Over the years when I worked at various newspapers I photographed my fair share of baseball games, high school, college and minor league. The Sioux City Explorers is an independent league here in Siouxland, and have called this area home base for over a decade. Nothing says summer like baseball, to most folk. To me covering a game as opposed to watching one are two different things. While personally not a fan, nor even having a favorite major leagues team, I enjoy watching moves and action that happens on the field. And locally, I enjoy late afternoon, early evening games as the sun sets behind the local stadium. The light play can sometimes be very nice.
Watching the game sometimes certain actions while helpful on the field, become almost comical seen from the spectator stands. What might be obvious doesn’t always come to fruition for the players, especially when making note of what intentions are and then failing to follow through. Oops! But so goes the game of statistics. Columns upon columns of stats for each player, each team, etc., etc.
But watching those guys at bat I wonder how they even see the ball hurtling toward them, at speeds I can not even imagine. And once there on base, making certain the keep their spot so as not to become another error statistic for that evening’s game. Play Ball!
I live in the Siouxland area that encompasses a wide swatch of land in northwest Iowa, northeastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota. The people that inhabit this area are generous folk and your basic honest, Midwestern people you like to have as neighbors. I explore the area and share observations, mostly photographic, sometimes through video, and and short text. All images and video are copyrighted material of the author.
Jerry Mennenga, Sioux City, Iowa
jerrylmennenga@yahoo.com
lostinsiouxland 
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