2013 World Series: Game 1

Posted on October 24, 2013

Instagram of old wooden stadium seats before Game 1 of the 2013 World Series on Wednesday, October 23, 2013 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Brad Mangin/MLB Photos)

 

Last night’s first game of the 2013 World Series between the Cardinals and Red Sox was a nutty affair that started with one of the craziest first innings you will ever see by the Red Sox. The game ended with the Cardinals retreating to the cramped confines of their tiny visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park in Boston with their tales between their legs (do birds have tails?) after putting on an embarrassing display as the Red Sox won 8-1.

This year’s Fall Classic is the 14th in a row I have photographed on assignment for Major League Baseball Photos. I first shot a World Series game back in 1988 when I was a college intern at the Contra Costa Times and covered Game 4 between the Dodgers and A’s in Oakland.

This year I have the awesome honor of shooting alongside good friends and amazing photographers Ron Vesely and Rob Tringali here in Boston. We have a great team working this series, led by our boss Jessica Foster.

Covering a World Series is a big job that consists of some crazy long days, tons of pre-game preparation, and a baseball game that usually ends around midnight. Yesterday was no exception as we got to the park seven hours early to plan our day and start shooting. My first stop was to hit both clubhouses with my editor Jim McKenna so I could shoot uniform details for some of our commercial partners like Majestic and New Era.

By the time the game started at 8:07pm EDT I had been all over the ballpark shooting features, getting caught up with old friends, and putting on layers of clothes to fight off the cold on a glorious, and DRY New England night.

I started shooting from the outside third base photo well, then I moved down the line to the far outside spot after two innings. This is a fun angle to shoot from because I am looking right down the left field line towards home plate and the background behind the hitters is so nice (See Ortiz above). It is a very rare angle that I never get to shoot from during the regular season.

By the time the second inning ended the Red Sox were up 5-0. The rest of the game was a blur of quick-paced garbage time as the Cards rolled over, allowing our team of photographers the chance to visit Chinatown here in Boston for a fun and adventurous late night food run before we got back to our hotel at 2am.

I will be back at the yard at 1pm again today to begin covering Game 2. Check back tomorrow to see what happened!