David-Ortiz-Hits-Homer-#400

So, on the 4th of July, 2012, it was my intention to take my two sons,

Gabriel and Matthew to watch a little baseball. Our town had a large

parade as military towns are wont to on the 4th, so that most of the

streets were sealed off and it took forever to get to the park. To

complicate matters, Matthew fell asleep right as we were fixing to go,

so Gabriel and I left without him. Due to the exhorbitant prices of ticket,

parking, and concession, our seats were modest ones out in the

bleachers, but as we snaked our way through the crowd, a voice

shouted out to me, "Manny!!", and so it was that I met an old friend who

hustled me into some great seats along the third base line so that with

my Canon 70-300 lens I had a reasonable opportunity to capture this

historic moment with some clarity. It was serendipitous that it was such

a sunny day; equally serendipitous that Big Papi sat on 399 for seven

days until we showed up in the park. I have reviewed the limited images

I have found online so far--the event took place just four hours ago as I

type this--and I have yet to see any images from this angle. Anyway, it

was an extremely lucky shot, but I was also happy that when the

occasion arose, I rose to it. As usual, thanks for your time.

David Ortiz hits 400th home run

By Scott Lauber
Wednesday, July 4, 2012 - Updated 3 hours ago
 

OAKLAND, Calif. — It took seven games, but David Ortiz's wait is over.

Ortiz became only the 49th member of the 400-homer club here today, as he lined a missile over the right-field fence against Athletics right-hander A.J. Griffin in the fourth inning at Oakland Coliseum. The solo shot tied the game at 1-1 and was Ortiz’ team-leading 22nd homer of the season.

After going homerless in four games in Seattle and the first two games against the A’s, Ortiz left no doubt about this one, tagging a 2-0 pitch from Griffin.

Ortiz is the 21st left-handed hitter to reach 400 career home runs....

Great moment to have witnessed. That you were lucky enough to run into an old friend with great seats and that you had your camera with you were strokes of fortune. But probably the best thing is that you were able to share it with your son. Fathers, sons and baseball is a grand old tradition. And now you have a memorable picture to remember that special moment. Good for you.

Emmanuel, great perch for great visual angle, perfect light, contrast, nice attitude all working for very impressive moment!      Congr.

Excellent capture!! Very well done, my friend.

Cheers