White Whale Off the Port Bow!

For an entire season, I have been pursuing my own White Whale. Alas, the similarities between myself and Captain Ahab have been uncanny. We have each been relentless in our quest to best our adversaries. In his case, Captain Ahab was after Moby Dick, the great white whale. For me, it has been a picture of Matt Williams without his hat. My chronicles with Matt Williams have been well documented from the time when I followed him around the golf course at the Phoenix Open with a camera, to the Spring Training games where I was in the stands. At each meeting, I would be there with camera in hand, poised as Captain Ahab must have been with his harpoon. But in each case, I was unsuccessful as Matt dissed me time and again. The mood was discouraging as I began to believe I would never be successful in my quest. With only eight games remaining in this season, time was running out. It would seem the beast would get the best of me and at the end, I would tip my hat to him and bid farewell until next season. But this is why there is a hunt. When you least expect it, the beast shall appear and if you are prepared, the quest shall be fulfilled. Such a chance happened to me this evening. I sat with my daughter during batting practice, watching intently as the Diamondbacks players took their turns in the batting cage. I had my camera out to take a few pictures of Tiffany and the players. As I raised my camera to my eye, I noticed movement near the third base dugout. There, emerging in a sea of white was the great white head! I could not believe my luck. With my camera up, I eased forward quietly so as not to disturb the beast. When I was well within range, I yelled "Thar she blows!" The effect was just as I had planned, Matt turned to see where the commotion had come from and in that moment, my finger pressed the shutter release thereby capturing what had been my year long quest. I now had a picture of Matt Williams without his hat! Ah, 'twas a fine day indeed.