2013 World Series: Game 5

Posted on October 29, 2013

Boston Red Sox fans look for autographs prior to Game 5 of the 2013 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Monday, October 28, 2013 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Brad Mangin/MLB Photos)

 

As I settle into my hotel room back here on Boston the day before we resume the World Series tomorrow night when Game 6 begins at 8:07pm EDT I am glad to have some time to rest. I think we were due to have a dull ballgame like last night’s 3-1 affair that saw the Red Sox winning to take a three games to two advantage over the Cardinals. The previous games provided all sorts of drama and wackiness, but last night had none of that as Sox started Jon Lester was brilliant and pretty much shoved the Cardinals bats right up their asses.

It looks a grim for the Cards as they have to win the next two games at Fenway to claim the World Series title, but stranger things have happened. When the Series started all of our crew here with MLB Photos was hoping for 6 or 7 games. We really wanted to come back to Fenway Park, and we got our wish! Either way we will see some great drama here. If the Red So win it will be the first time they have celebrated a World Series title at home since 1918.

Yesterday we had the luxury to try a few new projects before the game since our crew had knocked out so many assignments in the first four games. One thing I really wanted to do was get into the umpires dressing room before a World Series game to make a few behind the scenes pictures to show them preparing for a game.

I thought we might be able to do this because I’ve gotten to know umpire Bill Miller in recent years and he was named on the six-man crew to call this Series. My co-author of NEVER. SAY. DIE. Brian Murphy went to college at UCLA with Miller and he is a really cool guy. I have given Miller pictures of himself in action in the past and knew he loved having them. I chatted with him during Game 1 last week when he was calling the left field line at Fenway. He told me he had the plate for Game 5 (last night) so I thought this would be the perfect night to try.

I asked my boss Jessica Foster if she could get me into the umpire’s dressing room and she did a great job of pulling it off. Last night I made my way in to see Miller and the crew at 6:35pm CDT before the 7:07pm CDT first pitch. The crew was sitting around telling stories as they got ready for the game, and they were all very friendly. Miller cracked several jokes and we chatted about his beloved Bruins. Before I knew it they were ready to take the field, and I was ready for my next assignment.

Because no one had a chance to clinch last night we had the freedom to try some different things. I shot the previous four games on the field and I was ready for a change. I thought it would be fun to go up into the top deck of Busch Stadium and wander round looking for a few different angles. I found some neat spots to shoot from but nothing much happened in the game that made for a good picture.

By the 4th inning I made my way behind the right field foul pole and really loved it, but nothing good happened while I was up there. In the 7th inning with the score tied at 1 it was time for me to go back down to our assigned overhead spot on the first base side looking down the third base line. This is a terrific shooting position and I was excited to shoot from there, but there wasn’t any good action while I was there. The Red Sox pushed across two runs in the top of the 7th while I was changing spots, so all that was left for me to do was to shoot the postgame high fives as the Red Sox won the game to take their 3-2 lead in the Series.

This is one of those games where I am glad I shot some stuff I liked before the game, because the game itself was pretty awful for pictures. That’s baseball! Tomorrow night we are back at it for Game 6 and I cannot wait. Check back in two days to see what happened!