James Venes

In West Sacramento, Raley Field is probably one of the nicest minor league ballparks you could find. Unless you’ve been to a number of them (and there are a few great websites out there with a ton of photos by people who have) it’s hard to compare one to another, but the layout’s nice and it’s situated in an area that’s pretty easy to get to. That it’s about 100 miles from home means I only go there once in a while, and I had my first chance to shoot a game there on August 8, a morning start (11:35 AM) between the Sacramento River Cats and visiting Oklahoma RedHawks.

This one was a pitching duel between Oklahoma’s Edinson Volquez and Sacramento’s Colby Lewis. They entered the game with a combined 11-1 record in Triple-A this season and both were dominant in Oklahoma’s 2-0 victory. Lewis went 8 innings, allowed just a run on 4 hits and struck out 10 without walking anyone, yet he took the loss as Volquez pitched 7 strong, giving up 2 hits and 2 walks to go with 9 strikeouts. Oklahoma’s only runs? In the 7th, the first came as the result of a sacrifice fly in which the third out was recorded at second base a split second after the run scored. In the 9th, the other one crossed the plate due to a fielding error. The game was played in a swift 2:15 and the hot summer temperatures took a break with the high topping out in the mid-80s.

I mention the temperature because my preference tends to be shooting day games. While I know it makes some things tougher to shoot because of different shadowing effects and the position of the sun relative to the direction I’m facing, I get better overall results than I would at night because I’m not yet to the point of being able to afford better glass to work with in lower light. I live in a very comfortable area so most of the year is pretty nice but during the summer months there are places that definitely get hot, including Sacramento and pretty much anywhere along Hwy 99 (Stockton, Modesto, Fresno, Visalia, Bakersfield) and much of the Southern part of the state that features other California League teams. It’s just one of those tradeoffs. I can live with a bit of heat in exchange for better shots and we don’t really have to deal with all the humidity the Midwest and East Coast gets.

The gallery: 8/8/07: Oklahoma RedHawks at Sacramento River Cats

There’s a greater focus on Sacramento players mainly because I was shooting for the A’s part of scout.com. Usually I try to balance both sides out a little more. Among the shots I liked best were multiple ones of different pitchers taken behind the plate, plus a couple of River Cat Jeremy Brown – one diving for a base hit and another from a broken bat, one of the best I’ve taken yet of something like that.