2013 World Series: Game 2

Posted on October 25, 2013

Instagram of Boston Red Sox autographed team baseballs in the Red Sox clubhouse before Game 2 of the 2013 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals at Fenway Park on Thursday, October 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Brad Mangin/MLB Photos)

 

What a fun and nutty past 24 hours it has been for me! As I settle into my hotel in downtown St. Louis I can look back on the past day and be pretty happy with the job I was able to do covering the World Series in Boston. I have not been to sleep in about 30 hours, but I will be able to grab a quick nap after I finish writing this blog post.

My long and fun day started yesterday at 1pm at Fenway Park when I arrived 7 hours before the first pitch of Game 2. I met my MLB Photos boss Jessica Foster so we could start work on a few shooting projects we needed to complete yesterday. My main goals before the game were to get inside the Red Sox clubhouse to shoot details of the uniforms and to get inside the scoreboard in the Green Monster to shoot anything and everything I saw.

There were already too many Red Sox players in the clubhouse when we got there at 1:15pm so we took a rain check from the club to come back at 5pm when they were all on the field for batting practice. Next we got the super cool Red Sox team photographer Michael Ivins to hook us up with legendary Fenway Park director of grounds David Mellor so we could get inside the Green Monster.

David is an amazing guy who I met back in 2004 when we covered the World Series at Fenway. He was excited to have us in his ballpark and invited Jessica and I to go inside the scoreboard and have fun.

We had so much fun inside the Monster taking tons of pictures over a span of 30 minutes. My next task was to go outside when the light got better late in the day to shoot some features. I am a complete whore when it comes to crazy clouds so I went nuts shooting the different statues at the intersection of Ipswich and Van Ness streets.

5pm rolled around pretty quick so it was time to rush over to the Red Sox clubhouse to go in to shoot a few quick frames of uniforms hanging in lockers showing the World Series patch and baseballs waiting to be autographed. Photographers are generally not allowed in the clubhouse but we always try to get special permission each year to shoot these details to help tell the story of this historical annual event.

By 6pm I was finally able to hang out in the press dining room for some dinner and funny conversation with many of my photographer friends who I don’t get to see very often. This is one of the best things about covering the Fall Classic- listening to hysterical stories from guys who have been doing it for a long time, like Mickey Palmer and Chuck Solomon.

I worked so much during the afternoon it was almost a break when I was able to settle into my insanely awesome photo position on the field to shoot the game looking right up the third base line. I go nuts whenever I have the chance to shoot from this angle and I was pretty jacked up to be sitting in this coveted seat by the time the 8:07pm first pitch arrived.

I had a blast sitting next to Sports Illustrated assistant Mike Clarke on my tiny little stool as the game cruised along with not much happening until all Hell broke loose in the top of the 7th inning. The Cardinals rallied for three runs to take a 4-2 lead, thanks to two costly Red Sox errors on one play, punctuated by pitcher Craig Breslow’s wild throw to third base. This made for a cool frame that was my favorite story-telling picture of the night. This was THE play of the game and my nutty spot worked out well  (see above).

Once the Cards grabbed the lead it was all over as their brilliant young bullpen slammed the door on the Red Sox, making most of their hitters look foolish over the final three innings.

The game finally ended, the Cardinals jube sucked, and I headed back to the photo work room to pack up my gear and hang out with some friends. This is when the highlight of the day occurred. Official White House photographer Pete Souza was in town to accept an award at Boston University last night. He mentioned on Facebook yesterday morning that he would love to get into last night’s Game 2 to cheer on his beloved Red Sox. Pete grew up 60 miles from Fenway Park and has loved his team since childhood. I wrote back to him on Facebook and told him I would try and get him into the game.

My boss Jessica got him into the park so Pete came back to the photo workroom after the game to say hello and tell some funny stories. Pete is a pretty amazing guy who has been covering President Obama since he took office. He was enjoying the heck out of himself being able to take some time away from his crazy schedule to take in his first ever Red Sox World Series game. It was a great way to end the night and kept me wired when I got back to my hotel. I was unable to sleep and the 5:15am taxi to Logan Airport came fast. Today is a fun off day here in St. Louis and we will probably go check out the Gala tonight. Remember to come back to check out my next blog post after Game 3!