Rodger’s Diary - Look Homeward Angel!
I love the surrounding mountains, different neighborhoods, and author Thomas Wolfe’s legacy in Asheville, NC..
Last weekend, I was lucky enough to be able to mix some business with pleasure there, shooting photos
of a very good Asheville Rockies Sally League team and the Red Sox Greenville Drive affiliate.
I could breathe deep again, all that good air, that I missed at home in Northern Virginia.
Like the AA- Portland Sea Wolves, I had the pleasure of photographing and conducting two Greenville player interviews for consideration in Boston Baseball, which I wrote in an earlier article, publisher and editor, Michael Rutstein developed into a quality magazine catering to the Red Sox fans the past 15 years.
Greenville is blessed with several good Red Sox prospects, BA #6 OF Ryan Kalish, BA #9 3B Oscar Tejada, BA #24, Taiwanese OF Che -Hsuan Lin, and BA #29 Yamaico Navarro.
BA #17, 1B, Anthony Rizzo and BA #8 LHP Nick Hagadone are on the roster but not with the team having gone onto the disabled list earlier this season.
Also deserving recognition are Greenville’s 1B Michael Jones, catcher Luis Esposito and LHP Felix Doubront, who were all very impressive and important players in the Drives’ lineup. .
1B Michael Jones is hitting 320 BA, 2 HR, and 16 RBI in 28 games, and was recently named to the SALLY All Star team This 23-year old prospect has a perfect left handed stroke. Down the road, he should become a power and batting average hitter galore. I chose to interview Michael for one of my two interviews that weekend.
Luis Esposito is an aggressive catcher, who is hitting 311, 5 HR, and 12 RBI in just his first 61 AB at
Low A - Greenville . He has his act together, also demonstrating good leader and pitcher handling qualities while I was there.
Rodger’s Diary - 2008 Bowie Bay Sox
Since 1997, I’ve been going to Bowie an average of 10-15 games a season. Frederick and Potomac are the closest minor league parks to my house in Sterling but Bowie is a close third.
Bowie is a family oriented operation - they have a large playground for the kids, and mascot Louie, who loves to be with the young folks. Team management always makes you feel at home.
The Bay Sox are the Orioles’ Double A team located less than an hour from Camden Yards.
The Bay Sox have never been blessed with as many good ballplayers as they have on their 2008 roster
and their play shows it. Savvy veteran manager, Brad Komminsk has them contending for first place in the Eastern League.
OF Nolan Reimold is a for real hitting prospect rated by BA as Orioles #4.
RHP David Hernandez, BA #15, is a league K-leader, who gives you six, seven good innings every outing.
20 -year old RHP Chris Tillman, who was in the trade, which sent Eric Bedard to Seattle, is almost major league ready - he is 5-0 and reminds me of a younger version of the pitcher he was traded for.
6 - 9 RHP Kam Mickolio, also traded by Seattle in the Eric Bedard trade, is at Bowie looking good in
relief.
The Orioles have a solid pitching staff, which also includes two more developing starters, Brad Bergesen and Jason Berken.
Overlooked by baseball soothsayers, I think, is 1B Ryan Finian, who has hit more and more power shots each of the past three seasons at Rookie - A Aberdeen , Low A - Delmarva, and Fast A- Frederick and may be quietly earning himself a shot at the Orioles 1B job someday soon.
Rodger's Diary - More Frederick
Akron/Harrisburg Game
I saw my 25th game this season, an afternoon ball game at Harrisburg Commerce Bank Park which is on City Island in the middle of the Susshehanna River right across from the Capital.
It’s a beautiful location for a family to take in a ball game, picnic by the river, go on some amusement rides, play games, or just hit balls in the cage. You are NOT charged major league concession prices at this Double A ball park, like so many others in the nearby area.
Everything pointed towards a good photography day - I love the locale. The visiting team, Akron is a team which has a lot of highly rated players - LHP Chuck Lofgren, 3B Wes Hodges, LF/C Chris Gimenez, SS Josh Rodriquez, 1B Matt Whitney, CF Trevor Crowe, RF Stephen Head, OF Ryan Goleski, RHP Jeff Stevens and others - who I know very well. The sky was blue and clear, and the temperature about 72 degrees. You couldn’t ask for a better day and I took advantage of it shooting 972 posed and action shots.
More Frederick Photos
I’m adding more photos to the 2008 Frederick photo folder of RHP Zach Clark, 3B Bill Rowell, RF Brandon Tripp, C Matt Wieters, and C Mike Pierce.
Frederick players, let your parents and teammates know about the link and photos. There are also some
old photos I took of Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken, Pete Rose, Jim Thome, and Manny Ramirez on there that you can view too.
If any your parents want clean digital copies (no trademark) of your photos, please have them email me
at Rodger@aol.com
Rodger’s Diary - More Hagerstown
I got there too late to take any posed shots of the Suns’ Lexington Legend opponents but that turned out not to matter much because I had enough light to shoot over a thousand action shots of both teams anyhow.
Also I got an opportunity to see BA Nationals #9 Prospect RHP Colton Willems pitch and BA Nationals #16 prospect, Stephen King play 3B for the first time .
Rodger’s Diary - 2008 Louisville Bats
Triple A - International League - Cincinnati Reds
I saw Louisville play just once this season at The Diamond in Richmond VA on a Saturday night before my grandson Sebastian’s first birthday party the following day.
Through the years, probably as far back as 1993, I’ve seen Louisville play at the old Fairgrounds Stadium in Louisville, Cooper Stadium, Columbus, and a lot at The Diamond in Richmond, VA, which is only about 145 miles southeast of my house.
In fact, I shot Louisville photos when they were still a St. Louis Cardinals AAA - franchise with Todd Zeile catching behind the plate.
I can remember once deciding to shoot only action shots of outfielder and football safety Neon Deion Saunders rather than humble myself by asking the very egotistical player to pose for my camera.
Another aside about Saunders - one time taking photos by the batting cage during New York Yankees warm ups at old Baltimore Memorial Stadium, I decided to put my camera down while he hit because I thought . he swung the bat so badly I’d be wasting my film taking photos of a player who could not hit a lick in practice.
This season is a special one for Louisville as they have the BA #1 prospect in minor league baseball, Jay Bruce, playing right field for them.
Also on the mound every fifth day, BA #10 minor league prospect, RHP Homer Bailey pitching for them.
Also on the mound, Matt Maloney BA Reds #10 prospect, at shortstop, #19 Paul Janish, #22 Adam Rosales, 1B and 3B, #27 Chris Dickerson, CF.
Rodger’s Diary - 2008 Peoria Chiefs
Low A - Midwest League - Chicago Cubs
Since I was snowed on in Battle Creek taking an important photo of Red Sox prospect Chris Reitsima in 1998, I vowed never to return to Michigan to take baseball photos in April again.
But I broke my vow and took a chance this year when I decided to catch Peoria in the thumb area of Michigan at Midland., Michigan and provide Vine Line, the Chicago Cubs team magazine, some early photos of their Low A - Midwest League ballplayers.
As it turned out , I missed the spring snow and cold weather by a week and saw Peoria play the LA Dodgers Low A affiliate Great Lake Loons, April 19-20th and the Toronto Blue Jays Lansing Lugnuts affiliate, April 22nd.
The Peoria Chiefs are blessed with HOF manager, Ryne Sandberg, and a bevy of good ball players.
I lucked out when BA#1 prospect Josh Vitters came up from extended spring the night before I got there.
I saw Josh hit the ball hard several times but it seemed like it was always hit at a third baseman or somebody. The ball just didn’t have eyes for him but he is a far better hitter than his lowly batting 182 average showed and I expect him to blossom into a first class major league hitter with some minor league experience.
BA #7 catcher, Josh Donaldson showed some good leadership qualities behind the plate and whacked the dickens out of the ball.
Almost before I got some good action shots of him, BA #16, RHP Dae Eun Rae knocked out of the box in the second inning at Lansing but he threw hard and I am certain he is a better pitcher than he showed that evening.
While not rated, keep an eye on 3B Marquez Smith, who, my baseball instincts say is going to be a good ball player and who is still at the hot corner for Peoria after Josh Vitters returned to extended spring. He’s hitting 253, 3HR, and 17 RBI so far this season.
Rodger’s Diary - 2008 Frederick Keys
I can remember taking my first photo of a Frederick Keys player, RHP Ben McDonald, back in August, 1989.
Ben McDonald, who was the Orioles’ #1 draft pick the previous June, was making his first professional appearance on a hot summer night at the old American Legion field and I was very anxious to get a photography scoop of this promising prospect before all the other minor league photographers.
Keys GM Keith Lupton set me up for posed shots of McDonald while warming up in the bullpen.
and thanks to him and Ben, I was on my way to my second cover shot ever, Minor League Baseball in the November, 1989 issue.
Nineteen seasons later, I have seen Frederick play four games by May 7th: , Lynchburg, Potomac, Kinston and Salem.
Brandon Tripp highlighted the Kinston game with his 6th and 7th homeruns of the 2008 campaign and Matt Wieters the Potomac game with his fifth homerun.
Frederick’s roster is crowded with Baseball America prospects, #1 Matt Wieters, catcher, #5 Bill Rowell, 3B, #6 Brandon Snyder 1B, #7 Jake Arrieta, RHP, #9 Pedro Beato RHP, #10 Brandon Erbe, RHP, #13 Tim Bascom, RHP, #17 Brandon Tripp, RF, and #25 Chris Vinyard, 1B.
Rodger’s Diary - Hagerstown Suns Photos First Published In 2008
It’s very appropriate I start off my web page team photos publication this season with Washington Nationals Low A - SALLY League affiliate, Hagerstown Suns.
It was at Hagerstown Municipal Stadium 25 seasons ago in 1983, I started taking my baseball photos. In fact, I took my first published photo there that year of Suns pitcher, Chris Eggleston. It was there also that folks started taking an interest in my photos and buying them from the team at the concession stand behind home plate.
The city of Hagerstown, its people and ball players have always been high on my list of favorites and I am very pleased to place the Suns photos on my web page first in 2008.
In the month of April and first week of May, I saw Hagerstown three day and a night game against Lake County (2), Delmarva, and Greensboro.
Shooting some photographs for their 2008 card set, I made sure I shot decent posed and action shots of each of their players, coaches and manager.
I listed each of the Suns below who I published a photo of. In most cases, there are multiple action and posed of each player.
If an editor, team representative, parent, family member, or player would like to download their photos, please send me an email at Rodger@aol.com and I will furnish you instructions.