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Photo Challenge - July

The prompt this month was "baseball" and for a while I wondered just how I'd illustrate it. But then one day on an errand I happened to pass by the city's former Lynx Stadium. The Ottawa Lynx used to be the Montreal Expos AAA farm team and in 1995 they won the International League Championship only two years after they began playing. I witnessed that win and remember fondly taking my kids to Lynx games. In 2007, however, new owners moved the team to Allentown, Pennsylvania.

All that remains is an empty ballpark, used mainly by local teams for tournaments.






When the Expos folded the Lynx began an affiliation with the Baltimore Orioles from 2003-2006 and ended their Ottawa days affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2007. But in their 15 seasons in Ottawa the Lynx never came close to those heady days in the mid-1990s.


Be sure and visit  P.J.'s blog and see what the rest of this month's participants developed. (See what I did there?)

Comments

ReformingGeek said…
Ah, the memories baseball can make for us.

Nice job!
nonamedufus said…
Yeah, it was a sad day when the Lynx left town because I remember all the work the original owners undertook to build the stadium and attract the team here. Ah, well.
Katherine Murray said…
The No Food or Beverages window is absolutely incredible. My favorite out of the bunch. I love your pix... I especially love the angle of the first shot. Excellent job!
nonamedufus said…
That sign was on the entrance to the stadium and I think it meant game-goers had to leave their personal food and drinks outside because the park, after all, sold food and drinks...at exorbitant prices of course.
Lisa said…
Love the architecture of the first shot and the perspective of the empty seats. Great selection this month!
nonamedufus said…
It's a great looking ballpark, Lisa. It's just too bad it doesn't have a regular tenant.
babs (beetle) said…
I'm having just as much of a hard time commenting on these as I had taking my photos. I'll do better next month :)
Paula Larew Wooters said…
A defunct ballpark is difficult to repurpose. Glad the local teams are still making use of it. (It was probably the no food or beverages admonition that brought it down.)
nonamedufus said…
Well, that's what certainly did it for me.
GeoKs said…
Thanks for sharing some of your local baseball history. Despite the fact you sort of stumbled on the subject matter, you clearly have a great eye for composition - especially the fist image with the statue and the stadium. You told a great story this month, showcasing five photos that highlight very different aspects of the same "thing" - I guess that's what photo blogging is really all about and you've given me something to think about as I ponder August's "colourful" theme.
nonamedufus said…
Thanks, GeoK. We spent many weekends at this park for a while. It was fun watching some of the players before they were called up to the Expos and others who were sent down to the farm team.
babs (beetle) said…
I am sometimes.... honest :)
P.J. said…
Very cool work here. I like the history, too. As a Phillies fan, I remember the year the AAA team was in Ottawa before the move to Lehigh Valley. Interesting that you can get into the stadium. But definitely a cool look at how it is now.
nonamedufus said…
Thanks, P.J. You know I don't think I was supposed to be in there but the entrance was unlocked and I took several furtive shots of the field before nipping back out. Brought back memories.
nonamedufus said…
Well I believe you, Babs, if you say it's so.
P.J. said…
Did you see that baseball is supposed to return to Ottawa in 2015?

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