I had great seats at Roger Dean Stadium as the Nationals took on (and beat) the Marlins. Happily shutterbugging away, I caught Jordan Zimmermann’s first few pitches, both Nyjer Morgan and Danny Espinosa getting hit by pitches and fielding in the bottom of the first. Then suddenly, the camera wouldn’t take any photos. I’d hear the shutter half flip, then an error would fill the display. “Error 99. Shut off camera and turn back on”. Ok, did that. Nope, same error.

Frantically, I googled the error on my phone and tried the things suggested (remove the battery, lens, media cards and wait 20 minutes, then replace one by one..), scoring the game all the while and trying to write notes on things that would normally appear in the pictures. After a half hour passed, I tried again. Still nothing. Somberly, I packed the camera away.

How do I write about a game without replaying it via photos and captioning them? I’m not sure I know how! Somehow, tomorrow, I’ll have to find a way. That beer mission is sounding even better now!

So who was in the last photo I took? Jayson Werth wins that one – he was about to catch a fly ball for the 2nd out in the bottom of the 1st inning. Heck, he’s making enough to replace my camera body, right? ;-) (just kidding!)

I’ve been using this camera for years, so I’m sure it’s out of warranty. Guess I’ll take it to the camera shop when I get back home Tuesday and hope they can save it. In the meantime, off to sob! RIP

Now that I got your attention, just kidding! Yes, Stan Kasten has a page on Facebook (with only 1 “Like”), but it’s just a reproduction of the Wikipedia entry on him. What I found most interesting was the photo. It was another one of those, “Hey! That’s my photo!” moments that often catch me by surprise.

Take Roger Bernadina’s official site, for example. I was stunned to see my photo there without accreditation [original photo]. I mean, aren’t most agents who set up such sites lawyers or some such who have rudimentary understanding of copyright laws. I do have my photos posted as “All rights reserved” so I’m not even sure how Wikipedia is getting away with having gobs of my photos on multiple players’ profiles (not that I mind because at least there they give me credit. [Caveat: I have not yet contacted Bernadina's website/agent, but intend to]

I’m flattered and honored people want to use my photos, really I am! There’s no better affirmation of one’s work than that. But please please, ask me first. All I want is my name on my own work and I’d like to also know where it pops up. That’s it! Simple!

• Review of Cleveland and Throwback Night at Progressive Field

• Strasburg’s 2nd MLB start

• Baseball for the Ladies

BTW, the RSS feed for Nationals items over at CSN is here. Not all of my entries end up in it – it looks like some go in the front page feed as well, which is here. Become a subscriber! It’s free! :-) (and commenter, please!)

And with the end of the road trip to Cleveland, I think my photographer days are over. I’m getting paid to write, not fancy myself as some awesome MLB photographer, and trying to do both has proven complicated and difficult. I’ll still photograph things here and there (why not? I have the equipment), but game stories told through photos will end except maybe when I’m a fan in the stands and have my smaller lens. Although going from the quality of a professional 300mm lens to my normal lens is kind of a disappointment to me. I’d like to give a shoutout to lensrentals.com – using their rental service for the 300mm was a phenomenal experience and the transaction was a breeze. Plus, it allowed me to get the awesome Strasburg shots I will cherish forever. Plus, the Dunn hit on Santana. That was so cool!

[ Photoset on Flickr ] One of the advantages of waiting until morning to write up a blog post is some post-game moves perspective added in. The Nationals brought a mostly “B” team 100+ miles south on I-95 to Roger Dean Stadium yesterday to face the Marlins. No Zimmerman, Dunn, Guzman, Willingham… I present you Pete Orr (who looked a little off on fundamentals) and Chris Duncan, both of whom were victims of this morning’s cuts along with Shairon Martis. Ian Desmond, who many want to see win the SS position over Cristian Guzman, did well at the plate, but but left a little to be desired defensively, committing two errors. Yet, the Nationals still won 9-7 despite Bergmann’s best effort to give the game back to the Fish.

I used a 16GB card for the first time and took 1627 photos of the game. Yowza!! I whittled it down to 45 for the photoset, so it may take some time to load. I even cut some of the more narrative photos that weren’t really much to look at, so this is not as ‘game story telling’ of a photoset as I usually do. So here’s how the game went (note: I don’t have a box score to fact check with, so this was my interpretation of the game):

John Lannan took the mound to start and plowed through the first six batters in succession, getting mainly groundouts. Ian Desmond’s two-base error on a Cody Ross bloop to shallow center field kicked off the bottom of the 3rd, followed by a hit by Morrison putting Ross on 3rd. Barden then hit to right field on a ball that many fans around me commented Willie Harris should have caught, although looking at the photos, he wasn’t close to the bounce point when he prematurely closed his glove and missed the ball, forcing him to chase it. The (unearned) run probably would have scored anyway. Maybin then singled to drive in Morrison and that’s where the one earned and unearned runs against Lannan came into play. Lannan made it through the 4th inning 1-2-3 again. In the 5th, a double play could have been turned, but no one was covering first, although he escaped that inning unscathed only allowing a single and fielders choice on base.

Bergmannn took the mound in the 6th in relief of Lannan. That’s where my scorebook has a lot of complete diamonds. Single, single, fielders choice (oddly thrown home by Pete Orr instead of to 1st to complete a double play – I think they should have given up the run being up by 4 and taken the out). Another Ian Desmond error. I thought he booted the ball, but upon review of the photographs, he lost it transferring it from his glove to his throwing hand. A walk. Finally a strikeout. A bases clearing double. And then mercifully, a flyout to right to end the bleeding. The Marlins took the lead by one run in that inning.

Former Nat, Mike MacDougal obligingly gave the runs back and then some following two quick outs. And that is how the Nationals won the game. For that, I thank him. Tyler Clippard pitched the 7th and 8th innings, allowing a single and a double, but no runs or walks and striking out two. Atilano and Jesse English shared the 9th inning, with English ending the game getting a grounder back from another former Nat, Emilio Bonifacio.

Random Observations:

* Pudge Rodriguez crosses himself before every swing of an at bat, sometimes multiple times. Not every at bat, but every swing!

* Lannan forced the Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson from the game after drawing a walk. He made it as far a 3rd base.

* Duncan has a funny batting stance – kind of like he’s leaning back. He also either does a lot of self-talk after something bad (like striking out) or just really chomps on a wad of chew. I’m not sure which.

* Marlins pitcher Penn was very nervous with Bernadina on first. He took for-evah to throw the next pitch, stepping off the mound, looking to first, throwing to first, stepping off the mound, lather, rinse, repeat! Bernadina stole 2nd anyway.

* Tyler Clippard has one of the funkiest windups I’ve ever seen. It’s actually pretty cool to watch!

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[ Photoset on Flickr ] I awoke to the news that Strasburg and Storen had been reassigned to minor league camp. I felt a little disappointed that I wouldn't get to see Drew Storen pitch on this trip, so I was quite surprised when he took the mound in the 9th inning against the Marlins. He didn’t disappoint, getting a flyout, strikeout, and pop up all in a row.

I had to practice my manual focus mad skillz as I was sitting behind the net, but not close enough to get my auto-focus to ignore it. That was fun (and by fun, I mean challenging!). The Nationals ultimately lost to the Marlins 5-3 after starting out with a run in the first inning and not scoring again until 7th. Marlins employed the long ball, hitting homeruns off Mock and Martis, two by Cameron Maybin. Tyler Walker and Drew Storen each pitched perfect innings in the 8th and 9th.

And now it’s time to head to Jupiter (city, not planet) where I should probably wear jeans to protect my scalded sunburnt knees. Oy, that was dumb not putting sunscreen on my legs! Photos after the jump:

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[ Photoset on Flickr ] Nearly upstaged by the peeing raccoon in the rafters over the first base stands (the screaming sounded like a rollercoaster ride, only there was nothing exciting on the field at the moment!), Stephen Strasburg made his final major league spring training start last night before being assigned to AA Harrisburg and minor league camp. I feel so lucky I timed this trip in a way that began with Strasburg's start. I’d like to think the Nats kept him in there long enough for me to photograph him, but that would be delusional.

Strasburg’s strike to ball ratio greatly improved in this game over his previous two outings, not that the ratio ever seemed to affect the outcome. His results have been arguably better than any other pitcher thus far this spring. After allowing two home runs in the first inning, the first on his first pitch to Tyler Greene (not how I expected the game to start!), he knuckled down and and held the Cards off. Still, it wasn’t terribly surprising to hear the news this morning that he would start the season in AA Harrisburg along with Drew Storen. The only thing I would have liked to see him add last night was a pick-off throw to first base when it was occupied. The first flyball out wasn't made until the 5th inning.

Nationals won 13-5. Whew! A win for my first game! Photos after the jump:

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Now that I’ve seen photos, it feels like baseball really is happening. Now if only the snow would melt… What? There may be more snow this week?! Gah.

On a radio show a while back, Stan Kasten mentioned he’d like to see more videos on the blogs. I felt like he was talking to me regarding this offseason break I’ve been taking. So excuse me while I reacquaint myself with the treadmill and start my own spring training program. It’s time to fire up the old video camera soon and resume “That’s Chat’s Nats” episodes. For Stan. I’m touched he misses me.

Thanks to the MASN setup in conference room 6 on the 3rd floor, I have a new avatar for Facebook and Twitter! Heck, I may even redesign this blog around it. What do you think? Other than that and the Kids Zone, we didn’t see much. I saw Kasten doing a Q&A over the TVs in the Stars and Stripes Club, but I couldn’t really hear what he was saying over the din of fans eating and waiting in line for autographs. I did, however, get to pose for a photo with new MASN analyst and writer Ben Goessling (formerly with the Washington Times – I’m sure you’ve heard of him). Highlight of my day! Well, that and getting a replacement mousepad since my original Fantasy Camp mousepad is, ummm, well, not exactly white anymore.

I can give a full review of the Kids Zone – the moon bounce obstacle course was the bee’s knees! At least according to my kids. My daughter also loves her new sparkly butterfly-painted face around her eyes. The boy is fond of the funny balloon hat.

Other than that, the only scoop I have is hearing that there are new food options in Viera. Woo! (not even sure I’ll make it to spring training this year *sniff*) I didn’t even get a photo of Zimmerman’s Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards on display in the Presidents Club (but I did see them during a quick cruise through!). I also entered a drawing at DC50′s booth for a small HDTV. It was the “Vampire Diaries” display that drew me in, I must admit. What can I say, it’s a guilty pleasure! Word of advice, though – this is a case where the TV show is far better than the books.

I spent much of yesterday trying to put names to new Nats faces and commit them to memory so I wouldn’t goof up any of the photo captions. As you can see, Jason Marquis was quite obliging in that regard! Prior to an autograph signing and photo session at the Prince George’s County Sports & Learning Complex where fans could gawk at Adam Dunn’s quite full winter beard or comment on Josh Willingham’s Capitals “Courage” hat and meet three new off-season signings, the Nationals held a press conference in the town hall room at the back of the impressive complex (seriously, I gawked at the gymnastics gymnasium and wished I had a place like that to go while growing up!).

As anyone who lives in the DMV area is aware, there are many very poor areas in PG County. Honestly, what comes to mind when you hear “PG County”? For those underserved children, they grow up without organized baseball programs teaching them fundamentals or real balls, bats and gloves for those who still attempt to play. The most touching moment came at the end of the press conference when Steven Carter (Chief, Sports, Health & Wellness Division, M-NCPPC*) spoke about learning to play baseball with a sock wrapped in duct tape and the emotion of calling his mom the day he was called up to the big leagues against all odds. He then asked all the Nationals players present and the Forestville Little League players to come up front so the kids could touch an MLB player and remember the moment as they work their way towards success of their own.

So with that said, the Nationals clearly picked well for partnering with a county for promoting youth baseball. During the press conference, the Nationals announced the designation of the M-NCPPC Department of Parks and Recreation Prince George’s County as the recipient of the 2010 Baseball Equipment Drive (in partnership with the Baseball Tomorrow Fund) to be held at Nats Park on Sunday, June 6th. A grant of $5,000 will be given to purchase baseball equipment and the Nationals will host a baseball clinic for Prince George’s County youth as well as commit players to appear at clinics held by the county Parks & Rec commission. The Nationals are also donating tickets to games to underserved youth and their families as part of their mission to bring baseball to children who might not otherwise have an opportunity to learn and play the game with proper equipment. The Washington Nationals Dream Foundation also gave a $5,000 grant to the Forestville Boys & Girls Club to assist with baseball programs and equipment needs. The kids grabbed that giant photo op check and ran around the conference room as things were breaking up hooting and hollering like it was a real check they could spend. Too cute!

Now off to NatsFest at the ballpark!

[ Flickr ]

* Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s Department of Parks & Recreation

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Ah, the ladylike fun of crawling around on the floor in front of a room full of attentive press conference attendees – I had forgotten how much I love that!

Nyjer Morgan and pediatric patient at Children’s National Medical Center

Well, ok, the boys have been in town for several days, but yesterday was the first day of the winter caravan that allowed me to catch up to them on a snowy traffic-halting day. The first stop on the day’s caravan tour was Children’s National Medical Center in DC. What I love most about these types of community relations events is capturing the genuine smiles and joy expressed not only on the players’ faces, but the children whose day is brightened because of the visit. While doctors and nurses can heal the body, visits with their sports heroes sooth and help heal children’s souls, not to mention provide memories to last a lifetime.

A large contingent of Nationals strode into the Atrium of the hospital where children from babies to teens, relatives and attending care providers sat at brightly covered tables ready for the attention lavished upon them. In addition to players Tyler Clippard, Craig Stammen, John Lannan, Ryan Zimmerman, Josh Willingham, Adam Dunn and Nyjer Morgan were new Nationals Matt Capps, Brian Bruney and Jason Marquis as well as manager Jim Riggleman and tv broadcaster Rob Dibble. Nats owner Mark Lerner was also on hand chatting with Dr. Fran Cogen who heads the Diabetes Program and the Diabetes Care Complex which is an integral part of the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation’s mission. Quite the entourage! I think that may be the largest I’ve seen yet.

In addition to the usual conversation, smiles, posing for photographs and handing out of autographed cards, Nationals played card games of UNO with patients and autographed stuffed Screeches. A little boy who had been there five days and was going home was treated to Nats autographs on his ‘autograph pillow’ normally signed by nurses and doctors upon discharge.

The little boy pictured above will be able to show all his friends the proper technique to the fist bump-finger splaying move taught to him by Nyjer Morgan aka Tony Plush! The Nationals’ visit provided a few hours where the IVs, tubes and medical monitoring equipment present in the room were forgotten or went unnoticed, replaced with abundant grins, coloring and memory making .

[ Flickr ]

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