So as my wife and I went to a minor league Ft. Worth Cats game last year, I was a little giddy about being in a baseball stadium. The cheers, the sound of the bat on the ball, and children carrying around their baseball mitts just in case there is a foul ball or home run: these are the memories that linger in my mind.
When I went to baseball games as a kid, I always had my glove and in the back of my mind, disregarding the improbability, expected to see a foul ball coming straight at me each time I attended. So as I spotted these would-be outfielders with the same mindset I had at that age, I couldn't help but smile. It gave me such pleasure to know the next generation of kids can have the same experience and level of expectancy I did.
There is just one problem with photographing children: You never want to look like a creepy guy taking pictures of kids in public. So with total discretion and firing from the hip, I squeezed off a few rounds as a little boy gazed longingly over the outfield fence to view the grassy wonderland known as right field. He was so enthralled by the scene laid out before him that he didn't even realize he had dropped his glove on the aluminum walkway below. It didn't even matter. He had been swept up into a world that many young kids have known: dreams of becoming a major league ball player, making the diving catch, hitting the game winning home run, or striking someone out for the win.
After a little more gazing, the boy reached down and picked up his mitt and ran back over to his parents. And I was left with my childhood dreams of one day making the diving catch, hitting the game winning home run, or striking someone out for the win.
Ft. Worth Cats baseball, Ft. Worth, TX
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