It was the first game of the playoffs last night. It the hottest night of the year, and Sunday's disaster was on everyone's mind.




The D'Backs scored in the top of the first, a definite confidence booster.



Luke was on the mound and he had his good stuff.




The infield worked like a well oiled machine.



Double play!



The Expos just couldn't advance their runners.



For the first 4 innings it was a pitchers' duel.



The mood in the Expos' dougout was tense.





The Expos' fans caught the tension.



In the top of the 5th, the D'Back's bats came alive.



The runners were aggressive.





Scoring 3 runs...



The D'Backs could taste victory now, with the score 4-0...



And so could their fans:



The Expos replaced their pitcher.



His fast ball soon retired the sides. But the Expos had 3 up, 3 down in the bottom of the 5th.




In the top of the 6th, the D'Backs pressed their advantage, scoring 3 more runs.





Now the Expos has one more chance (Little League games have 6 innings). Their fans were grim.



And their coach withdrawn.



With two outs and nobody on, the batter had a huge hit and gambled by going for a tripple.



But it was not to be...





Final score 7-0.

Originally Posted by rutt It was the first game of the playoffs last night. It the hottest night of the year, and Sunday's disaster was on everyone's mind.

What a wonderful story Rutt... great great shots... I was THERE !!!!!!!

What a great pictorial! You obviously had a fair bit of mobility down the third base line and home plate. I love the sequence of the Expo trying to steal third. Who needs the pros when you have little league!


Brad

Originally Posted by digismile What a great pictorial! You obviously had a fair bit of mobility down the third base line and home plate. Brad

It's not as good as it was in the "minors" where the games were just held on a school field with no fence. I used to be able to go anywhere. The "majors" (6th grade, basically) have a field with fences that I'm not alowed get inside of (execpt for a few games early in the season when the junior ump didn't knwo the rules.) But the fences are pretty close to the lines. It's a big hassle to move from the first base line to the thrid base line, though. I have to walk around a pretty long way to a gate and so it takes foresight and planning. I can squeeze in just to the first base line of home plate and poke the camera around the outside of the fence. (That's where I got the shots down the third base line.) But that's as far over as I can get without walking around, which takes a few minutes.

Great shots! Can you tell me what equipment you were using?
Thanks

Hey Rutt,

I was checking out your smugmug site to see what length of lens you were using for these photos and here you are using a 1D MarkII! Tell all! Inquiring minds want to know! (how was it?!!!)

You were able to squeeze off 6 shots of the slide into 3rd base and every shot shows a time of 19:14:31. That must have been spectacular!

(Just a bit of digital envy ... )

Brad

Originally Posted by digismile Hey Rutt, I was checking out your smugmug site to see what length of lens you were using for these photos and here you are using a 1D MarkII! Tell all! Inquiring minds want to know! (how was it?!!!) You were able to squeeze off 6 shots of the slide into 3rd base and every shot shows a time of 19:14:31. That must have been spectacular! (Just a bit of digital envy ... ) Brad

My guilty secrect is out. I'll try to post some impressions to the equipment section in the next few days. For the purposes of this thread, suffice to say that it has two different burst modes, "L" and "H". L is 3 fps H is 8+ (can be 9 at high shutter speeds.) For best quality jpegs, it can shoot 40 shots at 9 fps before it has to slow down. H burst mode is sort of frightening. I cannot yet shoot a single shot reliably, it requires getting my finger off the shutter in less than 1/8 of a second. Opinion on FM is divided as to whether this is a camera bug or just something you have to learn to do.

I have described it as a tank. I have come to think that's an understatement. Really it's an aircraft carrier. This is a camera that requires infrastructure. It's like a medium format with an autowinder in terms of size and weight. So you have to figure out how you are going to carry it.

Originally Posted by rutt My guilty secrect is out.

Sorry for outing you! The pictures are truly awesome.

I have described it as a tank. I have come to think that's an understatement. Really it's an aircraft carrier. This is a camera that requires infrastructure. ...you have to figure out how you are going to carry it.

I was watching a show on National Geographic on Everest while I made my first post. A sherpa comes to mind as a way to lug it around .

Look forward to reading your reviews.

Originally Posted by digismile Sorry for outing you! The pictures are truly awesome. I was watching a show on National Geographic on Everest while I made my first post. A sherpa comes to mind as a way to lug it around . Look forward to reading your reviews.

The outing was going to happen sooner or later. Just don't tell my wife.

The sherpa idea is a good one. Or maybe a safari with bearers. No, wait, what about a Sikorsky Sky Hook? This is just too much fun, I'll stop.

I bought this camera and a 100-400 L lens for myself as a birthday present and as you can see, it really has made all the difference for shooting these LL games. I love to shoot action and until this year, I always thought baseball was pretty easy -- just shoot the batter. So all I had to do was get near the dugout, watch the pitcher with one eye, and burst shoot. I could even use a tripod for this technique. But this year, my son moved up the the "majors" and two things changed - they play on a field with a fence, greatly limiting my access, and they have actual fielding so that the action after the bat connects is interesting. So I started to want to get shots of fielding and base running. It's super challenging to do this, even with the new setup. I miss lots of plays. But now I really can't blame my equipment. It's more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Once my son's LL season is over (in a week or so, depending) I plan to seek out other local sporting events to shoot -- Ultimate Frisbee, Babe Ruth League baseball, Roller Blade hockey. The list is very long.

Wow Rutt. That's serious. I have to start thinking about my birthday next year...should I? Shouldn't I...hmmmm...congratulations. Enjoy that fine machine.

Outstanding shot, Rutt.

Originally Posted by damonff Wow Rutt. That's serious. I have to start thinking about my birthday next year...should I? Shouldn't I...hmmmm...congratulations. Enjoy that fine machine.

You are a wonderful photographer. I love the shots you take with the gear you have. I'm sure you would get good use out of anything you had.

Thanks Rutt...