I got an interesting tidbit from Joe Fish and Loft Restaurant owner Jimmy Dietz, a frustrated baseball player if there ever was one, who recently returned from the hugely successful Red Sox Fantasy Camp in Fort Myers, Fla.
Dietz led the all hitters — there were about 120 in all — with a .650 batting average, though he was hitless against the ex-Soxers, including Rich Gale and Jim Corsi, calling it the vacation of his life.
But the most interesting story was about Roger Clemens, who has never attended the camp.
Each night at dinner, said Dietz, there would be a live auction with proceeds going to the Jimmy Fund. Several autographed balls and bats were auctioned off each night.
Guess which item got the fewest dollars all week, according to Dietz? A Clemens’ signed baseball.
“It was weird,” said Dietz, who also was a key pitcher on his 4-4 squad. “When the announcement was made there were a few jokes and guys shouting ‘steroids!’ And when the ball was up for bid there was silence. Nobody was bidding. The auctioneer talked about all Roger has meant for baseball, and so on, and eventually it got about $250. It was the lowest bid of the entire week.”
Interesting.
