Day 3 - Bringing the pain

I forgot to mention this yesterday, but I'm quite sore. Not just in my recovering hand, but all over.

I came into camp in very good shape. But it doesn't seem to matter. Each day I'm more sore than the last. This morning I woke up and actually thought, "Do I have to play today?"

The good news is that the sore muscles are manageable. Stretching, walking around and a few ibuprofen help a lot. Plus, you have the adrenaline that comes with playing the games.

But it's all given me new respect for what the major leaguers deal with. I've been doing this for three days. They do it for 162 games, plus spring training and postseason. I can't imagine all the behind-the-scenes work they do in the training room to keep their bodies in top shape and deal with constant muscle soreness, bruises, blisters, etc.

Players will tell you that once you start workouts in spring training, no one is at 100 percent for the rest of the season. There's always some sort of annoying discomfort. But as long as it's nothing serious, you play through it and try to let it heal as best you can.

One of the trainers working on my hand said it was a good example of why it's so hard for baseball wounds to heal quickly. Unless you sit for a few days, you're going to keep using the affected areas because baseball is a sport with a lot of repetition. So when you play every day, just keeping yourself in one piece can be a challenge.

My biggest regret in my camp preparation is that I didn't do any sprints. They recommended doing sprints in the weeks leading up to camp, but I figured my legs were in good enough shape. I'd been working the muscles and doing elliptical workouts for four months, so I assumed I would be fine.

But despite having a reputation as a slow-moving game, baseball has an awful lot of sprinting: Busting it down the line to try to beat out an infield hit, trying to beat out a force play on the bases, running to catch a fly ball. Going from being stationary to running as fast as you can puts a lot of stress on your legs. So, if I go to fantasy camp again, sprints will be part of my routine.

I will say this, though: I'm glad I worked out as much as I did ahead of camp. If I hadn't, I imagine things would be a lot worse.

MISC.

• I had my day in court today for the uniform incident. But, thankfully, because of my previously clean record, Judge Bream only fined me $2. In case you're wondering, the money collected in kangaroo court goes to the clubhouse attendants at the end of the week. They work very hard, so nobody minds paying the money. Below, court is in session.

• I went 0-for-0 with two walks and an RBI in today's game. I'll take it. We only played one today because of a golfing event that was part of camp. I don't golf, so I took advantage of the time off and went back to the hotel for a nap. It was glorious.

• One of coolest parts of camp happened this morning in early batting practice. David Justice held an impromptu hitting lesson with a small group of campers. He went through his approach to hitting, how he stayed balanced and how he tried not to swing at any breaking pitches until there were two strikes. The best line of the lesson: "You know the best way to hit the curveball? Don't miss the fastball." Then he gave us a pitch-by-pitch breakdown of his at-bat in the sixth inning of Game 6 of the 1995 World Series, when he hit the homer that gave the Braves the championship. The short version: The previous inning, Indians left-handed pitcher Jim Poole came in and struck out lefty Fred McGriff on three breaking balls outside the strike zone. So, when Justice came to bat to lead off the sixth, he already knew that Poole's breaking balls likely weren't going to be called strikes if he took them. So, having never faced Poole before, he just waited for a fastball in his happy zone. It came on the 1-1 pitch. "As soon as I hit it, I knew it was a home run," Justice said. Surprising thing about Justice: He's much taller than I expected. Then again, all these guys are big. For the most part, professional baseball is not a short person's game. Below is a photo of Justice defending himself against a charge in kangaroo court, followed by a photo of his pre-game speech. He talked about how much he enjoyed coming to fantasy camp, meeting all of us and seeing his old buddies. He said now that he's retired, these moments don't happen much anymore. So he told us to make and cherish memories the rest of the week. After that serious speech, Mike Bielecki raised his hand and asked a -- let's call it comically inappropriate -- question about Halle Berry (Justice's former wife), which was met with howling laughter, including from Justice.

• Speaking of Bielecki, I learned today that he had the best career numbers against Barry Bonds. Bielecki faced Bonds 35 times and he hit .086 (3 hits) with eight strikeouts. When Bonds was chasing Hank Aaron's home run record, Bielecki said he started getting a lot of calls from reporters who wanted to know why it was so easy for him to get Bonds out. Bielecki said he knew he had success against Bonds, but didn't know his numbers were the best. The secret, according to Bielecki: sinkers away. Bonds did hit one homer off Bielecki, though Bielecki said it was a foul ball wrongly called fair. We'll have to take his word for it. On the other side of things, Bielecki said the hitter he most hated to face was Tony Gwynn. Bielecki's best year in the majors came in 1989, when he went 18-7 with a 3.14 ERA for the N.L. Eastern Division champion Cubs.

Before I forget, I want to give a shout-out to the other former big leaguers at the camp. I'll start with one of my coaches ...

Pete Smith: Smith was an original Young Gun who showed flashes of brilliance over his seven seasons with the Braves. The most significant came during a call-up down the stretch in 1992, when he went 7-0 with a 2.05 ERA for the Braves to help them clinch the N.L. West. This stretch included two complete games and a shutout. Smith started 11 games for the Braves in 1992, and the Braves won all 11. Here's an interesting stat about Smith: In 1988, he went 7-15 with a 3.69 ERA for a horrible Braves team that lost 106 games. But among Smith's seven wins were five complete games and three shutouts. That same year, Tom Glavine led the league with 17 losses.

Charlie Leibrandt: He only pitched three seasons with the Braves, but he twice won 15 games. He had a solid career overall, playing in three World Series (two with the Braves). His best season was in 1985, when he went 17-9 for the world champion Royals.

Zane Smith: He spent 13 seasons in the majors with the Braves, Expos, Pirates and Red Sox. His best year with the Braves came in 1987, when he went 15-10 and led the league in starts with 36. His best year overall was with the Pirates in 1991, when he went 16-10.

Greg McMichael: He's the organizer of fantasy camp. In 1993, he saved 19 games for the Braves and was runner-up for N.L. rookie of the year. He followed that up with a 21-save season in 1994 and was part of the 1995 championship team, picking up a key save in the NLCS against the Reds.

Brad Clontz: A side-arm reliever, Clontz led the league in appearances in 1996 with 81. His job was to come into close games with the Braves in a jam and use his sinker to induce a double play. He was also a member of the 1995 championship team.

Well, tomorrow is the last full day of camp. We play two games, including one against the ex-players. Assuming I'm not too sore, it should be a great time.