Choate's Notes: The Man Behind the Lens
For the past 14 seasons, Ralph Trout has been taking pictures all around America's Classic Ballpark as the Reading Fightin Phils' team photographer. However, photography was something Trout fell in and out of throughout the years. It all started back in high school when Trout's love for photography got its start. It was his father, who had an interest in fine things, who sparked his attraction to the art of photography.
Trout started his photographic journey by taking pictures of anything and everything he could and it quickly became a favorite hobby. It was not just taking the pictures, but darkroom developing as well. Trout remembers documenting, what he called, the "Hippie Days" through photographs. As the number of pictures grew in his collection, he wondered what to do with all of them.
"After a while, I threw them all out." Trout said. "I came to the realization that nobody would ever see them, so I got rid of them all. I really wish I didn't do that!"
He soon began to grow bored with taking pictures and slowly stopped photographing. However, in 1998, a new love, and a different angel of photograph, caught his eye. He started to bring his camera to FirstEnergy Stadium where he would photograph players, the ballpark itself, fans and everything in between. As he grew more familiar with the players, he would take pictures of them during the game and have his son give the photos to the players after he developed them.
"I didn't want to become a 'groupie' to the players, but they seemed to really enjoy the photos I was giving them so I continued to take pictures during the games I attended," Trout stated.
He continued with his new love of sports photography by taking pictures for local high school and college teams. Parents and players loved when he would show up to games to take pictures. Despite that, Trout wanted more out of his passion for photography. He knew he was taking good pictures and he wanted them to be seen by a much larger audience.
He hit his high point in life when he was brought on by the Fightins in 2000. It was not an easy task for Trout to convince the organization to use his photographs though.
"I remember having to beg them to use my pictures. It was a great feeling when they decided to bring me on as the team photographer," Trout recollected.
In the beginning of his tenure, Trout's photographs were used mainly to accompany game recaps. Throughout the years, his pictures have become far more visual across the organization. Fans can see his photos as player headshots on FirstEnergy Vision, baseball card sets sold in the Mitchell & Ness Fightin Phils team store, and all over social media. There is also a photo gallery on the Fightins website filled with Trout's photographs.
In the month of February this past off season, Trout experienced something that changed his life forever. While enjoying some downtime, he noticed that his right eye had started to lose vision. He went to his computer and typed in his symptoms to see what he could find. By the time he received his online answer, his vision in his right eye (the eye he uses to focus) had completely gone black. Within 12 minutes, Trout had gone completely blind in his eye due to an artery blocking and it remains that way to this day.
"This is by far the biggest challenge I've had to face in my life. Photography is my life and it's difficult to even do that anymore. I have no depth of field anymore," Trout said as he looked back on the scary day in February.
He made the decision to come back to the Reading Fightin Phils despite being blind in one eye. However, Trout realized quickly it has become a large task to continue taking pictures with only sight in one eye. He recently announced that 2013 would be his final season as the team photographer.
"They let me run free around the ballpark, every single day, and I could not ask for anything more. My dream has truly reached epitome," he stated.
Trout leaves the organization after 14 seasons and he could not be more thankful to the players and front office for the opportunity he was given.
"I'm so happy with what I have done here. Chris [McConney] has really given me a great opportunity here. He understands photography and what it is about. He sees what I see," Trout said.
"I want people to come out to the ballpark, and enjoy all of these great experiences," he continued. "Scott [Hunsicker] and his staff run a great organization and I couldn't be more happy to be a part of it for so long."
With the 2013 season coming to a close, the Reading Fightin Phils could not thank Ralph enough for his hard work and beautiful photography over the seasons.
Orioles' Honeycutt joins The Show Before the Show
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Red Sox prospect rips double THROUGH Fenway-esque scoreboard
Red Sox No. 4 prospect Franklin Arias, an infielder for High-A Greenville, REALLY didn’t want to let visiting Asheville score any runs in the top of the eighth inning on Friday night. With runners on first and second base in the bottom of the fourth, Arias showed he apparently held
April's hottest hitting prospects -- one for each organization
The Minor League season is a month old and several of the game's best hitting prospects are off to fast starts. Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony is tearing up Triple-A (just like he did at the end of last year), Padres shortstop Leo De Vries is leading the High-A Midwest
Check out the best -- and wackiest -- Minor League promos happening in May
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast coming LIVE to a Somerset this June
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
New ballparks highlight 2025 MiLB road trip stops
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Minor League Baseball partners with TruGreen
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- TruGreen, the nation's leading lawn care treatment provider, is proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Minor League Baseball that includes activations across all 120 clubs, a makeover of the home dugout in each market, sponsorship of select MiLB team grounds crews, and a new initiative called
Podcast explains why the Syracuse Mets are looking for Jim Morrison
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Dash im-prom-tu promo and Mets' Suero joins the podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Minor League Baseball partners with Circle K
Minor League Baseball announced a new national partnership with Circle K, which will see the convenience store giant become the “Official Convenience Store of Minor League Baseball.” During the 2025 season, the Circle K brand will be integrated into the MiLB in-stadium experience through in-game video board assets at most
These 15 moments led to season No. 15 of Minor League road trips
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast crew makes Opening Day predictions
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Everything you need to know for Triple-A Opening Day
First, there was big league Opening Day. Now it's Triple-A's turn to take the spotlight. The Minor League season opens Friday when the Triple-A International League and Pacific Coast League seasons get underway for the first of MiLB’s two Opening Days. And right out of the gates, several of baseball's
Top prospects to watch at Triple-A -- one for each organization
It’s Triple-A’s turn up to bat on Friday. The regular season begins for the Minor Leagues’ highest level one day after the action starts on the Major League side. Fun fact: it’ll be the earliest start to a Minor League season since 1951 (March 27). Double-A, High-A and Single-A will
Here's where every Top 100 prospect is expected to start the season
The 2025 Opening Day prospect roster announcements began last week when the Cubs informed Matt Shaw (MLB No. 19) he was making the trip overseas to compete in the Tokyo Series. Roki Sasaki (No. 1) also received the good news, but his assignment was much less of a surprise. Now
Nationals prospect King joins MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”
Stewart embraces Spring Breakout: 'What's not to love?'
PHOENIX -- Sal Stewart was one fired-up Reds prospect. On Sunday in the first inning during the organization's 9-7 Spring Breakout win over Brewers prospects, Stewart lifted a 2-2 pitch that sailed over the center fielder's head to the wall. Already not known as a speedster, he stumbled running between