Best Photo Ever

February 20, 2014

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Best Photo Ever

By Jack Coll

2-20-14

It’s not exactly baseball weather, I’m sure we all know that, it’s been colder than a witch’s bla, bla, bla. I’ve been involved with photographing sports for many, many years. The Philadelphia Phillies, Eagles and 76er’s. College, high school, little league, during a thirty five year photography career I’ve covered a lot of ball games.

On January 27, I traveled to Cherry Hill, New Jersey to attend the 110^th Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Annual Banquet. Thanks to Philadelphia Sports Writer Member Tony Leodora I worked my way into the VIP Room where all the Guests of Honor hang out until the banquet begins.

Interesting room, there was a Philadelphia Flyer’s reunion going on, it’s been 40 years since the Flyer’s staged a parade on Broad Street, two million well-wishers showed up to heap praise on our champions back in 1974-75. There was Bill Barber, Joe Watson, Dave “The Hammer” Schultz, Bill Clement, Bernie Parent, Ed Snyder and a few others, they were all there.

Jason Avant of the Philadelphia Eagles walked into the room, I was sizing him up and thought, “man he’s a little guy,” let’s re-state that, “man he’s a little guy with a lot of talent,” and one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. LeSean McCoy was expected to attend to pick up his “Outstanding Pro Athlete of the Year” Award, but he was a no-show, still traveling home from the Pro Bowl. Jim Murray, former general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles among other things was honored with a “Lifetime Humanitarian Award,” primarily for his work with the Ronald McDonald House.

I spotted a couple of tough guys talking it up, Danny Garcia and Bernard Hopkins, I was eyeing up Hopkins, he didn’t look that big and he was the nicest guy in the room, he’s 48 years old and could have taken anybody in the room.

Then it hits me, over in the far corner of the room a number of reporters had Ryan Sandberg, Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, up against the wall pressing him for information on the coming 2014 World Series, the questions were all the same, “In the 2014 World Series it will the Phillies against who?” A confident Sandberg stated he felt he had all the pieces for a playoff run. Not 30 feet away another group of reporters had Ruben Amaro Jr. surrounded, asking about the baseball winter meetings, and the odds of the Phillies watching the World Series from the dugout at Citizens Bank Park in South Philly.

It hit me like a fever, “baseball season,” in this corner of the room they’re talking baseball and that’s where I set up camp, I love baseball. Spring Training is under way and when I think about baseball the first thing that pops into my head, the very first thing when baseball is mentioned is my all-time favorite photograph. It’s no secret, I’ve talked about this plenty of times. Of the millions of photographs I’ve taken over the years, I have two favorites, one is a photo I took at a West Conshohocken Borough Council Meeting back in January 1992, that’s another story for another time. My favorite sports photograph is a picture I took in Williamsport Pennsylvania back in 1994, a baseball photo of course.

So here’s the set up:

On the morning of June 16, 1994, Graduation Day for the Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials, but in Williamsport Pennsylvania a different type of graduation was taking place for the baseball team. The Colonials were riding a 25-2 record into the State Championship game, the most victories in the school’s history. The team landed at Bowman Field early in the morning for workouts, I arrived early in the morning to watch the Tigers of North Allegheny work out. The Tigers fans arrived early as I remember it, and man there was lots of em. I realized immediately that the Colonials might be in for a long day, I quickly learned that the Tigers had five, count ’em five Division 1 college players, I don’t think I was counting a kid named Kevin McCarthy, a recent fourth round draft choice of the New York Mets. McCarthy was the starting pitcher, in three previous state playoff games he allowed no hits, and no runs.

Well McCarthy didn’t disappoint with three scoreless innings, Eric Fisher of P-W matched McCarthy with three scoreless inning of his own. The Colonials jumped on top 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning when McCarthy hit Matt Altieri, Vinnie Keaser followed with a bunt single, (I haven’t seen Alteri or Keaser in recent years but in 1994, if you stood one of them on the other’s shoulders they would stand as tall as a 40 inch baseball bat) So with first and second Mighty McCarthy hits Mike Price with a pitch to load the bases. Eric Fisher steps into the batter’s box, (Fisher knows a little bit about hitting) and he rips a two strike pitch down the first base line scoring Alteri and Keaser. Jason Stackhouse stands in and hits a sacrifice fly scoring Price and the Colonials were leading 3-0. (Take it easy I’m getting to the Greatest Photo Ever)

More than 2,000 Colonial fans celebrated, for about 30 seconds because the Tigers flexed their muscles with three runs of their own in the top of the fifth inning making it a 3-3 game. The Tigers went up 4-3 in the top of the sixth inning and the Colonials went to work in the bottom of the inning. Fisher led off the bottom of the sixth with an infield hit, Jude Nascimento replaced Fisher as a courtesy runner, which allowed Fisher to remain in the game, a key move by Manager Hank DeMito, Fisher would figure in on the final play of the season. Nascimento had a little speed and swiped second base, Stackhouse walked but Nascimento stole third base, Joe Giovanisci hit a ball to right field scoring Nascimento.

The two teams go into the final inning of the game tied 4-4. (The great photo is coming) The Colonials hold the Tigers in the top half of the inning with P-W showcasing the top of their lineup in the bottom of the seventh and final inning. (Here it comes) Alteri was the leadoff hitter, and he worked a four pitch walk. Keaser followed with a perfect text book bunt moving Alteri to second base with one out.

With Alteri on second base I set myself up for the money shot. The money shot is this, I coached Alteri in Tee Ball years earlier, and I followed his career and knew the type of player he was. There was four people at Bowman Field that day that knew if the ball left the infield, Matt was gonna round third base in an attempt to score the winning run, four of us. Hank DeMito knew, and he further knew throwing up a stop sign at third base was not an option. Alteri knew he was going, the second Keaser laid down the perfect bunt moving Matt to second base, he knew anything out of the infield, a ground ball to left, a hard hit one hopper to center, or a Texas league blooper to right, Matt knew he was rounding third.

I knew he was gonna go, there was never a doubt, I knew he was gonna go, I’ve seen this act too many times throughout his years in Little League. To get a good shot in sports position is everything, I knew I had to set up for a head first slide because when he rounded third I knew he would be on a suicide mission to score. So I put myself, and my camera right where I needed to be along the first base line, and I knew I had no need to follow the ball, I focused my lens on Alteri at second base and just stayed on him.

Oh yea, the fourth person that knew Matt was going, his mother Dee, she been watching this act as long as I have, she knew his little ass would be on fire rounding third base no matter what.

With Alteri on second base and one out I figured Price was gonna provide the hit, but that didn’t happen, he was intentionally walked to set up a double play. The next two batters Fisher and Stackhouse weren’t exactly double play candidates. Fisher fell behind on the count with a ball and two strikes, and then the magic happened. Fisher stroked a ball into right center field and the Alteri show was on. The Tigers right fielder was charging all the way, fielded the ball cleanly as Alteri rounded third base, it was everything we had envisioned, everything we had hoped for. Tiger’s right fielder Jason Grenier fired a perfect strike to the plate.

My camera was snapping, but at that time I had to be careful not to run out of film, my Cannon camera snapped about six frames per second, with a fresh roll of 36 pictures in the camera, I knew I couldn’t hold the shutter button for more than six seconds. I can see the play as clearly today, (February 20, 2014) as I did on June 16, 1994. It was like each frame I shot even at six prints per second, I can still remember seeing those shots one at a time.

I remember thinking “Oh $h*#, the ball had arrived at the plate a good second or two before Alteri did, I thought “shoot, he got em’.” Two things happened, the catcher was out in front of the plate, not on it and certainly not blocking it. The second thing is I remember it felt like Alteri was in the air with his arms stretched head first slide for about five minutes, looking back over my prints Matt came in on the far outside part of the plate and just got his left hand on the rubber as the tag arrived, SAFE, (I know you know how it ends but I can still be a little dramatic) SAFE, SAFE, SAFE.

The celebration was on, for the Tigers, they were stunned, their coaches were stunned, their parents were stunned, and the fans were stunned. The Tigers had made the trip to the Class AAA State Championship Game three out of the last four years at that point, Plymouth Whitemarsh had a bench full of small and mid-sized ball-players, all with a lot of heart.

Many members of the team that contributed to a 26 victory season came from the Conshohocken Little League, Fisher, Stackhouse, Price, Alteri, Keaser, McCann, Caucci, Reed, off the top of my head I think there was a Green and a few others, all players who were taught the game right playing at Sutcliffe Park.

It’s been twenty years come June, time goes by, most of these guys are 37, 38, 39, years old now, perhaps with children of their own, maybe playing Little League somewhere. I hope they have the sense to teach their children how to play the game right, without screaming, yelling, or degrading, have a little fun, play a little run-the-bases, cause in the end, that’s what they’ll remember. Not everyone gets to experience a State Championship, not everyone gets to see a Matt Alteri sliding into home head first, in the bottom of the final inning, with a State Championship on the line.

I did, it’s the greatest photograph I have ever snapped, among the millions, and as all the photographs I ever snapped roll through my head like an old black and white movie, for the life of me, I can’t even come up with a close second, Alteri sliding into home is it, the greatest I ever took.

Hey Vinnie, Thanks for the bunt, it was perfect, Hey Eric, Thanks for the slap shot to right center, Hey Matt, Thanks for the memories, I’ll take it to my grave!

Enjoy the Photo’s, can you pick out my all-time Best?

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Jack Coll worked as a photo-journalist for the Conshohocken Recorder for 25 years.

What he considers to be his greatest sports shot of all times appeared in the Norristown Times Herald the following day, the Times Herald photographer Paul Hawthorn, a good friend of Jack’s, while scrambling to get position for the head first slide actually fell over the fence and was flat on his back when the play occurred.

(RIP my friend, we shared some good times)