Rice, Henderson Inducted into Baseball's Hall

I capped off my recent round of travels with a trip to Cooperstown this weekend to cover Jim Rice's Hall of fame induction ceremony. I got a chance to check out a really cool photo exhibit in the hall which gave me a dose of inspiration as I dive into the second half of the season.
Other than that all I can say is this: Ricky Henderson is one funny man.




PS: I was pissed that Jim Rice's daughter (with hat) didn't have a "Jim's Fan" with a "B" like Ricky's daughters did- I guess the "14" hat will have to do...

Nuestro Pequeños Hermanos Part III: To Play

The final visit to the orphanage was an opportunity for the kids to put down the rakes and shovels and play with the kids at the orphanage...


The ceremonial first pitch on the re-dedicated field.

Nuestro Pequeños Hermanos Part II: To Work

Working on the baseball field at the orphanage. A little over a year ago it was just a rocky field.

Nuestro Pequeños Hermanos Orphanage-Part I: The Children

The future photographer, pleased after snapping a nice picture.

A few moments later.
Walking to class...

This boy was blind and used his hands to get a sense of what we looked like. He is sitting in his house- the kids are broken up into small groups for more of a family-like setting.


This was the most spirited game of marbles I have ever seen



This kid had a hell of an arm.

Visit to El Mamon

These photos are from a visit to a village called El Mamon that is very close to the Red Sox Dominican Baseball Academy complex. This was the location that the original group from "Lindos Sueños" built a school and a baseball field. The players, coaches and Red Sox staff all received a warm welcome and a lot of attention from the local children.

Dispatch from the Dominican Republic

I'm down in the Dominican this week documenting a program called "Lindos Suenos."
It's a Red Sox/Jet Blue sponsored program that brings a group of teenage American and Dominican ballplayers together. They split their time working in the community and playing baseball games.

This morning we visited an orphanage nearby called Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos. Aside from touring the facilities and photographing the kids in action I'm happy to say I had plenty of time to dig holes and plant shrubs behind the new baseball field that the Lindos Suenos group got started last year. We'll be returning on wednesday so that the kids can play on the field that they worked so hard to build and maintain.

I met one young boy at the orphanage who said he wanted to be a professional photographer (picture above). I let him use my camera and he took hundreds of photos. Most of them are out of focus, but I think I have a new best friend.

More to come on this trip soon...

All Star Game

I had some problems with my laptop in St. Louis so I was unable to publish this blog post until I got back to Boston. So after much delay here are some selects from the All Star Day.
I have to say all in all I really liked Busch Stadium. I wish I had gotten to explore it a little more but security was a bit tight because of the president being there. I can't complain however-they gave me a photo position right next to dugout, about two feet from Joe Madden, which made for some nice wide-angle images.