No Hitter

So it's done.  The Mets have their first no hitter, ever, and it only took, as you may have heard by now, 8,020 games.  And it was worth waiting for.  It couldn't have been written any better.  So many stories.  Santana coming off shoulder surgery, a surgery that's left many pitchers shadows of their former selves. Against the world champion Cardinals, and the best offense in the league. Thole's first game off the DL.  Mike from Whitestone Baxter with the reckless regard for his own body as he makes the catch of Yadier F*(&^N Molina's drive over his head.  The return of Carlos Beltran (one of the Best Mets Ever), now a teammate of Adam Wainwright.  The rain that threatened to delay the game.  Wainwright's stellar first few innings.  Clutch hitting.  CitiField's first BIG moment.  And there's other stuff I'm sure I've forgetting.

But what I want to get to is this: it was also one of the Mets' Little League Nights, where kids get discounted tickets and wear their jerseys and get to walk on the field before the game in a little parade.  My son was one of those kids.  So not only was he there on that special night, he was on the field beforehand.  He's only eight, and he knows it was something big, but I'm sure he doesn't really get it, yet.  I am absolutely thrilled that he was there, that he'll have this memory to share with his own kids, and that he'll have bragging rights about the no hitter for the rest of his life.  Amazing. 

I was not there.  It wasn't my weekend with him, and so, that's just one of those things about divorce.  But I'm so damn happy he was there with his mother and his teammates.  And I watched every pitch, partly because I was hoping that SNY would have a few shots of the kids on the field.  And then, of course, it started to roll along, and I was paying attention to the hits column like I always do, kind of hoping, but trying not to hope too hard, that maybe this was the night. 

So my girlfriend and I sat on the couch watching (and sometimes not watching, because sometimes watching was kind of excruciating), listening to the great call from Gary, Keith, and Ron, trying really hard to believe what we were seeing.  She's a passionate lifelong Met fan.  She loved Tom Terrific as a kid.  We tried to honor our superstitions as the night progressed.  We were nervous wrecks, like so many others, as Johan took the mound in the ninth.  And then we were shouting, laughing, hugging, like so many others in NYC that night, right around 9:50 pm.  Wow.  Let's go Mets. 

I guess this is kind of living vicariously through my son?  I know I'm not supposed to do that, right?  I'm kidding, of course.  I was at Shea in '06 when Endy made The Catch, when so many of these players were there, spoiling our run.  It was a tough night, but I'll always cherish that night for Endy's miraculous sno-cone, and for the way the upper deck rocked and shook under our feet. I'm just so happy that my son's now got his own little big piece of New York Metropolitan Baseball Magic.  Well, all of us Met fans do, now, where ever we were last Friday.

First trip to Flushing, 2010

Haven't written much about the Mets here this season, but have been following them as closely as always. Which is to say, "Every freaking day." My son's little league team was part of the pregame parade around the warning track, which was great fun, even if parents weren't allowed to walk down there too.

The Mets are wildly uneven this year, which is to say, "Completely freaking streaky." Approximately twice as better at home vs. on the road. But, maddening as that can be, it is a huge improvement over last season's disaster, and we've been reminded this year just how much fun it can be to watch clean, heads up baseball.

Yesterday, we had seats way up in the left field upper deck. But, it felt fine, and although we'd had a week of the most sweltering and humid days you can imagine in early June, there was at least a breeze and it was mostly overcast. Didn't rain till late in the game, and didn't rain hard till we had to get back to the 7 train.

And we all left with smiles as the Mets completed the sweep of the hated, which is to say, "HATED," Florida Freaking Marlins. What's more, it was a comeback win, in which the Metropolitans trailed by five runs. This year's club is fun to root for, and we had fun yesterday. And we got Mr. Met Beach Towels. Hello, Summertime.....

first trip to citi field for a game

We went on Saturday, and I knew the Marlins were throwing their ace, Josh Johnson, who absolutely owns the Mets, but I was a little disappointed about our lineup, which featured only Carlos Beltran in terms of marquee players. Admittedly, the Mets are hurting so bad lately, there aren't many marquee players even available on any given day [I really miss watching Jose play], and so after an extra-inning night game, the glaring sit-outs were David Wright and Gary Sheffield - and Luis Castillo, to a lesser extent. But another plus was getting to see young Fernando Martinez play, and he got a lot of chances in right field, and swung the bat pretty well, too. And remembered to run, and run hard, to first.

Still, it was a beautiful day for a ballgame. We sat in a Promenade level box, in the left field corner. We got our free tote bags, and we got there early enough that our wait in the Shake Shack line was only about fifteen minutes. My god, those are good burgers. Looking forward to trying Blue Smoke next time. It took longer to wait in line for my son to get his turn at the wiffle ball field.

Our seats were good. I guess they would be called 'obstructed view' because the left field corner is below the sight line. Some idiot fans nearby, but what you gonna do. At least they weren't nasty. For most of the game it was this older loudmouthed dope in front of us, and then when they left in the eighth [wasn't much of a ball game, but it being our first game we weren't going anywhere], there were these younger loudmouthed dopes sitting behind us. It felt like they were shouting right in our ears, and talking like Tim McCarver acolytes. Later they moved and I noticed they were wearing flipflops. I've said it before -- don't wear flipflops to a baseball game.

Bad game, but enjoyable day. And my son, as usual, fell asleep on my lap on the 7 train. Maybe I'll post some of the photos he took later in the week.