On Monday, Bud Elwin donned his Red Sox uniform, grabbed his mitt, and walked on to his field of dreams.
The 70-year-old South Bristol resident fielded a few grounders, took a few swings and pitched a shutout – for one inning anyway.
Walter “Bud” Elwin Jr. is actually playing baseball at the Boston Red Sox fantasy camp in Ft. Myers, Fla.
For a week, as Mainers grouse about the cold, he will play in nine games, meet and chat with former Red Sox players and try to qualify for a home run derby.
In the clubhouse, he will have his own locker, complete with name plate, home and road uniforms, and access to all the clubhouse facilities.
In August, he and other fantasy Red Sox will go to Fenway Park for a special exhibition game.
“It is beyond his expectations. He has wanted to do this for 30 years, but he admits he is a little sore after the first day,” said his wife, Janet, from their South Bristol home.
What would you expect from a guy whose license plate reads: “Ted 9,” For non-Red Sox fans, the great Boston star Ted Williams wore number 9 during his storied career.
Last year, when the retired Hewlett-Packard buyer told his wife, Janet, he really wanted to attend the camp, she said OK…But.
“I told him I had three conditions. First he had to lose 20 pounds. He had to get in shape; after all, I didn’t want him to have a heart attack. Then I told him he had to earn the money himself,” she said.
“Easy duty,” said Elwin who quickly became a frequent visitor to the CLC YMCA in Damariscotta. Starting on July 1, he participated in 76 workouts with a fitness instructor. He lost 18 pounds and watched his middle shrink from 38 to 36 inches.
After dropping weight and getting in shape playing catch with those a lot younger than he was, he decided he needed professional help.
Nick Caiazzo was elected. The former minor leaguer and University of Maine baseball star works for a Portland training center called “Frozen Ropes.”
“Bud said he found me after doing a Google search. He came in and we sat down. ‘What are your goals and objectives?'” Caiazzo asked him.
“I don’t want to just go down and hang out with the players. I want to have fun playing and be productive,” Elwin answered.
The two got to work at the center. Elwin drove down for workout/coaching sessions, some lasting a half hour, others an hour and a half, each Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
“We worked on timing, head position and body rotation. We did a video tape in super slow motion and he could see himself swinging,” said the coach.
“When we started I would pitch ball to him and he would miss 23 out of 25. At the end, he would hit all 25, line drives and grounders, all on the fat part of the bat,” said Caiazzo.
“He is now in fantastic shape. At one of our last sessions, when he played first base, he dove for a grounder, jumped up and threw the ball,” said Caiazzo with a bit of admiration for Elwin’s spunk.
The 70-year-old man “reminded me of a 12-year-old boy,” said the coach.
The senior student of swat worked so hard he became an icon to the Caiazzo’s younger clients. “When they saw him stretching, and hitting off tees and throwing, they told me: “Gee. If you want to get good, you have to work at it.”
Outside of the physical work, Elwin came up with an idea to earn the money, but Janet had to help him out.
A fanatic Ted Williams fan, Elwin, who brags he has read 22 books on the Red Sox icon and has visited his Canadian salmon fishing camp, saw some memorabilia on E-Bay and decided he could do that too.
“He bought some Red Sox jackets and some Red Sox patches and other Ted Williams items. I sewed them on for him. Then he sold them to friends, took a craft table at events and sold others on E-Bay to cover the $4400 cost of the eight-day fantasy camp.
On Jan. 31, Bud arrived at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Ft. Myers.
From then on, it was all gravy. The first day, he chatted with former Red Sox pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd. They talked about how Boyd and a group of former Red Sox players came to Lincoln County last summer to play a benefit game for the Boothbay Ambulance Service.
On Monday, after a workout, where he fielded grounders at first base, and pitched a shut out inning, he was drafted for the “Hitmen” team, by former outfielder Mike “Hitman” Easler and ex-hurler Frank “Sweet Music” Viola.
On Tuesday morning, he was talking with his wife, Janet, when Frank Malzone, a Red Sox hall of fame third baseman, interrupted their chat to tell him the “Hitmen” team got a “good player,” when they drafted him.
Elwin reported his roommate had pulled a hamstring on the first day. He admitted despite all his preparation, his thighs were a bit tender.
For the record, not only is Bud playing ball, he has a sports management agent, who, Elwin says, is trying to get him a product endorsement deal.
“I know talent, and when I see talent like Bud Elwin, I know he is a guy to sign,” said Frederick L. Lipp, the owner of Portland’s Caballo Sports Agency. “He is my oldest client and I expect him to do well,” said Lipp, who represents a string of Latin ball players in the minor and major leagues.
As for Elwin, he has his own ideas about sports marketing. “I think I would be good spokesman for “Depends” (the adult diaper),” he said, parodying the traditional wrap up phrase used by most baseball broadcasters after a scoreless-hitless inning: “No drips, no runs, no errors.”
