Mutka: Seelie makes his 16th fantasy camp a special one
By John Mutka jmutkapt@gmail.com February 5, 2012 11:22PM
Ken Seelie cradles the Bob Feller Top Pitcher award at his jewelry shop in Valparaiso Thursday Feb. 2, 2012. Seelie earned the award while taking part in the Cleveland Indiana fantasy camp in Goodyear, AZ last month. Seelie has attended the Indian's camps for the past 16 years. | Andy Lavalley~Sun-Times Media
Updated: March 7, 2012 9:54AM
Kids who attach themselves to a baseball team usually cling to them passionately even if they move away from their grass roots as adults.
I know from personal experience. It took most of my life to shake the irrational need to root for those lovable losers on the north side of Chicago.
When you think of baseball passion hot spots like New York, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia pop up. Cleveland? Not so much.
So, Ken Seelie sticks out like a sore thumb, being a transplanted Northwest Indiana fan of the Indians. Though he moved to Valparaiso from the suburbs of Cleveland in 1980 his heart still drumbeats for the Tribe.
Rooting for the Indians is nearly as painful as it is to suffer with the Cubs. After all, they haven’t won a World Series since 1948. That’s three years after the Wrigleys took a seven-game licking from the Tigers in their last appearance in the Fall Classic.
At least those who reside on the shores of Lake Erie can console themselves with runner-up honors in 1954, 1995 and 1997. The Cubs? Anybody can have a bad century.
Unlike casual fans, Seelie takes rooting for the Indians to another level.
Entering Majestic Jewelers on North Calumet Avenue you notice it also doubles as a mini-shrine to his boyhood heroes.
Glass-encased memorabilia is stuffed with awards he’s earned at Cleveland’s annual fantasy camp, which has been situated in Winterhaven, Fla. and Arizona since he started making his annual pilgrimage in 1997 at age 42. He’s won four camp MVP awards, the most recent being the Bob Feller MVP award for pitching.
The wiry lefhander chalked up 20 innings in four days, striking out 13 in one of his seven-inning starts. Not bad for a kid who never played high school baseball.
“This is the 16th year in a row I’ve gone to the camp,” said Seelie, a former optician who switched professions after visiting his sister, Denise Miller, who lived in Merrillville.
All he needed to start camping was a bit of prompting from Bill Rogers, former Valparaiso University sports information director and fellow Cleveland transplant.
It all began with a trip to Jacobs Field (now Progressive) to take in a game. The pilgrimage included an overnight stay to visit Rogers’ dad, who lived in Akron.
“I noticed a lot of pictures of Cleveland stuff hanging on the walls next to the guest room and asked Bill about it,” Seelie said. “My dad went to a Cleveland fantasy camp in 1992,” Rogers said. “I told Ken what a great time he had and that got him interested.”
When an 800 number popped up in a satellite TV ad for the camp Seelie pursued it. His wife, Windi, enrolled him for a birthday present and he’s never looked back. Every January he migrates to Cleveland’s spring training facility in Goodyear, Ariz.
Considered one of the best, the camp costs newcomers $4,800. Veterans received a discount, according to Seelie, because they can reuse uniforms.
“I’ve got about 10 jerseys hanging in my closet,” he said.
Over the years Seelie established himself as a strong leadoff man who also played shortstop and center field. He estimates the average age of campers at 45 to 50. Nearly half of them are repeaters.
They’re broken down to eight 12-man teams each with two coaches — all former Indians — after a tryout and pickup games to analyze the campers on the first full day.
“They have a draft to pick the teams on Sunday, then decide positions after dinner,” Seelie said.
Each team is guaranteed seven games in the week-long affair. Division winners meet in a championship game.
Until his health failed one of the camp highlights was Feller making the daily rounds. Rapid Robert would also pitch to the first three batters in every game, usually the older campers.
“What a thrill it was for them to face a Hall of Famer,” said Seelie, barely containing his excitement.
Feller’s last year to pitch in camp was 2008, two years before his death at age 92.
For those who need an upgrade in baseball history, Feller was a 20-game winner six times. Even though World War II cost him five years, he is Cleveland’s all-time leader in victories (266), no-hitters (3), strikeouts (2,581), complete games (279) and innings (3,827).
Consider Seelie a late bloomer on the diamond.
“I guess you could say that,” he said.
Sandlot baseball occupied every waking minute of his summers but very little organized ball.
“I played some little league ball, but never went out for the high school team,”
Seelie weighed about 125 when he graduated at age 17.
“Everybody was about twice my size and I didn’t have a lot of confidence,” he said.
To say that he has overcompensated since moving to Northwest Indiana is putting it mildly. Seelie has played in senior leagues in Crown Point, where he and Rogers were teammates, and in Portage. Last summer he traveled to Chicago to play in the 55-and-over league.
“I’m still waiting for my ring,” said Seelie, whose team, the Chicago North, won the MSLB World Series last October with a 9-0 record.
Speed has always been his game.
“Ken was an awesome leadoff hitter and a golden glover in center,” said Rogers, who no longer plays. “He’s in amazing shape for his age. I consider him a role model for older guys.”
Whenever Cleveland visits U.S. Cellular Field chances are they’ll catch a game or two along with their buddy, Jim Wachowski. They also tried to make a trip to Cleveland every year, usually when the White Sox were in town.
Probably their biggest thrill came when Cleveland played the Florida Marlins in the 1997 World Series. It cost Ken and Bill a broker’s fee of $250 apiece for game five, which the Indians won 10-3.
“It was the coldest night in the history of the World Series,” said Rogers, remembering the snow. “We sat in the upper deck in left field, shivering but had a great time.”
What this proves is that no matter how old a baseball fan is passion for the game keeps him young. Listening to Seelie bubble over the Indians made me want to grab a glove and baseball still tucked away in the corner of my garage.
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