MESA, Arizona — One of the rituals for major league baseball players every spring is to pose for team and media photographers. These shots get used in a variety of ways; you’re probably most used to seeing them on player pages on various websites, or in the pitcher previews I do here at BCB.
If you think this kind of work is easy, think again. The players had to report to Sloan Park before dawn Wednesday to begin the shoot at 7 a.m. That was before a full day of workouts. When I met with Tom Ricketts Monday, I was chatting with Nicole Bersani of the Cubs about the players having to show up so early and she told me Cubs players are often at the complex that early, in the workout facility or doing work in the batting cages.