Take me out to the ball game…now duck!

Going to a professional sporting event is designed to be an uneventful evening. Well that is after you’ve gotten over the shock of the price of the tickets, snacks and souvenirs.

When I am fortunate to sit in good seats near the floor, ice, or field, I always look around to see what the crowd looks like from my vantage point. Sometimes I have to pinch myself, not literally, knowing how lucky I am to be where others want to sit. But there are risks. I have been to hockey games where a puck goes into the stands and knocks someone out. It’s gotten better since they have put the netting up behind the goals---a young girl was killed by a puck at Columbus Blue Jackets game--- but there’s a reason the photographers will often where helmets who are sitting at center ice. The puck hurts when it hits---no matter how slow it appears to be traveling.

One time when I was in Cincinnati I was watching batting practice from my seat near the left-field foul pole. I was so happy to be in this seat as the Reds were playing the Cardinals. Well, sure enough Albert Pujols was batting, I was talking on the phone, and whap a ball slams into a seat 5 seats away. I checked to make sure the seat was still in one piece. I quickly got off the phone and paid much better attention.

There have been times when I have seen players go into the stands trying to catch a foul ball, retrieve a bad pass, or in one case go after a fan. (That was cool). Whatever happens, you want to make sure you aren’t the one carried out.

The photo above was taken in Manchester, NH at a Manchester Fisher Cats game. I don’t know what a Fisher Cat is in case you are wondering. But I had a great seat---it was 1^st row behind the plate. Later in the game, I decided to move to the 3^rd base side to get a better vantage point. While I was sitting taking pictures I heard the crack and a bat slammed into a seat 2 rows away. No one got hurt, but I was really disappointed I didn’t get the shot of the bat hurling at us. That was until I looked at the photos that night. Sure enough, thanks to my trusty/fast Nikon, I caught a picture of the broken bat leaving the batter’s hand. I doubt that picture made the news that night, but as we all took a sigh of relief it sure made the news throughout the stands where we were sitting.

Thanks stopping by.