Sports Photo of the Day, voted 3 months ago as the #1 sports photography blog on the internet by Sports Illustrated readers, is about to reach its 1-year mark. It is important to note that this nontraditional post- a free-thinking expression- will never become , as delivering the best Sports-related photograph of the day is my only defining agenda. But, as I celebrate my first birthday with friends and family from across the country, I feel giving myself a gift is humbly appropriate. Thus, for today, Wednesday April 14th (technically the day before my birthday although this is being written on the 15th, as I often decide the sports photo of the day the day after hundreds and hundreds of photographs are taken for my review) I will be most appropriately displaying more than one photograph of the day as this afternoon's sunny match-up between the visiting Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs featured several stunning photographs for it's superb sunshine and dramatic shadows set up a sports photographer's dream. Below are three of my favorite photographs from today's Cubs victory, with, as usual, the story described below. I feel strongly that these three shots capture the spirit of baseball.

CLASSIC CHICAGO CUBS COMEBACK
The Cubs still aren't sure about their setup pitcher and Alfonso Soriano isn't the most popular player in Wrigleyville, but they're showing improvement on little things, like being able to take a walk and deliver in the clutch. Ryan Theriot and Kosuke Fukudome each hit two-run singles with two outs in the eighth Wednesday to lift the Cubs to a 7-6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. The two at-bats that set up those hits both came on 0-2 counts. With two outs in the eighth and Chicago trailing, 6-3, against former Cubs closer LaTroy Hawkins (0-1), Jeff Baker singled off an 0-2 pitch, and Geovany Soto and Tyler Colvin both walked to load the bases. Theriot then slapped a two-run single to right off an 0-2 pitch from Hawkins and Fukudome followed with a another single to right to take the lead. "LaTroy throws really hard," Soto said. "He throws a good slider. I fouled a couple pitches off and I was actually seeing the ball pretty good. After I drew the walk, I was pretty happy with myself." So was Cubs manager Lou Piniella. "I told Soto on the way out that the at-bat he had off Hawkins was as good as he's had all year," Piniella said. "I don't care about the hits -- it's the walks," said Hawkins, who struggled when forced into the closer role for the Cubs in 2004-05. "That was the turning point, walking [Soto], especially with two outs. That's not acceptable. You can beat me swinging the bat, but I don't like walking guys." Did the experience bring back any bad memories of his days at Wrigley? "No, not at all," said Hawkins, who was a favorite target of the boo birds. "This place made me a better person." Jeff Gray (1-0), called up from Triple-A Iowa earlier in the day, picked up the win, although he had an ugly inning of relief. He gave up back-to-back RBI triples to Carlos Gomez and Alcides Escobar in the eighth, which is still a trouble spot after eight games. "We're working on that," Piniella said about finding a reliable setup pitcher. "I've got some thoughts, and we'll share them down the road." The ideas may stem from the changes coming when Ted Lilly rejoins the team later this month. Stay tuned. Carlos Marmol struck out the side in the ninth, including Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, for his third save. Maybe Marmol should pitch the eighth and ninth? "No comment," Marmol said, laughing. "Like I say, every time, I'll take the ball whenever they give it to me. If I have to throw one inning, two innings, I'll do it." The way Marmol looked on Wednesday, Piniella would like him to throw the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth. (MLB.com)