“The sorest loser that ever lived.”

That’s what Earl Weaver wanted inscribed on his gravestone.

And that’s how he managed when the pros played the Fantasy Campers, some of his former players recalled last week.

Earl aside, Jim Palmer would throw batting practice fast balls.  However, you did not want to come to the plate after another camper had gotten a base hit.

To win, a manager has to keep his 25 players happy.  Only ten people start each game.

Every camper is in the starting lineup, but if you’re hitting twelfth and last, as I did, that’s only two at bats each six-inning game.

I did, however, come up twice against 20-game winner Mike Boddicker.  The second time, I stroked a run-scoring two-out “legitimate” single to left (Boddicker’s term).

With a career average of .500, I now “own” him, as they say in the dugout.

Back in Annapolis, I now need to keep the bills in my lineup happy.

I’ve introduced thirteen, with an additional dozen or more to be put in the hopper by the Thursday 5 p.m. deadline.

Four bills will be heard this week.  That means revising draft testimony and ensuring that a broad group of witnesses will testify, hopefully with a story to tell about why we need to pass this bill.

And if a task force to study the issue is the best that you can accomplish, as may be the case for two of my bills already, you don’t need to be a sore loser.

Declare victory instead.