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Calvert's Photo of the Week: June 23

Join the Aces Team Photographer Each Week as He Provides the Behind-the-Scenes Stories of Some of His Favorite Pictures Over the Years...
June 23, 2020

I’m experiencing my birthday this week. Most people would say they are “celebrating” a birthday, but I’ve never really enjoyed them. And although I empathize with those who have had special occasions like anniversaries and birthdays disrupted by COVID-19, I’m not entirely sure this week will be all that different

I’m experiencing my birthday this week.

Most people would say they are “celebrating” a birthday, but I’ve never really enjoyed them. And although I empathize with those who have had special occasions like anniversaries and birthdays disrupted by COVID-19, I’m not entirely sure this week will be all that different from past trips around the sun.

I often look for excuses to work on the day—I enjoy photography; and you should do something you like on your birthday, right?—but without a ballgame to cover, I’m not sure 2020 will grant my name day wish.

I guess this year will be a little different after all.

When I think about birthdays, I’m reminded of a special night in Aces and Greater Nevada Field history: April 17, 2014.

And specifically, this photo.

If you’re good at math and know your Aces history, you probably noticed 4/17/14 marks our beloved ball clubs’ fifth birthday.

And to celebrate, we gave out 6,000 cupcakes.

6,000 representing a pretty good crowd for an early-season minor league baseball game.

Front office staff placed the cupcakes on a series of folding tables—it took three hours—and managed to expertly recreate the Aces script logo. Check it out.

Five innings later—because symbolism—staff passed out the tiny cakes mostly to tiny, sugar-mad children.

I ate three. Most people had more than one.

For an inning or so, the crowd vibrated with sweet, saccharide sounds. But, by the seventh-inning stretch, most everyone crashed. Including, unfortunately, the home team. Reno lost its fifth birthday to intrastate rival, Las Vegas 6-0.

Looking back, the cupcakes were good, the baseball wasn’t. And maybe that’s why I remember it fondly. It wasn’t all that different than a childhood party.

Nostalgia man, it gets me every time.