Manager Chad Epperson:
I know he has participated in several camps before this one and you can tell. His demeanor and the way he approached the week was just terrific. It was not only his demeanor but his attitude as well, let have fun but be competitive. Everyone on the team reacted positively to his leadership style. The RedSox organization is very lucky to have him managing the organizations young talent. They will learn a lot about baseball and life from Chad because he has their best interest in mind.Coach Lou Merloni:
This was Lou’s first camp and even he didn’t know what to expect. He was the perfect bench coach to Chad. A little more vocal and certainly entertaining. The nice thing about Lou was he took the time to help everyone on the team whether it was catching, batting or fielding. He gave us tips to better ourselves in the field. His insight into the game of baseball was very interesting. Basically, he made this fantasy experience for a bunch of wannabes pleasurable.Let me touch on some tidbits about our team:
Art Agostinho:
Left pitcher, first base. I asked Art why number 47 and he said year of his birth. He was our starting pitcher and did a tremendous job. He made me look 72.
Paul Anderson:
Paul was able to complete the circuit playing second base on Saturday vs. the Pros. He played every position. A couple team managers questioned a lefty at third but he made some spectacular plays. He hit the ball a ton as well.Santo Atinello:
Lou thought he drafted an All-Italian team and than found out that several of the Italians were Portuguese including Santo. He came to the camp via Portugal. He was truly our leader, our own Charlie Hustle. He caught every game for us. He also acted as our trainer taking over one of the tables in the training room for special treatment for our players. Here he is sans catching equipment at the Awards Dinner with Eppee's wife.James Becker:
Jim started out at third for us and when Mike left Jim took over the duties of shortstop. He covered every inch of ground like Derek Jeter. His agility was second to none. Once a slow grounder down the third base line looked fair but started to roll foul at last minute, he was able to tumble over the ball without touching it as it did indeed go foul. Butch Hobson went nuts when the umpire called it foul. At least twice we saw him make turn and throw tosses to first off of one foot.Ernie Candelmo:
They told us the first day of camp at one of the drills (outfield) that the center fielder was in charge of the out field. Well Ernie was that and than some. Both Eppee and Lou said several times he covered centerfield like Jacoby Elsbury. He had a great jump on the ball and caught just about everything that came his way. Super attitude and gave 125% all the time. At one point he went 12-14 over a two game span and of course that streak was broken because Lou made a big deal about it at the Camp meeting.Dale Cookson:
Dale was tagged by Eppee with the nickname “Cookie”. He played left field and made several key catches in the outfield including a towering shot by Lou Merloni in the Pro game. My memorable story was him pitching on Friday and taking himself out of the game before Eppee had a chance to yank him. It was a 3-2 pitch and he turned to Ernie at shortstop and said you’re in after I walk this batter. Sure enough he walked him and the two switched positions. Eppee looked up and said it’s the first time a pitcher pulled himself before the manager did. Eppee also kept a close eye on him during the Awards Dinner, you noticed the WS rings Dale has on, they are not his.
Craig “Charlie” Earl:
Charlie played right field for most of the week. Had a couple of great catches and hit the ball hard. Didn’t recognize Charlie the other day at the Awards Ceremony, he shaved his goatee that he had all week. Charlie did have one memorable moment when after striking out he yelled at the umpire, “my #!@ that was no strike.” Everyone got a kick out of it including the umpire who was seen next to the fence laughing.Craig Lawson:
Craig was a multi-positional player seeing time at second, first, catcher, rightfield and pitcher. You already read my story about the batter we struck out. He pitched a gem against Lee’s Lefties, unfortunately I was one of the errors that caused a 5 run inning. Craig was good about it and always had a positive attitude toward the game and his teammates. He was our home run derby designee and actually hit the first home run of the derby. Unfortunately it was in the practice round and that was all he could muster. Here is Craig walking in with Paul.Ben Lombardo:
Benny was one of our elder statesmen. His first at bat he took a tumble tripping over the base line. He came up all smiles. Benny was our designated hitter the rest of the way out. After the first trip we had a base runner for him. One game he decided to try again running for himself. This time he went 10 feet down the line before tripping on that line again. Eppee taped the scene of the crime for further investigation. Benny ended up winning the Mr. Personality award for the camp.Mike Heath:
Mike (the one with the homerun ball in his hand) had the big bat on the team and led us all with on base percentage until he had to leave after Wednesday’s game. However before leaving, he did manage to hit a towering home run over the right field fence on field 5 almost to the batting cages.Woody Starr:
A medical wonder, complete player and great attitude. The other elder statesman on the team, this was Woody’s 19th consecutive camp. Hit left handed and speed down the first base line of course all relative to me (you saw how fast I ran). Played right field and had a strong underhand toss to get the ball back into the infield.Guys, it was a pleasure playing with you and being able to socialize after hours. You made this a great experience for me and I hope I was able to contribute in some small way to your experience. Thanks for the memories.
Tim
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