I still love shooting baseball in Oakland

Posted on May 15, 2012

Collin Cowgill #12 of the Oakland Athletics dives for a line drive during the game against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, May 13, 2012 at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California. The ball was hit by Tigers batter Brennan Boesch #26 and fell for a double. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

I just wrapped up another weekend of shooting big league hardball in Oakland, and I gotta say the old Mausoleum continues to grow on me. It even gets better with age! I know you must think I am nuts. I know the park isn’t what it used to be before Mount Davis opened in 1996. I know the seats are far away from the action and the park is showing it’s age, but I love working there. I was reminded of this after shooting Saturday and Sunday’s games between the Tigers and A’s.

Saturday’s game was a 5:05pm start, and that meant one thing: really amazing light as long as the fog didn’t roll in. Luckily there was no fog and the bright orange sunshine splashed all over the field at first pitch. At times like this I am constantly arguing with myself about where I should shoot from. Because there is so much room in Oakland and so many cool places to shoot from I can envision how great and different the late light will look from all over the field. Of course, I want to be in all of those places at the SAME TIME! As the shadow quickly moves across home plate, and then the mound I managed to shoot from many different spots, before settling in the outside first base area when the field fell into early evening shade. Once I hit first base I had the chance to be entertained by some of the local characters who have been shooting here in the Bay Area for a long time (see above).

After working til midnight editing, captioning, and sending my images from Saturday it was fun to head back out to the Coliseum on Sunday morning. I got there nice and early, but there was no batting practice. I hung out and chatted with friends as game time neared, and when A’s team photographer Micahel Zagaris came over to see me in the Tiger’s first base dugout the real fun ensued. We always shoot pre-game candid stuff of the visiting teams right before the games start, and we really wanted to get some fun stuff of new Tiger Prince Fielder. So far we were striking out with Prince as the night before he gave us nothing. No great smile, no fun interaction with his teammates. Before Prince and his teammates came out of the clubhouse the Z-Man did his impression in the dugout of what Prince would give us when he came out (see below). He was right!

Once the game got going we had the pleasure of watching and shooting the great Justin Verlander pitch for the Tigers. It is always a special occasion when an elite pitcher comes to the Bay Area and throws in the daylight, and this was no exception. Verlander dealt in his seven innings as the Tigers cruised to a 3-1 win.

After a fun weekend of baseball like this I really need to be thankful of the great places I get to work, with the Coliseum being one of them. Sure AT&T Park in San Francisco is a crown jewel for both the fans and the media. However, the Coliseum aint too shabby in the way it treats photographers. Having shot there for 25 years I tell people that working there is like working in my backyard. It is dirty and homey and comfortable. I don’t need to dress up. It is like home. I like that.