I know by now this is old news as this happened last year. But because I was not keeping up this blog I was not able to post this event. Went down to turner field with my HS buddy Shane on May 20th to watch the Braves play the reds this would be the first Braves game I'd see in person. Right-hander Tommy Hanson would be taking the Mound. We arrived at the Ted before batting practice and yes I did bring my Nikon so expect some sports photography. The first thing that happens once we get in the stands for BP Chipper Jones rips a ball right in front of Shane he got it and gave it to me and yes I got it in a safe place. I later gave him a ball that one of the Reds hit that almost clocked me in the face. Times like this though I wish I had one of those wall apparatuses that could retrieve balls that fall between that cavity between the wall and the stands. It's like a 20 foot drop over there.
So after the Reds finished their BP me and Shane were fooling around the bullpens. At the Braves Bullpen we found Derek Lowe throwing a session. He wouldn't be pitching that day but it is a scheduled work-out that starters do. After watching Lowe throw a few pitches we headed toward the reds bullpen but something interesting happened that stopped us from making it there. A guy working with the Braves stopped me and asked me and Shane if we wanted to compete in an event. The event was called "throwing gas" I would be competing against Shane. In the end it was win-win. Because anyway it went we were getting a $100 steak dinner at one of the most expensive steak houses in Atlanta. The object was to throw the fastest pitch in two throws. Obviously Shane being the baseball player had the advantage. I've never pitched in my life. Only remarkable thing I had on Shane is I know how to throw with both hands so I figured Since I knew I wasn't going to beat him the least I could do is lose in style. I got to throw first so I started with my natural right hand and reached a blazing 36mph then I switched to my left and hit 38mph. Amazing my left threw harder and more accurate than my right. Shane threw and doubled me with 65mph but of course no surprise to me because I'd never pitched in my life.
Featured on the Jumbotron in the 5th inning.
Me Throwing right handed. I wasn't able to get a good shot of my left handed throw.
Shane's pitchWell we were all decided on dinner that night needless to say. With a few more minutes to spare til first pitch I decided to try a little exploration of my own of the stadium. So we found our seats in left-field then I went by myself to the stadium balconies to try and get a good skyline shot on Atlanta.
The upper left-field balcony was my perfect shot I took the escalator up about four stories and rested my camera on the concrete ledge. Got the footprint of the old Fulton in front of it and almost every important skyscraper in Atlanta including my personal favorite Westin Peachtree plaza. If I ever get the chance to do a time exposure from this angle at night I really want to it would look even better at night.After that it was time for the game to start I'm sitting in left-field so my 300mm telephoto lens would come in handy for catching some plays. If I had 400mm lens though that would've been best.
So when it comes to un-cropped photos this is how they tend to look. Here is Tommy Hanson throwing a pitch. This would become one of Hanson's worst starts as he wasn't on his game that day he gave up eight earned runs but not to worry as ugly as it looked early things would change dramatically. I recall when things went really bad though. I saw bases loaded with Red's first-baseman Joey Votto up his BA was like .321 and I turned to Shane and said Uh-oh Hanson needs to be careful with this guy. A few pitches later POW Votto has grand slammed. Hanson only lasted 1 2/3 innings and they had already got 8 runs off him by the end of the 2nd inning.
On the other Hand Reds Starter Mike Leak had a good start and allowed about 3 runs the thing is he wouldn't be getting the win at the end of the day.
Chipper didn't show up in this game a lot but I had to post this photo because come on it's chipper Jones.
The Braves were able to Chip away a little bit through out the game tallying a few times on plays like this RBI by Jason Heyward.
Rally Killers hurt the Braves through the game here Brian McCann made it to third on an Eric Hinske Single however the next batter Yunel Escobar hit into a double play. Escobar would later be traded in July for Alex Gonzales and I'm glad he was. I remember Shane on the ride to the stadium saying he hoped Escobar fell down the stairs so we could start Omar Infante instead.
Also got some interesting defensive plays. Here you see Miguel Cairo being forced out at second base by Second Baseman Martin Prado.
Craig Kimbrel who pitched a scorless ninth would eventually be the winning pitcher he is now Atlanta's closer.
In the Bottom of the Ninth Nate McClouth connected on a double to right-field to plate Troy Glaus and Eric Hinske making it 5-9 reds still lead.
Martin Prado whacked a ball to third baseman Miguel Cairo that should've been an easy double play however for some reason Cairo froze and threw the ball late. Yunel Escobar Scores on the playmaking the score 9-6.
Brandon Phillips suffered for Cairo's Late throw as it pulled him over a sliding David Ross.As things came to a head With bases loaded Reds called to the bullpen and pulled out their Lefty specialist Arthur Rhodes who was having a good season to face Left Handed hitter Jason Heyward. There were no outs and a Heyward Homer would result in a Braves Walkoff. Dusty Baker made the smart decision as Rhodes was able to strike out Heyward leaving it bases loaded and one out.
After Heyward went down Pinch Hitter Brooks Conrad stepped in. Reds sent out their closer Fransisco Cordero making Conrad hit from the left side. I don't know why he didn't leave Rhodes out there because Rhodes was pitching better than Cordero. I was on these last at bats pitch by pitch my Nikon D3000 on continuous shutter and getting about 5 shots per pitch. Conrad ran the count up to 2-2 then on this pitch he whacked it into left-centerfield. The braves walkoff with the 10-9 victory. Here you can see his pre-swing.
Watching his homer
Laynce Nixs tried to catch the ball but instead it deflected off his glove and flipped over the wall.
BRAVES WIN!All around a pretty good game and just goes to show you anything goes in baseball never take a big lead for granted. I really liked my first MLB experience and after this it helped me gain confidence that with a little equipment upgrade I could be a sports photographer for MLB or at least that would be my dream job.
Signed,
Joseph W. Johns
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