Me and Cal

This is me and my buddy Cal. He has played a little baseball in his time.

I have been fortunate enough to join a bunch of guys each year that get together to play pickup baseball. It started with some guys in Dallas and has spread across the country. We play in a different location each year and have a ball.

We have played at:

Wrigley Field
Cal Ripken Stadium in Abeerdeen, MD
The Diamond (with Nolan Ryan and his sons) in Round Rock, TX
Bank One Ballpark (with Randy Johnson) in Phoenix
Edison Field in Anaheim

It is not a fantasy camp. We actually have a draft, uniforms, and we use major league bats and balls, supplied by the rookies. Our players age range from 23 to 82. You pitch to your own team and you can have a runner if necessary. It is a riot. On top of that, we raise monies for great charities. To date and through the years we have raised over $1.5M.

This picture was taken at Cal Ripken's house. He and Billy played and we all had dinner in his backyard. Playing with the Ripken's for 4 days was a riot. At dinner that night, I asked Cal who was the greatest player he ever saw or played against. Without hesitation he said Barry Lamar Bonds and there was not a close second. Cal said that Barry has the greatest eyesight ever and he can read a nickel from 500 feet. Amazing!!! We had a great time.

On October 23 we are headed to San Diego to play with Tony Gwynn at Tony Gywnn Stadium on the campus of San Diego State University where Tony is the coach. If you have not seen Tony lately, he has not missed any meals or sandwiches since he retired. He puts Gates Brown to shame.