2011 World Series: Game 5

Posted on October 25, 2011

David Murphy of the Texas Rangers makes a diving catch to end the top of the second inning of Game Five of the 2011 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on Monday, October 24, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Brad Mangin/MLB Photos)

 

We had Imo’s Pizza for lunch (thin crust, square slices) and we are going to Charlie Gitto’s on The Hill for dinner. Must mean we are back in St. Louis! That’s right sports fans, our intrepid crew from MLB Photos has made it back to the Cardinals home town for tomorrow night’s Game 6 against the Rangers after shooting three fun-filled ballgames in Texas.

Before I can look ahead to tomorrow night’s contest, I need to look back on the fun I had shooting Game 5 last night in Arlington. With the Series tied 2-2 going into the pivotal fifth game, we were bound to have a good, tense ballgame. It wasn’t a masterpiece, but both teams delivered by combining timely hitting with questionable managing that resulted in a 4-2 win for the Rangers. I had so much shooting this game, especially because I was shooting from way down the right field line at field level next to my good friend, New York City based sports photographer Rob Tringali.

So many things look good from this angle, we just needed for some action to take place in front of us. One of my favorite things to do from this spot is to concentrate and fielding plays and leave most of the batting pictures up to my teammates Rich Pilling and Ron Vesely. They are both in positions closer to the plate and their pictures of the action around the plate will be better than mine, so I am freed up to freelance and play hunches in my quest for story-telling pictures.

The game was low-scoring and entered the bottom of the eighth inning tied up at 2. This is when the fun REALLY began. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa fell asleep at the wheel, the bullpen phone stopped working, and a lefty was left in the game to pitch to right-handed hitting slugger Mike Napoli of the Rangers with the bags loaded. It was easy to predict what would happen next as the Angels cast-off knocked the crap out of the ball. Napoli’s rocket went to the gap in right-center, plated two runs to give the Rangers a 4-2 lead, and sent the sell-out crowd into a frenzy.

Everything was then left up to closer Neftali Feliz to slam the door on the Red Birds, but it is never that easy- especially in the World Series. After surviving a scary ninth inning that saw a hit batter, botched hit-and-run turned into a strike’em out, throw’em out, Feliz pumped his fist into the air in triumph, sending all of us back here to St. Louis with the Rangers clinging to a 3-2 lead in the Series.

I was glad the Rangers won, because I really want to see a Game 7. I think the Cardinals will be tough at home and win Game 6, so we really might have a chance to see the first seven game Series since 2002. This has been a fun Series to photograph so far, with both teams pretty evenly matched. Games have been exciting, the photo positions have been good, and I have even made a few frames I like!

The best thing about a longer Series is the pictures keep getting better. The games mean more and more, so the emotions run higher and higher. The jubilation gets better and so does the dejection. The season is almost over and these guys have worked too hard since the middle of February to see it all slip away. it is a long season, and when these teams get this far the final outcome means so much. As a photographer it is a blast to sit back in a good photo position, second guess La Russa, and record what happens. There is nothing like shooting big games like this.

I am looking forward to tomorrow night’s game 6 at Busch Stadium. In my perfect little world the Cards would win, setting up my dream of a Game 7. I would really love to see La Russa work a Game 7, just so I can have the fun of second-guessing him for four hours- because that is how long a La Russa-managed Game 7 would take!