Thursday, August 24, 2023

Put me in, coach!

I've mentioned that the nearest IndyGo Red Line station is about a five minute walk from the house. From there it's about a twenty minute ride to the Statehouse station on Washington Street, and then a fifteen minute walk to Victory Field, aka "the Camden Yards of the Minor Leagues".

Ever since the Red Line went in, I've been promising myself that I was going to grab a camera and get to an Indians day game, but never got around to it. On a whim, earlier this month I checked the schedule and noticed that there were only two weekday day games left this season, so...

I mentioned it in a photography group on the Book of Faces, and my friend and fellow Hoosier shutterbug, Jordan, said he'd be up for it, so plans were made to catch yesterday's matinee against the Iowa Cubs.

I hopped off the bus, strolled to the stadium, and found Jordan having staked out our seats and noshing on the best-looking Chicago dog this side of Wrigley Field. 

Folks, you can't get seats like these for eighteen bucks at Yankee Stadium, let me tell you.


It was blistering hot, and we had the lower part of Section 107, right behind third base, to ourselves. That meant having a view like this when the catcher ran down a popup. (The blur in the bottom of the photo is the dugout railing.)


The Indians are Pittsburgh's AAA team, so you've got a mix of journeyman minor leaguers, some of whom have had brief stints in the big show, as well as up-and-coming recent draftees and rehabbing Major Leaguers. It's real baseball for sure.


I was using the 70-200mm f/4L IS on the Canon EOS 7D, since the 1.6X crop factor on the 7D makes it effectively a 112-320mm lens. I think next time I'll use the 70-200mm f/2.8L and the 2X extender on the 1D Mark IV.

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