Wounded veterans live a fantasy at White Sox camp

Every morning Chris Miller and his team rose with the sun, ate breakfast, put their uniforms on.

Then they huddled over the game plan for the day and headed to the field.

The freshly manicured baseball diamonds at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., were vastly different from the fields of battle the 30-year-old Marine and his fellow military veterans fought on in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet the routine was refreshingly familiar.

"You walk in, see the lockers, the name plates, and you know each of these guys in there with you has your back. It reminded me of being in the military and what my platoon would do. For the first time since the Marine Corps, this gave me an opportunity to sit around in a locker room and bond with and form a relationship with a group of guys without having to worry about if we'd all see each other tomorrow," Miller said. "I loved that the best. Since I got out of the military, I've gone through periods of isolating myself. But if you can't bond over baseball, you've got some real serious issues."

Miller, of Schaumburg, was one of seven wounded military veterans from Illinois and Wisconsin given the opportunity to attend the White Sox Fantasy Camp earlier this spring, courtesy of the White Sox, Salute Inc. and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

During their seven-day adventure at Camelback Ranch, the veterans wore custom White Sox uniforms, worked out with Sox greats and competed with other teams of campers for the fantasy camp championship.

Army veteran Jeremy Votaw, 32, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and leg injuries from a gunfight in Ramadi, Iraq. Having grown up a White Sox and Paul Konerko fan in St. Charles, Votaw called the trip a dream come true. He too said it was great to "function as a team" with the other guys.

"I don't think people realize how much it means to a military veteran to be able to be a part of something, or to continue working in a team environment because that's how we're programed," Votaw said. "And if my new team happens to work in Arizona in the spring and include (former White Sox players) Darryl Boston, Richard Dotson, Bill Melton, Ron Kittle and Harold Baines, that's even better."

Once they arrived, the veterans had a short time to bond before they were designated their positions and the games got going.

"They put me in at catcher and I've never caught a game in my life," Miller said. "But Tom Paciorek and Richard Dotson are not a bad crew to have helping you."

Votaw bounced around the outfield and said he was just getting comfortable and in a groove as the week was about to end.

"I was literally finding my swing as we were boarding the plane to come home, so I need more time," Votaw said. "But seriously, I couldn't be more grateful to the people who put this all together and the people who donate money to all (of) them to pull this together.

"I know it's just baseball, but this time away from the struggles of the real world has allowed me to focus on doing better as a person and again, it's all because of baseball. That's crazy."

When all was said and done, the team fell one game short of the playoffs but gained the respect of the other campers for the players' efforts.

"Richard Dotson said he would go back to spring training and let those guys know that what they're dealing with is trivial stuff compared to what we dealt with," Votaw said. "But more importantly than that, he was someone who let us live a dream and be ourselves. I don't think any of us could express how much that means."