1.  My initial guess (and it was wrong last time) is Houston at St. Louis.

2.  It's also relatively early in the game since you can still see the lines in the batters boxes.

3.  The bigger question is: Why was Cliff in St. Louis?

4.  I dunno, I'm thinking its the Nationals, not the Cardinals. The red letters on the jersey look more blockish, and I don't see teh characteristic birds on a baseball bat. Nats jersey here:

http://tinyurl.com/z52dd

5.  Mike Matheny wore 22, so if it is the Cardinals, the game occurred before 2000 or after 2004. The pitcher is pretty clearly 22, but what's the catcher? 19?

6.  Well, I did say I could be wrong. Especially since the Cardinals haven't had a 22 pitching them for quite a while.

7.  No Cardinals pitchers on the current roster wear number 22, which I'm pretty sure is the pitcher's number. Another year? A DFA'd pitcher this year? Nationals after all?

8.  If its the Nationals, that narrows it down to 2005/2006. In 2005, John Patterson (#22) made a start against the Astros on July 24, going 8 innings:

http://tinyurl.com/eck4y

9.  John Patterson is #22 for the Nats; that pitching motion is too similar for that not to be him.

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/roster_40man.jsp?c_id=was

10.  #22 for the Nationals is John Patterson; #29 is Gary Bennett.

11.  John Patterson wears 22. Gary Bennett wore 29, so I'm guessing that's the battery.

12.  I'm starting to agree with post 4.

13.  Guzman at short?

14.  I think this is probably the game; http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B07240WAS2005.htm

15.  #8 must have the game right. If so, the batter has to be Morgan Ensberg, the only Astro righty to bat with a runner on second.

16.  15 Correction: it could also be Humberto Quintero.

17.  I think that's likely Ensberg. Quintero is a stout guy, listed at 5-9, 215, while Ensberg is five inches taller at about the same weight. Plus, Quintero (sometimes?) has some ankle armor.

18.  Patterson did not pitch in the four HOU at WAS games this year, so its gotta be 7/24/05. Palmeiro was on second with Ensberg up in both the first and third innings. It could also be Everett on second with Quintero at the plate (second inning). I agree with Bob that its early in the game, so those are the three choices.

19.  Ensberg:
http://www.astroasylum.com/files/images/Morgan%20ST9.jpg

Quintero:
http://houston.astros.mlb.com/images/2005/06/03/EWzbeJzN.jpg

In my opinion, the runner has Everett's frame, as he appears skinnier than the already small Guzman, although Palmeiro's not much larger.

20.  Yeesh. I've just set up perhaps the first unsolvable mystery:

Palmeiro singled and stole second in the first. Then he doubled in the third. Is it even possible to distinguish which situation this picture follows? At the very least, here's all the people:

AB: Morgan Ensberg
On Second: Orlando Palmeiro
Nats C: Gary Bennett
Nats 3B: Carlos Baerga
Nats SS: Cristian Guzman
Umps: HP Troy Fullwood,
2B James Hoye
3B Dana DeMuth
None of the 39203 fans.

Luckily Cliff cut out the third base ump so I don't have to do more digging like the last two...

21.  Well, the possible innings are these, right?

ASTROS 1ST: Taveras grounded out (shortstop to first); Palmeiro
singled to center; Berkman popped to second; Palmeiro stole
second; Ensberg singled to third [Palmeiro to third]; Lamb flied
to right; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Astros 0, Nationals 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Everett singled to center; Vizcaino popped to third;
Everett stole second; Quintero struck out; Rodriguez struck out;
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Nationals 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Taveras was called out on strikes; Palmeiro doubled
to right; Berkman flied to left; Ensberg was called out on
strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Nationals 0.

ASTROS 6TH: Berkman doubled to center; Ensberg flied to center
[Berkman to third]; Lamb hit a sacrifice fly to right [Berkman
scored]; Everett struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 1,
Nationals 1.

I would say the last one is out; the runner on second doesn't look like Berkman.

22.  20 I meant third base coach, not ump. The ump is DeMuth.

Sadly, I doubt we can solve the 1st or 3rd inning mystery, unless we say that the batters' box would have been more destroyed by the third inning...

23.  One distinction between the 1st and 3rd innings could be whether Palmeiro had to slide into second on his double. Does second base look like it just had a close play? I'm not sure.

24.  23 If there was a slide on the double, it's definitely the first. Palmeiro's uniform is pretty clean.

25.  I'm not sure I can help distinguish the inning either. Perhaps tonight I can go through the other photos I took at the game to look for additional clues (assuming I took a bunch of photos in one inning and then put my camera away, which is what I typically do).

You guys, of course, got the game right. Perhaps the most boring game I've ever attended. Just brutally dull. I was hoping the Astros would pinch-hit Roger Clemens as the extra innings drudged on (they did pinch-hit Brandon Backe and the Nat's pinch ran Ryan Drese), but no luck. At least it was a beautiful day and I was sitting in a shady part of the upper deck with some good friends.

26.  24 Except that the stolen base was in the first, and almost certainly had a slide. Then again, Everett also stole second, so that doesn't really help.

27.  24 Quite possible. I know I took some photos before the game started, so I might have kept my camera out, snapped some action shots in the first and then put it away. But I can't say for sure.

Oh, and yes, I stayed for the whole thing.

28.  I just checked the archive on MLB.TV:

Palmeiro slid on his stolen base; his right pant leg is clearly dirty in both the first and third innings.
Both batter's boxes are still visible in the third inning.
Palmeiro didn't have to slide on his double.

29.  I zoomed in Photoshop and noticed, albeit with a low degree of confidence, that:

(1) the runner seems to have a left ear flap;
(2) the batter seems to have sideburns;
(3) the batter seems to have a narrow stance;
(4) there appears to have been at least some action at third base.

Palmeiro's a lefty; Ensberg is clean shaven and has a fairly wide stance; and in the 1st no play had yet gone to third. Plus, the opposite batter's box looks more messy than if only two batters had used it (the case in the 1st).

Thus, I'm now for the Everett/Quintero situation in the 2nd.

30.  But has Cliff ever been to St. Louis?

31.  Nope.

32.  31

You can go there to watch the Yankees play Games 3 and 4 of the World Series this year.

33.  Why would the (Mets/Dodgers/Astros/PHILLIES) be playing their home games in St. Louis Bob?

34.  What if I said I thought it would HAVE to be the first inning, because the infield dirt is still wet from having been watered down? I think by the 3rd it wouldn't be that wet. For that reason, I say it's the 1st inning. Not only that, the spots that AREN'T wet would come from the little bit of running around in the first inning, otherwise the dirt would be more kicked up in the third.

I would like to say with confidence that I think it's the 1st inning of the aforementioned game and that I'm a smart monkey.

35.  I think 29 is better evidence that this is the second inning than 34 is that it's the first. Not that I, as the photographer, could honestly confirm or deny either.