Week one, January 18 to 21, 2004
The first session of the 2004 Mets Fantasy Camp took place in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and this page collected the updates and pictures that visitors sent to the Jerry Grote site. Two Mets fans, a couple living in Port St. Lucie, supplied daily notes and photos, and a fan from New York City added pictures of the team that went on to win the league.
Day by day
Sunday. Rain wiped out the afternoon. The fan reporter nonetheless listed a long run of former players expected to be around for the week, among them Howard Johnson, John Stearns, Joel Youngblood, Ron Swoboda, Jerry Grote, Tim Bogar, Don Hahn, Buzz Capra, Rafael Santana, Felix Millan, Al Jackson, Jim McAndrew, Bobby Floyd, Mickey Brantley, Eric Hillman and Duffy Dyer. There was talk that Ed Kranepool and Cleon Jones might stop by for the game in which the former pros take on the campers.
Monday. Clouds gave way to sun in the afternoon. The highlight came at ten in the morning, when Cleon Jones walked out of the clubhouse and onto the field in uniform. Kranepool was expected midweek.
Tuesday. Eight camp teams were led by former Mets, and the division title was at stake. Grote’s squad, nicknamed “Grote’s Gang,” faced the team managed by Dyer, the “Do or Dyers.” Both teams entered unbeaten at 3-0. The two managers had been catchers together on the 1969 Mets, a fact that prompted Cheryl Grote to joke that catchers can do a lot with a little. By the end of the day the Gang had finished 5-0 and won the league championship.
Photo captions
The fan from New York sent a gallery with playful captions that give the flavor of the week:
- The coach promising, ahead of the final, that the team would win the title.
- Al Jackson announcing that it was five o’clock somewhere and time to head out.
- John Stearns handing out brown and gold ropes as awards, with Grote presenting the gold rope to a camper nicknamed after Willie Mays for a spectacular catch.
- Duffy Dyer and Stearns posing as bosses of their squads.
- Felix Millan and Joel Youngblood warming their hands, Ron Swoboda in the clubhouse, and Don Hahn looking dismayed at his lineup.
- A group shot of Kranepool, Swoboda, Jones, Jackson and McAndrew, along with another of Jim McAndrew, Al Jackson and Cleon Jones jokingly labelled “the Three Stooges.”
- Grote’s team coaches, Howard Johnson and Andy Miller, standing with him and the camper who shot the photos.
- Grote’s locker in the clubhouse and Grote giving instruction on the field.
Where to go next
The story of the team’s title run and the letters its players wrote afterward are on The Champions. A summary of the camp itself is on the Fantasy Camp page, and the broader career story is on the home page.