Hi Aram, It is a bit baffling, isn't it. The apparent physics being shown in the still aren't the same as what one would see when viewing in 'live' or on 'video'. The bats are swung with a lot of power, the baseball is coming in at 70-90 mph, and sometimes the wood in the bats fail and even shatter. In this case the bat failed in the handle and the momentum of the much heavier 'heart' of the bat accelerated it out in front of the handle the player is holding. A spilt second later those pieces you see cracking in my image exploded apart. http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeissfan/4563974135/sizes/l/in/set-72157623959692456/ This image, taken 1/5 of a second later (5fps) shows shards of the bat flying around. Unfortunately, the ball and the big part of the bat flew to the Shortstop who caught the ball with his glove and caught the bat head with his shin. OUCH! He made the throw to first base and tried to 'walk it off' but ended up collapsing after a few steps. After medical attention he did get back up and even stayed in the game, but I hate to think what his leg looked like. I just thank god the batter wasn't hitting with a Maple Wood bat because they tend to break apart in large shards with very sharp points. Major League Baseball and the Players Union is being pushed hard to ban them before someone gets killed, literally, by one of the flying shards. The maple wood is perceived to have great hitting properties due to it's hardness, so the ban is getting tremendous resistance from some quarters. My opinion is the 'John Doe' Memorial Maple Bat Ban is what is going to happen, sigh. The Right thing is often not done until the Wrongest Outcome occurs. After the first couple innings of using high 5fps for batting shots, I spent the rest of the game working on trying to get a better feel for the timing of when to fire the shutter and catch the peak of action. I got pretty good, I think. Was catching the ball over or near the plate pretty regularly. http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeissfan/4564000055/sizes/l/in/set-72157623959692456/ Thanks for looking Aram! Richard in Michigan ________________________________ Subject: [LRflex] Re: Decisive Moments Hi Richard. I have been gone for about 2 months, so hope this is not too late. The first shot has be baffled. The bat appears to be broken on the wrong side, the back side of the swing, and it appears to be bending forward as it strikes the ball. Not what I would have thought. Not being a baseball player or follower, maybe someone on the list can set me straight as to how this happens? Aram -------------------------------------------------- Subject: [LRflex] Decisive Moments > Hello Group, > I worked on catching Decisive Moments at a ball game the other night. > http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3632/4564604646_5acd296fe2.jpg > http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3252/4564606138_efc96f5493.jpg > > This next is a mix between Decisive Moment, Lovely Bokeh, and Lovely Young > Lady. > > http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3659/4564632246_3825795698.jpg > > Richard in Michigan > ------ Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at: http://www.lrflex.furnfeather.net/ Archives are at: //www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/