I really was having fun taking pictures yesterday so I took more than I normally would. I was trying a few new things, and actually snapped a couple of good pictures in the process. Here are a few that I liked for one reason or another:
A young fan throws out one of the first pitches of the game
Carlos May shares a laugh with Brian Grening after throwing out his first pitch
Lorenzo Scott watching his first inning triple track towards the outfield fence
Yesterday I found myself back at the Steelyard for the Railcats game against the Goldeyes of Winnipeg. I was unsure of which game to see on this homestand, but the announcement that Carlos May would be at the Sunday game sealed the deal. I did not know too much about Carlos, but after reading his story I knew that I wanted to meet him.
Carlos May signing the glove of a young fan
When the Railcats have had other dignitaries signing at games you had to get to the stadium early in order to get a good spot in line. I rushed into the stadium and around the kids getting their free baseball gloves. I knew that Carlos was supposed to be in the Stadium Club in right field, but I saw no signs on my way out there. I was shocked when I saw him at a table up against the building with no line. Many people had already entered the stadium before I did, and nobody thought to get his autograph? I had him sign a ball for me, and one for a future contest on this site. I really wish I had taken some of my cards of him for him to sign. A few people trickled in and out, but nobody really seemed interesting in the former ball player in right field. That is too bad. He had a great career ahead of him before he lost his right thumb while with the Marine Reserves. He still came back and had a very good career despite losing the thumb on his throwing hand. I was happy to meet him, and since nobody was around I asked a Railcats employee if they would take my picture with Carlos. I had already taken some pictures of him so I knew that my camera was working. For some reason though whenever I stepped into the frame with Carlos the camera would show an error message. Thankfully they had a camera to take my picture with. Today during lunch I saw that they sent it to me as promised. I guess I really was meant to be behind this camera instead of in front of it. Carlos was also honored before the game, and even threw out the first pitch. It was nice to meet one of the sluggers from the Sox teams of the 70’s. Continue reading
I love the modification to this helmet
This was the question that I kept asking myself today while I was watching the Gary Railcats exhibition game against the Winnipeg Goldeyes. I was hustling to get to the stadium in time for the 11:00 start this morning so that I could see the first pitch. I found a great parking spot right next to a player who was in his car. Right then I started wondering what was going on. I walked up to the ticket window to get a ticket, and none of them were open, and nobody was manning the front gate. I walked in and saw that I was the only fan in the stadium. Have you ever been to a movie that you were the only one in? It is a weird feeling, but they eventually turn off the lights, and you have nobody looking at you. At the game today the players for the Goldeyes were talking to me about being the only guy in the stadium. I really started to wonder if I should have been there. Of course a few more people showed up, but the number never got above 15 fans in the stadium at any one time. The odds were good for me to get a ball. Continue reading
Last night I was in Gary yet again to watch the Railcats take on the Winnipeg Goldeyes on Hockey Night. They called it Hockey Night, but it might as well have been Blackhawks Night or Denis Savard Night. Their were probably more Blackhawk jerseys in the crowd than Railcats. Savard is shown above signing a baseball for me prior to the game. I have always liked Denis. Going way back to when I first heard of him I thought his name was Denise Savard because of the way they pronounced it on TV. It took me a while to get used to the way they said his name. The S on Savard almost sounded like it belonged on the end of his first name. Anyway I am past that now. Savard was known for his Spin-O-Rama move during his playing days. He is known best in his coaching days for getting four whole games into the 2008-2009 season before getting fired. This baseball will go great next to my Stan Mikita ball that I got signed last season. Continue reading
night I went to the Gary Railcats game against the Winnipeg Goldeyes. The game was delayed for an hour and a half by rain. That would have been a boring time, but the Winnipeg bullpen put on an exciting touch football game. It was hard to tell who won, but they were having a blast doing it. They even seemed a little bummed when they had to go back to the clubhouse to dress for the g
ame. This is what baseball should be about. The players were having a blast. They started off just throwing a football around, and it quickly escalated into a game. Not too many underneath routes were being thrown to. Most of the time they were going for the home run ball. I guess if you have the arm and the speed why not? Matt Davis was one of the quarterbacks, and he ended up being the losing pitcher. Did he waste his arm pre game? I am sure someone will have a look at that. 
Dull. In the first five innings the Railcats had one hit, and the Goldeyes managed to knock out two hits in that time, although they were both balls that should have been caught. It ended up not making a difference, but two pop ups to the outfield that were not caught by Christian Guerrero could have been huge. After nine innings neither team could get across a run. The fans were getting restless. The crowd of 2,823 were waiting for the post game fireworks that were promised after the ga
me. With the delay before the game, and the long game they just wanted someone to win. The team did not matter when the kids were getting restless. In the top of the tenth the Goldeyes got a man on second, and he scored when Railcat second baseman Eric McNamee booted what would have been an inning ending ground ball. Instead of getting in front of the ball he tried to reach across his body to snag the ball. The ball caromed off of his mitt into the outfield. With two outs the runner easily scored from second. Eric was visibly not happy with himself after the play. He would get his revenge though. In the bottom of the inning he singled after Mike Massaro walked to set up the game winner. Both runners scored when Jay Pecci singled to right center field. The crowd was ecstatic. I don’t know if they were happy the Railcats won, or that the game was over. Either way it was an exciting finish to an otherwise boring game. 
f players with Major League ties were in the game. The Goldeyes have Dee Brown in left field for them. Dee is shown to the left. I saw Dee play with the Royals when he was with the bigs. He is tearing up the Northern League right now, and is a Northern League All Star. He went 0-3 with a walk on the day, but he hit the ball hard. T
he other player is Christian Guerrero. Christian is shown on the right. He is the cousin of Angels right fielder Vladimir Guerrero. He has a long way to go to match up to Vlad. He swings at anything just like his cousin, but does not make contact. He was hitting .128 coming into the game. He does swing hard (although akwardly) so if he does make contact I assume it will fly. As I said earlier he also has made some bad plays in the field. A ball to him is an adventure. 
Confessions of a Sports Junkie 
