Week is for fathers, sons and coaches
Campers find that the world is indeed a small place after all
BRADENTON,
Fla. — This one hit home. For a few reasons.
Bruce Sedlock’s path to Pirates Fantasy Camp is similar to most, in that his first trip here was a Christmas present from his wife. But instead of immediately wanting to come back, as most do, Sedlock wanted to wait until his kids were old enough to potentially participate.
That time is now for the 62-year-old Irwin resident, and what a terrific experience it’s been for the baseball-loving family originally from Bethel Park.
For the past four years, Sedlock and his 36-year-old son, Mike, have made this camp a father-son bonding trip. They spend a week together playing baseball, reconnecting with friends and indulging their obsession with the Pirates.
“It’s just something we have in common,” said Mike, who lives on the South Side Slopes. “It’s a lot to talk about throughout the year. It’ll be late summer, and we’ll say to each other, ‘Only a couple more months before we start working out and get to go down there.’ ”
Mike Sedlock never played high school or college baseball, but he does play adult-league softball 89 months a year. Bruce has coached — more on that shortly — and they get together twice a week with friends in the months before camp to throw and hit.
“What we really like to do is throw long,” Bruce said. “Because if you come down here and you don’t do that, a 90-foot throw seems long.”
One neat aspect of Pirates camp is the draft, where certain players come as package deals. If you draft one Sedlock, you automatically get the other one. They even occupy back-to-back spots in the batting order, which sometimes can be a problem.
“When he hits a bomb, I have to go all the way around,” Bruce said. “I was saying to [former Pirates catcher Mike LaValliere], ‘Why didn’t you hold me up?’ ”
The Sedlocks’ story hits home because of my dad. Although he hated flying, I’m pretty sure me participating in Pirates Fantasy Camp would have made him consider the trip.
But I also played for Bruce, on a fall ball team when I was 12 — at Ruthfred Field in Bethel Park. As I was getting to know other campers on Sunday, my first full day here, Bruce approached me and reminded me of this. I couldn’t believe it.
It immediately triggered a bunch of great memories.
I actually had no interest in playing baseball that fall; I wanted to play football, but my mom wouldn’t let me … until I finally talked her into it the next year.
So my dad thought it would be a good idea to play fall baseball and get a little more experience.
The best player on our team was actually someone you might recognize: Kevin Slowey, a former major league pitcher for the Twins and Marlins, among others.
Randomly, I caught up with Slowey at the MLB All-Star Game this past July — he worked for the players union — and we talked a little about that team.
“I always tell these guys, you were kind of a dominating guy,” Bruce said. “He was just always real good.”
Appreciate the kind words, Bruce. But that’s not exactly how I remember it, though I do recall quite a bit from that season.
We played on a really small field, and it freaked me out. I kept swinging for the fences and missing everything. Only late in the season was I able to adjust. But I do remember pitching decently well. Slowey and I logged most of the innings. My dad also helped coach some, which Bruce said he appreciated.
The Sedlocks’ story got me thinking about a variety of things. The obvious is how cool it must be to do something like this with your dad, to talk about it all year, to spend a week (mostly) shut off from the real world getting to act like professional baseball players together.
But also, as someone who played a lot of baseball growing up, the impact that coaches have and viceversa. They really are relationships for life. Jim Madeja was probably my first real “coach” growing up in Brentwood. Not only did he attend the memorial service for my dad, but also I loved getting the chance to reconnect with him there.
Bob Downey was my American Legion coach for a year when Brentwood didn’t field a team and two of us were sent to Brookline. We talk all the time, as Downey — who drove to Westminster to see my last college game — is the manager of security at PNC Park.
Whether it’s a former coach or your father, there’s just nothing like the bond baseball can create.
“We talk several times a week, if not every day,” Mike Sedlock said. “Our conversations a lot of time are centered around fantasy camp. Like, ‘Did you make it to the gym today? Are you doing your stretches? Are you doing cardio? Make sure to keep your weight down. You don’t want to get injured down there.’
“Growing up my dad was always my coach. It’s just awesome being on the field together.”