I think I might like baseball... gulp!

The last couple of days I've been shooting a lot of high school baseball and softball games and I'm afraid I may like baseball now.

I always said I didn't like baseball because it was boring and slow and I hated sitting still and watching grown men spit and scratch and stretch and stand for hours on end. Whenever I tried to watch a game it often devolved into shouting at the TV, "stop stepping out of the box and swing!" "Why are the commentators talking about the weather!!?" "He's not going to steal second, just pitch already!" "Oh no no, not another commercial, no!!!"

Yes, I always said I couldn't watch a baseball game or bother to get into the game.

Well not always, did I say always? I lied.

There was a time when I was a loyal Giants fan, taking in the sport when it preempted afternoon cartoons after school and lamenting the results to my friends and opposing A's fans the next day.

During the Will Clark and Matt Williams and then later during the early Barry Bonds years I was into baseball, and I remember sitting on my sofa anticipating the start of the Giant's/A's 1989 World Series when we were hit by a 6.9 earthquake, but then something happened.

I lost interest, maybe I was growing up or getting bored or couldn't sit still or become more interested in soccer, street hockey and basketball to slowdown for baseball, whatever it was, I lost interest.

These last couple days I've become interested in baseball again, and for the first time since forever I caught myself thinking that maybe it was time I went to a game. Could it be the bug is back?


Shooting the high schools games juiced me up and I was having a blast just shooting. What a job, I (theoretically speaking) get paid to do something I love, sweet! I started to walk around the field and explore every angle, getting high and low and then shooting with both eyes open and finally anticipating the plays and running from one side of the field to the other just in case that player that stole third last time around tries it again. And the whole time I was having a blast, and I'm thinking, "I can't wait to do this in a professional game." Where the fields (the newer ones anyway) are built with photographers in mind and we're afforded the nicest spots.

Me? Having fun with baseball? I guess so.


I also learned that even at the high school level, it's all about the field in terms of how fun a game is to shoot. I've been on very camera friendly fields of dreams where every angle is begging for a Sports Illustrated Leading Off picture and I've been on fields that say this is a game that is played in a caged zoo and no one must get to good of a look or they'll turn to stone.

I wonder what thrills await me on the professional field. If it's anything like Nhat Meyers, Jeff Chiu and Marcio Sanchez say it is in the conversations we've had, I can't wait.