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"I can't believe I'm being paid to have fun. "
I'm a baseball fan, and that realization first hit me in April, 1987
as I walked out of the narrow dark tunnel under the stands of the old
Comiskey Park in Chicago, into an explosion of green as I saw the baseball
diamond in front of me. I had been assigned to cover an important night
game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the White Sox, and I wasn't grumbling
about the assignment even though I'd started work before Noon and wouldn't
be done with shooting, driving back to Racine, and processing until 4
the next morning. It was two hours before game time, and the stands were
almost empty. Though the stadium was 77 years old, it looked glorious
because it was early in the season, and I could tell that the seats and
railings had been freshly painted.
"I can't believe I'm being paid to have fun. "
Peter Zuzga, a photographer with the Waukesha Freeman, said those same
words to me yesterday. He had trudged up a hill near Milwaukee County
Stadium where I was standing, taking pictures of people tailgating (the
stadium cooking kind of tailgating, not the road rage kind) before the
Brewers' Home Opener. The Brewers move into a new stadium next year, so
more than 55,000 people were on hand for "the last Home Opener at County
Stadium," the second largest opening day crowd since the Brewers franchise
began in 1970.
| It's important to dress for the assignment, for course.
It was supposed to rain, so I shucked my customary nice pants and
tie for blue jeans and a windbreaker and wore my Yomuri Giants baseball
cap from Japan. Peter had selected a vintage Brewers baseball cap
which then-team president, and now-Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig
had given him when he was a young boy and part of a Boy Scout troop
that had taken part in pre-game ceremonies one day. |
Mark Hertzberg, left, and Peter Zuzga cover
pre-game tailgaters in the parking lot before Opening Day at Milwaukee
County Stadium,Friday April 16, 1999. Photo by Mark Hertzberg (c)
1999 |
Chris Peterson works Tuesday April 13, 1999, in what will be the outfield
of Miller Park, the new home of the Milwaukee Brewers, which is scheduled
to open at the start of the 2000 baseball season. The stadium, which
features a retractable roof, is being built just beyond the center
field wall of Milwaukee County Stadium, the team's present home. The
Brewers host the Chicago Cubs in the last home opener at County Stadium
Friday April 16. Photo by Mark Hertzberg (c) 1999 Racine Journal Times
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Opening Day is one of those assignments that's like a camp or school
reunion for photographers. We see colleagues we haven't seen in
months, smile, and laugh, and forget about the blood and gore that
we sometimes photograph other days. We have the best seats in the
house, in a pit next to the dugouts, and can mill around the field
before the game, shooting pictures from just a few feet away from
the stars that the fans have had to pay to see. A few years ago,
two youngsters tossed me a hat and asked for MY autograph as I stood
near the dugout before a game.
Miwaukee Brewers fans cheer a base hit by Fernando
Vina Friday April 16, 1999 at the final home Opening Day at Milwaukee
County Stadium. Miller Park, the retractable dome stadium that will
open next year, rises beyond the center field wall. Photo by Mark
Hertzberg (c) 1999 Racine Journal Times
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I tell students at career days that working as a photojournalist is like
having a magic key that unlocks many doors because we take our readers
and viewers places they can't go themselves. On our front page Friday,
Opening Day, for instance, I took our readers on a tour of Miller Park,
the new retractable dome stadium that will open next year. Then I had
to break away from my customary desk duties to show all those people who
were penned in their factories and offices in Racine what Opening Day
itself was like.
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I shot my photos, drove back to the office, processed and scanned
them, and sent two of the photos to the Associated Press. I had
fun yesterday, lots of it. Today, though, I got an extra bonus when
I opened the Chicago Tribune and saw one of my photos, spread over
five columns (a typical page is six-columns wide). Most papers do
not give bylines when they run AP photos which has led to the joke
that AP stands for Anonymous Photographer. There was a line of type
under my photo, however, that read, "Associated Press photo by Mark
Hertzberg."
I did, indeed have fun at work yesterday, and got paid to do it.
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Sammy Sosa heads for the batting cage before
a game against the Milwaukee Brewers, September 23, 1998, in th thick
of his home run race with Mark McGwire. Sosa hit two home runs that
day. Photo by Mark Hertzberg (c) 1998 Racine Journal Times |
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Glenallen Hill, left, and Sammy Sosa, right,
greet Benito Santiago after they scored on his three-run home run
in the third inning of the final Home Opener at Milwaukee County Stadium,
Friday April 16, 1999. The Cubs beat the Brewers 9-4. Photo by Mark
Hertzberg (c) 1999 Racine Journal Times |
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