Red Wings June 5-8 (vs. Norfolk Tides)

The Norfolk Tides are the Orioles' AAA farm team, a role the Red Wings had for decades.  I'm quite certain none of the players cared too much about this fact, but many people in the stands were quite aware.

So far, I haven't seen this before: pre-game TV interview of a Red Wing.

The lighting available to me for this game was quite difficult to deal with, the outfield was in BRIGHT sunlight, while the infield was in shadow.  Some shots came out OK, others were quite lousy.

A dramatic play to end the second inning was this amazing catch by the 3rd baseman.  His response illustrates just how freaking incredible this catch was:

For the Wings, Pedro Florimon had this nice little assist to put out the runner at first:

Finally, this inning-ending play at the plate was quite dramatic.  I only wish I'd ratcheted down the telephoto aspect of my lens to have caught more of the action.  The runner slid home, and the catcher, Rivera, dropped the ball.  BUT... the runner failed to tag the plate and missed.  Rivera found the ball and tagged him out.  Unfortunately, not until after the Tides had scored the go-ahead run.  I left befor eth egame was over, so I really hope the Wings rallied to win.

Hoping tomorrow's game is just as interesting...

Only a couple pictures.  OK... 3.

Running out a probable ground out is always a welcome sight.  Occasionally errors happen, and you want to take advantage of them.  Didin't happen this time, but it's still a nice fundamental to see in a AAA player.

A couple nice defensive plays here.  In the first, Pedro Florimon is lunging a preventing a single.

In the next, Tsuyoshi Nishioka is about to grab and toss to Parmalee, preventing a single.  Basic, but solid play.  If I paid attention to any baseball beyond Frontier Filed, I'd have a clue about how close Nishioka is to making the big club.  He's pretty darn good.  Parmalee's also a solid player.  Florimon has his great days, and then there's the other ones for him.  Consistency will be his greatest friend, if he ever meets it.

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A few games versus the Orioles' AAA affiliate.

Here, a Tide is not a happy camper after hitting into the end of an inning.

Nishioka plays both 2b and SS.  Here, as shortstop, he's demonstrating a good arm.

Due to some time constraints (basically, I knew my wife was waiting at home for me with cold beer), I only stayed for 3/4 of an inning.  I saw the Tides get 3 outs, and then I moved to a position I don't usually occupy: behind home plate.   The netting you see is a bit distracting, but I figured I haven't been there enough, so this is the fist game I spent much time there.  The shots came out pretty good, I think.

This one I like because I caught the ball in flight between pitcher and batter.

This was moments before I left.  The man walking away from the mound is the starting pitcher.  This was right after he gave up a three-run homer.  It always takes at least 10 minutes to warm up a new pitcher, so I left.  I like the shots I did get, though!