What a great game. What a great day.

Posted on May 23, 2011

Darren Ford #34 of the San Francisco Giants slides home to score the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning and hugs teammate Cody Ross #13 during the game against the Oakland Athletics as A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki #8 is in the background at AT&T Park on Sunday, May 22, 2011 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

Yesterday afternoon the A’s and Giants played the third and final game of round one of the annual Bay Bridge Series in San Francisco. The Giants won the first two games in thrilling fashion, and I was looking forward to having fun Sunday afternoon while shooting the ballgame. By the time Darren “The Bullet” Ford dashed home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Giants a 5-4 win I was thrilled and exhausted. I even had a few frames that I kinda, sorta liked.

I shoot so many A’s and Giants games during the season, so when they play each other it is a great chance for me to goof around, have fun, and shoot from different spots since I do not need to worry about getting traditional stock images of any of the players. I had a pretty good game plan heading into the game. I would shoot from one of my favorite positions, low inside first base, looking up the third base line. From this spot I can sit in a nice chair and be protected by a net. I can really hunker down and shoot my game without the fear of getting smoked in the face with a foul ball. I was ready to make pictures!

By the time the 1:05pm first pitch was made I was ready. I decided to shoot the entire game with just two lenses. The 70-200mm 2.8 and the 800mm 5.6. Nothing like working with two very different lenses to keep things fun and challenging. One of the best parts about shooting down in this great spot was the company of other photographers I was able to sit next to and tell stories with. There are so many games that I end up shooting by myself, like in the third deck in Oakland when I have no one to talk to. Sunday I felt like chatting with some old friends, and I was not disappointed.

Veteran Bay Area photographers Ben Margot from the Associated Press and D. Ross Cameron from the Oakland Tribune were seated next to me. These two guys can be as funny and salty as anyone, and they usually keep me laughing- especially Ross. Since Margot and I both worked for the Alameda Newspaper Group newspaper chain owned by Dean Singleton in our past lives around 20 years ago, and since Ross works for a newer version of the same company, we have some old war stories to rehash every time we get together. Sunday was no exception.

We shared many great stories about one of our favorite ANG alumni, Dino Vournas. We shared stories about some of our favorite editors. We even quizzed each other on who is the most bitter ANG photographer of all-time. Our choice was unanimous. The day was off to a great start thanks to the many laughs in the pit, and the Giants were clinging to a 2-0 lead. Until the A’s finally woke up.

By the time Nate Schierholtz hit a dramatic pinch-hit two-run homer to tie the game at 4 in the bottom of the 8th inning the sell-out crowd was going nuts, and I began to wonder how late I would get home and how long it would take me to edit my take before I relaxed in front of the television to watch the newest episode of Audrina. I was out late Saturday night, and my new cats Mike and Willie made it hard to get a full nights sleep, so I started yawning over and over as the game crept into extra innings.

The defending World Champions had been playing well at home, and they had won six games in walk-off fashion in 2011. I was with 42,000 other fans hoping that Sunday would end with walk-off win number seven. The hazy sunshine was getting prettier and prettier as the wind kicked up causing the temperatures to dip into the 50’s. What a cold spring we have had so far in the Bay Area. I was ready to go home, and thanks to some youngsters on the ballclub I would soon get my chance.

As the clock on the scoreboard read 5pm the speedy Ford stood at second base with one out in the bottom of the 11th as his good friend Emmanuel Burriss came to the plate looking to send everyone home. What happened next was a blur, literally, as Burriss lined a hard single to right field and Ford dashed around the bases to challenge to the strong arm of A’s right fielder Ryan Sweeney. There was no way Ford was NOT going to score. The throw was a good one, but the Bullet was safe with a thunderous slide and a cloud of dust. By the time tired Giants rookie hugged teammate Cody Ross as the rest of the club vaulted over the dugout railing to begin the celebration I knew I had a pretty cool set of pictures.

I did not get home til close to 7pm, and by the time I finished editing it was about 9:30pm. Still enough time to watch Audrina. Did you know here dad looks EXACTLY like Jack Cust?