.Today is a day that will be remembered forever. By me, at least. Tonight will be the first time I ever experience a Mets game in Citi Field and I'm hoping for a dandy. The weather calls for rain starting at 10:00 PM but hopefully, it will remain dry and more importantly, we'll be able to get the W. Come along with me while I live blog my way through the game...
Did I mention this is the first
ever Mets-Phillies game in Citi Field? Yeah, no biggy.
Here goes!
7:25 AM: I wake up groggy. "Rain again?", I silently scream inside my head, "you've got to be kidding me!" What made the situation even worse was the fact that it was a Wednesday and every Wednesday night I had to sit through 4 plus hours of college. "Lord, help me," I prayed as I rolled over to sleep some more.
7:31 AM: Bzzzz. Bzzzz. (Silence) Who invented the snooze button? Genuis.
7:32 AM: Bzzzz. Bzzzz. How is my phone alarm ringing again? It's only been a minute. Geez. I look at the screen on my phone; it reads: "The boys are goin to the game tonight, you in?"
8:34 AM: Dang, I dozed. I wipe away the drool from the side of my mouth and respond to my Early-Bird-and-Worm-Eating friend, "The Rangers and Knicks are not in contention. Football is in hibernation. The Yankees are more boring than watching paint dry... Heck, yeah, I'm in. Let's get our Citi on!"
7:45 AM: I hate when that happens. I dreamt a reply. I quickly jot down a response, "you bet I'm coming, let's leave in an hour" and my day begins to look up...
2:21 PM: Just got mustard on a new shirt. Couldn't care less. Nothing can phase me today.
3:15 PM: Mom just made me change my shirt. What the heck? (Right, right, relaxed...)
4:10 PM: 3 hours to game time! Just changed my pants since I wet the originals in excitement.
4:47 PM: I call Simon (for the 4th time) to make sure the tickets are printed out. They remain printed (since the 3rd phone call).
5:11 PM: "Shouldn't we leave? What if there's traffic? Is it the same directions as to Shea? Yeah, it's next door. Focus, Eli, focus." I begin to panic.
6:15 PM: We leave to Citi Field. Hallellujah!
6:19 PM: We go back to the house to get the tickets. A minute later we leave, again. (Play this line over 3 times due to a bathroom being needed, someone forgetting their lucky glove and a moment of OCD where we weren't sure if we locked the door to the house....We did).
6:43 PM: Traffic on the Van Wyck. We're freaking out. A light drizzle begins. Cant. Even. Speak. Properly.
6:53 PM: WeChooseToDo80MphInTheEmergencyLane
7:02 PM: 18 dollars for parking? I guess the recession didn't hit Queens.
7:10 PM: The first pitch from Johan. Our location? Outside. "Where are the other guys? Les'go!"
7:12 PM: The Rotunda, I realize, is just a big room with escalators, a giant "42", and a compilation of Jackie Robinson pictures. Whoopty Woo.
7:13 PM: They're giving out free Mets visors (since it's going to be sunny on a rainy night). Who cares? It's free. This is starting out great already...
7:15 PM: Run to the john. I don't think I ever thought a urinal was something I would admire. I was wrong.
7:19 PM: Just sat down in our seats. There are no cushions. Strike 1 on Citi.
7:26 PM: A guy (with a head the size of Mr. Met) sits down in front of me. He begins to religiously fill out his score sheet. (If there was a nerd alert siren in the new ballpark then it would be ringing LOUDLY right now). He takes out a number 2 eraser.
7:48 PM: Johan just walked Chan Ho Park. I'm not sure if my view is obstructed. Would Johan actually do that? Must be part of his plan.
7:49 PM:
It's so hard to pay attention to the game when you're trying to take everything in. (I miss Shea)..7:53 PM: Okay, I just got really ticked off. It was 2 strikes on a batter with 2 outs in the inning and Santana was a strike away from putting the inning to bed. You think people besides us would stand up? I was hoping to scream, "Corporate guy, down in front", but alas, the circumstance never arose. Shame on the Wine Drinkers.
Here is the moment right before Santana did get the strikeout to end the inning:
Maybe they were all Philly fans? Nah.
7:56 PM: This crowd is quieter than a nursery during nap time. Are we playing at a neutral site? Speaking of that, if the Mets weren't batting in the bottom half of every inning then I wouldn't know it was their home field. Put up a sign, Wilpon!
8:00 PM: The score remains 0-0. Wow, a pitching duel between the two best pitchers in baseball. Or what the Mets make it seem.
8:06 PM: Just called my friend, Wario, on the other side of the park. Oh, I didn't use a phone. I just raised my voice.
8:25 PM: Delgado just caught a foul ball using BOTH of his hands this time. The crowd went wild. Lol. Hysterical. He tipped his hat sarcastically to the crowd. Classic.
8:37 PM: Just met Kevin Burkhardt! I tell him, "Oh, u were up at 4 this morning!" He's like, "Huh?" I yell: "I follow your twitter feed!" Kevin: "LOL, thanks!"
8:38 PM: I run to tell my friends who I met. Mind you, he's about 6"5.
8:39 PM: I wonder to myself how Burkhardt gets his hands to be so soft. How cool that I met him?
8:46 PM: So far the most exciting seconds in the scoreless game was when Mr. Met launched a T-shirt into the sleeping man in front of me. Hits him square in the belly and causes his score sheet to fall into beer. His pencil remains dry.
8:54 PM: Johan Santana just flew out to the warning track. And I thought it was a "Pitcher's Park". (Wink Wink)
9:00 PM: Did Zack Greinke put on a Chan Ho Park jersey and pitch for the Phillies tonight? One hit for each team after 6 innings... Not normal.
9:02 PM: Daniel Murphy just caught a ball at the track. The entire crowd collectively held their breath to see if it would stay in his glove. Even the corporate guys peered over their blackberries to take a look.
9:15 PM: Delgado just scored in slow motion! In what seemed to be about a minute and a half, he ran from first to home to give the Mets a 1-0 lead on the 3rd error of the game by the Phillies. WE GO NUTS.
9:16 PM: We were just on the Jumbotron jumping up and down after Delgado scored. Mmm. Like a kid in an empty candy shop with a sale going on. How sweet it is!
9:34 PM: End of the 8th. Corporate folks have left. It seems much louder now.
9:38 PM: My neck begins to hurt because I need to turn my head to see the scoreboard. The ogre's head in front of me is not helping the situation.
9:40 PM: Going into the top of the 9th, the big screen showed available relievers. One of them? Oliver Perez. That's the first and last time we might see that. He's on the DL with a hurt (right or left?) knee now.
9:46 PM: The Mets win! The Mets win! Jonathan wonders if this will be a Met Classic one day. (Hey, if we got on the Jumbotron then you can bet that it's a classic)...
9:50 PM: Picture time! After 6 failed attempts, we finally get the "Citi Field" in the background.
9:52 PM: I sign autographs for all the fans who hear me on the radio and
for the one's who read my blog daily.
9:53 PM: I continue to convince myself that 9:52 was actually real. It was not.
9:57 PM: Citi Security begins to sweep the place for stragglers. I cry to them because someone swiped my visor. Jerks.
10:00 PM: As predicted by Weather.com, it began raining at 10:00 exactly. By then, the Mets are back in the clubhouse with a W in their pocket.
As I sit here tonight, still wearing my Mets cap, I ponder on why the Mets shut the Phillies out, had dominant pitching, and henceforth, won the game. Jerry Manuel did make some nice calls that turned out to look brilliant but it seemed like it was something more that effected the outcome of this game. I start to think that maybe it wasn't something (or someone) on the field that made the difference...maybe their good luck charm sat 21 rows up along the first base side on field level...maybe this someone was all the Mets needed to keep their heads in the game and focus on what is important RIGHT NOW...maybe the Mets don't need an
edge....
After all, maybe all the Mets need is...me?