We were lucky enough to get tickets to the local Dayton Dragons minor league Class-A baseball game Thursday night.  Our seats were great, along the first base line and just a few rows up from the field.   The Dragons play at Fifth Third Field, a beautiful field that is arguably the best thing going in downtown Dayton.

From the Dragons Web page:

Dayton Dragons – The Dragons began play in the 2000 baseball season as the Class‑A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds organization.  This team plays at Fifth Third Field, which is a part of a $30 million complex located in the heart of downtown Dayton. Fifth Third Field has been designed unlike a minor league stadium, and includes amenities such as premium and club level seating, 30 luxury suites and the first upper-deck in Class-A baseball.

The kids playing in this league are typically just out of college and hoping to make the big show.  They clearly still the love the game and they’re giving it everything they have to show they can play at the highest level one day.  That and the small stadium, cheap tickets, the fan enthusiasm all combine to make a Dragons game way more fun, in my opinion, than watching the Cincinnati Reds.

I called ahead and asked about bringing a camera and they were great about it.  The lady told me, “Oh, yeah bring any kind of camera you want – even a video camera”.  I asked about a long lens and she said, “no problem, bring anything.”   I gotta tell you, I was surprised by that.   I expected them to say no camera’s allowed but they probably are more than happy to have photos taken of these young players. I’m pretty sure the Reds would mug anyone coming in the gate with anything but a point and shoot cause they are pretty controlling.   Yet another reason to attend the minor league games.

The Dragons put on a great game.  It went 14 innings with the Lumber Jacks pulling out a victory when they scored 2 runs in the 14 and the Dragons couldn’t come back with an answer.  14 innings gets you your moneys worth of baseball!

The shots from this game were taken with a Sigma 70-200 2.8 on the D300.  The lens was pretty wide open or close to it for most of the shots.  ISO was inched up as the night wore on and the light faded.  No flash at the game Strobists ,just available light – unless you count all those field lights!

This last shot was taken with the 50mm 1.8 and intentionally taken of focus.  I saw something like it on Flickr the other day.  This would have been better with a wider angle lens.  I’m sure we’ll get to another game this season so when we do I’ll bring the 18mm for sure!