NEW YORK – APRIL 16: CC Sabathia #52 of the New York Yankees pitches against the Cleveland Indians during opening day at the new Yankee Stadium on April 16, 2009 in the Bronx borough of New York City.  (Photo by Michael Heiman/Getty Images)

Today the Yankees will play their first regular season MLB game in their new venue.

It seems like just yesterday, great players were enjoying the old park…

13th June 1948: Rear view of American baseball player Babe Ruth (George Herman Ruth, 1895 – 1948) standing on the baseball field, with ballplayers and photographers lined up before him and the audience standing in ovation, on the day his number was retired at Yankee Stadium, New York City. Pulitzer Prize winning photograph. (Photo by Nat Fein/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Steve Bartman and Moises Alou of the Cubs battle for a foul ball in the 2003 National League Championship Series. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The goat. The ghosts. The black cat. The meltdowns of 1969, 1984, 2003 and heaven knows how many other seasons. Bartman.

The yearly hope and the abysmal fades. The ivy covered walls and the addled brains of the fans. The legendary rave-out of a manager fed up with losing, the fans and the media. A countless parade of tired managers and players who go from great to trash as soon as they put on the uniform.

This is the 100 year legacy of the Chicago Cubs. 100 years since their last World Series win. 100 years of mostly really terrible teams and the “3000 (bleepin’) fans who come out here every (bleepin’) day, rippin’ every (bleepin’) thing you do.”

It’s been so long since the Cubs won a pennant, that this kid is an old man by now. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Allsport)

I have always enjoyed going to Wrigley Field to cover the Cubs for two main reasons. Seeing a ball game at Wrigley is a joy for a baseball fan. And there’s always the chance, almost every day, that you’ll see something during a baseball game that you’ve never seen before. And it almost always goes bad for the Cubs. A triple play. A no hitter spoiled with two outs in the top of the ninth inning on Opening Day. Two grand slams hit in the same inning against the Cubbies. You name it, I’ve seen it. Almost. (There’s always next year!)

In 2005, the Chicago White Sox earned a place in my heart forever. They won the World Series.  A Chicago team won the World Series IN MY LIFETIME. No goats, ghosts or black cats. Just solid baseball from a wonderful team with a manager who will always deserve a place in Chicago sports history along with Ditka, Payton, Jordan, Sosa and Fisk.

A White Sox fan celebrates the 2005 World Series Championship on Rush Street in Chicago. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The results of the 2005 season for the Sox put the heat on the Cubs management like never before. They began to build a team to win the World Series. And they hired a no-nonsense manager, Lou Piniella, who is so different from White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, that he might as well live on the moon. The Cubs team for 2008 was built for one thing and one thing only: to win the World Series. This year. Period.

Manager Ozzie Guillen of the Chicago White Sox enjoys teasing other players and managers as much as managing a game. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Manager Lou Piniella of the Chicago Cubs has perfected the long, slow walk from the dugout to the mound and back like no other Major League manager. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Since May, both Chicago teams have been in first place in their respective divisions and leagues, with the exception of a few days for the White Sox. The Sox have had injuries galore and a Minnesota Twins team that just wouldn’t give up, breathing down their necks for the entire season. The Cubs have had a 2-4 game lead most of the year in their division with the Milwaukee Brewers, one of the finest smoke and mirror teams in the Major Leagues, nipping at their heals until recently. The Cubs have led the League in almost every category imaginable the entire season from team batting to runs scored to ERA…you name it. And aside from a every-year stint on the DL from Kerry Wood and Alfonso Soriano, they’ve done it relatively injury free.

The managers for both teams couldn’t be more different. Ozzie is a trickster, a joker, a guy with his heart on his sleeve that says anything and everything to the media. Lou is the seasoned veteran manager whose every move is calculated and who basically hates talking to the media. They both have gotten the best out of their players all season, using wildly different tactics and some surprisingly good players, especially on the south side of town where two players in particular, Carlos Quentin and Alexei Ramirez, have become full-blown stars this year. The Cubs core players have proven star ability, like Carlos Zambrano, who threw the first Cub no-hitter since 1972 a few weeks ago, and Aramis Ramirez a third baseman with a lethal swing. But players like Mark DeRosa and Ryan Theriot have proven to be special cogs in the Cubs machinery this season. And Geovany Soto, the Cubs rookie catcher, may end up being the National League Rookie of the Year when it’s all said and done.

Until his injury, Carlos Quentin of the White Sox was leading the American League in home runs with 36 and had driven in 100 RBI’s. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Alexei Ramirez, a rookie from Cuba, has shown that he belongs as a starter on the White Sox roster. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Fans cheer as Aramis Ramirez of the Cubs celebrates a walk-off home run to beat the White Sox in June. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Carlos Zambrano, shown pitching against the Brewers in Milwaukee, became the first Cub to throw a no-hitter since 1972 by shutting down the Astros during a game played in Milwaukee after being canceled in Houston because of Hurricane Ike. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Mark DeRosa of the Cubs tips hit helmet to the crowd after hitting a grand slam against the Astros in August. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Sox, on the other hand, have swung from OK, to great to absolutely terrible all season long, with star players like Paul Konerko fighting off injuies and slumps and a bullpen that imploded following a back injury to Scott Linebrink midway through the summer.

Two first place teams from Chicago…with one improbable destiny…an all-Chicago World Series.

It would seem at this point that the White Sox have the toughest road. The Rays, Red Sox and Angels are formidable and the Sox had trouble with all three teams this season. The Cubs should slide right through their National League playoff opponents like they did all season. The team coasted to the NL Central title a couple of weeks ago, almost a foregone conclusion for many who predicated a World Series berth for the Cubs at the beginning of the season. And despite a potential Sports Illustrated cover jinx facing them, thanks to my photo last week of Aramis Ramirez raising his fist in victory after hitting a walk-off home run against the White Sox in June, they should go all the way to the big show this month. However, as many in Chicago have been constantly reminded…the Cubs are the Cubs, after all. The “Loveable Losers” with the key word being…..losers.

The White Sox could not have won their division in a more sensational manner. To win the title, the Sox managed a feat never before accomplished in Major League history. They beat three different teams in three days win the title. After a dismal last two weeks of the season, the Sox finished a 1/2 game behind the Twins. With a win over the Cleveland Indians, the Sox were forced to play a make-up game on Monday and defeated the Tigers, setting up a winner-take-all AL Central tiebreaking game against the Twins Tuesday night in Chicago. It was a nail-biter of a game; a pitchers duel between John Danks of the Sox and Nick Blackburn of the Twins. It was settled in the 7th inning when Jim Thome blasted a 461 foot solo home run off of Blackburn in the 7th inning. Thome, a 38 year old designated hitter and one of the nicest guys in all of sports, celebrated like a kid who just won the Little League World Series title.

Manager Ozzie Guillen and Jim Thome celebrate winning the AL Central title after a 1-0 win over the Minnesota Twins. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

But just the thought of an all-Chicago World Series is so tantalizing, so ridiculous, so unbelievable that it’s worth entertaining some thought. Actually, the same goes for having just the Cubs in a World Series. But it’s the first time in 102 years that both Chicago teams have been in the playoffs at the same time. If that’s not deep-dish pizza karma, I don’t know what is.

The last week of baseball season has Chicago fans on both sides of town looking forward to what could be a wild ride in the October playoffs. Can Ozzie make it through the American League with the injured players and the season-long up and down nature of their hitting and bullpen? Can Lou and his team built for a Title excise 100 years worth of Cubbie demons?

Stay tuned. This is gonna be fun.

Will Lou Piniella of the Cubs and Ozzie Guillen of the White Sox meet again in the World Series? Maybe hell could freeze over indeed. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

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Having been lucky enough to have traveled to most baseball parks in the United States, I can safely say that Fenway Park in Boston is the crown jewel of them all. One does not have to be a Red Sox fan to appreciate the history of the ballpark and the memories that have taken place here. There are so many aspects to the park that make it unique, from the obstructed view seats, to Pesky Pole in right field, to the famous green monster in right field.

The Green Monster is the most famous left field wall in sports, measuring 37 feet tall and only 310 feet from home plate. In a time of brand new ballparks with fancy concourses and luxury boxes, Fenway is a throwback to the old school. It still has a manually operated scoreboard that keeps track of everything from each ball and strike but also the score of every game being played, all by hand. Every player who comes to Fenway wants to go out to the Monster because of its lore.

This year, the mystique of the Green Monster and Fenway park will mostly likely be strengthened by another World Series championship by the Red Sox. If this happens, the Sox maybe on their way to establishing themselves as a dynasty team. They no longer will be living under the shadow of the Yankees in the East and will have firmly established themselves, and their ballpark, as the best there is.

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photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

The October Classic returns to Boston this year after another come-from-behind-win from the Red Sox over the Cleveland Indians to advance to baseball’s ultimate goal – the World Series. This year they face the Colorado Rockies, who leisurely advanced 8 days ago, having won all of their previous play-off games to reach the series.

After the Red Sox’ miraculous run in 2004 to beat the Yankees, eventually to win the World Series and break the “curse of the Bambino,” they are back again, but this time there is a different feeling in the air.

In 2004, there was a sense of unbelievable, cautious excitement throughout the series with the entire Red Sox nation wondering if this could really happen. Could they actually break the curse? This year there is a much cockier, confident feeling around Fenway with the fans already feeling that the series is in the bag – especially after the game one trouncing of the Rockies. There is a significant change in the attitude about the Red Sox. No longer are they a second class baseball team, but they have firmly established themselves as the team to beat in baseball.

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

The Colorado Rockies had a similar swagger when they came into the series, having won 18 out of 19 of their last games of the year. The feeling before game one is that it would be  a clash of two titans, two of baseball’s hottest teams colliding on the biggest stage. But after the 13th run was scored and fans started making football references to the score, you knew that there was some disparity between the two teams. Hopefully, the Rockies win today and redeem themselves for all of their hard work and a great baseball team leading up to this point. Hopefully they won’t end up another footnote for the mighty Boston Red Sox machine.

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

National League all-star Barry Bonds #25 stands in left field during the 78th MLB All-Star Game at AT&T Park on July 10, 2007 in San Francisco.

After attending this year’s Stan Kalish Picture Editing Workshop, I decided my next blog entry would include some multimedia material. The Kalish Workshop was a great experience for me and I would highly recommend it to anyone in the photo business. It opened my eyes to  to how good this “new” form of media is at telling the story.

I attended this year’s MLB All-Star game armed with my computer a – M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96 2-Channel Mobile Digital Recorder in the hopes of putting together a multimedia slideshow.

This is my first attempt at putting together a multimedia slideshow since attending the workshop. It was put together using Soundslides Plus, which is a great program for a beginner like me but has its limits. I also found that the M-Audio MicroTrack, while good at gathering sound, took forever to boot up after turning it on. The batteries (which are rechargeable, not replaceable) died after about an hour and a half, which I found frustrating.

If anyone has a suggestion about good sound recorders, I would love to hear them. I am still new to the sound recording game, so I apologize in advance for the quality. It was hard to record good sound at a sports venue, so much of what you record is not allowed to be broadcast or used and it is very hard to collect “clean” sound as there is a lot of background noise to deal with.

While surfing the net for info on multimedia, I came across this blog: http://www.multimediashooter.com/. There are some really good posts on here and if you have a minute or two, check it out.

The piece below was made to try and give you an idea of what it’s like to edit an event on-site when the game gets close and you are not sure which way it’s going to go. In case you weren’t watching this year’s All-Star game, it came down to the final inning. The National League who hasn’t won in 11 years almost came back to tie it at the end. Our worst fear as on-site editors is EXTRA INNINGS! Enjoy!

Click the photo below to start:

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Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Game 5 of the World Series ended tonight with the St. Louis Cardinals pulling off a surprising home sweep over the Detroit Tigers. As in game 4, the score was close throughout, providing tension until the final out. Preparing for the ninth inning and the inevitable “jubo” on the field can be an interesting process. The opportunity to get the best picture usually happens in the span of about ten seconds after the final out. There was debate over what lens to use, who to key on…. I was planning on staying on Albert Pujols at the end because he is the star of the team. Another guy I was thinking of keying in on was either Scott Rolen or David Eckstein, because one of them was probably going to be the MVP. Then there is the pitcher and catcher jumping into each other’s arms that is usually quite nice. At the end, keying on Pujols right after the final out, it looked like he just lost his dog. He basically did a quick fist pump and ran to the mound. I immediately went back to the pitcher and catcher before they got together and ended up getting a pretty good frame of them. I must admit that at least from my angle, TV and security was not a big problem. So many times has a police officer just wandered in front of the photo well, blocking the moments on the
field.

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

The on the field photos after the game provided some good moments as well, except for the fact that they didn’t bring the World Series trophy on the field, which was a shame. After the owner was presented with the trophy, it really seemed like he didn’t want anyone else to even touch. Usually the manager or star player lifts it up or runs around the field, but not this time. Players started trickling out from the clubhouse to celebrate with the fans after getting doused by champagne in the locker room. The typical photographer “scrum” broke out, with some pretty good moments. A Sporting News photographer went down over a bank of TV lights chasing starting pitcher Jeff Weaver. A Reuters photographer was literally saved from going down by Albert Pujols, who amazingly enough caught him by the sleeve, picked him up and asked if he was OK.

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Overall, the technology, editors and photographers performed at a usual high level; moving pictures in near real time. The moments on the field provided some telling, compelling images from a variety of angles captured by our photographers. The Cardinals staff and MLB did a great job of accommodating us and allowing us to showcase the Fall Classic in images.

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

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After a rain out the night before the fans and media came back to Busch Stadium on Thursday night for another try at getting game four on the books. With the weather cooperating a bit the game got underway at its normal time and boy was it ever a game.
After covering a few uneventful games, this one came as a blessing (kinda). As I wrote about before from an editing standpoint boring games are no fun to cover because there are no photos to send. The opposite is true about an exciting one, especially a game that comes down to the last innings where deadlines are tight. While photos from these games are awesome to look through, it can be stressful when five photographers are all shooting that awesome game, all have awesome photos of that game, and clients are waiting for those awesome photos.
Game four came down to a hit by David Eckstein of the St. Louis Cardinals in the bottom of the eighth inning that scored Aaron Miles to take a one run lead over the Tigers. Photos from that play were what picture editors across the country were waiting for. Thanks to the miracles of modern technology we were able to provide the following two images and many others to our clients around the world minutes after they happened.

Elsa/Getty Images

ST LOUIS – OCTOBER 26: Adam Wainwright #50 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates after defeating the Detroit Tigers to take Game Four of the 2006 World Series on October 26, 2006 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals defeated the Tigers 5-4 to take a 3-1 series lead.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

ST LOUIS – OCTOBER 26: Curtis Granderson #28 of the Detroit Tigers dives and miss an RBI double hit by David Eckstein #22 in the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during Game Four of the 2006 World Series on October 26, 2006 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.

To see our MLB post season coverage thus far click here.

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