Photos of Road Trip to Indy to see Shawn Roof

Last night, I went with friends (thanks to all of you, I know you’ll read this) to see the Triple-A  Indianapolis Indians-Toledo Mudhens game.  A baseball game is always fun but when former Illini Shawn Roof is the starting thirdbaseman for one of the teams, it makes it awesome.  So it was.

Let’s get this out of the way.  Roof’s Mudhens won the game 8-2.  He was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.  I also give Shawn credit for getting a Indy homerun called back.  In the fourth, an Indian batter hit a ball in the stands that just cleared the foul pole.  It was ruled a homerun.  Shawn was the first to argue to the men in blue that it was foul.  The Mudhen manager then came out to make same argument.  After the umps conferred, they reversed the homerun call.

Not that the Mudhens needed it.  They scored five runs in the top of the first and never really looked back.

Here are some photos.

Shawn came over to talk to me briefly before the game.

Shawn hasn’t changed much since college days.  He’s still one of the last ones out there warming up before the game.

Shawn readies himself at third.

Heading home to score.

Mid-inning practice.

A ballplayer’s gotta spit.

At the plate.

After the game, reaching out to adoring fans… ok, they were really his relatives.

Which reminds me, I had the pleasure to meet another of the Roof clan, Jason.  He was Shawn’s cousin who brought his family in from northern Indiana to see the game.

By the way, if you haven’t been to Victory Field in Indianapolis, it’s an excellent place to see a baseball game.  The staff must be trained in customer service… even as a person with a camera who was walking up and down aisles trying to get good photos, I was treated very well.  “Hope you get some good photos!”, one usher told me.  A beautiful park with great staff and great facilities.

You can see a whole bunch more here at the photo gallery.

Thanks to Shawn for giving us a great show!