Take Me Out to the Ballgame

It’s time again for baseball. Spring training in the desert. The Cactus League is in full swing with 15 major league teams training in the Phoenix area. We went to the new training complex in Scottsdale today, Salt River Fields, the springtime home for the Arizona Diamondbacks and the the Colorado Rockies. The new training complex is very impressive, 11 full size baseball diamonds including a 12,000 seat Main Stadium for the Cactus League games. Here’s a panoramic view of the Main Stadium just as today’s game was getting underway.

We saw the Diamondbacks play the San Diego Padres today and although the home team lost, it was a great afternoon. As you can see from the photo, it was clear and sunny, a perfect day for baseball, playing or watching.

Last week, I went to see a game at the Scottsdale Stadium, where the San Francisco Giants base their training camp. They played the Cincinnati Reds on another beautiful day for baseball.

I took my camera with me on both occasions and I have some action shots to share with you today. I’ll start with the following picture from the Giants’ game, showing catcher Chris Stewart successfully stealing second base. Safe!

The next shot was taken at today’s game, a great fielding play by the Diamondbacks’ Lyle Overbay. Blue Jays’ fans will remember Lyle from when he played in Toronto. In this shot he reaches the base ahead of the Padres’ runner, after making a good play on a hard hit ball down the first base line.

One of the great plays in baseball is the double play. The next two shots show the Diamondbacks turning the double play at second base.

In the above shot, the runner is out and the second baseman has successfully relayed the ball to first despite the runner’s efforts to disrupt the throw.

This picture was taken a split second after the previous shot. The runner’s momentum has carried him into the fielder but too late to disrupt his throw to first. The hitter running to first was out, completing the double play.

My last shot for today is one of the D’backs’ Justin Upton taking a good cut at the ball. He popped it up and was retired.

That’s it for today’s post. I have a some good sequential shots that I’d like to share as well. I’ll post a slideshow showing an action sequence in a subsequent blog.