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Game 5 of the World Series ended tonight with the St. Louis Cardinals pulling off a surprising home sweep over the Detroit Tigers. As in game 4, the score was close throughout, providing tension until the final out. Preparing for the ninth inning and the inevitable “jubo” on the field can be an interesting process. The opportunity to get the best picture usually happens in the span of about ten seconds after the final out. There was debate over what lens to use, who to key on…. I was planning on staying on Albert Pujols at the end because he is the star of the team. Another guy I was thinking of keying in on was either Scott Rolen or David Eckstein, because one of them was probably going to be the MVP. Then there is the pitcher and catcher jumping into each other’s arms that is usually quite nice. At the end, keying on Pujols right after the final out, it looked like he just lost his dog. He basically did a quick fist pump and ran to the mound. I immediately went back to the pitcher and catcher before they got together and ended up getting a pretty good frame of them. I must admit that at least from my angle, TV and security was not a big problem. So many times has a police officer just wandered in front of the photo well, blocking the moments on the
field.

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The on the field photos after the game provided some good moments as well, except for the fact that they didn’t bring the World Series trophy on the field, which was a shame. After the owner was presented with the trophy, it really seemed like he didn’t want anyone else to even touch. Usually the manager or star player lifts it up or runs around the field, but not this time. Players started trickling out from the clubhouse to celebrate with the fans after getting doused by champagne in the locker room. The typical photographer “scrum” broke out, with some pretty good moments. A Sporting News photographer went down over a bank of TV lights chasing starting pitcher Jeff Weaver. A Reuters photographer was literally saved from going down by Albert Pujols, who amazingly enough caught him by the sleeve, picked him up and asked if he was OK.

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Overall, the technology, editors and photographers performed at a usual high level; moving pictures in near real time. The moments on the field provided some telling, compelling images from a variety of angles captured by our photographers. The Cardinals staff and MLB did a great job of accommodating us and allowing us to showcase the Fall Classic in images.

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After a rain out the night before the fans and media came back to Busch Stadium on Thursday night for another try at getting game four on the books. With the weather cooperating a bit the game got underway at its normal time and boy was it ever a game.
After covering a few uneventful games, this one came as a blessing (kinda). As I wrote about before from an editing standpoint boring games are no fun to cover because there are no photos to send. The opposite is true about an exciting one, especially a game that comes down to the last innings where deadlines are tight. While photos from these games are awesome to look through, it can be stressful when five photographers are all shooting that awesome game, all have awesome photos of that game, and clients are waiting for those awesome photos.
Game four came down to a hit by David Eckstein of the St. Louis Cardinals in the bottom of the eighth inning that scored Aaron Miles to take a one run lead over the Tigers. Photos from that play were what picture editors across the country were waiting for. Thanks to the miracles of modern technology we were able to provide the following two images and many others to our clients around the world minutes after they happened.

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ST LOUIS - OCTOBER 26: Adam Wainwright #50 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates after defeating the Detroit Tigers to take Game Four of the 2006 World Series on October 26, 2006 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals defeated the Tigers 5-4 to take a 3-1 series lead.

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ST LOUIS - OCTOBER 26: Curtis Granderson #28 of the Detroit Tigers dives and miss an RBI double hit by David Eckstein #22 in the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during Game Four of the 2006 World Series on October 26, 2006 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.

To see our MLB post season coverage thus far click here.

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Tonight’s game 4 victory by the St. Louis Cardinals was a true World Series Classic. The game was back and forth throughout, with many lead changes late into the game. Photographically, the game provided more moments than any of the previous three games. So often, does the quality of the game mirror the quality of the pictures. Tonight was no exception. Shooting a game with so much on the line for both teams, usually leads to defining moments. Hopefully, as a photographer, you are in a position to capture these moments. The good thing about working with a team of photographers is that you have back-up. Chances are, that at least one of our five photographers will have an angle on the key moments.

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There are so many variables that can prohibit you from doing your job at a baseball game. After a home run or any key score, the Fox TV camera man runs onto the field to get a wide angle shot of the action, usually blocking not only his own camera people, but just about everyone else on the field as well. In my opinion, it is both an ugly shot and is disrespectfully to the players and the integrity of the game. Shooting in an elevated position, fans can often block you with a variety of objects, including the dreaded rally towel. Another interesting problem that can occur, especially in cold weather, is heat waves that radiate from the dugouts that, in turn, affect the sharpness of the image. This happened to both and Elsa and myself when shooting from over the dugout.

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With one more win, and a little help from Mother Nature, the St. Louis Cardinals can wrap things up today. In general, I always hope for the winning team to win to at home. The pictures are often much better because of the interaction the players may have with the fans after the game.

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Game One of the 2006 Monopod Baseball Chamionships was under way in the bowels of Busch Stadium. Rob Tringali on assignment for ESPN the Magazine stepped up to the plate, in the bottom of the ninth inning with two out, to face veteran closer Robert Seale of The Sporting News. These are the things legends are made of and that are remembered for millennium. Seale started the at bat with two balls on the outside corner then followed up with a cutter inside that jammed Tringali. Seale then delivered a back door slider for a strike followed by a high heater that Tringali amazingly laid off of to work the count full. Seale’s catcher came out to visit him before the payoff pitch to calm the nerves of the veteran closer. No one is sure if Seale has lost a bit on his cutter or Tringali got some batting advise from Hammering Hank Aaron when he passed by in the hallway, but Tringali slammed that cutter out of the corridor for a walk off solo home run to lead his team to victory in Game One of the 2006 Monopod Baseball Championships!!!

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ST. LOUIS – OCTOBER 25: Robert Seale of the Sporting News pitches to Rob Tringali in the ninth inning of Game One of the Monopod Baseball Championships on October 25, 2006 in the bowels of Busch Stadium in St. Louis Missouri. 

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ST. LOUIS – OCTOBER 25: Rob Tringali hits a walk off solo home run off of Robert Seale in the ninth inning of Game One of the Monopod Baseball Championships on October 25, 2006 in the bowels of Busch Stadium in St. Louis Missouri . 

Moments after hitting the game winning shot Tringali was offered the front of a Wheaties Box and a huge endorsement deal with Manfrotto which he gracefully turned down. When asked why he turned down the deal Tringali said. “I’m in it for the game, not the money and I want the kids who have dreams of making it to the pro’s one day to realize that.” With such an amazing outcome in game 1, one wonders if game 2 will be able to provide as much excitement, but with rain forecasted again for tonight’s MLB game we can only hope that the play will continue again for a second straight night in the bowels of Busch Stadium where legends are born and heros are made……

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The hallway outside of the photo work area in St. Louis is in-between the Tigers and Cardinals clubhouse, with a Fox TV interview room sandwiched in the middle. It turned out to be the hub of rumors/information on the weather. Last night, when nine o’clock rolled around and the rain still failing, no word had come out on the fate of the game. Everyone was trying to find out bits of information either from the green and yellow swirls of pixels on the radar, or just word of mouth. The hallway outside began to resemble a Greyhound bus station. Except for the fact the Hank Aaron, Derek Jeter and members of the Tigers kept walking by. The photographers who are always the most spirited bunch of the media contingent, started playing monopod baseball. Some of the crew being new fathers, just found some time to get a little shut eye. In the end, after all the waiting around, the game was cancelled. There is talk of a three day rainout, which would be, “not so nice!”

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Fox broadcaster Chris Myers wakes up new father and Getty Staff photographer Jonathan Daniel from a nap during the rain delay. JD was startled by the impromptu interview, and responded in a typical Chicago fashion. The audio won’t make it onto Fox!