In his opening comments, Bryn Smith said that baseball is a humbling game. It is a game that is very hard to play and if a batter gets three hits out of ten at-bats, he is a success.

But no matter how many ground balls were missed, no matter how many swings missed the pitch and no matter how short the throws were playing catch - every single person who showed up for the first Santa Maria Packers Fantasy Camp at Hancock College's John Osborne Field had a great time and spent the entire evening with a big smile on their face.

“They are all smiles,” said Packers head coach Scott Nickason. “Everybody is having a good time, coming back with the memories, getting the rust out, a lot of laughs, a lot of cheers - and it's fun.”

The evening started with Smith - who pitched 13 years in the Major Leagues with MOntreal, St. Louis and Colorado - talking about what they planned to accomplish in the camp. leading up to this afternoon's game at 1 p.m.

Then the players introduced themselves. Ranging in age from 35 to 64 -some with a lot of baseball experience, including the only woman at the camp, Marji Hernandez and some with none - they mostly talked about their love of baseball and their support of the Packers as motivating reasons for coming out.

“You heard when they introduced themselves that they support the Packers,” Nickason said. “It's heartfelt to hear them and have them come out and get on the field with our players and coaches.

“It means a lot - it means that we are doing something right.”

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Chad Godsil (35) from Lompoc has made the trek several times this summer with his wife Cheryl and four kids - Courtney, Kursh, Kazlyn and Kaedri - to see the Packers play. And now with his whole family watching from the sidelines, he got a chance to take the field.

Fielding grounders at third base and stepping into the batting cage, one could see the enjoyment he was experiencing.

“They are excited and it looks like they are having fun,” Smith said after pitching batting practice. “It's just fun to share baseball stories and see people out here having fun and being a kid again.”

The teams this afternoon will be led by managers Bruce Porter from Iverson Motors and Bob Stowasser from Stowasser Pontiac-Buick-GMC. Friday might, they were out scouting who they were going to pick for their teams.

They probably both took notice of Jon Frietas (49) in the batting cage as he laced several line drives. Not bad for a guy who hasn't played in a while.

“Softball about 15 years ago,” he answered about the last time he played.

But he loves baseball, “It's just fun,” he said.

Max Faulkner (51) grew up in Santa Maria.

“I'm just hanging out with some friends I haven't seen in a while,” he explained about coming to the camp. “I've been facing Smitty since high school.

“I live a couple blocks away from here and I'm a big Santa Maria Indians fan. But seeing Smitty over here and a few of my buddies, I might have to switch teams here I think.”

Faulkner looked to have experience on the field.

“I played last year for the Blazers - it's a men's league in San Luis Obispo where the Blues play,” he said. “But this year I wanted to focus on my little guy. I wanted to spend time with him and letting him pick up some of that baseball fun.”

As much fun as the players were having, Nickason could see that they were getting serious at times.

“I think their competitive juices will come out tomorrow,” Nickason said. “I called them to remind them of the time and everybody's playing catch with their kids - going to the batting cage.”

With the game time coming up, Smith is looking forward to seeing how the players handle a game situation.

“There were some pretty good swings,” he said. “This might be an evenly balanced game. We'll see how they run - that will be the key.”

And players have their goals as well.

“Hitting the ball hard,” said Faulkner.

And Freitas' goal? “Not to get hurt,” he laughed.

Sports writer Brad Memberto can be reached at 737-1055 or by e-mail to bmemberto@lompocrecord.com

July 19, 2008