The Oklahoma Traveler at baseball "fantasy camp" with Tulsa pastor Terry Rush, his "Mission In Life"

Описание: Tulsa pastor Terry Rush grew up in northeast Missouri wanting to play baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals.
That never happened.
Instead, Terry was the pastor at Tulsa's Memorial Drive Church of Christ for 40 years, retiring in 2017.
But he never lost his love for baseball, or for the Cardinals.
His office at Memorial Drive was filled with his collection of Cardinals memorabilia.
And his life was filled with the actual players he idolized because of Terry's attendance at baseball "fantasy camps" for at least 30 years.
Fantasy Camp is a chance for those who always dreamed of playing professional baseball to see that dream come to life, if only for a week or so, playing alongside some of the sport's greatest, retired, players.
But Terry also used his years at camp to grow spiritually closer to some of baseball's biggest names, and he used the opportunity as part of his extended ministry to offer guidance to some of the men who he saw as always being asked for something..... be it an autograph, a dinner invitation, a speaking engagement, a piece of baseball paraphernalia.
Terry saw, through the aura of professional sports, that many athletes are in need of something after the cheering stops, and he offered to meet those needs in his role at these fantasy camps.
Plus, they were just a lot of fun to attend!
In this case, before the Cardinals themselves began to sponsor a fantasy camp at their spring training site in Florida, Terry attended this camp in Mesa, Arizona, in January, 2000.
It was organized by former Chicago Cubs catcher Randy Hundley, who is credited with creating the "fantasy camp" business model of inviting former players to conduct a week-long "camp" for Major League-dreamers.
This camp in Mesa was staffed by mostly former Chicago Cubs players, a few of them Hall-Of-Famers, with a couple of former Cardinals thrown in for good measure.
Photojournalist Grant Gerondale was alongside for this shoot in Mesa, at the Cubs then-spring training facility, Hohokam Park.
This was notable for us as well, for it marked the last out-of-state trip Grant and I took together, as he was soon to leave for a position with the Nature Conservancy of Oklahoma.
It ended a marvelous ten year run of producing memorable stories for KOTV that brought the station scores of local, state and national awards and recognition, and took us all across the world, where we met marvelous people with unforgettable stories they graciously shared with us.
"Mission In Life" was broadcast in February, 2000, as a consecutive night three-part series, something else you don't see in local television news anymore.
That's because consultants decreed that viewers don't have the time, patience or willingness to commit to anything on television longer than 1:10.
I never bought into that, nor did our bosses at this time at KOTV.
Which is why storytelling shined, and stories like Terry's went a full nine innings!