A collision at home was always good to transmit over the AP wire. Sometimes it was more of a football tackle than baseball. Rules today make that kind of thing strictly forbidden at home.

First baseman Willie Aikens collides on a foul tip popup with catcher Darrell Porter. Not sure where they came from but Willie's nicknames included "skillet hands" and "show shoes".

This is a scan of what a Wirephoto looked like when it was received at an AP member newspaper's special thermal printer. The umpire here was Steve Palermo, one of MLB's best, later paralyzed after getting shot attempting to break up a mugging.

Willie Wilson greets George Brett as he crosses home plate on a very, very bright afternoon.

Seattle shortstop Julio Cruz, shot using my terrible 400mm lens. A great moment of action though. Too bad the ball wasn't between his glove and knee so it would read better.

Baltimore Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey tags out KC Royals first baseman Willie Aikens at home plate.

Pitchers Dennis Leonard, Paul Splittorff, and Dan Quizenberry celebrate in the locker room as the champagne flies after clinching the AL pennant in 1980.

Muriel Kauffman gets an embrace from George Brett after the Royals clinched the AL Central Playoff victory. My boss John Filo shoots from the other side.

This was the view from the outfield platform set up to shoot every single pitch to the batter during the 1980 AL Playoffs. Bad light, great distance, slow shutter speed make for a blurry ball off the bat.

It was pretty easy to shoot action on the front half of a double play, but those pics were considered to be "too easy" for professional photographers. Once in a while I'd try something different. This pic was my first and last attempt to shoot an out at second base with an 800mm lens. Yes, there is such a thing as a lens that's "too tight" (500mm was typical for second). The players flash through the frame in about 1/3 of a second!

My terrible 400mm lens combined with bad focusing resulted in this kind of miss. But the thing was: I was prepared for and SAW these moments, I think the reason my AP boss kept giving me opportunities to get better.

High School football on a Friday night. Probably the picture with the best field light ever. A couple of other photographers at the paper gave up on available light and used flash (which can have its own problems).

KC Kings' Phil Ford seems to levitate off the court as he moves in for a layup.

It was always a bonus to get a loose ball inside the frame on a botched play, at the plate or anywhere else. My boss thought it was funny that the umpire seemed to be watching the ball very closely (just coincidence).

I think this is the only NFL football picture that was ever chosen for use by the AP in my 3 years of trying. Not sure why but I was terrible in Arrowhead vs. a high school field. Slower play at high schools? I don't know.

This was my only wirephoto from the 1980 World Series. Of course I didn't care! Just to be included with the AP staff and shoot was enough. The place they put me wasn't great to capture action, but I didn't care about that either.

It was always cool when I'd find my picture out there somewhere in the world, and the NYT or Philadelphia Inquirer, or the LA Times were sweet rewards, even if the caption just said "AP Photo". This tear sheet showed that they used 3 of my pics from different times, then even put my name (by accident) on the page!

Haha! I didn't know I worked for the NYT!