Young at heart
Stephen Coleman, Gazette
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Emporian Ted Hollembeak stepped into the locker room in Surprise, Ariz., and thought of his trips to Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis as a young boy. He saw his name plate and jersey neatly placed in order and felt a sense of awe. He had found his way back to when his time as a baseball fan had begun, but instead of the bleachers or berm seating, he was on the field.
At 71, Hollembeak wasn’t the oldest guy on the field; he moved more fluidly than some of the players who were half his age. But for one week he and about 70 others, ranging in age from 29 to 78, were all equals — almost like major leaguers.
Hollembeak, an attorney and municipal court judge here, participated with the others in the Kansas City Royals Alumni Fantasy Camp, held in Surprise from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2. The annual camp, a fundraiser for Royals Charities, gives baseball fans the “ultimate experience.”
For one week a person gets to play baseball under the Arizona sun alongside, against and under former Royals players, including George Brett, Frank White, Willie Wilson, John Mayberry, Dennis Leonard and Mike Sweeney. Two years ago, Hollembeak decided it was something he wanted to do.
Add that to the list
“I saw it on TV during the Royals games,” Hollembeak said. “They gave their pitch, and I thought I’d add that to my bucket list. So I just decided to send in my name and my money and see if I got lucky. I had two things on my list last year: to take my daughter and granddaughter to the Maui Invitational to watch KU play and to go to this camp.”
He has since amended his list to include the 2013 Fantasy Camp.
While Hollembeak had prior playing experience, it had been some time since he last officially “laced them up” and took the field.
“The last baseball game I really played was 50 years ago,” Hollembeak said. “So when you’re 71 ... and I play a lot of tennis, but each sport (is so different).”
Hollembeak does have baseball history in Kansas. He played in the National Baseball Congress tournament in Wichita as a youth, then was an NAIA All-American for Emporia State University in his senior season in 1965.
Hollembeak, though growing up in Kansas, began his baseball life as a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers. When the Dodgers moved out west, Hollembeak said his interest dwindled. It was only natural, then, that in 1969 when the Royals began their life in Kansas City, his allegiance shifted and that’s where it’s been ever since.
Hollembeak had the opportunity to shake some of the celebrity jitters early by attending two different warm-up sessions in the Kansas City area. Several of the alumni, including Mayberry, Brian McRae, Jamie Bluma and Greg Pryor, led some of the preliminary activities. Even with those chances to warm-up, Hollembeak took nothing for granted and worked out with the ESU baseball team three days a week at the Trusler Sports Complex prior to the camp.
“(ESU Coach) Bob Fornelli was great,” Hollembeak said. “Whatever I wanted to do, take ground balls, or just throw, or take some soft-toss batting practice, they helped out.”
Fornelli said that once the players met Hollembeak and saw him in action, they were impressed with his work ethic.
Hollembeak flew into Arizona on a Monday morning and discovered he was on the plane with dozens of fellow campers, as well as some of the alumni. He ended up sitting between two former Royals trainers who were going to help with camp. He was thankful that was his only real bonding time with them.
“That would be a bummer if you got out there if you paid that money and ... you couldn’t even run to first base because you had a pulled hamstring,” he said. “I had to pinch run for three or four guys.”
Upon arriving at his destination, Hollembeak got to try on his jersey, wearing No. 23 for the week in memory of his son, who’d worn that number often while playing high school and American Legion baseball and who was killed in 1991 while serving in the Marines.
Guys will be guys
Hollembeak said the first day was primarily spent rotating among batting, pitching, infield and outfield stations as Royals Alumni observed the players and their skill sets. That evening, all of the campers were “drafted” by a team that was comprised of three former Royals. Hollembeak was taken by Pryor, Bluma and Willie Mays Aikens.
The games began on Tuesday, with two squads of campers facing each other before the noon hour. After a lunch break, there was a second game. After the games came an hour or two of cooling down with players mingling with their coaches, sharing jokes and listening to tales from their playing days.
“Those guys are former major leaguers, and you’re kind of in awe of them but pretty soon you find out they’re just like everybody else. ... You’ve got George Brett and Willie Wilson and John Mayberry sitting around, you’re drinking beer and talking about whatever you want, and they’re telling their stories,” Hollembeak said.
He also said everybody developed nicknames as the week went along. Some more than others. Hollembeak had to keep mental note of several.
“The first practice I played catch with John Mayberry, and he is a funny guy,” Hollembeak said. “He asked me ‘What’s your name?’ I told him Ted, and there was a lot of noise so he didn’t hear me. ‘What?’ ‘Ted’ ‘What is it?’ ‘Ted like Ted Williams!’ ‘Ohhh, okay Thumper.’ Then he started calling me Thumper, because Ted Williams was called Thumper. Then he found out I was a judge, so I became ‘Judge.’ Then for similarity’s sake I guess they started calling me Jack LaLanne because they thought I was built a little bit like Jack LaLanne.
“The only other nickname I got was in our first practice game. Since I bat left-handed, they thought I looked like (former major league outfielder) Lenny Dykstra, so they started calling me “Nails”. I answered to them all. Mainly though, I was known as the Judge.”
Hollembeak had signed on as a second baseman for the week and did get some chances to make the right impressions. Royals legend Frank White, in spite of being recently dismissed by the Kansas City ball club, was an instructor in camp and apparently liked what he saw in Hollembeak.
“I got to talk with him quite a bit,” Hollembeak said. “The game we played against his team, I played second base and handled 4 or 5 chances and turned a double play. He complimented me on my second base play ... (and) told me I look really good out there.”
Found his arm
The biggest twist for the week was in his position. Hollembeak had planned on being at second base for the week, submitting that on his application for camp. Though he did get plenty of reps there, he quickly discovered a skill he didn’t know he had.
“I never was a pitcher,” Hollembeak said. “So I wound up having to pitch 10 innings, and that was a big surprise. (In the tryouts) Dennis Leonard and Jamie Bluma were over there and they said, ‘We know you didn’t sign up for pitching, but everyone might have to pitch so we kinda need to see what you can do.’ So I pitched off the mound and was able to throw strikes so they knew that. When the first pitcher we threw started walking everybody, they decided to put me in.”
It looked to be a wise move for his coaches. Hollembeak pitched nine scoreless inings in his first four games, not surrendering any runs until his final outing.
His coaching staff took notice of Hollembeak’s grit.
“I was thrilled because he’d never pitched before,” said former Royals infielder and Alumni coach Greg Pryor in a phone interview. “(Hollembeak) was a bulldog on the mound. He’d been an All-American so he wasn’t in awe. He threw seven or eight scoreless innings against good hitters. He had a bigger thrill of getting guys out than anyone down there.”
Hollembeak wasn’t only a bulldog against fellow campers. He had his moment against the coaches and took advantage of it.
“The highlight was not knowing, then suddenly being told to go in and pitch to these ... Bill Pecota, John Wathan and John Mayberry,” Hollembeak said. Though his team came out on the losing end, Hollembeak’s 1-2-3 inning against former Royals players is something he’ll always remember.
Hollembeak said his hitting didn’t go as well as he’d hoped, with his few line drives being right at defenders and his base hits being of the “bloop” and grounder variety. He did get one at-bat against a major league arm, hitting a line drive back up the middle that Dennis Leonard snared.
Pryor said many of the veteran coaches were impressed with this year’s fresh faces at the camp, including Hollembeak.
“He obviously had some sports background,” Pryor said. “Some guys you can see hadn’t played much. Some guys run like a deer, and some 30-somethings have trouble making it to first.”
As the week wound down, some fresh faces wandered through the locker room with current players coming in early for spring training and mingling with the campers. Hollembeak said Royals’ alumnus and current hitting coach Kevin Seitzer brought in Eric Hosmer, Joakim Soria, Salvador Perez and a few other Royal players, who spent an hour signing autographs and visiting with the participants.
It was advertised as a week that would leave any baseball fan excited and Hollembeak said it didn’t disappoint. Some of what made it even more special was the availability of the celebrity coaching staff. After the day was done, they didn’t make beelines for the parking lot.
“We all went to a hockey game one night,” Hollembeak said. “I got to talk with Jeff Montgomery quite a bit. ... The ones I got to talk with the most were White, Seitzer, Montgomery, Joe Randa, who still looks in great shape, and Mike Sweeney. He really is a great guy.
“I met some guys I’ve already kept in touch with via email. It wasn’t like I was old and they were young. Once you’re in that locker room, you’re all equal. Even though I’m 71 and some of those Royals are like 50, or Bluma’s only about 39, they’re just like teammates.”
Though the price tag for participation is steep, Hollembeak thought it was worth it for any baseball enthusiast.
“You don’t have to be a great ballplayer,” Hollembeak said. “There were some guys there you could tell really weren’t ballplayers. They were just there to get to play and be a part of the atmosphere and part of the team.”
Hollembeak said it was a bit overwhelming at first, but he warmed up quickly.
“It’s kind of like walking into Sportsman’s Park for the first time, like it’s a cathedral. Here it is, I walk in and there’s my uniform hanging in the locker, there’s my name and my number and then you sit down. At first you aren’t sure what the rules are, but then Willie Wilson comes up and starts slapping you on the back and says, ‘Man, you in shape, you must be workin’ out! What do you do, what are you eating?’ At the end of the first day they’ve made you feel at ease, and like you belong.”