I first met Steve at those early workouts back in the fall of 2013. It was great he along with Satch and Rob Matheny set those up for the campers, especially us rookies. It was a great way to meet a lot of my fellow campers. Little did I know at the time by meeting Steve would lead me to the Dragons.
As I play in what will be my 8th trip to Reds Fantasy Camp, I
can't help but reflect on how things have transpired since my rookie camp in
2005. I had always dreamed of attending fantasy camp and wanted to sign up as
soon as I was age 30. Life got in the way for a few years but finally at age 37
I attended my first camp. It's amazing how things have grown since then.
After camp in 2005, I got the bug to play baseball again on a
regular basis. Before the camp I had not played since high school age. At camp
there was a local guy who had given out his contact info about a baseball
league. I reached out to him only to find out the league was on the other side
of town; I was hoping for something closer. He then gave me the name of another
camper who played in a league close to me who it turns out I met on the plane
flight for fantasy camp. Rob Matheny was good enough to get me onto this
Tuesday night league team and I've played every year since. This was a very
competitive league with many former high school and college baseball players.
As the years went on there was a desire to try and play some more baseball.
From playing in the Tuesday night league and getting to know
players from other teams we became aware of another local team/organization
that sometimes needed subs for their games on Sunday. The team was the
Cincinnati Colt 45's and they played in a Roy Hobbs league for ages 45 and up.
Rob and I signed up to be subs that year and would fill in when needed. More
often it was the other teams that needed players so the Colts would
"trade" us to the other team. I really liked the concept of this
league, mainly the age 45 requirement, because as we had aged the Tuesday night
teams remained young, for the most part.
In 2012, Rob and I wanted to again play but this time be full
time players on a Colts team. They actually had two teams. Going into that
season we thought we would be on one of those two teams but soon found out that
the Colts wanted a third team to join the league. They had gathered names of
guys interested in playing so we were all suddenly thrown together. Our team
name that year was as generic as our uniforms. We were called Cincy3 and one of
the Colts elder players joined our team to be the manager with the
understanding that he would switch back to the Colts after the season. The
foundation for what would become the Cincinnati Dragons had been poured!
Our first season we ended up losing in the playoffs to a Colts
team that eventually lost to a Dayton team in the championship. That season we
even had former Cincinnati Reds player Eddie Milner on our team and it was
truly a great experience to play with him and see him roaming centerfield
again. At the end of that season I
agreed to become the manager for this new team heading into 2013.
I quickly realized that we
were going to need more ballplayers so I started asking/begging other Reds
fantasy campers to come play with us and also found some more talented players.
We assembled a great team and won the division with a 12-4 record. We won the Cincinnati
division title and also brought home the World Series championship by beating
the Dayton division winners. Heading into the 2014 season we were looking for a
repeat and also scouting for more players. From attending more fantasy camps
and by holding the pre-camp batting practices I was able to find more guys to
come play with the Dragons. Our 2014 season found us playing for the division
title but we came up short. A Dayton team ended up winning the world series.
2015 was another growth year for our Roy Hobbs league. Again,
with all of us aging, there was a desire from other teams to create a new
league for ages 53 and over. After some lengthy thought and discussions, we
decided to split our Dragons and field two teams (45's and 53's). This was a difficult
decision because we had a great lineup but also realized we had too many guys
playing for us. There was one game where we had 17 guys show up to play! I will
say that all our Dragons players are good guys and will share playing time for
the good of the game. We also bat everyone (just like fantasy camp) so some
days you may have only batted twice. We felt we could split our roster and
still be able to field two competitive teams so we did which would give
everyone more playing time and at bats. This would also allow us to grow by
adding new players.
The 2015 season for both Dragons teams went well. The 45's and
53's teams both ended up playing for the championships but both just fell short
of winning it all. The team even helped purchase new alternate jerseys.
Over the years great friendships have been made and it all
started as a wide eyed rookie at Reds Fantasy Camp. Heading into the 2016 Roy
Hobbs season I'm proud to say that we have 24 guys on our rosters that have
attended at least one fantasy camp. We also have a number of guys that are
looking to join. I'd also be interested in adding another team in the younger
35's division to become a feeder for the older Dragons teams. I'd love to speak
with anyone who thinks they can pull together a team for the 35's division.
Finally, if you are on Facebook you may want to consider joining
our group "Cincinnati Reds Fantasy Camp". You can find us at this
link and then just ask to join the group.
Steve Ritchie
2013 HOF
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