My dad, a lifelong Sox diehard, is attending White Sox fantasy camp this week in Arizona. This is his 3rd year there. At 73, he's the oldest player. He loves it.

His first year he ended up on the trainer's table 5 minutes into the first practice with a pulled groin, but after getting a designated runner the rest of the week he rebounded to bat over .350 and was named camp MVP after his team won the championship. Became friends with lots of ex-Sox players, would get a ride from Pacioreck to and from the hotel every day.

Last year they combined the camp with Dodgers fantasy camp so he got to hang out with the Dodger greats as well. Became pals with Tommy Lasorda and Ron Cey.

Just got an email from him after day 1 of the camp, he was delighted to say his new buddy and designated chauffer for the week is Steve Garvey.

His team is being coached by Ron Kittle and Don Paul. Don is my dad's financial adviser so they're already pals going in.

The way it works is they practice every day and have 1-2 games a day. Use all the pro facilities, all the coaches, training staff. At night they have dinners and hang out at the hotel with all the coaches and other campers. THey even print out baseball cards of you after the week. Every year they wear a different throw back uniform, altough I think this year they are going with the current Sox setup.

Think it costs around $10,000 for the week. A great week for any diehard who can afford it.

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Cool story, shakes. Post a few pictures if you can. Props to your Dad for getting after it at age 73. He clearly is not the beta you are hanging up your hockey skates

And do not deny The Pope the second N on his name!

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Good for him

I would not join even if I could but different strokes.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Designated Runner? Sounds like the baseball version of a no-check league.

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He's 73! I'll be long dead at 73, let alone running the bases in AZ. I give credit to the old man.

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I thought this was a thread about spring training this season.

This actually does sound kind of fun. Baseball sucks to play though(and watch) but it still sounds fun.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Didn't bigfan regale us with stories of hanging out in a hot tub with Cubs prospects in Arizona? Sounds like fun...

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baseball is incredibly fun to play

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

No.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Its definitely more fun to watch than NFL refs arbitrarily hurl flags every third play and completely take over games.

correction...baseball is incredibly fun to play for those of us who can hit

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Got a text from my dad, he got a big hit today in the game and was pretty excited about it. His team is 0-3 so his streak of winning the championship might be ending at 2. But, I'm pretty sure that making the title game is just a cherry on top of the sundae during a week like that.

And no injuries so far!

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You and Elmhurst Steve can share stories.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Hitting a softball is easy

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Baseball and softball are fun to play.

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