Backyard camping

Who doesn’t love summer camp?

And who doesn’t love saving money?

With the economic squeeze continually tightening its grip on metro Detroit, extracurricular spending is bound to take a hit.

That’s why communities should consider themselves fortunate when local coaches host their own summer sports camps — a growing trend in the area.

For the most part, local camps are considerably much more affordable than ones hosted by universities.

And from what I’ve seen, there’s hardly, if any, drop off in instruction.

I attended a few sports summer camps at area universities when I was in school, and after spending some time recently at the Eastside Soccer Camp at Fraser High, I didn’t notice any significant differences.

The Eastside camp, directed by Warren De La Salle boys and Fraser girls soccer coach Thaier Mukhtar, was run in a very similar fashion to the camps I remember going to.

But with a fee of just $150 (including each camper receiving a Nike ball) for five days of training, instruction and competitions, local camps like the Eastside one can’t be beat — unless, of course, the camper wants to be crammed into a stuffy dorm room and feast on collegiate cafeteria food (which I suspect was all just leftovers from the school year) for a week.

How sweet it is

While most of his counterparts throughout the minor leagues are focusing purely on baseball and that coveted call up to the big show, you'll probably find Parker Dalton occasionally sitting back and just taking it all in.

Dalton, an infielder with the Great Lakes Loons — the Los Angeles Dodgers class A affiliate, describes carrying out his duties as a ballplayer as, "icing on the cake."

Don’t get the wrong impression. Dalton isn’t a lazy athlete along for the ride.

One of the first things the 25-year-old Houston native mentioned to me when I was talking to  him about the Loons for my summer series about minor league teams around the state was about how hard he and his teammates work to impress fans and scouts alike.

But after a bout with cancer, Dalton knows playing baseball isn’t the number one focus of his life anymore — living it is.

“One of the things I realized was you have no control of your life, your baseball career, anything like that,” Dalton said.

Preparing for his senior year at Texas A&M University, Dalton was diagnosed with malignant melanoma — a serious form of skin cancer. Fortunately, he was able to overcome it through treatment.

While there is no trace of cancer left in his body, it did leave Dalton with a stronger sense and grip of humility, spirituality and awareness.

“They could have found more, and that could have been it,” he said. “It was a lesson early in life that you don’t have much control. Playing baseball now is a gift.”

“When you think about it, when you remember, ‘Hey, you almost never got to do it again’, it really makes you cherish it.”

Dalton’s perspective of simply enjoying the game and realizing how privileged he is to play it was refreshing to hear.

It was one of the many examples I came across during my baseball excursion that truly encompasses the passion surrounding the sport, its players and its fans — regardless of the level.

And, for a few days this summer, I was glad to be apart of it, too.

Star impressions

For the most part, the focus of minor league baseball is to develop young players so they can reach their full potential, and ultimately, the majors.

But once in a while, pros spend time with their club’s affiliated organizations to rehab from injuries.

Such was the case of the Detroit Tigers star Curtis Granderson, who spent the early portion of this season recovering from a finger injury.

He kicked off his road to recovery with the West Michigan Whitecaps, Detroit’s single A affiliate located near Grand Rapids, in Comstock Park.

Granderson went 4-for-11 in three games with the Whitecaps, including a pair of triples while also turning in some solid defense.

But Whitecaps manager Joe DePastino was more impressed with his off-the-field performance. After sitting down with DePastino to talk about the Whitecaps for my summer series, he told me a quick story about Granderson’s stint with the team.

Apparently, the center fielder’s charm, which has made him one of the Detroit’s most popular athletes, isn’t reserved just for fans but for his teammates as well, regardless of what team he’s on.

“He was great, a great person,” DePastino said. “He came in here and he said to me, ‘I’m doing whatever you guys do here.'"

“He was one of the team,” DePastino continued. “When he first walked into the clubhouse, instead of going to his locker and sitting there, he walked in, put his stuff down and started talking to everybody, introduced himself.

“That right there was the first sign you know he’s a great guy.”