Evan Longoria shines on a sleepy day in Oakland

Posted on August 23, 2010

Evan Longoria #3 of the Tampa Bay Rays runs the bases while wearing blue and white striped socks against the Oakland Athletics during the game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on August 22, 2010 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

Yesterday’s ballgame between the Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland A’s at the Coliseum was going nowhere fast. There wasn’t much of a batting practice, the food in the press dining room was so bad I had to resort to a plate full of fruit and Tater Tots, and the Rays did not hang around the dugout before the game for feature pictures. Once the game got going I knew I had to work on something to avoid falling asleep in the third base photo box. I had to make sure my day at the ballpark was not a total waste. Luckily I had one of the best players in the game to shoot: Rays third baseman Evan Longoria.

Longoria has been in the league a few years, but he has always been difficult for me to photograph. He is a great right-handed hitter, but his swing is not very photogenic. Every time the Rays come to Oakland I try to get a real nice swing picture of him turning from the third base side, but I always have bad luck. He has an extremely quick bat that generates tons of power, but his swing is very short- not long like the big power hitters of the game. Thus, even when he turns on the ball the follow through does not make a very good picture. Until yesterday. He came up in the 6th inning and lashed a two-run double down the left field line and he really turned on the pitch. For the first time ever I had a beautiful sequence of Longoria turning on a pitch with a long finish, which made for the best set of pictures I had ever made of him (see above).

The added bonus for me on this sun-splashed afternoon in Oakland was the new blue and white striped socks (see top) many of the Rays have been wearing this season. They did not wear them the last time they were in town in early May, so this was my first crack at shooting them. I love socks like this and wish more teams would wear them. A few months ago I wrote about the Giants Barry Zito wearing high orange and black striped socks. I couldn’t resist shooting Longoria’s socks during the game as they just scream “baseball” to me. I was happy to get a few pictures I liked showing off the socks. I wish more teams would wear them!

By the end of the day the Ray’s had held on to beat the A’s 3-2, with the winning runs scoring on the before-mentioned two-run double off the bat of Longoria. There wasn’t much action in the game. I didn’t get any terrific pictures to impress the hard-ass editor in me, but I did get a few good frames of Longoria that I liked. That made my day at the yard well worth it.