Opening Day......

One of the best days of the year for me has always been 'Opening Day'. And this is that day !

True, there were a couple of games in Japan this past week. And, last night they opened the 'new ball park' in Washington, DC. But today is really what I consider opening day, since most of major league's teams play their first game of the season today or tonight...including my Minnesota Twins.

What a great day ! As they say at the beginning of each season.....'Hope springs eternal.'

I continue to share a series of photographs I have taken over the past couple of years, as Linda and I have been on a quest to capture images of as many major league ball parks as we can.

The 'signature image' that I try to take at each park is the one from behind home plate and as far up as I can get, in order to afford the viewer a beautiful panoramic view of the whole stadium.

As always, simply click on the photograph to see a larger view.

Enjoy.

Today, being what I consider the real 'Opening Day', I'll share two of my favorite parks.





PNC Park in Pittsburgh

We were in this beautiful ball park on the 4th of July, 2006. It was truly one of the most comfortable and cozy parks I have seen, with a great view of the Pittsburgh skyline and Clemente Bridge beyond the outfield bleachers.

We enjoyed a dazzling fireworks display following the game and celebrated the 4th with several hundred thousand people on the point of the three rivers in Pittsburgh.




The Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Home of the Twins ! This much maligned stadium has been home to some of my best baseball memories, including two World Series Championships in 1987 and 1991 (Wow...I guess we're due for another one!)

We've driven to Minneapolis and attended at least a couple of games a year with family and friends for many years. One thing is certain....there will be a game, unaffected by weather. The 'purists' have won, however, and a brand new outdoor park is due to open in 2010.

I always enjoyed the 'dome'....especially the volume of noise the faithful could create at critical times in the game. I can't even begin to recall the many great memories we've shared at the Metrodome. It is with some sadness that I'll see it replaced, however, all reports are that the new park is going to be fantastic.


Enjoy 'Opening Day' !

Steve
travel-ography.com

Catching the Stars !

As I continue to share photographs of some of the Major League Baseball Stadiums that Linda and I have seen the past few years, I must mention that both parks that are featured in this post were almost overshadowed by the legendary talent that was on the field the day of the game.





The Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.

We were immediately impressed with the fact that almost everyone in the crowd was dressed in 'red'. It was almost like walking into a major college football stadium on 'game day'. Obviously they were still enamoured by the success of their '70's teams, dubbed the 'Big Red Machine'.

It was a beautiful afternoon for a ball game in early July, 2006. Especially a game that was to feature two of the games premier players, both certain to be Hall of Famers, based on their storied on-field accomplishments. Ken Griffey, Jr. of the Reds and Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros would face each other three times this day, to the delight of those in attendance. Griffey with the smooth, powerful home run swing....and Clemens with the near 100 mph fastball.

Two of baseball's best, showcased for us on this beautiful July day in Cincinnati. There was even a peaceful river flowing along just beyond the outfield bleachers.....it should have been called 'the Red'.





Petco Park in San Diego.

It happened by accident, sort of.

Our West Coast baseball park swing in the summer of 2007 had been roughly planned for a couple of months when it suddenly became apparent that we might be involved in a bit of baseball history.

We flew into San Francisco, rented a car, and followed the coast all the way down to San Diego. We hadn't really planned it this way but we also followed Barry Bonds in his historic quest to become baseball's all-time home run king. After seeing 'Barry' fail to tie the record of 755 in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, we arrived in San Diego knowing that he needed one to tie and two to break the long standing home run record of Hank Aaron.

Never having been to San Diego before, I had asked Linda to find and book a hotel close to the ball park....thinking it would be exciting to be part of the frenzy surrounding Bond's controversial chase of immortality.

As we faithfully followed our directions and easily navigated downtown San Diego, we arrived at the hotel the evening before the big Giants-Padres game. The Padres were playing the Colorado Rockies on this night and we were listening to the game on the radio, as we pulled up in front of our hotel. Linda went in to register, while I stayed in the car with our luggage.

Suddenly, the radio announcer's voice raised, as one of the Padres had launched a deep fly ball, on it's way to becoming a home run. A mighty, deafening roar, filled the air and I immediately knew this wasn't just coming from the radio. Startled, I looked up and to my suprise, found that I was sitting less than 100 feet from the stadium. Not only could I hear...but I could see the fans cheering wildly. Linda had indeed booked us into a hotel 'close to the ball park' !

Barry Bonds again failed to tie the record the next night, while we were in attendance, so we decided to take a 'day off' from baseball and see the rest of San Diego. That night Bonds launched the historic home run that tied the hallowed record....while we were watching Shamu, the killer whale, at San Diego Sea World.

We made the right choice.


Steve
travel-ography.com

Basketb/......Baseball Season !

The Grafton Spoilers won the North Dakota Class B State Boy's Basketball Tournament 10 days ago. It was the first BB title for Grafton since 1964.....44 years ! Wow !!


I was fortunate to have been asked to photograph the action from the 'front row' (court side) and also to share in the broadcasting of the games over the radio. I was in 'media heaven'.

I'm planning to post a slide show of 'Tournament Action' on this blog in the near future. It'll feature action shots from the games and several shots of the fantastic fans that followed the team. I'm also working on a show that will feature action shots of, not only the Spoiler boys, but several area athletes who just completed tournament play. Everyone should be proud of their accomplishments.

Now, with basketball behind us....oh, I know March Madness on the NCAA level is still capturing our attention....but, it's time to think about my favorite sport....baseball.

With the season about to begin at all levels, I thought I would post some of the big league stadium photographs I have taken the past few years to whet our appetite for 'baseball season'.

Linda and I are trying to photograph as many of the major league stadiums as we can. I'll try put a couple of photos up each day. Enjoy !

As always, just click on the photo to enlarge it.



We photographed Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California last summer (2007). It was a beautiful ballpark on a beautiful evening on the West Coast....but it had a 'dark secret'. The morning of the game, as we were getting ready to leave our hotel room, Linda saw a report on the television newscast that county health inspectors had discovered that the stadium had a 'rat infestation' problem. It seems that the concession workers were waiting until the next day to clean up the garbage, with the rats taking advantage of the situation and moving in for a banquet each evening following the game.

Although the news report indicated that the clean up was now required immediately following the game, and the problem had been solved....I noticed Linda sat with her feet up on her chair more than usual that night.




Jacob's Field in Cleveland, in spite of it's eye appeal, was probably the least 'fan friendly' park we have encountered thus far. We photographed this park in the summer of 2006 and found the ushers to be uncooperative and downright unfriendly....and that just never happens to us on this ballpark journey. In fact, one elderly usher chased us all around the outfield stands, which were mostly empty, while I fired off shot after shot while on the run. He never did catch us, but he did somewhat cramp our style, which is trying to capture each stadium from all angles.

We did get to see North Dakota native, Travis Hafner play. He's the most powerful guy on the Indians team...and one of the most powerful players in all of baseball. In fact, I could swear I felt the breeze way up in my seat when he struck out to end the game.

More baseball parks on my next post. It's almost 'Play Ball' time !

Steve
travel-ography.com

.....a few more 'shots'.

I hope these images don't bore the non basketball fans....but going to the ND State Class B Tournament is a pretty big deal and the fans in Grafton are very excited. Here are a few more shots from the recently completed state qualifying action.







Steve

Tournament Time....

The whole town is still talking about the Spoiler Boy's Basketball team that made it to the state tournament with a thrilling 71-68 win over a very persistent Park River team this past Thursday night.

This marks the first time a Grafton boy's team has qualified for state since 1987.....and that was in Class A. The Spoilers are now in Class B.

The 'B' Tournament is a 'blast'...in fact some call it the 'social event of the year in North Dakota'....while I've also heard it referred to as 'Mardi Gras in March'....basketballs and beads.

Here are a few more images from our 'Spoiler BB Art' series. These are action shots captured during the past couple of weeks of tournament play.

As always, just click on the photo to make it larger. Enjoy.












Steve
travel-ography.com

One Round Ball...

'One Round Ball...'



How can 'one round ball' draw so much attention.....be the center of so much emotion and passion.....and create so much team unity and community pride.

Easy.

That 'one round ball' is what is used to determine the victors in North Dakota Class B Basketball games.

We've been spending a great deal of quality time in the gym lately, following the young men and women from this area, as they compete in the end of the season tournaments.

It sure has been fun. And, as a special bonus, our local boy's team won the Region 2 Tournament on Thursday night, thus qualifying for next weekend's State Class 'B' Tournament in Fargo.

All the teams and players represented their communities very well and parents and schools should be proud.

I'll post a few more photographs from a series I've titled 'Spoiler BB Art' in the next couple of days.

As always, just double click on the photograph to see it larger.

Enjoy !

Steve
travel-ography.com