Line drive

..the balllgame .. Two days later and that song is still echoing -- in a nice way -- in my head after visiting the local Single-A ball club.

At one point far back investors had been seeking ways to bring a full Major League baseball club to the city but that time is long past. Vancouver is and will always be a hockey town. But for almost as long as the NHL Canucks have been the leading professional team in the city there has also been a minor league baseball team: the Vancouver Canadians.

I'm no baseball fan and have only a passing familiarity with the rules. That said, there is that mystique about America's pastime that has embedded itself in sports culture. Maybe it was the many times I've spent watching the Robert Redford fantasy "The Natural" -- still the greatest sports film ever, but I am fond of the idea of baseball even if I don't know it and don't follow it.

Baseball to me has always equated to slow summer days, a gentle pastime played in the sun by men who spent 80 per cent of the time standing waiting for something to happen. To me there is a bit of an incongruity thinking of baseball as a professional sport, as something that commands big bucks with stars and retinues and distance from the people. Hockey in Vancouver, for example, is enjoyed live by people who make a lot more money than me -- even if it is followed by most on television. Because of that, it really isn't an intimate sport to follow.

Catcher hurt after tip

With all that said, it was really nice to be able to go to the baseball game on Tuesday and be able to simply walk around, camera in hand -- big 100-400L lens even, and do whatever I wanted. Friendly ushers and security. No one telling you to get out of the way. No big egos asking you why you were taking a picture of something. Really nice.

Big swing

At Nat Bailey, a pretty small stadium, you can quickly walk from one end to another in five minutes dodging running kids and the concessionaires. You can get from the front row to the top in a couple minutes. The only bad seats (which I happened to have this time) are the ones behind pillars. Also, it is annoying to have that net behind home plate that protects people from tips, thrown bats and wild pitches. I noticed one other serious photographer who had a press pass but frankly I don't know what better access they would have (for the play that is) that I didn't.

Pitch

I'm not a sports photographer and my shots this year are only slightly better than the ones I took with a Canon 70-300mm IS USM last year. The 100-400L is nice for recomposition -- wide to telephoto, but won't win any awards for sharpness at the telephoto range. The ability to go short to long quickly, though, was a bonus with baseball's unpredictability. Where will the ball go? Will there be a double play? A pop fly to the outfield? I took a few shots with the 2x teleconverter and quickly took it off -- the quality really wasn't there.