SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2019
Another day at Kapler’s whimsical camp. I got there at 11 o’clock and the team was already doing the drills on the field. One of the spectators said that they had come out at 10:30. Well so much for trying to figure out the routine. Well, the weather was great anyway. It was in the low 70’s and eventually got up to 78 with a lot of sunshine.
The drills the pitchers were doing were the same ones as they did yesterday exactly, bunting and pitcher’s fielding drills. I decided to go up to the stadium and take in the batting practice of the position players who had come in early. For those who haven’t been here before, it’s quite a hike from the complex fields to the front of the stadium. It takes a while. When I got there, they had an attendant at the gate who wanded me in. That was also new. This time of the year, they have not used metal detectors before.
They had cordoned off all of the stadium except the seats right in front of the main entrance. Not one of the guys out on the field had taken off their warmup pullovers. I couldn’t see one number. I don’t know who were the players and who were the coaches. I didn’t count them, but in all it looked like about 25 people down on the field.
After I watched the bp for a while, I went in the store. As a rule, I don’t buy much memorabilia. When I first got here, I bought some shirts, a jacket and a hat. I am still wearing the jacket. Since that time, I think I have bought a coosey for my drinks on the beach. I usually like to look around though. The store was jammed pack of stuff that some people are just going to have to have. They informed me that they were out of Phillies toasters.
When I got back down to the Carpenter Complex the pitchers were finished and had gone into the clubhouse. Most of the spectators had left too. I left right at noon. Are they coming out tomorrow? What time? Nobody knows.
Rumor: I haven’t really gotten a handle on it yet, but the rumor is that the Blue Jays will be playing some of their home games at the old Jack Russell Stadium and a few at the Spectrum. Their park in Dunedin is scheduled for a major overhaul. Somehow this one got away from me. I haven’t seen anything on the local media about it. Tomorrow, I will try to find out more.
In studying the roster, I see that they are bringing an even 60 players to camp. They are listing 30 pitchers, 7 catchers, 13 infielders and 11 outfielders. There are a lot of names that I am not familiar with. It looks as though I am going to have to start and do some research. Hopefully tomorrow will be a more productive day.
