Game 3: CLE vs. NYY

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Indians catcher Carlos Santana chases down the Yankees' Francisco Cervelli for an out during Wednesday's game at Progressive Field.

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Indians starting pitcher Fausto Carmona walks off the field after allowing seven runs in the first 2 and half innings against the Yankees on Wednesday at Progressive Field.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez looks at the replay after striking out with the bases loaded in the third inning on Wednesday at Progressive Field.  Rodriguez was 2-for-5 with an RBI in New York's 8-0 win, but he didn't connect on his 600th career home run.

Game 2: CLE vs. NYY

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Indians' Asdrubal Cabrera slides into home plate in the bottom of the 4th inning to give the Indians there first game run against the New York Yankees on  Tuesday at Progressive Field.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Indian's Austin Kearns hits a ball into center field where New York's Curtis Granderson dropped and Austin made it to third base on Tuesday's game at Progressive Field.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Indians' Josh Tomlin pitched in his first debut game against the New York Yankees.  Josh pitched a total of 7 innings on Tuesday at Progressive Field.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Alex Rodriguez takes his gloves off after a pop up to center field was caught by Trevor Crowe in the top of the 8th inning at Progressive Field on Tuesday.  Alex Rodriguez did not hit his 600th career homerun tonight at Progressive Field.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Indians' Asdrubal Cabrera runs out to center field and catches New York Yankees' Mark Teixeira pop up in the top of the ninth inning on Tuesday at Progressive Field.  

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Cleveland Indians' Trevor Crowe and Jason Donald jump up and bump each other celebrating after beating the New York Yankees 4-1 on Tuesday at Progressive Field.

The first base media dugout photographing A-Rod and his attempt at his 600th HR.

Cleveland Indians vs. New York Yankees Game 1

Photographed my first Indians game tonight!  Woo.  Baseball isn't as exciting as basketball or hockey but I will take any new experiences I can have the chance to shoot.  Waiting for A-Rod to hit his 600th HR hopefully in Progressive Field in Cleveland.  We shall see tomorrow night if he does or not.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Travis Hafner hits a homerun in the bottom of the second against the New York Yankees on Monday.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Cleveland Indian's Shin-Soo Choo looks at the homerun hit by New York Yankees Nick Swisher in the top of the 4th inning on Monday.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Mark Teixeira from the New York Yankees is upset after his first base coach told him to run to second base after a fly ball was caught in the game on Monday against the Cleveland Indians.  

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Mark Teixeira from the New York Yankees yells at the umpire for making the call against him.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

The Indians' Asdrubal Cabrera tags out the Yankees' Curtis Granderson in the fifth inning of the Yankees' 3-2 victory on Monday at Progressive Field.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Cleveland Indian's Matt LaPorta and Jason Donald both attempt to catch a pop-up off the bat of New York's Alex Rodriguez in the ninth inning on Monday.  LaPorta made the out, and Rodriguez was 0-for-4 in the game, leaving him at 599 career home runs.

Kickball and Wildlife Festival

Kickball
This afternoon I spent my time photographing the first game of a new adult kickball league being started in Chardon.  I photographed a young group of adults on the "Ball"-istics team because they were very animated and into the game.  The "Ball"-istics were in the hole in the top of the 5th inning but came back with a 6 point gain in the bottom of the 5th.  K.S.A., the opposing team, scored 3 points in the top of the 6th but couldn't top the "Ball"-istics.  "Ball"-istics won the game, 13-10.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Steve Young on team "Ball"-istics chases a  team K.S.A player to tag him out during the first game of the New Adult Kickball League in Chardon Township at Mel Harder Park on Sunday.  "Ball"-istics beat K.S.A with a score of 13 to 10.  

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Team members from "Ball"-istics cheer on James Janovich as he runs into home plate at the New Adult Kickball League in Chardon Township at Mel Harder Park on Sunday.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Ian Herner from "Ball"-istics catches a ball against K.S.A at the first game of the Adult Kickball League in Chardon Township on Sunday at Mel Harder Park.  

Wildlife Festival

After the kickball league, I had to find some art to fill the paper with some more content.  I ventured to the Lake Metroparks Penitentiary Glen for a Wildlife Festival.  The festival brings in 1500-2000 people every year.  Kids learn about wildlife and how to treat animals they might encounter in the wild.  Visitors also had the chance to ride the famous miniature train set.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Harvey Webster from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History holds and talks about George, a recovering injured bald eagle on Sunday at the Wildlife Festival at the Penitentiary Glen Reservation.  George was brought to the Cleveland Museum as an instructional bird after he was shot by a poacher and broke a wing in North Carolina.  

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Andy Obranovich, age 5 from Chesterland Township, colors a new wildlife habit drawing while at the Wildlife Festival at the Penitentiary Glen Reservation.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Visitors at the Wildlife Festival rode a miniature sized train throughout the back forest of the Penitentiary Glen Reservation.

Captains Fantasy Game

News-Herald's Sport Editor Mark Podolski had the chance to play baseball with All-Stars yesterday at the Captains Fantasy Camp.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

News-Herald Sport's Editor Mark Podolski (middle) listens to the past manager of the Clevleand Indians Mark Hargrove explain the batting lineup at the 2010 Captains Fantasy Camp.  Mark Hargrove is one of the professional baseball stars which work with the players at the camp.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

News-Herald Sport's Editor Mark Podolski looks out into the field while standing in the dugout at the 2010 Captains Fantasy Camp on Friday.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Mark Podolski hits a foul ball at the Captains Fantasy Camp on Friday.  

World School Games

Today was the first day of the World School Games being hosted in Cleveland, OH.  This is the first year for the event where high school age athletes from around the world come and compete against others in their age group.  It was interesting to see the local talent and the talent outside of the US.  I photographed tennis, swimming, and basketball.  This is going all weekend and being hosted at Gilmour Academy.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Nick DiIorio from Highland Heights returns the tennis ball in a practice match against Chung Chui Leung from Hong Kong on Thursday at the World School Games at Gilmour Academy.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Mung Singh from Zambia swims in the warmup round on Thursday at the Gilmour Academy Indoor Pool at the World School Games.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

#33 from John Hays Highschool Girls Basketball team dribbles the ball in a game against China's Boys Basketball team on Thursday at the World School Games at Gilmour Academy.  

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Mung Singh from Zambia pauses between practice laps and adjusts his goggles on Thursday at the World School Games at Gilmour Academy.  

Jade Products

Jade Products is a company specializing in manufacturing high end aftermarket parts for personal boats.  Jade Products is being showcased in the News-Herald two part series on the economic problems and how a business like Jade Products is making money and expanding in these hard times.  Talking with the owner, John told me about the little companies that produce niche products that are going out of business.  He sees this as an opportunity to pick up new products and diversify.  The expanding brings in new clients and more work, he mentioned.  In these hard economic times, Jade Products has pushed for expanding and diversifying in manufacturing high end boat parts.

http://news-herald.com/articles/2010/07/25/news/nh2808952.txt

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Edward Kausek works on a CNC lathe making parts for high performance aftermarket parts for personal boats at Jade Products.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com

Brian Cowling marks a piece of steel to be welded on the back of a header for a high performance personal boat at Jade Products in Mentor.