Final Day: Royals Fantasy Camp Experience
It's over. I'm sitting in my hotel room wrapping my brain around this week, processing everything that's happened. Like most of our favorite experiences in life, they tend to fly by.
In a span of four days, I played eight baseball games, fielded nearly every inning at seven different positions, batted a couple dozen times, met 120 new people, dished out 500 fist bumps, threw 200 pitches, took 9 painful dips in the cold tub, and had 30 custom baseball cards signed.
Our team's elation on Day 1 starting out 2-0 turned out to be fool's gold. We dropped both games today including the battle-to-not-be-last-place-pride-game. I played my heart out and left everything on the field, even when my arm failed me.
Above: Dennis "Leo" Leonard keeps our spirits up with jokes in the middle of another blowout.
Despite the slow motion train-wreck that most of our games were, it was an incredible experience. I had an amazing time conversing with Royals legends and campers while we all tried our best to battle through the games.
We closed the night with a banquet dinner celebrating each team and all the people that helped make the camp happen.
When it came time for our team awards, I was selected as Team MVP, which was a surprise and an honor. Amos Otis gave me an introduction that was heavily embellished, but he knew all the right words to say to make me feel like I belonged there.
They did a drawing for the game-used jerseys of the coaches, and despite the ridiculous odds, I won my own Coach's jersey!
A number of people talked frequently about our personal "whys" of why we came to camp. To tell you my why, I have to give a little background.
I didn't get to play baseball very much as a kid, I got one season of little league and one season on the bench of a legion team in high school. I loved the game dearly but opportunities to play just didn't materialize for a kid in a big family. Most kids dream of playing in the big leagues and I was no different, but I was never given a real chance to find out if I was a ballplayer and that left me with a big, unfulfilled hole in my life for a long time.
The Royals provide a wonderful opportunity to no longer wonder "what if", but to say "why not?". For a week, the kid in me came out and I got to pretend to be a big leaguer, wearing their uniforms, using their lockers, and playing on their fields.
As for my jersey name, I am Armenian and my ancestors had to escape and survive the horrific Armenian Genocide. My family's original last name is Garboushian and was changed in the late 1800s when coming over to the States to Badeer, another name in the family at the time. In the year 1915, my great grandfather (a doctor) was ordered to be exiled (a death sentence for many) along with all other Armenians due to their Christian religion. Dr. Badeer and his family were spared thanks to decision reversal that instead ordered him to serve as a doctor for the Turkish Army. Without this, I likely would never have come into existence. The Garboushian name to me represents God's enduring faithfulness.
I'm thrilled to wear the name for the first time in my life and represent family members that are in Heaven, and I hope this small gesture has them smiling.
Signing off,
Ian "Garboushian" Badeer