Women fit right in at fantasy camp
Something in common: Love of baseball
BRADENTON, Fla. — Ami Floyd has heard the stories.
Whenever her aunt, Marilee Hufnagel, would talk about attending Pirates Fantasy Camp every January, Floyd was intrigued. She loved hearing about the experiences and the friendships formed and eventually decided to give it a try, becoming one of nine rookies here this week at Pirate City.
“It’s nerve-racking,” Floyd said. “But everybody is very nice, and they give you pointers. At first, I was like, ‘Oh, God. I have to prove myself to these guys and these other girls.’ But it’s an awesome experience.”
There’s another reason why Floyd has enjoyed herself so much this week, and it actually has to do with her aunt and the other female campers here, who’ve formed a tight bond and created their own sorority.
Just four women dress in a Pirates uniform each day and play games, but they might be the tightest group in camp. It’s what always piqued Floyd’s curiosity when she and Hufnagel would watch Pirates games from left field and Hufnagel would share what keeps her coming back every year.
“I don’t think a lot of women love baseball as much as we do,” Hufnagel, 63, of McCandless, said. “It’s a blast.”
Tricia Ross, 66, of New Brighton, would absolutely agree. This is Ross’ fourth year coming to camp. A lifelong baseball fan, she loves talking baseball with some of the guys at work, routinely proving that she knows her stuff.
“Some people think baseball is too slow,” Ross said. “But I like it because there’s the challenge of, ‘Is it a pitchers’ duel? Is it a hitters’ duel? What is it?’
“I just like it. I always watch ‘Quick Pitch’ [on MLB Network]. I like it because when I go to work and people, especially men, will ask me about baseball, and I happen to know who Corey Seager is or who somebody else is, they kind of go, ‘Oooh.’ They actually ask me what do I think about different players.”
Earlier this week, I had dinner with the ladies in camp, in addition to Vernon Law, and it was absolutely one of my favorite memories created here. I’m pretty sure Law has had enough written about him, so I’m going to use this space to talk a little bit more about the women in camp.
Floyd grew up in Cranberry, went to Seneca Valley High School and played softball for Mars Area Girls Softball for 14 years. She moved to Daytona Beach, Fla., to live with her grandparents after school and picked up the sport again, although she decided to drop it after taking a ball to the ribs a couple of years back.
But after hearing Hufnagel talk about meeting former players, dinners out, how you live and where you play, she just had to give it a try and see everything for herself.
“I guess I wished I would have trained a little bit more,” Floyd said. “But my body held up pretty well.”
Hufnagel’s dad actually was signed by the Pirates, in 1949, though he never made it out of Class AA, she said. He wound up becoming an umpire, his influence permeating through the family.
The women in the group — Lori Hughes, who did not attend this year, is another big part of the contingent here — stay in touch all year and wind up eating together most of the time in the cafeteria as well.
On the field, there’s very little difference between them and the guys. They’re treated the same. In fact, for the first time, Julie Seidman, Hufnagel and Floyd midway through the week formed the first allwomen outfield in Pirates Fantasy Camp history.
Furthermore, in the game we played against those three, one of my teammates accidentally ran Seidman over at home plate. She got up before he did and was way more concerned about failing to make the play than her own health.
“I know the team I’m on now, they’ve all been wonderful,” Ross said. “You’re going to have your occasional jerks. I don’t worry about that. I paid my money just like everyone else. The team I’m on now, they’ve taken me in. Most of them call me Mrs. Ross out of respect. We just have a good time.”
There’s been another woman in this group, Corinne McIntyre, 65 of Bethel Park, who’s attending camp as a fan. She’s new to baseball and has been further introduced to its awesomeness by Hufnagel.
“It’s been really exciting so far,” McIntyre said.
The best story here involves Seidman, the camp veteran. For years she would attend this thing with her dad, who passed away eight years ago. Whether to stop at that point really wasn’t anything Seidman seriously considered.
“He would have been very disappointed in me if I did not continue coming,” said Seidman, who’s attending her 19th camp. “The people here are so great.”
So dedicated is Seidman to attending Pirates Fantasy Camp that she comes here all the way from Fiji. … Yes, Fiji.
She and her husband live on Taveuni, Fiji’s third-largest island that’s also known as the “Garden Island.” Seidman’s husband is an underwater photographer, which is what took them there from Southern California in the first place.
Seidman said she and her husband live “off-grid,” meaning internet connections are spotty, they check every day to see if there’s a reliable water source, and there’s definitely no baseball. Anywhere.
“It is paradise; however, everything comes with a price,” Seidman said. “It’s very primitive.”
In Fiji, Seidman runs a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and Fijian-registered charity called Taveuni Animal Lovers, which recruits veterinarians and pays for them to come to Fiji and help control the pet population; strays have become an issue there so Seidman helps to bring in veterinarians for what she calls a “spaycation,” humanely doing their part to potentially avoid the otherwise fatal alternative.
“We have no veterinarians,” Seidman said. “People have to do their own method of animal control, so people basically try to dispose of the females.
“I’ll recruit veterinarians from around the world. They volunteer their time. I pay for all their accommodations. We call it a spaycation. We go all around the island, make a little makeshift hospital, and I’ll get all the supplies I can.”
Seidman is passionate about this and loves where she lives, but she’s also not about to give up playing baseball, especially given the closeness this particular group enjoys.
“The first year I came down here, Julie and Lori took me in and showed me the ropes,” Ross said. “It’s just so much fun. We tell stories. We catch up on the past year. We laugh from the time we get here until the time we leave.”