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caption:
Al LeBoeuf, Yankees Fantasy Camp coach, left, with his arm around his star centerfielder Chris Ferace, Putnam police chief.
By Ronald P. Coderre
As a young adult Putnam Police Chief Christopher Ferace dreamed of a career in law enforcement. Much like many young men of his time, he also dreamed of playing Major League baseball. For young Chris Ferace, living in New London, the dream was also being dressed in the pin stripes of the New York Yankees.
Although one dream came true — a career in law enforcement — the second never materialized. But for the past 10 of 14 baseball seasons, Ferace has found a way of living his baseball dream as a Bronx Bomber by attending New York Yankees Fantasy Camp in Tampa, Fla.
This year Ferace attended the camp from Nov. 7 through 13 but something occurred at this camp that had never happened during the previous nine visits at the Steinbrenner Complex.
The Yankee Fantasy Camp attracts approximately 80 participants annually, ranging in age from 30 to 80 years old. The 80 aspiring players in camp are broken into six teams, with Ferace and some of his acquaintances playing for the Bambinos. The camp is “big league” all the way, including two games per day, beginning with workouts in the early morning, followed by batting practice prior to the game.
Players are attired in official Yankee uniforms, get full use of the clubhouse facilities, provided with Yankee SWAG and live in an upscale hotel nearby. The teams are coached by former New York Yankee players who are assisted by former players and coaches from other teams who live in the Tampa area.
Ferace’s coaches this year were former Yankee pitchers Jeff Nelson and Gil Patterson as well as a coach in the Milwaukee Brewers organization, who possessed a Boston/New England accent. And that’s where this year’s story begins.
Following batting practice one morning Ferace asked this coach if he was from Boston. His response was, “No, I come from a small town in northeastern Connecticut.” Stunned by the response, Ferace countered, “I’m the chief of Police in Putnam.”
Now for the rest of the story. The coach said he was from Thompson, primarily the village of North Grosvenordale and that he graduated from Tourtellotte Memorial High School. Probing further, the Chief discovered he was speaking with and being coached by the former local baseball legend Al LeBoeuf, who is part of the camp support coaching staff, where he also throws BP to the teams.
LeBoeuf was a standout athlete at Tourtellotte who played at Eastern Connecticut State University for one year before being drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies. He was ticketed for the Major League Phillies when he ran into some bad luck. During a AAA game with the Portland Beavers, he was hit by a pitch on the hip, disabling him for the remainder of his career. In 2012, LeBoeuf was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer of the hip, related to the hit-by-pitch, but due to early detection was able to make a long but successful recovery.
A trip to Yankee Fantasy Camp created by a young man’s dream and a chance occurrence meeting at camp, brought Chief Ferace and Alan LeBoeuf, two people with northeastern Connecticut connections together.
“The Fantasy Camp has always been a great experience. This year was very special because the coach who went out of his way to make it great was none other than Al LeBoeuf,” said Ferace.
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