How do you convert a baseball stadium into a soccer field fit for an international exhibition?  The St. Louis Cardinals were kind enough to provide us with a photo gallery of images to share with our fans.

Use the buttons below to guide your way through the gallery below to check out the conversion of Busch Stadium from baseball to soccer.

Busch Stadium Soccer Field

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 56

Finding positives and negatives from Spring games is hard because players may be working on a specific skill set that cause the stat lines to blur.  When a hitter is trying to go the opposite way with every swing, he may go 0-for-4 at the plate.  When a pitcher is working on a new pitch and determining if he can throw it effectively, he may walk quite a few hitters in the process.

What, then, can you take away from Spring Training games, especially early in the year?

Well, baseball is back.  The sights and sounds of the game are filling the air and the teams will be back to their home stadiums before too long.

Here at i70baseball, we are excited to be back into the swing of things.  This site holds credentials with Major League Baseball and, in order to bring our readers the benefits of these credentials, we sent a photographer to the Royals and Rangers opener on Friday.  The below slide show has a sampling of the great pictures that photographer Charles Sollars took that day.

Inside you will find pictures of Jeff Francoeur, Salvador Perez, Billy Butler, Alexi Ogando, Eric Hosmer, Miguel Tejada, Nelson Cruz, and Ned Yost.

Enjoy the sights of Spring and stay tuned…

Adam Moore

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 37

Royals catcher Adam Moore takes a swing

Photo courtesy of Charles Sollars and copyright i70baseball

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

What resulted were some great candid shots of the guys as well as a very candid interview with Adam Wainwright about his contract situation.

The images below were posted to their website and are being shared here with their permission.

Carlos Beltran

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 62

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

When he was not on the air, he was taking in the sites of early Spring Training and snapping pics that he would later tweet out to his followers.

With Bob’s permission, we share those pics with you below:

Billy Butler BP

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 42

Billy Butler takes BP with Frenchy and Hosmer looking on

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

Last night in Omaha, the AAA affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, the stars aligned in a way that happens very seldom.  A combination of rehabbing major leaguers, top prospects, and an ace level starting pitcher just starting his 2012 conditioning converged on Werner Park to put on a show for a sell-out crowd.

Roy Oswalt would toe the mound for the visiting Round Rock Express, finding Royals prospect Jake Odorizzi opposing him in relief of another rehabbing major leaguer, Everett Teaford.  The Storm Chasers’ lineup would feature Chris Getz and Salvador Perez beginning their rehab assignments for the parent club as well as one of the top professional hitters at any level, Wil Myers.  The game would not disappoint in any way, especially for the home crowd.

After Teaford got his work in over two innings, Odorizzi would throw six and two-thirds innings of one run baseball to ensure a win for the home team.  Odorizzi would string together 10 strikeouts over only two walks on his way to a victory over the opposing ace.  Roy Oswalt?  He did not fare so well.

The third inning would be the downfall of Oswalt as he would give up a lead-off double to Anthony Seratelli he would get one out before surrendering three consecutive base hits loading the bases.  With bases juiced full of Storm Chasers, Wil Myers stepped to the plate.  In just 18 AAA games, he has already hit five home runs, adding to his 13 home runs in 35 AA games this season.  His 19th homer of the season would come on a 2-0 count as a grand slam off one of the most successful major league pitchers in recent memory.

The Storm Chasers would put a win on the board with a final score of 7-2 over the Round Rock Express.

Our favorite Royals photographer, Minda Haas, was on hand last night in Omaha to catch all the action and fun.  Below you will find a photo gallery of 50 pictures from Minda, with everyone from Teaford and Myers to Sal Perez and Roy Oswalt featured.  Enjoy the look at a truly special night through a very talented eye.

Feel free to use the buttons below to scroll through all the photos.

Anthony Seratelli Double Down The Line

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 49

All rights reserved by Minda Haas

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.
Follow him on Twitter here.

With their permission, here is the collection of Photoshopped images from the guys at InsideStl.

Baseball Blues

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 46

Minda took some great photos and wanted to share them with the fans of i70baseball.

Alex Gordon

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 37

Erika had her trusty camera in tow and has agreed to share her photography with our fans here at i70baseball.

Carlos Beltran Signing

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 68