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Here's CF
prospect Jason Michaels at the
bat rack during his second week of professional
ball. He wasn't hitting his weight when this
picture was taken, but blossomed during the final
month of his first season. |
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| If Ian Rauls
doesn't make it as an outfielder, he has a
promising career as a standup comic or a
photographer's model. |
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The Batavia
clubhouse is a fun place to be. I'm responsible
for bringing the guitar into the mix, but the
rest happened spontaneously. That's former
prospect Carlos Duncan holding
the guitar case. |
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| Pitcher Chris
Pilato played the guitar. I thought we
could make his baseball card something special by
posing him, playing the guitar with a baseball
glove on his left hand. I promised him there had
never been a card quite like it before. Everyone
had fun during the photo-shoot, but come the
crunch, both Pilato and his GM thought better of
the whole idea and opted for a conventional pose.
Baseball is a very conservative game. |
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Pitcher Elio
Serrano wasn't quite as conservative. He
enjoyed Pilato's photo shoot so much that he
insisted on getting into the action. Elio grabbed
the guitar case, danced around left field with
it, and insisted I take his picture. |
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| Because Batavia lives near
the bottom of the player development chain, the
Phillies brass often come to visit. The week I
was there, pitching/coaching legend Johnny
Podres was in residence. Few of the guys
on Batavia's roster really knew who Pods was, but
one - Cary Hiles - asked me if
I'd take a picture of him with Podres as a gift
for his father. |
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Nick
Punto has been quietly putting together
some solid numbers in his minor league career.
Here he is behind the scenes during his first
week in pro-ball. |
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| Kenny Westmorland
was one of the most photogenic guys I worked
with. It was hard to get a bad picture of him,
although sitting around the clubhouse eating a
banana was not likely to end up on his baseball
card. |
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Shayne
Carnes didn't make it very far in the
Phils' minor league system, but we had fun taking
his picture. He looked tough on his baseball
card, with two bats on his shoulder, but I
preferred the informality of this locker room
shot. |
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| Roger Rodeheaver
was working very hard on his swing when roving
batting instructor Billy Demars
came to town. Demars' history with the Phillies
goes back many years, and he enjoyed working with
the kids, long after other guys would be happy to
collect a social security check. |
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Pure and
simple, Mike Zipser was one of
the nicest guys I met as I traveled around the
minors. I think this off-field shot captures
something really basic about him. |
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