Having been lucky enough to have traveled to most baseball parks in the United States, I can safely say that Fenway Park in Boston is the crown jewel of them all. One does not have to be a Red Sox fan to appreciate the history of the ballpark and the memories that have taken place here. There are so many aspects to the park that make it unique, from the obstructed view seats, to Pesky Pole in right field, to the famous green monster in right field.

The Green Monster is the most famous left field wall in sports, measuring 37 feet tall and only 310 feet from home plate. In a time of brand new ballparks with fancy concourses and luxury boxes, Fenway is a throwback to the old school. It still has a manually operated scoreboard that keeps track of everything from each ball and strike but also the score of every game being played, all by hand. Every player who comes to Fenway wants to go out to the Monster because of its lore.

This year, the mystique of the Green Monster and Fenway park will mostly likely be strengthened by another World Series championship by the Red Sox. If this happens, the Sox maybe on their way to establishing themselves as a dynasty team. They no longer will be living under the shadow of the Yankees in the East and will have firmly established themselves, and their ballpark, as the best there is.

photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

The October Classic returns to Boston this year after another come-from-behind-win from the Red Sox over the Cleveland Indians to advance to baseball’s ultimate goal - the World Series. This year they face the Colorado Rockies, who leisurely advanced 8 days ago, having won all of their previous play-off games to reach the series.

After the Red Sox’ miraculous run in 2004 to beat the Yankees, eventually to win the World Series and break the “curse of the Bambino,” they are back again, but this time there is a different feeling in the air.

In 2004, there was a sense of unbelievable, cautious excitement throughout the series with the entire Red Sox nation wondering if this could really happen. Could they actually break the curse? This year there is a much cockier, confident feeling around Fenway with the fans already feeling that the series is in the bag - especially after the game one trouncing of the Rockies. There is a significant change in the attitude about the Red Sox. No longer are they a second class baseball team, but they have firmly established themselves as the team to beat in baseball.

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The Colorado Rockies had a similar swagger when they came into the series, having won 18 out of 19 of their last games of the year. The feeling before game one is that it would be  a clash of two titans, two of baseball’s hottest teams colliding on the biggest stage. But after the 13th run was scored and fans started making football references to the score, you knew that there was some disparity between the two teams. Hopefully, the Rockies win today and redeem themselves for all of their hard work and a great baseball team leading up to this point. Hopefully they won’t end up another footnote for the mighty Boston Red Sox machine.

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

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!