Thursday, September 2, 2010

End of the Season


The Little League boys of summer have gone back to school, leaving behind a lonely field of long shadows at Arroyo Park. There is something so melancholy about abandoned bull pens and empty batting cages. I think former baseball commissioner Giamatti summed it up well:

"I think It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone."

14 comments:

this too will pass said...

cool shot, and sentiments expressed well

Jean Spitzer said...

Love this.

Judy Williams said...

Excellent!! Love the monochrome - it gives it such a sense of desolation. The shadow play is terrific. And you know me,the diagonal line lover - you presented me with two intersecting ones! Man, where on earth did you get that sad baseball quote??

Mister Earl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mister Earl said...

You face the fall alone... unless you're in the playoffs and World Series!

I'm sure Laurie knows this, but for some of the others:
A. Bartlett Giamatti was briefly Commissioner of Baseball before his untimely death, after serving a few years as president of the National League. Before that, he was a professor of literature and poetry at Yale, where he ultimately served as president. His son, Paul Giamatti, is an actor whose most well-known role was in Sideways.

Judy Williams said...

I LOVE Paul Giamatti. Thanks for the info. I don't usually put baseball and literature together but this proved me wrong.

Laurie Allee said...

Baseball IS literary! I love the poetry of it, as well as the game itself. We could start an entire discussion about great baseball novels and short stories...

Laurie Allee said...

Oh, and thanks Mister E about the Paul Giamatti connection. I have always been fascinated by A. Bartlett G. Yale literary guy turned baseball commissioner. It's a cool story right there.

Anonymous said...

Paul G is also known for portraying the recently deceased Harvey Pekar in "American Splendor." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/arts/design/05pekar.html?ref=arts
(I don't know how to put the "link" in.)

Margaret said...

Kind of looks prisony though. Lots of metaphors there.

Ken Mac said...

a maze of coolness

Laurie Allee said...

Thanks, everyone. This one is a recent favorite. I love shooting in the late afternoon light. Long, intense shadows!

Laurie Allee said...

BTW, welcome this too shall pass! And thanks!

Petrea Burchard said...

love love love this shot.