I was there: Mets vs. Astros 8.24.08

The Mets lost in 10 innings. Boo. Some tidbits:

* Keith Hernandez was at the countdown sign today bringing us to 17 games left at Shea. He got a rousing applause.

* David Wright is rolling out to some new music. Wonder why? Today it was the clapping part from “The Uh-Oh” song (I don’t know the real name of it…)

* I think this was the first extra innings game I’ve been to all year. Hmmm…

* I randomly ran into one of the girls I play softball with on the train platform which was strange because all of a sudden I heard someone calling my name, but I didn’t think it was for me. Ha.

* Lil’ Nicky made a fabulous running catch out in left field today. Fabulous.

* Ryan Church made a cameo appearance as a pinch hitter and got lots of applause too. It’s really too bad he’s missed so much time this season.

* We got giveaway shirts today. They are pretty nice – the Gulf logo only appears on a patch on the sleeve so it is somewhat unobstrusive.

I was there: Mets at Astros 8.1.08

In the end the game was a total bust, but it was still somewhat fun being at the game on Friday. I had carefully plotted my visit to one of my friends for the same weekend that the Mets would be in town and it worked out well this year. (Not so well last year, but so it goes.)

Prior to the game, we went to a local watering hole called The Flying Saucer. The placed was packed with a mix of people heading to the game (including some people with Mets jerseys on, yay!) and people out after work. If you like beer, this is definitely the place for you. There are more beer options than food options. The beer menu is a tri-fold menu and had to be in 8pt or less font. After partaking in some food & drink, we were off to the stadium.

Altogether there was 7 of us plus one 2 year old. We had gotten the Coke Value pack seats which sets you up with 4 tickets in the mezzanine in RF, 4 hot dogs (the vegetarian of the group was able to get a pretzel), 4 sodas (bottles no less, I was expecting fountain sodas), and 2 hats all for the price of $75. Not too shabby. The hats were of good quality too, better than the giveaway hats that are usually at Shea. Our seats ended up being in the last section practically in CF in row 4. Of course when we got there, people were sitting in our seats (grrrr) so we took the available seats in rows 2 & 3. No one moved us out so that is where we stayed. It was a good view back into the field with no obstructions or corners not visible. Overall I liked these seats.

The inside of the stadium is super nice. The main entrance is marble (?) or at least marble-like. The lower level concourse is spacious with all kinds of food choices. Choice is good. I even spotted a sangria kiosk. Mmmmm, sangria. Out in RF by our seats was a big party room with tons of flat screens and stuff. I don’t know if it is always used as a party room, but a fraternity was having some sort of reunion gathering in there during this game. While they do sell standing room tickets, it doesn’t appear that there is all that much room for standing around, especially once you get the Little Pumas and Los Caballeros (or whatever they are called) out there.

Before the game we ran into a friend of my friend who is in the military and was one of the people holding the flags on the field before the game. That would be way cool, but he must’ve done this before because he was way too nonchalant about the whole thing. I also spent about half the game with the 2 year old on my lap because I had a better view of the orange train from my seat than his. At times I would cheer & clap for good Mets plays and he’d look to the train and point at it waiting for it to go. I guess he associated the cheering with it moving the first time, so he was ready for it to go again…only it wasn’t. Oh well.

Every Friday night is Fireworks night at the park. They open up the roof and shoot them off just beyond the LF/CF wall. There is always some brief entertainment in between the end of the game and the fireworks starting. We were entertained by a Guitar Hero battle between a Little Puma and a Caballero. Except the Caballero failed after like 3 notes. (Rhetorical question: Who fails on Guitar Hero after 3 notes?) The fireworks were pretty awesome for ballpark fireworks. There were some going up that were such a pretty shade of purple. They were about 10 minutes long too which was unexpected.

One of my friend’s friends tried to convince me to go with him to Sunday’s game. I think he was pleased that a girl would willingly want to go see baseball games. However, we already had BBQ plans for Sunday (that he was invited to as well) so I had to decline even though it was especially tempting. However, (1) the BBQ was at my friend’s place so it would not be polite to bail, (2) I did need a ride to the airport early on Monday and would not want to get her mad, (3) I wouldn’t have gotten a chance to play Rock Band had we gone to the game, and (4) the Mets lost anyway so I would’ve been more annoyed. At least at the BBQ we had fun playing cards and Rock Band. 🙂

Photos soon, once I get them onto my computer!

I was there: Mets v. Rockies 7.13.08

If there is one statement that can describe last night’s game, it would be this: Fun is back at Shea. What a difference even when comparing it to Friday night’s game. Everyone was in good spirits, smiling, cheering – it was like the good old times. The usher in our section was chatty and cheerful. Even the crowd in the field box level joined in on the wave multiple times no less. The only booing that occurred was in the top of the 9th when the fans wanted Pelfrey to come back out to finish up the game but he didn’t. Sheer joy permeated the place last night. What a difference a few weeks make!

Even the Mets seemed to be enjoying themselves. Prior to the game, DW and Wags were presented with their All Star Game jerseys and DW was TOTALLY cheese-ing out. He’s definitely thrilled to be in the game no matter how he got in (*cough*being robbed by Corey “I Wear My Sunglasses at Night” Hart*cough*). Lil’ Nicky continues his own personal hit parade against the Rockies with 2 singles and a sac fly. Big Pelf not only gets the job done on the mound, but gets down two most excellent bunts AND gets a single to LF (he was erased on a DP, but hey, he got the single!) Home runs. Good defense. What more could you ask for? OK, we could have asked for a Phillies loss on Sunday, but not much you can do about that now…

I was also highly amused by the people around us last night. It was foreign tourist night in my section for sure (or at least in two rows). To the left was a guy & girl speaking Spanish. The girl had a NY license, but the guy had some sort of non-US ID that he used to buy beer. They knew baseball and cheered at the appropriate times so they weren’t amusing to me, but they fit into the foreign embassy times going on around me. In front of us sat three guys in their late 20s/early 30s – an Italian ex-pat currently living in NYC and his two friends who are in the States from Italy studying English for the next month and a half. My friend was talking to one of them after the 1st inning. It was his first game (as well as the other visiting Italian) and he was having a grand old time. The ex-pat seemed to understand the game and was explaining things to them the whole time. They were really enjoying themselves though and it was fun to watch.

To our right sat a group of 6 visiting from Spain. They were clearly at their first ever baseball game as they pretty much tried to figure out the rules by committee as the game went on. To their credit, they picked it up pretty fast for the most part. Once someone would figure something out, they’d tell the rest of the group what’s going on. For example, after the first walk the guy next to me tells the others “4 balls and you go to the base”. When Beltran hit his home run, they all stood up and cheered excitedly right along with the crowd. The lone female of the group noticed the Home Run Apple go up and was frantically trying to get everyone to check it out. Rockies outs were punctuated by “Eliminado!” At one point I think during a Quintanilla a bat, he was fouling off a lot of balls with 2 strikes. The guy next to me asked the others how come he wasn’t getting out because he should have three strikes. I wanted to explain to him, but they didn’t seem to know very much English (enough to get by in my estimation though) and there’s no way I can communicate baseball terms in Spanish (“Como se dice ‘Foul Tip’?”). Life went on though. Prior to the game, they were taking pictures of each other from all angles – with the outfield in the back, straight ahead, with home plate behind, etc. They make my paparazzi photo blast look silly (well ok, maybe almost silly). I had eaten before I left to go to Shea, but wanted a hot dog so I flagged down a vendor early in the game. They all looked on with interest with the process. Later on though, they were flagging down vendors with the best of them. Even though they don’t know it, I had a great time sitting next to them and the other newbies and watching their excitement.

I’d also like to thank the Metsies for putting away the Rockies in a very time efficient manner. I hate the late Sunday games because it takes me two hours from end-of-game to get home (from walking to the train, waiting for the train, riding the train, driving to the carpool location o’ the day, then driving home) and I have to wake up. I already had said if the game wasn’t close, I was out at 11 to make the train…10:45 game over. Muy Bueno!

Photos behind the jump

I was there: Mets v Rockies 7.11.08

Before I get into Friday’s game, I just want to comment on what interesting times its been this past week. I mean, we’re at 8 wins in a row for the first time since 2006. There’s been plenty of bad calls going against the Mets any of which could’ve ruined the “Old” Mets like a 3 hour rain delay that would’ve been called if the Mets had been on the losing end, a home run that wasn’t a home run, a safe call with the runner running out of the basepath. Boston has “Manny being Manny”, the Mets have “Moises being Moises”. We’ve got Ryan with “Migraines being Migraines”. (I’m no doctor although I like to play one sometime but I’ve gotten migraines since college and while they knock me out for the time being, they never last for days on end…anyway…)

Friday’s game was a bonus of sorts – a bus trip from work. It was definitely a rowdy bunch this time. I was quite amused that our seats were across the aisle and two rows up from the Sunday seats so it was like being in the “usual” locale.

It was a tough game. Ollie taking a no-hitter to the fifth and promptly giving it up to a HR. The Mets battled to tie it up. Then it was a tight one until the Metsies pulled it out in the 8th for a 2-1 lead, and the final score. Most excellent.

I’m soon to be off to the game tonight too. Hopefully, by the end of the night it’s 9 in a row! And hopefully ARI holds off PHI – a 2-1 game in the 6th inning.

I was there: Mets vs. Yankees 6.29.08

I was pleased that this game was not moved to the ESPN night game. Hooray for that. While Shea was pretty full, there wasn’t the fights that plagued last year’s game, quite possibly thanks to it being an afternoon game vs. a night game. Anyway, it was rather exciting, the Mets won. It also rained (but we stayed dry). Nothing about the game particularly stuck out for me this time. Apparently I also missed Reyes throwing a hissy fit. Go figure.

The real drama of the day was on the train ride home. In our train car was two twenty-something girls, one Mets fan and one Yankees fan. The Yankees Fan (YF) was running off at the mouth and just saying lots of nonsense. Her friend, the Mets fan, says to the people on the train: “She knows so much about baseball for a girl. She knows more about baseball than anyone I know”. Of course it is time to challenge this statement. Random guy asks YF who the Yankees shortstop was before Derek Jeter. She did not know. (I didn’t expect her to.) Then she makes some comment about the Mets being in 3rd place. All the Mets fans in the know started cracking up and Random Guy says “So is YOUR team”. Duh. Yes. What a smart baseball fan. The Mets fan must not know very many people.

Since I’m lacking words, photos instead.

I was there: Mets v. Yankees 5.17.08

I was there: Mets vs. Reds 5.11.08

Today’s game was surely….interesting

I was there: NYM v ATL 4.27.08

Game 2 of the Shea Summer Sundays was yesterday. Some quick shots:

* It was definitely a double layer day. As in wearing Under Armor Cold Gear leggings and long sleeve mock turtleneck under jeans and a sweatshirt under my winter coat. Brrrr. I was comfortable though. Comfortable is good.

* It was foam finger day! I have no idea what I am going to do with mine though.

* Arriving off the train at Gate E where our seats are, there were crowds galore. What in the world was going on??? We were even there before noon! Turns out it was also Youth Baseball day and there was tons of kids and parental units going in for their “parade” around the track. A short walk to Gate D allowed us a much quicker entry into the stadium. Even still the right side of the bag check line was out to the end of the barricades. No one was on the left side. A bit more of a walk got us Zero wait time. Baa baa sheep!

* The french fries at Shea are really hit or miss. Sometimes they are good. Sometimes they are bad. This time? Perfection. Really. They were cooked just right and I think they were the best fries I’ve had at Shea in a looooong time.

* It was good to see Smoltz-ie implode and give up runs and get knocked out of the game. It was also good to see all those home runs!

* I like going to games. I like watching them from the park. I do not like not knowing what’s going on though. By that I mean the insane controversy that exploded almost immediately with Carlos Delgado’s non-curtain-call moment. I mean yeah, everyone was cheering and waiting but whatever he didn’t come out. Your point people?

* Three cheers definitely go to Ryan Church for his catch at the wall. It was very weird to see because everyone just sort of stood around watching. Whichever Braves guy that was on 2nd just stood transfixed there. The Mets sort of just stood around on the field. It was almost like…wait…did he catch it or did we just transport ourselves to an alternate universe??? Church got the Big Standing Ovation though. Well deserved. Excellent catch.

* Three boos go to the LIRR. No not the Mets. The LIRR. How can you say you are running “Extra Trains” when the trains are coming at their usual times? Usual times is not extra. We got to the train no later than we ever do. We always get on the first train. This time we had to wait a half hour for the next one. The people that they stopped up on top? They were going to have to wait AN HOUR. WAITING AN HOUR IS NOT EXTRA TRAINS! This is why I drive to Queens and take the train 5 minutes. Because seriously if I took the train that is closest to me, yesterday it would’ve taken 4 hours to get home. The first time I was stupid and took the train two years ago, it took me 3 hours. I learned my lesson. Still though – I am not happy about this latest turn of events with the train. Yes we are a captive audience, but GET REAL!

Memories of Shea Stadium: Old Tickets

Tomorrow starts another season of Sunday pilgrimages to Shea Stadium. In honor of this auspicious occasion, let’s take a look back at what tickets USED to cost back in the late 80s at Shea, shall we?

Upper Reserved Section 19, Row M, Seat 8 cost $6 on August 20, 1987!

A seat in the Loge Section 30, Row G, Seat 2 cost $9 on August 31, 1988!

A seat in the Loge Section 32, Box 454B, Seat 7 cost $11.50 on August 12, 1989

Upper Reserved Section 14, Row H, Seat 9 only cost a whopping $6 on September 24, 1989! (No price increase from 1987!)

I think there should be a “throw back” day this year at Shea where the players wear old school uniforms from some year and then the prices for that game should be rolled back to what they were that year too. Wouldn’t that be fun?? My one ticket in the Mezzanine Reserved for Sundays costs anywhere from $27-47 depending on the game. I could’ve bought 4 tickets in the Loge Boxes in 1989 for that price!

Second Supersized Spring Training Tour of the Grapefruit League: General Commentary

A full park-by-park breakdown with occur at some point. But, for now, some general commentary about the Second Supersized Spring Training Tour of the Grapefruit League:

*You know you’ve driven way too many miles and been at way too many places when at the 4th game in two days, your traveling partner-in-crime starts talking about the game you were at in the afternoon, and you have no clue as to where you were in the afternoon! Yes, that is what 1,234 miles driven will do to you (although at that point we were only at about 600 miles logged).
* The Hertz website LIES. Do not believe them when they say that you can “reserve a make a model” of a car in certain collection and that is what you get. Needless to say a nastygram has been sent to Hertz and I am not happy with them.
* That said, after only, oh, an HOUR of tooling around the Hertz lot, we finally drove away with a 2008 Chrysler Sebring Convertible. We had an ’07 Sebring last year and the two are pretty different. There was at least a lot of trunk space in the ’07 as it folds into a well above the trunk. The ’08 model has a whole hydraulic system and all that jazz and it fold into the trunk. This makes the trunk insanely heavy to close, but also takes away a ton of space. You take 2 girls and 8 days in Florida – you have a lot of stuff. This year both suitcases had to ride in the backseat.
* Also, the ONLY way to do a spring training road trip of any sort of large amount of mileage is with a convertible. I’m sure we got some strange looks when it was overcast and we had the top down (yes we had to pull over when it finally started raining). Or when it was 60 degrees and we had the top down (to be fair, this was the day we were driving the three hours to Ft. Myers and knew it would warm up, but we also wore sweatshirts and pants and had the heat blasting on our feet for some time). We did draw the line when we woke up Tuesday morning in Sarasota and it was a “crisp” 45 degrees. The top stayed up then. I’m also not sure how I feel about being honked at by motorcyclists and truck drivers. However, it was totally worth it when we drove into parking lots with the top down and everyone else in their family cars and minivans checked our car out. haha.
* There is no comparison between the right/left field bleachers and the outfield bleachers at Chain of Lakes Park, Winter Haven (Cleveland Indians). Unless some team moves into their digs next year (as the Indians are moving to AZ), this isn’t something one needs to be worried about anymore
* Tradition Field is as always, the home away from Shea Stadium home. We made two visits there this year and this time I actually walked through the concourse a bit more. We had seats in the same row both times, and in the same section as we did last year.
* Hammond Stadium in Ft. Myers (Minnesota Twins) is a nice stadium with a big fountain outside the park. I love fountains, and so therefore I loved this touch. Here we also got to see former Met, Carlos Gomez rock it out.
* Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota (Cincinnati Reds) is interesting in its layout and if it is raining you are basically screwed (it wasn’t raining when we were there). Food was pretty good though. The best was getting to sit in the first row in shallow leftfield. That was pretty sweet.
* Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland (Detroit Tigers) was a re-do for us as we went there last year as well. They are really a class act though when it comes to autographs. Unlike every single other park, the players here sign autographs right up until game time. And I’m not talking about their bench players – its their regular starters that continue to sign. This year it was Magglio Ordonez, Andy Van Slyke (ok, he’s a coach but still), Jacque Jones, and Gary Sheffield. Plus after every single home game, kids 12 and under can go out on the field and get autographs. I’m not really sure who stays to sign here since we left, but it is a nice touch. Kudos to them.
* Speaking of autographs, I finally saw a totally unscrupulous professional autograph seeker at work. I was pretty disgusted. The first game we were at in Winter Haven, I saw this guy walking around with a duffel bag, similarly sized to what I use at the gym. In my duffel bag, I usually have some clothes, a large cosmetic bag with toiletries, sneakers, iPod, running watch, a heart rate monitor chest strap, gloves, a hat, some sheets of paper with different workouts, a jacket, and maybe other small miscellaneous things. Imagine all that piled up and then imagine that same duffel bag, instead of being filled with gym stuff, filled with baseballs! Yes this guy had a whole duffel full of baseballs and worse, he was wearing cargo shorts and had a few more stuffed in the pockets. This shady man was hanging around in front of us trying for autographs and seriously, I was so ready to bring the NY attitude and scream out “DON’T SIGN FOR HIM” if anyone came over.
* Most of the people we sat by were nice. Twice we were bombarded by people who like to hear themselves talk. One was at the Twins game where this guy behind us (who didn’t belong there and seathopped his way to a better seat) talked to the woman also behind us about his whole entire life. I didn’t need to hear about his kids, the drive from MN, the beach, restaurants, real estate, life in NJ, his wife who was at the beach, etc. Too much noise pollution! At our 2nd game at Tradition, a lady was behind us who was a total “know-it-all” as in despite the fact we were sitting on the visitors side continued to yell at her grandkids down in the first row to stay there because when the Mets see them sitting there of course they will come over to sign autographs (yeah, no they won’t). Once the game started we got commentary on every single player whether it was a Mets player or a Marlins player. Half the time she was wrong about what she was saying so it made me annoyed. I just wanted to turn around and tell her that maybe if she stopped talking and actually paid attention she might get some of the things she said correct. I was nice though. I didn’t do that. Hooray for only getting two noise polluters on the whole trip.
* It was good to have a day off for the beach. I was able to get a pretty good tan to make everyone at home jealous with.
* Fort Lauderdale Stadium is nothing particularly to write home about, yet it has the Shea feel as there is a private airport right behind it. Therefore, during the whole entire game there was private jet after private jet taking off and flying over the field. A guy sitting next to us was talking to someone in front of him and declared how much he likes to come to this park because it is so nice. I disagree and clearly he hasn’t been to many other stadiums in the Grapefruit League because there are much nicer and much better laid out stadiums there. Also the fence behind home plate has to be one of the thickest gauge fences ever. It made my eyes batty.
* Dolphin Stadium was home to a Marlins exhibition game vs. the Yankees so we got to go there too. We sat in the club level which is uber snazzy. I had a good time walking around inside looking at all of the memorabilia and stuff. Plus there are tv’s galore in the concourse and they play the radio broadcast inside so you never miss a moment.

To follow behind the cut, my Top Three Photos of the trip…