Baseball in Beantown

Two weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get to go to Boston to photograph a game between the Angels and Red Sox. The night before, there was a 2 1/2 hour rain delay and the game went 13 innings, so it seemed like everybody in the stadium was talking about how little sleep they got and how they didn't want to be there. I, on the other hand, got a great night's sleep and I thoroughly wanted to be there. I never seem to fit in. :)

I got to the stadium extra early, so I could trek around the outside and take some photos of the stadium. There's so much history in that stadium, that it was just something I needed to do. Overall, I had a great time and I was pretty pleased with the photos. It was a pretty difficult stadium to work in for several reasons. First, it's a very old stadium, so there is no photographer's work room like in most stadiums (that I'm used to anyway). All of the photographers that have to transmit photos on the spot bring their laptops into the photo wells with them, and transmit right from there. That makes it even more crowded in the wells....especially the first base side where most of the 'regulars' hang out for the entire game anyway. Plus, they don't let you go on the field behind the catcher, between innings, to go from one photo well to the other. You have to go through the stands, which are barely wide enough for one person to walk through......let alone a person with all of his camera equipment. PLUS, there are only two photo wells in the stadium, at the outside of the dugouts. The only time you can get 'head on' shots of the pitchers is in the first inning when you have to sit in the first row of seats, if there are no fans there, or you have to squat in the aisles. Talk about making things more difficult than they have to be! But, I'm not complaining. I still can't believe I get paid for doing that stuff.

On to the photos. Image 5 is one that made me happy. It's of Torii Hunter (who I gained a lot of respect for during that experience) and Peter Gammons (who you must know if you've watched any Baseball Tonight, or MLB Network in the last 15 years). Torii was so cool to take the time to speak to that group of people (they were some sort of Christian mission group) and joke around with them and tell some funny stories. Most pro athletes won't do that kind of thing, and it was really refreshing to see that. And, Peter.....well, he's got more baseball knowledge in his pinky finger than I'll ever know in my life. To be able to experience Fenway, and seeing Peter Gammons up close and personal, at the same time, was a real thrill for me.

Image 7 is of the first pitch. The woman throwing out the pitch was 100 years old. Pretty cool stuff.

Image 23, just looked interesting to me. How, his hand is directly underneath the ball just doesn't make sense to me. Haha.

Comments about anything else are appreciated.