Thursday, August 9, 2007

Longest baseball game in history...to me anyway

My skin is a little brighter today. Yesterday's game between the boys from Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia seemed to go on and on like a bad Jean-Claude van Damme movie. I'm not a fan of quick games when it comes to this level of play, but it was painful...literally.

I shouldn't leave the house this time of year without sunblock caked on my skin. (I successfully had skin cancer removed from my back when I was a senior in high school.) Up to this point in the tournament the games have moved along at a good pace. So I departed my truck after securing a pretty good parking spot close to Breen Field in Bristol without sunblock. Big mistake! This game lasted over three hours in mid-90 degree heat with the usual high humidity in place here in New England. There were clouds in the sky, but I think when the sun got behind them, it melted them away eliminated the 18 seconds of shade we all craved. At this point I was using my lens to shade my head from the sun. To make things worse, the homeplate umpire was taken away by ambulance in the bottom of the sixth inning when he apparently passed out from heat exhaustion.....extending the game. I seamed like he would be OK.

There are some rules in place for media when we cover this event. Stay in the photo wells when you are taking photos, don't leave the field until the middle or end of the inning and some others that don't pertain to this post. I think it was around the fourth inning when I started to feel the lack of fluids in my body taking affect. There was yet another pitching change (one of seven in the game) and I broke rule #2 listed above, I made a dash for the concession stand. On my way out I said to fellow shooter Mike something around the lines of, "I'm getting a drink or they'll need to pick me up out of the photo well". I don't remember the exact words. I knew I had to be back before they started playing again or I wouldn't be able to enter the field. So I ran the 75 feet to the concession stand for a sports drink. Doesn't it seem that when you are really in a hurry everything in front of you is in slow motion? The girl in front of me was paying with her piggy bank counting change to pay for her french fries. Inside I was begging for someone to ask what I needed. Finally I heard, "Can I help you?". I was probably only 10 seconds...but it felt like 10 minutes. "Yes, (sports drink) please." What color she asked. "Red" I quickly responded. Red she confirmed. "Yes, Red!" I say this as I notice the umpire still in the outfield (out of position) so I figured I had a couple of seconds until they started playing. As I hand her my two dollars to pay for my drink, she handed me my drink sooooo slow. Either she didn't notice my complete frantic to get my drink and go or she was having fun with me and they all got a kick out of the burned photographer that was freaking out for his juice. That was the best drink I've had in a while! I think it saved my life. I made it back to the photo well in time for the game.

After the long medical delay, the game resumed and DC actually had the tying run at the plate with two outs. A slow roller to the second baseman ended the threat, the game and the pain. Good news for Curtis Sports Imaging is that PA made the semi-finals and will play another day. If they win this one on Friday, they play on ESPN for that bid to the world series.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

It begins here...

Curtis Sports Imaging is located in Connecticut, USA. We cover sports of all levels. Today we're covering the Eastern Region Little League Tournament in Bristol, CT. These kids are one step away from every little leaguer's dream.....Williamsport....the mecca of youth baseball.

For this year's tournament we're covering a team from Northampton, Pennsylvania. This squad was in control of their tournament until last nights game vs. Endwell, NY. The NY team looks like a high school JV team and put a spanking on the boys from PA, 9-0. Chances of making the semis for PA look good however, they take on DC (1-2) today at 2pm.