Day 3 (Thursday) of Fantasy camp started off with us again waking up early to make it to the ballpark in time to get dressed and get ready for our first game. After taking some hacks in the bullpen, we headed out to Field #3 to play our game against Zane Smith and Greg Olson's team. We ended up losing the game 9-3, but I did fairly well by going 2-3 with a single, double, 2 RBI's and a fielder's choice for the last at bat. One of my teammates did go yard for the first homer of fantasy camp by anyone during a game. However, that was all of our offense for this game. I also made a few god plays while playing third again, enough for Eddie Perez to say I would get his gold glove award (yes!).

Here are some shots of the batting cage (including a shot of Dale Murphy who arrived into camp today for his only day here)

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via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

After lunch we went out to play our second game on the stadium field. I actually tried my hand at pitching in this game as we needed someone to pitch, but it didn't turn out very well. Luckily I didn't hit anyone, but did walk almost everyone I faced. Eddie came in to relieve me (I retreated happily back to third) and we ended up coming back and winning the game 6-5. I went 3-4 with 3 singles a fly out and 2 runs scored. It was nice to notch our first win of the camp.

Murphy was kind enough after the games to sit and sign autographs and take pictures with everyone. I got a good shot of him and I with my camera that I'll post later as I haven't pulled it off the camera yet. Here's a shot of him being gracious and signing anything for everyone!

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Later in the evening we had "man cave" night back at the same place we had the opening night dinner. Tom Glavine arrived and I got to spend some time talking to him while we were there. He was gracious enough to pose for a picture with me.

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We are looking forward to playing on the stadium field again tomorrow morning if the rain holds off. I hope we are able to get in the morning games as that is what we are down here for. We are scheduled for a golf outing in the afternoon that we can't cancel. The rain should be be over by noon if we even get any at all (only a 50% chance), so we will get some golf in I am sure of it.

For now it's time to hit the sack and let the body recover. See you all tomorrow.

After not hardly getting any sleep Tuesday night, we had to get up bright and early to make the 6:30 AM shuttle over to the field to get ready. After arriving at the field we made our way to the Braves Clubhouse and located our locker. Here's a shot of one side of the clubhouse:

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After finding my locker, I got to take in seeing my name and number on an official Atlanta Braves Jersey (both batting practice blue and home white).

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We checked to make sure our uniforms fit and got dressed in the batting practice blues. We went out and stretched and did 2 hours of skills assessment on various fields for different stations. There was an outfield station with Mike Bielecki and Pete Smith where we took grounders and fly balls and working on hitting the cutoff man. There was an infield station with Zane Smith and Greg Olsen where we participated in PFP (Pitchers Fielding Practice), grounders at both shortstop and second base. There was a hitting station where Marquis Grissom or Sid Bream tossed you pitches underhand from about 10 feet away and you got to hit them out onto the field while under the cage at home plate. There was a catching station where Javy Lopez and Eddie Perez taught us the fine art of catching and we got to simulate throwing down to 2nd to gun down a runner while being timed. There was a pitching station with Charlie Leibrandt, Brad Clontz and Marvin Freeman taught us how to pitch and let us pitch off the mound.

After the skills assessment we went back to the locker room for lunch. After lunch Greg McMichael announced the teams and where we would be playing our afternoon games. So we headed off for Field #5 (the location of my game) and got warmed up again for the game. I was on Marvin Freeman's and Eddie Perez's team and played 3B. We ended up losing the game 10-9 after Marvin Freeman brought himself in to pitch (due to all the walks and we were running out of time). He got into a battle with 2 outs with one batter and ordered everyone to leave the field. He then promptly gave up a long shot to center for an inside the park home run that ended the game. It was an interesting end to the day to say the least. We then hit the showers/headed back to the hotel and we're about to head out to dinner with our coaches tonight.

I'm a little sore after being on my feet and doing baseball activities all day, but I'm ready for our double header tomorrow, that's for sure. Here are some more shots of Champions stadium that I took with my phone.

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via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

My roommate Kevin who won the trip to the Fantasy Camp from 680 the Fan radio in Atlanta.

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More to come tomorrow for Day 3's edition!

So I wanted to create a writeup of every day of the fantasy camp so everyone would get an idea of what goes on at one of these things for the enormous price tag you have to pay. First I'd like to thank my beautiful and wonderful wife and my mother-in-law for purchasing the Fantasy Camp package for me for my Birthday and Christmas (for this year and many down the road!). it was a wonderful gift and I still can't believe they both did it!

Anyway, we arrived at Lake Buena Vista at the Resort on Tuesday afternoon. After checking in and getting my room key I unloaded all of my stuff into my room and met my roommate who I will be staying with in the suite. Thankfully it is a 2 bedroom suite and we each have a separate rooms. Later Tuesday night we went to a welcome dinner at a local Ale house here in the Orlando area and had dinner and drinks on the Braves and got a chance to meet all of the Alumni (former Braves players) and rub elbows with them, ask them questions and basically pick their brains about Baseball and anything else we wanted to ask them about. It was fun. Here's a shot of Greg Olsen being goofy with someone's camera while campers and Sid Bream look on.

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Here's another shot of Charlie Leibrandt talking to campers and Greg Olsen

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After drinking too much and grabbing some food it was back to the Hotel to try and get some sleep before we had to load up on the shuttle the next morning at 6:30 AM.

My wife and mother-in-law were generous enough this year to pay for me to go to the Braves 2012 Fantasy camp at the end of January (it was a combined birthday/Christmas gift for me, for many years!). I'm pretty excited about the whole thing and can't wait to get down to Florida and suit up for some baseball. It's been 16 years since I played baseball (been playing some softball recently) so it will be fun to get back out there on the field again.

Anyone here on TC going to be attending the Fantasy Camp? When my wife talked to Greg McMichael yesterday he mentioned to her to tell me to bring my golf clubs too, so I guess we'll be getting a little golf in as well.

I was thinking about blogging about the event nightly and taking pictures and video of the whole thing so that people will get to see what it's like first hand.

I hope to see some of you there!

Dave

So by now you've probably seen the Matt Young FanPost about his slide into second, and past second.  So here are the shots from the rest of the game.

JoJo Reyes actually pitched pretty good for the first 5 innings, but then Cory Gearrin came in and gave up 6 runs and could hardly get anyone out.  It was a rough outing for him and he ended up taking the loss.

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I was going through some shots from the Gwinnett Braves game on 7/7 and I saw this series and liked it a lot, so I figured I would share it with all of you.  We know how great of a tear Matt has been on lately, but this really shows his hustle and his contributions to the team.

The pictures will tell the story after the jump.

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So, I took this day off of work a long time ago when I thought I would have to cover this baseball game.  Well, I never re-claimed my vacation day and thus I'm still going to go to the game.  I figure I will get there early for batting practice, take some pictures/video and get a few autographs on the baseball I got from the Atlanta Braves game a couple of weeks ago.

Anyone else free during the day that wants to meet up with  me?  We can sit around, eat hot dogs, take pictures, talk baseball.  If you're interested in meeting up, send me an e-mail.  ten1photo@bellsouth.net.

Hope to see you there.

Part II is going to be a bit shorter than part I as I still have not been able to make it through all of the shots from the game on 6/26.  I think I took like 750 pictures that day, so there are a lot to go through.  

Anyway today we will pick up where we left off in the last thread, with Chipper's go ahead 3 run home run off a Joel Zumaya (poor guy broke his elbow this week) 100 MPH fastball to give the Braves the lead.  I didn't get a good shot of the home run swing, but I got what happened next.

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So, this is the first time I have been to a game at Turner field since the 2008 season.  My wife and I didn't make it down to the Ted last year due to us having Gwinnett Braves season tickets.  But since the G-Braves were out of town this weekend, and the Saturday game was a 4 PM start time, I jumped on stub hub and found us some good seats right on the field just beyond first base.  So off we went to the Ted, and it was a great game to watch!

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Here's a quick shot from the seats I was able to grab for the Saturday 6/26/10 4 PM game at Turner field between the Tigers and the Braves.  It was just before first pitch and the t-shirt girls were coming down the line, so I figured it was a good time for a shot.  This was taken with my iPhone4 camera...which is surprisingly good.

We were sitting down the first base line on the front row (right on the field) just behind the tarp.

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Last year, Jason Heyward was the headliner for the Atlanta Braves in the Futures All Star game.  This year, it's a couple of pitching prospects who get to show their stuff on a national stage.  

Julio Teheran will pitch for the World team

Mike Minor will pitch for the US team

US Roster:  http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5317940

World Roster: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5318658

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Just a few videos from the game last Friday night taken with my Sony camcorder.  I had a hard time unfortunately getting the action without people getting in the way in front of me as we had these kids in front of us that wouldn't stay still.  not only that, but I suggest you turn your volume down low before watching because there were kids in the suites above us that yelled at the top of the lungs the entire game.  It was annoying, and unfortunately can be heard on the videos.

Videos after the jump.

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My wife and I attended the Gwinnett game on Friday night.  We had a 30 minute delay to the start as there was a T-Storm that rolled through at around 6:15 PM so they had to dry off the field.  Anyway, Jordan Schafer and Matt Young stole the show in this game.  Schafer batted leadoff and showed why he was a top prospect a few years ago as he truly set the table for the Braves.  Matt Young made a game saving diving catch at the fence in the top of the 8th to preserve the lead for the Braves (I was too busy watching and not photographing that play unfortunately, but it was on the other side of the field and it was DARK!) and he also contributed with a long 3B to left center field.  Tim Gustafson carried a no hitter into the 5th or 6th inning too, as there was an all around great performance by the team.  Mitch Jones also had a cameo at first base, so now onto the pictures (and eventually the videos).

Pictures after the Jump.

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If you guys haven't seen it yet, Freddie Freeman has been going around the Gwinnett clubhouse with a Flip Video camera videoing different aspects of their day and of the Gwinnett clubhouse.  It's an interesting take on a baseball players day and what they do (and don't do) and how shy some of these guys really are.  There's also a pretty funny interview with Joe Thurston that Freddie does...just listen and watch it.

Here's the link to the videos:  http://www.foxsportssouth.com/pages/video?PID=miBcXvVwe_p1EENBtwO0buorjJGXNxij

Of course, my wife and I got to the park after first pitch (again) and we almost missed ALL of the offense on the night as the Braves put up a 3 spot in the bottom of the first.  Luckily we were standing on the concourse watching when Timmons ripped his double down the LF line to score 2.  That was all the scoring we saw.

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I took my wife to the game tonight so we could see Yunel Escobar play for the Gwinnett Braves, and boy let me tell you he didn't disappoint one bit.  He really showed these minor leaguers how they play the game in the The Show...mostly with his defense, but going 2-3 at the plate wasn't shabby either.  The story in pictures after the jump.

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Yes, you read it right up there.  The Gwinnett Braves walked off TWICE in one game...albeit the first one that was overturned was more dramatic than the final game winner.  Anyway, on to the game!

Ryne Reynoso started the game.  My wife and I entered Coolray Field just as the first pitch was being thrown out.  By the time we bought our tickets and got to our seats 3 rows behind the Braves dugout the score was already 4-0.  I'm not sure what happened, but Ryne pitched a lot out of the stretch like this with base runners behind him in the first inning.

via ten1photography.com

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So I took my wife and mother-in-law over to the newly named Coolray Field on Saturday night for the Gwinnett Braves vs. the Charlotte Knights.  Pretty good game and a great pitching effort by Todd Redmond (7 innings) and then Mariano Gomez came in and pitched the 8th and 9th to close out the victory.  Anyway, I have more pictures to go through, but here are some shots of the starting lineup first and foremost.

Gregor Blanco - CF

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Brent Clevlen - RF

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Mitch Jones - LF

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J.C. Holt - 2B

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Brandon Hicks - SS

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Freddie Freeman - 1B

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Wes Timmons - 3B

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I decided to swing by the Braves Caravan on Monday 2/8 that was taking place at the Publix right down the street from my house in Suwanee, GA.  I left work at 4 PM thinking I would get there at 4:30 and that would give me enough time to park and be ready for them to arrive at 5 PM.  Well, when I got there I saw a line that went all the way down the strip mall, around the corner and around the back of the building.  Oh well, so much for getting an autograph today.  I later found out from one of the managers of the Publix that fans started lining up there at 10 AM that morning.  That's a full 7 hours before the Braves appearance!  So I grabbed my camera and my Flip Video and headed to the front of the store.  Here's the view from the entrance of the beginning of the line:

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Here are some shots of the Gwinnett Braves infielders that I took in their Inaugural season in Gwinnett Stadium.  I had the weekend season ticket plan (25 games, of which I only attended about 18 unfortunately) and enjoyed going to the stadium.  I'll try to post some more shots here later on, and if you want a shot of someone in particular, let me know and I'll see if I have it for you.

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Clint Sammons - #5

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Brooks Conrad - #15

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Van Pope - #8

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Barbaro Canizares - #55

Diory Hernandez - #11

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