Brooklyn Dodger greats Duke Snider, Carl Erskine, and Ralph Branca, all 82 now, paid homage at dinner Monday night to their late teammates from the Boys of Summer era and recounted stories of the past that had Dodgertown Fantasy Baseball campers hanging on their every word for an inside piece of baseball history.
The best story came from Erskine, who was in the bullpen warming up with Branca on that fateful day in 1951 when Branca would give up the shot heard around the world to Bobby Thompson, and cost Brooklyn the pennant.
“Walter Alston (Dodgers manager) called the bullpen coach and wanted to know who was ready to go because Don Newcombe, who had pitched a hell of a game, was tiring. He said, ‘They’re both ready but Erskine’s been bouncing his curveball in the dirt.’ Alston told him to send in Branca.
“When people ask me what’s the best pitch I ever threw, I tell’em it was that curveball in the dirt in the bullpen that day.”

With some sage advice to fantasy camp rookies, Guy Wellman kicked off the 51st and probably final Dodgertown Fantasy Baseball Camp in Vero Beach.
“Swing the bat. You didn’t come all this way and pay all this money to take a walk. Have a hell of a camp,” said the man who has been director of this camp since it opened 35 years ago.
The Dodgers are moving to Glendale,Ariz for spring training next year and no one knows yet if there will be more fantasy camps there.
So, we took his advice and swung the bat and to hell with the walk. We lost our first game 4-3. Hey, we had a lot of laughs that’s what matters at this camp.
Former Dodger catcher Jeff Torborg is our manager and the “kid” on the team is 52. How great is that!
“Let’s have fun, don’t get hurt and let’s win,” said team captain Mark Stone from Encino.
Well, we had fun, didn’t get hurt, but we lost. Big deal.
Tomorrow I’ll tell you how Dodger Boys of Summer pitcher Ralph Branca – yeah, the guy who gave up that damn homerun to Bobby Thompson, won 21 games for tge Dodgers one year and got paid a whopping “6,500 a year for it.

(Daily News columnist Dennis McCarthy reports from Vero Beach, Fla….)

Dodgertown Day Two – all muscle groups still sore.
To get to the Dodger lockerroom at Vero Beach, you take Jackie Robinson Dr. to Sandy Koufax Lane and turn left. Need I say more? The place is steeped in Dodger history and you don’t have to look far to find it.
When I walked into the lockerroom this morning to get dressed with 117 other guys acting like kids in a candy store, Hall of Famer Duke Snider was standing in front of my locker talking to former Dodger shortstop Maury Wills.
Behind them were two Dodger jersey’s – one white, one gray – with my name stitched on the back. It doesn’t get much better than that.
All the rookies had to be dressed and out at Holman Stadium, where the Dodgers play their spring training games, by 9 a.m. so the coaches could determine just how bad we were. We took 20 minutes of infield with Wills giving us instruction, and another 20 minutes of outfield from former Dodger outfielder Tommy Davis.
I only had two ground balls go through my legs and three dropped fly balls, which after 40 years of being a couch potato I figure isn’t all that bad. I could be wrong, though. There are an awful lot of guys in their 50s and 60s doing pretty good out here.
After lunch, we learn what teams we’re on and play our first game. Should be interesting. I let you know in a couple of hours if I pull anything.

(Daily News columnist Dennis McCarthy reports from Vero Beach, Fla….)

I can see this is gonna be a lot tougher than I thought it would be.
Muscles I havent heard from in 30 years are already screaming, and we havent started playing real ball yet.
The rookies that would be me were sent to the batting cages while the veterans the 87 out of 117 guys and one woman attending this last scheduled Dodgers Fantasy Camp in Vero Beach, Fla. stood around and had a good laugh grading us so we could be put on their teams.
I tanked it big time. In 20 pitches, I whiffed 15 times and hit five meek foul balls.
Nice going, rook, said Bernie Silverman, a 71-year-old retired optometrist from Sherman Oaks.
Bernie is attending his third camp with his 45-year-old son, David, from Agoura Hills. More about the Silvermans in my column Tuesday.
The rookie workout lasted two hours, and we dragged our tired bodies back to our rooms before heading over to the lounge to have a couple drinks and watch the Super Bowl.
Monday morning, the real fun and games begin as we split up in teams and starts to play the games.
I got a feeling Ill spend a lot of time in the trainers room this week. Stay tuned.

Joyce Greenberg sent her husband, Ted, to a week at the Dodgers fantasy baseball camp for his 50th birthday 10 years ago.
He hasn’t missed a camp since.
“He’s like a kid in a candy shop, a little kid who never grew up,” she said.