Photoblogging: Cleveland Indians vs. Cincinnati Reds (friday night)

By TheNaturalMevs on May 27, 2009

Another friday night in the Diamond Seats. This was a great game. I ate trout, and a ton of peanuts like a little kid for the first time in forever. There was a pretty good crowd on hand in Cincinnati and not a ton of Cleveland fans. It was the beginning of a weekend that featured beautiful weather all throughout.

Here’s Johnny Gomes’ first at bat as a Cincinnati Red. This was a huge hit, as he pinch hit doubled down the left field line and scored what would be the go ahead and eventual winning run. All in all, it was a really nice debut weekend for Gomes who was called up from AAA Louisville before the game.

Just a view of the infamous Moon Deck out in right field on a friday night. Picture perfect night for baseball. Game time temperature was 84° F, with the wind 2mph in from Centerfield (according to Baseball-Reference.com).

One of my favorite Reds Brandon Phillips. Brandon ended up breaking his thumb in Saturday night’s game. It’s too bad as this could end up being a huge loss for the Reds if he is out any period of time. That’s a loss you really can’t make up for. The Reds have little to no right handed pop as it is. Phillips has to come back soon.

Jay Bruce up at the plate before drawing a walk against Indians starter Anthony Reyes. Reyes really had a hard time finding the plate and only went 3 innings. Bruce didn’t have the big night off him that we anticipated. In fact, he went 0 for the weekend. It has been too long since we’ve seen him get a hit. There should be added cheers the next time he manages to get a knock; by the grace of God.

Here is a shot of one of the best players of our modern era, Grady Sizemore. Sure, his stock has slipped a little bit. He’s struggling mightily. But at the end of the day, he’s going to have a chance at 3,000 hits and 400 home runs, and a boat load of stolen bases and runs. All while playing a sparkling centerfield. He’ll be back. This picture was before his broken bat home run, the Tribe’s only run of the ballgame. One of the better photos I took this weekend.

Eric Wedge is having a rough go of it right now in Cleveland. We wonder if this might be the last trip he makes into Cincinnati. We anticipate that he’ll be fired in the not too distant future. Towards the end of a game, an Indians fan near the dugout yelled to Wedge: “Bring back Hargrove!”. Wedge stared him down for a good 20 seconds. It’s too bad because Wedge is a nice guy, just a bad manager.

Here’s Jay Bruce coming out of the tunnel and getting ready to do battle. Not long after this he’d notice us and say whats up. Other then Willy Tavares he was the first Reds player out of the clubhouse to get his pregame warm-ups and stretching in.

Bouncing Bunny Arroyo. He won his 6th game of the year. The guy has some luck. He actually pitched really well in this start and went some good innings to give the bullpen a much needed night off. We wish we could have said the same for Homer Bailey the following night. One thing about Bronson Arroyo; love him or hate him, the guy more often then not keeps you in a ballgame and eats innings.

Here’s the Battle of Ohio ‘Ohio Cup’. We’d never seen this before but it’s given to the winner of the season series between the Reds and Indians. At least for a few more months it belongs to the Reds. And yes, that gentleman is polishing the hardware.

Here’s something around a baseball field that does not get a lot of mention. There’s the bubble gum and David Sunflower seeds containers. That’s how you know you’ve made it to the big leagues. This is where Reds ‘legend’ Billy Hatcher sits often during games. And Dick Pole of course.

David Weathers doing a pregame interview from the dugout with 700 WLW’s William Dennison before the game. Weathers is one of the nicer Reds players and for all the shit we’ve given him over the years, he’s pretty darn dependable. Thanks for your service, Dave.

Just had to take a good shot of the Reds on-deck circle. Who know when I’ll be that close to it again. It’s kind of neat to think about that before every amazing at-bat or big league feat accomplished at the plate, this is where the players reside.