A fight! Sort of.
by jcfphoto
There are a few things I have photographed in my career. A bases loaded walk-off home run. A player hitting for a cycle. But there are also a few things I have never photographed like a pitcher throwing a perfect game or a bench clearing brawl. Until tonight. Sort of.
Giants pitcher Ramon Ramirez hit Phillies’ Shane Victorino with a fastball into his back. Once it happen I stood up and kept my eye on Victorino. Then Victorino did what I would do, rush the pitcher mound, slowly. (Actually I would never do that because I’m a whimp.) But then he stopped. Giants catcher Eli Whiteside ran out onto the field and began hopping up and down like an excited puppy. I figured he was going to tackle Victorino but he didn’t. Victorino stopped halfway when the home plate umpire got between him and Ramirez. And all of sudden it happen! The Phillies’ Placido Polanco ran out of the dugout and ran straight for Whiteside. Whiteside dropped to his knees and tackled Polanco. And from there everything began to get fuzzy. My instincts tell me to start photographing anything that moves. The trouble was that it happened so fast I wasn’t sure I got anything in focus. The Phillies ran out of their dugout and the only thing I could see was the back of players. At this time I lowered the camera from my face and continued to scan for the field for any signs of arms flaring but as quickly as it started it was over. A few players were ejected. I looked around to my fellow photographers that were sitting next to me and asked if anyone saw a player throw a punch? We all concluded that it was more like a large scrum, sort of like rugby. But in rugby someone would of gotten hurt.
