Randall gets drafted by the Reds!!!

Well... Not exactly!

My graduation/Christmas gift was a trip to Arizona for Cincinnati Reds Fantasy Camp, so on January 30th I embarked on the journey of a lifetime! While waiting for a taxi at the airport in Phoenix I saw Ted Power, former Reds pitcher. Upon arriving at the hotel Saturday afternoon the first people I saw were Lee May and Billy Hatcher, also former Reds. After I got settled into my room I went to the hotel bar. This is when it started to dawn on me what the week was going to offer! More and more former players began arriving, introducing themselves and hanging out with us, as if we were former players back for a reunion. We were treated like "one of them," which only made the experience that much more amazing!

All of the former players served as coaches for the 8 teams of 12 players each. Sunday was all about getting to know each other, letting the coaches see what we could do and playing a game. I got some personal pitching instruction from Ted Power and Pete Harnisch, some outfielding tips from Billy Hatcher and Herm Winningham and took batting practice off of Joe Oliver and Eddie Taubensee. After the morning session we began the games. From Monday through Thursday we played two games each day, seven innings each game (unless we needed extra innings). The championship bracket included the top four teams, while the bottom four teams played for seeding against the pros for Friday's game. On Friday, every team played a three inning game versus the pros at Goodyear Ballpark, the spring training home stadium for the Reds and Indians.

I was drafted onto Eddie and Joe Price's team, We R PC. We started off slowly, but finished the week with a 5-4 record, second best. We lost by one run in the championship game. I played third base for the first inning of the first game, then spent the majority of the rest of the week playing centerfield. I played catcher a few times as well. I even pitched an inning in the Players vs. Pros game! I went 11-26 (.423) with 2 triples, a double and 4 RBI - not too shabby for a career trumpet player!

Thank you to Laurie for sending me to fulfill a dream of playing for the Reds!!!