Reunion Central

The Palisades High Class of 1980, my class, my great friends whom I love like family, got together on September 15, 1990, August 26, 2000, and once again on July 10, 2010 to spend a nice evening reflecting on so many fond memories.

This years event was held at the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica California. A lot more laid back and with a lower attendance than the ten and 20 year reunions did not damper anything this time. It's always good to see everyon up close and in person, which hopefully will happen more often in the future. I keep thinking and often saying out loud that we're certainly not getting any younger.

It's so great to have social media sites within the world of todays technology. Places like Facebook seem to give us the feeling of being reunited every day. Many blessings to my fellow classmates, not only to the ones from Palisades High but all my other schools as well, especially to those who are no longer with us, including my good friend Jimmy (The Weatherman) Alexander. My hope is now for all of us to stay well and look forward to getting together more often in the future.

The Phoenix Mercury/WNBA

There's a lot that can be said about women's sports, especially at the professional level, where leagues, teams, etc. have been rather few and far between in recent times, most of which have featured leagues that only lasted a few years on average, some of which, like the Women's Pro Soccer League, have vanished and resurfaced later.

The WNBA has been one of the most interesting concepts of women's pro sports I've ever seen. Since its inception, in the summer of 1997, the league has been able to prove itself in more than one way. I'm quite impressed with the fact that the WNBA has pretty much beaten the odds. With the ceasing of operations of the Sacramento Monarchs at the end of last year, it marked, if I'm counting correctly, the ninth time in league history that a franchise has either relocated or folded.

One of the origional teams, the Houston Comets, looking like they were on their way to some kind of WNBA dynasty, winning the first four WNBA championships,(1997-2000) is one of, I think six teams that no longer exists. I always thought that teams like the Comets, who had an NBA team in their city, would have the best chance to get by on the business end of things, but no, that hasn't been the case. Most of the teams that have ceased operation along with Houston, in places like Portland, Cleveland, and Orlando just to name a few, have been the ones that have lasted the least amount of time.

Here in Phoenix, we have the Phoenix Mercury, who, like most teams, have had up and down seasons, but are one of the origional franchises that have been able to stay in the same city throughout their existance. The Mercury have a great player in Diana Taurasi and have had others, like Cappie Pondexter, to help them win the 2007 and 2009 WNBA championships and all the player/fan enthusiasm that came with them.

I've had a great opportunity to photograph the Mercury this season, but with the departure of Cappie Pondexter and the addition of Candice Dupree, it's quite obvious that the team is going through a new chemistry that it was not as easy to adjust to as some might've thought. At the time of this post, the Mercury are holding a 9 win and 12 loss reccord for 2010, but still holding onto second place in the WNBA Western Conference that the Seattle Storm is being the dominant team in. Except of first place Seattle, who is running away, with 19 wins and 2 losses, the rest of the conference has teams with fairly evenly matched records. There's no telling what the playoff picture will look like.

The Mercury remained a fairly young team going into the 2010 season. No player on the roster, with the exception of Tangela Smith, is more than 30 years old. There's still plenty of time to turn things around, push up and over the .500 mark, and make way to the playoffs. With the Mercury's recent aquisition of forward/center Kara Braxton from the Tulsa (formerly Detroit) Shock, in a trade for forward Nicole Ohlde, It might make a difference as the 2010 season begins to wind down. Best of luck to head coach Corey Gaines and the Phoenix Mercury team for 2010 and beyond.

Buster Posey et al

So, what have we here? I guess most of you would say I'm beating the "Ho Hum Drum" by writing yet another story about yet another up and coming professional baseball player.

Gerald Demp ("Buster") Posey, drafted fifth overall by the San Fransisco Giants in the 2008 Amatuer Draft is certainly another one of the up and coming young pro ballplayers that's worth writing about.

I missed the opportunity to photograph the catcher/first baseman in the 2009 Arizona Fall League, where he played after his stellar college baseball career at Florida State University, which included the Johnny Bench Award and lead to a good year in the Giants minor league system, leading to a brief call up to the big club at the end of the 2009 regular season.

My opportunity to photograph Buster during the 2010 Cactus League Spring Training games was as enjoyable as any other. That shot I took for this article, with him colliding with one of the Giant's infielders (I'm not sure who)while chasing a pop fly was one of my best and it came with good results as the out was recorded.

Beginning the 2010 season at Triple-A Fresno, Buster would soon receive another call to the big leagues on May 29, 2010. Playing first base and getting a hit in nine out of his first ten at bats is just one of the ways he proves that his career is definitly going in the right direction.

Well, a lot has changed recently for our national pastime. Ken Griffey Jr. has called it a career, Jason Heyward is still the top rookie position player, followed closely by Starlin Castro. Mike Leake continues to show dominance on the mound and at bat. Steven Strasburg made a spectacular Major League debut while his Washington Nationals, who once again had the top draft pick, took top prospect Bryce Harper, an up and coming young catcher. I've said it before and I'll say it again: "The best is yet to come."

Sealing the Leake

I once said "I like Ike," so I can also find an appropriate reason to say "I like Mike." That's Mike Leake, a former baseball standout at Arizona State University, in the role of a righthanded pitcher, as well as an infielder/outfielder who is also on the list of the great up and coming ballplayers that I recorded images of with my own cameras over the course of the last few years.

For Mike Leake, being selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the first round of the 2009 amatuer player draft as a pitcher, then going to the 2009 Arizona Fall League and working out with the Reds during 2010 Cactus League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee worked out much better than most had anticipated.

It would earn him a spot on the Reds 25 man roster as the fifth starting pitcher for the Reds, beating out Travis Wood and another highly regarded pitching prospect in Aroldis Chapman, as well as becoming another of many players to make the big league roster without having to play a day in the minor leagues.

I waited quite a while for a chance to watch Leake in action during the regular season and finally got the chance on May 20, 2010, when his Cincinnati Reds were broadcast on Major League Baseball Network for the "Thursday Matinee" game, when the Reds took on the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field in Atlanta that afternoon.

Mike and his team broke out with an 8-0 lead over the Braves by the 2nd inning and he would even help himself out going 2 for 3 at the plate, though not driving in any runs. On the mound, Mike would pitch 6 innings, allowing 5 hits, 1 base on balls and striking out 6 batters.

Despite Mike's good performance, he and the Reds were not able to hold onto their big lead and would lose to the Braves in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the ninth inning. Reds leftfielder Laynce Nix, who had hit a home run to pad his teams lead in the top of the fifth inning, had a high fly ball hit by Brave's pinch-hitter Brooks Conrad bounce off his glove to clear the fence for the game winning grand slam home run. Oddly enough, Reds first baseman Joey Votto also hit a grand slam home run, in the top of the second inning. You don't see two in one game very often these days.

Mike Leake, despite the disappointing loss for his team, was able to show playing prowess in many areas that day, to include at bat and in the field, often looking a lot like the good infielder he was when I saw him during his playing days at Arizona State University. For the Reds he wears jersey number 44, a number more common in baseball with big hitters, Hank Aaron and Reggie (Mr. October) Jackson just to name a few.

With Stephen Strasburg continuing to do well in Triple-A ball in the Washington Nationals organization, as well as Mike's former ASU teammate Ike Davis with the New York Mets, Jason Heyward with the Atlanta Braves, and recently Starlin Castro with the Chicago Cubs, I meant what I said when I mentioned the fact that the race for the NL Rookie of the Year award will be a tight one this season, just like what's expected of the races for playoff spots and division tiles can be.

My hat's off to all the up and coming young players who are on the verge of making good names for themselves and our national pastime. It's going to be an interesting 2010 season in that regard and hopefully, many others. It's still early in the 2010 Major League Baseball season. The best is yet to come.

A Starlin is Born

Here we have again,this time for the Chicago Cubs, another young pro baseball player who's rapidly making his way up the ranks of the ladder of our national pastime, whom I also enjoyed the opportunity to photograph in action during both the 2009 Arizona Fall League and the 2010 Cactus League Spring Training games.

Starlin Castro, like many pro ballplayers of the past, present, and future, (I'm sure) is from the Dominican Republic, born in Monte Christi on March 24, 1990, the same day I was blessed with the daughter (Trenise) that I'd always wanted and now love very much, just as I love the game of baseball.

Starlin performed very well in both the Fall League and Cactus League for the Cubs, earning a spot on the roster of the Tennesee Smokies, the Double-A level minor league team for his parent club.

Starlin's call to his big league club, on May 7, 2010, gave him the distinction of being the first major leaguer born in the 1990's. He would celebrate that occassion with a three-run home run in his debut at-bat, followed later in the game with a three run triple. His 6 RBI's in that game are now a record for a major league debut.

Baseball America is calling Starlin the Chicago Cubs best prospect for 2010 and his fielding capabilities, with the possibility of a gold glove in the future, would be the eventual icing on the cake of his playing career.

The competition for the 2010 National League Rookie of the Year award may be a little stiffer than some of us first thought.Starlin, along with Jason Heyward, Ike Davis, and maybe even Stephen Strasburg, may take the race for that distinction right down to the wire, just like some races for playoff spots, division titles, etc. often go.

As for the Chicago Cubs, the addition of Starlin Castro may send them on the right path to break that World Series curse, maybe not anytime soon, but hopefully sometime in my lifetime.

Even Stephen

Stesphen Strasburg is another strong up and coming professional baseball player who's well on his way to the big show.

The number one overall pick of the 2009 Major League Baseball amatuer draft this right-handed pitcher had a memorable collegiate career at San Diego State University, under head coach and former major leaguer, now hall of famer Tony Gwynn.

His strong showing came in his sophomore and junior seasons with ERA's of less than 2.00 along with more than 100 strikeouts in less than 100 innings pitched. Stephen seemed unhittable at times with a fastball in the vicinity of 100 miles per hour and a curveball in the 80 mile an hour range on the mound for the Aztecs.

After being drafted number one by the Washington Nationals Stephen pitched a one-hitter vs. the Netherelands at the 2008 Olympic games in Bejhing for team USA and would soon make his pro baseball debut for the Phoenix Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League.

I had a nice time photographing Stephen in action during the Fall League season and was glad to hear that he would be assigned to the Double-A level Harrisburg Senators to begin his minor league stint in the Washington Nationals organization.

On May 4, 2010 Stephen was promoted to the Triple-A level Syracuse Chiefs, pitching six innings in his first start, striking out six, allowing only one hit and one base on balls.

Most people in the game predict his major league debut sometime this Summer, perhaps as early as June. Wether that happens or not, I see a great career ahead for the prospect named #1 by Baseball America for 2010.

K.J. Bowen

It's been a great opportunity I've had for the last two years, photographing the up and coming young atheletes at Peoria High School, but there weren't too many that were better than the 2009 season and senior wide receiver Keith (K.J.) Bowen Jr.

Week after week, K.J. was one of the players that I found being the subject of a lot of the good photo galleries featuring himself and his team during his final season of playing football for his Peoria High School Panthers. His style of play, both pass receiving as well as ball carrying gave me the feeling he had a chance to go a long way in this game.

A good player and a well mannered young man as I remember the game at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale on September 17, 2009. Sometime during that game, in the first half if I remember correctly, K.J. hurtled out of bounds, narrowly mising me, but knocking over a female photographer on the sideline, even delaying the game just out of personal concern for her. As I remember, she was slightly bruised, but OK.

K.J. would continue his superb performance during the course of the next month, giving me the chance to record some of the best images of a young athelete that I've ever gotten to this day. These images I have in my PC files and hope to preserve for a lifetime.

On April 19, 2010 K.J. was thrown another superb pass, this one not from his own team quarterback in Caleb Gillespie, but from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. K.J. caught that pass and took a long and final run to the goal line of the heavenly body. Our Heavenly Father stood up and raised both arms to signal the touchdown.

My heart will always be heavy for this young man and my thoughts and prayer will always be with his family and friends. Like everyone else, I can only wonder what could've been. His eye from above will always be on all of us just as my eye and camera will alway be on the talented young athletes like the one he was. K.J., thank you so much for the great opportunity. You will be missed.