. (Note from Al: it looks like it might have been workout groupings from last year's spring training.)Bill Buckner came for a day and hung out and took a bunch of pictures with anyone who asked. He was very down to earth and accommodating. One last neat thing: we had ample time to cross paths with current and future Cubs. Jeff Samardzija, Steve Clevenger, Blake Parker, Chris Rusin, and James Russell came into the room and talked for an hour about their love for the organization and baseball in general. Samardzija is an obvious leader who gets the connection between the past, the present, and the future. We used three of the fields at Fitch Park; the younger Cubs worked out almost everyday on the fourth field.
I'm still hoping to go to this camp someday. Maybe next year. Vogelbach, incidentally, looks like he's slimmed down a bit in that video.