James Venes

2010 should be a busy year for me around the ballpark now that I’ll have a full season within about 15 miles of Raley Field in Sacramento and a little over twice that to Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton. So far I’ve shot three games in the past couple weeks and will be out there again twice more this week. I could get used to that.

The first two games were from Sacramento and featured the River Cats against the Reno Aces and Portland Beavers. The home team lost both but what made it a little more fun for me was getting to see Rickey Henderson around the A’s prospects. He’s with the organization as a roving instructor and spent a week between Stockton and Sacramento.

I got a great candid the first night, thanks to Michael Taylor. The second game that week was the first day game I had a chance to shoot in about a year and it was also the first one I worked in the rain (after about an hour delay to the start of it). As long as I keep the camera dry it’s actually not bad to work in at all. The light is obviously better so I can shoot faster and at a higher quality, but there are also fewer shadows to deal with. I like that.

Last week I got out to one in Stockton where the Ports played the Bakersfield Blaze, and once again the home team lost. In fact, the Blaze blew it open in the last few innings but it was so cold and windy that I called it a night after shooting about half the game, leaving right before Bakersfield scored most of their runs.

Here are links to the three games so far:

4/19/10: Reno Aces at Sacramento River Cats: From Raley Field in Sacramento. The Aces won, 5-3. Early defensive miscues by the River Cats staked Reno to a 2-0 lead but a double by Matt Carson tied it in the fifth. In the eighth, Reno’s Brandon Allen extended a 3-2 lead with a 2-run homer. Sacramento’s Jack Cust got a run back with a single but that was it for the scoring. Sacramento’s Trevor Cahill pitched into the fourth in his first start following an injury and Graham Godfrey took the loss. Reno’s Cesar Valdez earned the win with a solid outing.

4/21/10: Portland Beavers at Sacramento River Cats: From Raley Field in Sacramento. The Beavers won, 5-1. Aaron Cunningham hit a solo homer and Craig Cooper drove in two for the Beavers, who won behind a good outing by Will Inman. Mike Affronti had a couple hits for the River Cats while Michael Taylor brought in their only run. Kyle Middleton struggled and took the loss.

4/29/10: Bakersfield Blaze at Stockton Ports: From Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton. The Blaze won, 12-5. Stockton led 3-1 going to the 7th but Bakersfield scored 8 times to put the game out of reach, in spite of striking out 17 times overall while also drawing 10 walks. Ports starter Shawn Haviland only allowed a run on a homer in 5.1 innings, striking out 9, but the bullpen fell apart. Stephen Parker homered for Stockton while Chris Gradoville went deep for Bakersfield.