An undefeated week
On Tuesday, January 20, 2004, a team called “Grote’s Gang” locked up the league championship of the first session of the New York Mets Fantasy Camp in Port St. Lucie, Florida. The squad finished with a perfect 5-0 record. Its coaches were Jerry Grote, Howard Johnson and Andy Miller. A photograph of the team, supplied by a pair of Mets fans who live in Port St. Lucie, was posted at the top of the original page, along with a birthday greeting to the first baseman, who helped the team win on his birthday.
How the title was won
According to the longest write-up from a player, the team was drafted by Grote and Johnson, and Grote earned praise for studying opponents so thoroughly that he seemed to know their lineups better than they did. The opening game set the tone. It was scoreless going into the last of the final inning, and the opponents had a runner on first with two out. A long drive to right field looked like trouble, but the right fielder turned, raced to the fence and made an over-the-shoulder catch worthy of Willie Mays. In the top of the first extra inning, a single up the middle drove in the winning runs, and a third scored before the side was retired.
Three more wins followed, two of them rallies from behind. The title game was against a team managed by Randy Niemann and Richie Hebner, and Grote’s side took an early lead and kept it, winning 11-5. The same player estimated that the team allowed only nine earned runs in five games, and credited pitching, defence and timely hitting rather than any single star. The players celebrated with the traditional dousing of the manager with a cooler of water.
What campers said afterward
The page collected thank-you letters from the squad, written over the following days. A few themes ran through them.
- Leadership. One camper recalled the manager telling the group at the first meeting that the week would be fun, but more fun if they won. Others praised Grote, Johnson and Miller as patient teachers who shared stories from their playing careers.
- Friendship. Several players, including a shortstop and third baseman who were brothers from New Jersey, said they left camp with friendships that would last. A starting pitcher in his forties said the week came as close as possible to a childhood dream of playing in the majors, and he compared the group to a family by the end.
- Plans for more. A left fielder said he learned more in a week than he had imagined, and was looking forward to a reunion game at Shea Stadium. A catcher and his brother, both raised in the Bronx, thanked Grote for a positive experience and said they hoped to reunite in New York.
- Humor. The writers joked about Johnson’s windmilling arm as a third-base coach and about the left fielder’s years spent playing “in left field.”
The coach’s view
Grote himself posted a candid note on the Saturday of camp. He described catching six innings, playing third base for six and first base for three, and recalled with some guilt a line drive that struck a pitcher in the chest, though the pitcher said he was fine. His second team, “HoJo’s Hobos,” struggled, giving up a lot of runs and scoring few, though they managed a win in the morning and planned to play the “Do or Dyers” again for fifth place. He thanked the campers and wished them a great time, and added that the former pros would play the campers in a game the next day, with the professionals expecting to win.
How a fantasy camp works
The write-ups give a good picture of the format. Each session fielded eight teams, and each team was led by one or more former Mets who acted as coaches. Campers were drafted onto squads, played a short schedule of games against one another, and then took on the former professionals in a finale. Between games there were team meetings, clubhouse lockers with the camper’s name, jokes with the pros and plenty of storytelling. Several writers said that the stories from the coaches’ playing days were as valuable as the instruction itself.
Grote’s own part in the week was unusual because he coached two different groups. He guided the first-session champions and then took over a second group, nicknamed “HoJo’s Hobos” in honour of his fellow coach Howard Johnson. His letter makes clear that coaching the later group was a very different experience, yet he finished the week in good humour.
A first baseman’s thanks
The player who wrote the longest letter said that Grote and Johnson had always been among his favorite Mets, which made it a thrill to be selected for their squad. He described the team as a group of ten with great chemistry and no egos, who remembered that they had come to have fun, and he closed by quoting the Mets slogan made famous by Tug McGraw: “Ya gotta believe.”
Calling all alumni
The original page ended with an invitation to former players on the team to share their favorite moments, positions, numbers and hometowns. You can read about the earlier part of the week on 1st. Camp, find a summary on the Fantasy Camp page, and learn more about the coach on the home page.