44 Friday; January 25, 1985 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS . MEMBERS ONLY Ti,e Apparel Mart, Suite A21 19/11 West 10 Mile Rd. Southfield, MI 48075 (313) 353.5640 JERRY LEWIS Pitcher Height: 5'7" Hemet°Yen: Weight: 5,5'ibe. Southfield, Michigan SPORTS FANTASIES Jerry had Detroit Ti always dreamed of playin g for, the Chain pion gers. So he invited the 1968 Tigers Training to come to World with him. Spring For is one actual Detroit Tiger. This the week he was an ultimate fantasy. etc ordor Forms Po sox c, rowlock NJ 07866 or pot} 692.8228 0 1984 Sic Jerry Lewis' personal baseball card — making the dream complete. 41f In real life, Jerry Lewis is 40 years old, the manufacturer's representative for Members Only sportwear in Michi- gan and a sports fan's sports fan, catch- ing dozens of games on network and cable television each week. Nice,but hardly the stuff of dreams, which is where Jerry Lewis' story really begins. During the past year, Lewis and more than 100 Detroit-area sports fanatics like him, have, through the efforts of the Southfield resident and business partner Jim Price, lived out their athletic fantasies — challenging former Detroit Tigers with a ",dazzl- ing" display of baseball skills during a spring training exhibition game in Lakeland, Fla. and trading slap shots with former Red Wing greats in a hoc- key game at Joe Louis Arena which thousands of spectators paid (sort of) to see. Next month, Lewis will accom- pany a group of 78 fantasy campers for an encore appearance in Lakeland, where they will spend a week prepar- ing for a second game against Price, Al Kaline, Willie Horton and other mem- bers of the Tigers' 1968 world cham- pionship team. Lewis hit on the idea for the Tiger fantasy camp after seeing a story in - the Sporting News (which he reads religiously) about a similar camp staged in Scottsdale, Ariz. by the Chicago Cubs a couple of years ago. "I immediately said that's for me, I have to go. But my second reaction was: Hey, I don't even like the Cubs. I love the Detroit Tigers. In fact, I al- ways wanted to be a Tiger." In September 1983, Lewis, who had worked with former Tiger catcher and Channel 2 sportscaster Price in the off-season during the 1960s, pro- posed the camp to his associate as both the fulfillment of a dream for amateur ballplayers and a reunion for the former Tigers. At first, Price didn't think his former teammates would go for the idea. And he was skeptical that any fan, no matter how dedicated, would pay $2,295 to take part in the camp. But Lewis, who seemed to gain enthusiasm as the project got rolling," persuaded Price that the week in Lakeland would not only be enjoyable, but a profitable business venture as well. So, when two prominently placed newspaper advertisements netted only 65 calls, Lewis had visions of his fantasy collapsing before it got off the ground. What saved the dream, ac- cording to Lewis, was an "avalanche" of free publicity via local newspapers, radio and TV stations who saw the fan- tasy camp as a unique human interest story. "We sent out about 300 applica- tions and had more than 100 people for the week-long session," Lewis said, adding that there were 78 campers, 14 wives and an entourage of media people, all of whom paid their way for the trip. "I think most of them had the time of their lives." This year's camp will be essen- tially the same as last year's, accord- ing to Lewis. Seventy-five new people and three repeaters have signed up for the event and the cast of former Tigers taking part is pretty much intact, with the exception of Mickey Lolich. Dick Tracewski, John Hiller and Hank Aguirre will be participating for the first time. The self-confessed baseball addict says that the campers come in two basic types. "We attracted the person like myself, the guy who has been out RA DING 11 TA F R PR I NG AINING Since boyhood, Jerry Lewis has always wanted to play with the Detroit Tigers. Now, he has. BY TEDD SCHNEIDER Staff Writer Paul Schaefer, who at 75 was the oldest fantasy camper in 1984, takes his swings during the game against the former Tigers.