Life around the batting cage

I finally made it out to a spring training game at Tucson Electric Park. The Diamondbacks played the Colorado Rockies. We got to the park about 2 hours early and waited until they opened the gates an hour and a half before game time. The D'Backs were on the field taking battting and fielding practice. The pre-game ritual includes batters taking turns in the batting cage. Here, Chad Tracy enters the batting cage for a turn (around 5 pitches or so) while Scott Hairston (who turned out to be one of the stars of the game with 3 home runs) leaves the cage. Also around the cage a a few other players waiting their turn in the cage and left of the cage, a coach is hitting balls to some infielders taking fielding practice. It's fun to hang around the park and watch, as several fans are doing behind the cage. Beyond the outfield fence, clumps of young kids playing hooky from school hope for a home run ball to land close enough for them to get the ball before one of the other kids. This image was taken at 168mm focal length with an exposure of 1/320 seconds at f/8, ISO 200.