Bud (a.k.a. Ted) Elwin, 70, of Walpole, completed his Red Sox fantasy last week by playing a Fantasy Camp reunion baseball game in Fenway Park. Elwin participated in the Red Sox Fantasy Camp in Fort Meyers, Fla., last winter at the site of the Red Sox spring training camp. Playing a game in Fenway Park was part of the Fantasy Camp package deal.
The camp accepted 120 people. “The only requirements were you had to be 30 years old and the check doesn’t bounce,” Elwin said.
His wife told him he had to earn his own money, lose 20 pounds and get in shape. Elwin earned the money by buying and selling Red Sox shirts. He ironed on Ted Williams patches and paid his wife $2 each to sew them on.
He started working out at the CLC YMCA in Damariscotta and lost 18 pounds and he worked with Nick Caiazza, a former minor league player and UMaine star in Portland. Elwin enjoyed the experience so much, he is planning to go again this winter, and is working part time at Wawenock Golf Course to pay for it.
While at the Fantasy Camp, Elwin was coached by Mike Easler and Frank Viola. “Oil Can Boyd was the funniest. He had 16 brothers and sisters. He drank beer and in Mississippi they called it beer oil. They all were great. We would sit around and listen to them tell stories,” Elwin commented.
Elwin got a contract for the Red Sox for zero dollars. His nicknames were the Rookie from Walpole and Splendid the Splinter. He had a signing agent that would get 30 percent of any endorsement he got. “The only thing I could endorse would be Depends, no runs, no drips, no errors,” the 70-year-old Elwin joked.
He grew up in Somerville, Mass., and says he has been a Red Sox fan all his life. When he was eight or nine, he and his friends would stand in line for three hours on a Sunday to get front row bleacher seats. They would watch a double header for 50-cents.
His favorite player was Ted Williams. “He was the best player. There were only eight teams in the league at the time, so we knew all the players,” Elwin said.
He and his friends played baseball by the hour and when they wore the cover off their baseball, they would wrap the ball in electrical tape. “If we could get 20-cents together we would wrap it in Johnson & Johnson tape and have a white ball.”
An avid Red Sox fan, Elwin idolizes Ted Williams, some might even say he is obsessed with him. He wears his jersey, his license plate reads “Ted .406” in memory of the season Williams hit .406, a record that still stands today.
He has a wildlife plate, because Williams was an avid fisherman and liked to hunt. “He was more comfortable fishing than playing baseball. He always felt he had the weight of the world on his shoulders,” Elwin said about Williams.
“Ted Williams is in the Fishing Hall of Fame, and the Baseball Hall of Fame. Seventeen thousand have played major league baseball, but only 204 are in the Hall of Fame,” Elwin said.
He is a Williams’ trivia junkie, having read 24 books about the famous ballplayer. “I could talk for 10 hours on Ted Williams. I know more about Ted Williams than he knew about himself,” Elwin joked.
“Williams was the first Latino to be admitted to Baseball Hall of Fame,” Elwin said of Williams’ Mexican roots. “His mother’s parents were from Mexico, that’s why he was so protective about his family’s history. And the Boston press corps never found out.”
Elwin has a whole closet full of Red Sox clothing, some custom made with Williams’ #9 embroidered on them. He even had a pair of custom made Nike sneakers made in red and white, with Williams’ lifetime batting average of .344 and his record .406 on the side and #9 on the back.
He had wooden bats especially made to the same length and weight as Williams’. “Williams was the one that discovered that a lighter bat made the difference in hitting because a lighter bat is quicker,” he said.
He got hooked on Williams’ legacy when he bought a 62-minute audio-CD of “It’s Only Me” of Williams telling his life story. “He talked about serving in WWII and the Korean War and crash landing his airplane.”
Elwin even traveled to Canada to visit Williams’ hunting camp and sat on his bed. He is such a Ted Williams addict, everyone calls him ‘Ted.’
Elwin is a member of Red Sox Nation, whose benefits include two tickets to a game, a hat, and monster seats to Red Sox batting practice before the game. “No one else gets to watch batting practice.” His grandson attended the game with him and they got a batting practice homerun ball hit by Dustin Pedroia.
He comes by his Red Sox mania naturally. His mother, Florence, had been an avid fan since 1918. “She was a great Red Sox fan. She was always optimistic. No matter how bad they were she would say, ‘they’ll do better and will do all right,'” Elwin said.
Florence died at the age of 94, and her ashes accompanied Elwin on his fantasy journey. Elwin’s wife Janet took him to Cooperstown, N.Y. to the Baseball Hall of Fame for his 70th birthday to kick off his fantasy journey.
“I kept some of her [mother’s] ashes and spread them at the Hall of Fame. He then spread some at the City of Palm Park in Fort Meyers, Fla., at the Red Sox spring training grounds, and completed Florence’s journey last week when he spread her ashes on the right field line in Fenway Park.
When told his Janet wife must be a good sport, Elwin responded, “She’s the best.” Janet used to travel all over the world to quilting shows and has made over 300 quilts and has written quilting books.” I’ve always supported her and she supports me.”
He and Janet watched a Red Sox/Cleveland Indians game on Thursday. Friday they ate a breakfast lunch in the EMC Club behind home plate. “It was kind of thrilling, watching them prepare the field for me” to play on, Elwin said.
The couple was then taken on a park tour, including a ride out to the scoreboard and the history on the park. Reunion players then changed in the visitors’ locker rooms and then went out into the stands wearing their full Red Sox uniforms they received last winter in Florida.
The Fantasy Camp Reunion game was held last Friday, and Elwin was accompanied by 65 fans, including his wife. Elwin’s fans traveled to Fenway from Canada, Florida, Ohio, New York and Maine.
Among the fans were about 12 children, including his three-year-old grandson. “I took all the children into the visitors’ locker room and they stayed with me in the dugout for most of the time I played ball. After the game I gave all the children a baseball that had been used in a major league game. I bought them off the Internet. All the kids wanted me to autograph their balls. It was so important to me to do this for the kids. It was important for them to experience this, to do something most kids don’t get to do.”
When Elwin walked out onto the field he stepped over the white line, then stepped back onto first base. “Ted Williams always stepped on first base on his way to left field.” Elwin played three innings at first, and three innings in left field, were Ted used to play.
Elwin got one hit in three at bats. “I have a .333 lifetime batting average at Fenway Park,” Elwell quipped.
He struck out in his first at bat. His second at bat he decided to bat left handed so he could stand in the same batting box that Williams and Babe Ruth stood in. He said, “It’s the oldest park in the nation, nothing has changed since the early 1900s.”
Elwin grounded out to short. His third at bat he hit a single, made his way to second and scored on a single to right field. “I started off and rounded third, and the outfielder was throwing. When I was two-thirds of the way down the line, the pitcher had the ball. He was so surprised to see me running, he bobbled the ball and I scored. It was so important to me to touch every base in Fenway Park.
“Twenty years ago I had a dream that I was running around third base [at Fenway Park] and fell down and never finished the dream, until this. I finally completed the experience. If you have a fantasy, you’re never too old to go after it,” Elwin added.
Elwell shares his passion for baseball and Ted Williams with area groups for free. He tells about his experience at the Red Sox Fantasy Camp, and talks about the life of Ted Williams.
“I really enjoy sharing the experience with others,” Elwin said. He hopes to turn his passion for Williams into a lucrative speaking tour some day. “I plan to speak to Red Sox Clubs,” he said. He can be reached at 563-1064.
