Heading Back in Time – Living in the Present

Heading Home
Originally uploaded by ▐►cp◄▌.

What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon… just like in yesteryear Birmingham ‘cept the crowd was as integrated as you could imagine. While I attended the game with Andre and ran into loads of other people, it was dang cold! Andre and I started behind the Black Barons’ dugout, but gave in to the the desire to be in the sun by the 4th inning or so… even then, the lights soon came on and the sun disappeared behind the roof (which provides ample shade in the summertime).

Moving over to the sunny side (3rd base line) I was in a better position to take this shot… almost by accident. I was tracking the runner taking home from 3rd on a wild pitch and couldn’t aim/pan and pull back on the zoom fast enough at the same time. Still, a fun shot, TYVM.

Be sure to check out all of the other photos I took at the game.

It was fun when I got home (and warmed up) to watch it all over again on my MOXI system. Unfortunately, as Andre noted in his blog, the game was quite long. ESPN Classic broadcasted the game (see here for their press announcement about the game), but scheduled only THREE hours (seems long enough by most standards) in the “TV guide” schedule. The only problem is that 3 hours was only long enough for SIX innings. I had to wait for the morning paper to see the final score (I gave in to the cold temperatures at the top of the 6th inning) since my PVR system stopped recording at the 3 hour mark and I didn’t get home in time to catch the end of the game “live.” It was awesome, however, to watch the interviews with Willie Mays and hear the commentary about the field, etc. on the recording.

My favorite line from the broadcasters booth was in an interview. Birmingham historian Shelley Stewart was asked “have you seen a change from [1940's Birmingham]“, he responded “Oh, Birmingham has changed… tremendously. Birmingham is not what people think of yesteryear [...] Birmingham has changed just as other parts of the country has changed.”

The game was exciting enough that I’d love to buy the DVD if they ever put one out. I’ll be watching for a rebroadcast of the “live throwback” game!