An Honest Reaction
At 2 am, I had nothing better to do than go through some of the more exciting highlights from this week’s games. As I checked out MLB.com’s video highlight of Gary Sheffield’s 500th home run on Friday night, I caught something interesting out of the corner of my eye. In a dugout full of excited Mets, there was one Met sitting in the corner, unmoved.
I rewound the footage and paused, trying to figure out who it was. Well, the image speaks for itself.
(By the way, I don’t own the rights to this image; it belongs to MLB.com, I’m not using it for commercial gain, and arguably it’s in promotion of their own highlight clip, which I would link to here except I can’t find it again. Can you tell I’m in law school?)
So my first reaction was just to think it strange and wonder why he was so grumpy. Then it clicked. Ryan’s in direct competition with Gary, and this does not bode well for him. Well, I don’t think he has TOO much to worry about. Gary’s a good PH, but Ryan’s been consistent and I’m pretty comfortable with saying his spot is secure. Still, if this lights a fire under his *** and makes him produce… all the better.
But still… Smile, Ryan! You’re on tv. 
What the Fish?
Most of my rivalry energy is focused, understandably, on the Phillies. But every year the Marlins sound our death knell, and worse, take such unrestrained glee in doing it, my unfriendly feelings toward the Fish grow. Rivalry is a funny thing.
I dislike the Yankee organization and fans (certain types) but not the team.
I hate the Phillies team and most of their fans.
I am puzzled by the Marlins and the team’s obvious enmity for the Mets.
Take this Easter weekend series for example. The first game, the Marlins ran out and celebrated their victory like it was Game 7 of the World Series. A dog pile? It was the fourth game of the season! It was the first game of the series! I stared at their exuberant celebration with disdain. Are they really that hungry for a win at this point? It was really ugly. And what is going on in that clubhouse that motivated Josh Johnson to pitch a complete game today, in what turned out to be only his second career complete game?
I’m sure there were occasions in the past (Jose stealing a base from the Marlins when we were up by 7 or so runs comes to mind) that have sparked their ire against us, but nothing that explains this long-standing rivalry mentality that the Marlins seem to have toward the Mets. I just don’t quite understand what the Mets could’ve done to get under their skin this much.
That being said, I’m not begrudging them whatever lights a fire under their collective butts. Rivalries are half the fun of sports, and it’s a healthy dose of passion that fuels the best baseball games. I’m just curious. And, like a good fan, a little defensive because … well, the sad fact is… we can’t seem to beat the Marlins. Do they get into our heads? What is it, exactly? If it isn’t Daniel Murphy’s butterglove, it’s something else.
By the way, what the heck was going on with the Angels and BoSox today? Eesh.
CITI FIELD!
My first trip to Citi Field was more than I ever dreamed it could
be. It sounds dramatic to say so, but just wait ’til I tell you all
that happened.
First of all, the stadium itself is GORGEOUS. I
was completely blown away by how drastic the difference was between
Shea and Citi Field. The open air food stands, the wonderful sight
lines, the smaller, tighter fit of seats to field… My friend and I
were just stunned and ecstatic. We got there at 11:30 am, determined
to spend a good hour or two exploring the new digs. We entered through
the Left Field Gate, as per Mets Grrl’s instructions. She was right –
the lines to get into the rotunda were crazy long, and there was no
line at all at Left Field. We gawked at the new structure and like
giddy schoolkids, we ran down to the field where the Red Sox were
warming up. I think we stared at the field and the surroundings for a
good ten minutes.
The
entire place SEEMS smaller because the seats are so close to the field,
which is entirely enclosed by the stands now. There’s definitely a
more intimate feeling about this place. The fact that you can still
hear/see the game from the open air food stands behind the seats adds a
great quality –
After
we got our fill of the field, we made our way up and around toward the
Rotunda, where we saw the line to take a picture with the 42 and the
equally amazing line to get into the Official Team Store. There are
separate stores on the upper levels which we did visit, but we didn’t
want to wait in line for the main one in the Rotunda.
Here’s
a fun story. While we were taking in the Rotunda, we noticed an SNY
film crew nearby. Lo and behold, it was (a surprisingly tall) Kevin
Burkhardt interviewing (a surprisingly dressed down) Jeff Wilpon.
I
snapped a shot of them and then my friend and I decided we should go
check out the food options behind center field. It just so happens
that Kevin and Jeff were headed that way too. As we walked by them, I
took my brief chance to say hello.
“Hi Kevin. Hi Jeff.” I greeted with a huge smile.
“Hello,” they both answered. “Enjoying your day?” Jeff asked.
“I’m
definitely enjoying myself. This place is amazing!” Both Kevin and
Jeff laughed a little at my exuberance. Then Jeff said, “Good, I’m
really glad.”
I derive a lot of pleasure from simple things, and
it really made my day that I exchanged such casual words with those
two. I was bubbling with excitement as my friend and I made our way
over the Bullpen Bridge (noting that it’s directly hanging over the
bullpen, and one could seriously get an up-close-and-personal look at
the bullpen from those seats), pointed out the line to get a picture
with the old Home Run Apple, and finally came to the old Manhattan
skyline.
The food area wasn’t crowded when we got there. There is
an unfortunate typo on the sign for the Box Frites (chipolte instead of
chipotle), which didn’t ruin the delicious taste of it at all.
I
also got the Blue Smoke pulled pork sandwich (deeelicious), and who
should I stand in front of in line but — LA BAMBA! from Late Night
with Conan O’Brien… as well as Bruce Springsteen’s band. I love
La Bamba. He’s a riot. So we had a nice little chat (that started:
“La Bamba! What are you doing here?!” “I’m watching the game!!” lol)
about his family moving to LA soon, I told him how much I missed the
show, and I got a photograph with him.
It was the best day for spotting pseudo-celebrities. lol.
When
we finally got to our seats, we were thrilled with how close to the
action we felt. We sat in Sec. 431, right behind the foul pole. in Row
2. We were right over Daniel Murphy’s head. And holy crap, was it
windy. Thank god, the structure of the stadium sheltered us from the
worst of the gustiness, but we heard the roaring wind and felt the
freezing temperatures. All the trash on the field was a little
upsetting, but most of it came from vendors who lost a hold of their
hot-dog-wrapping-papers and napkins. Cups were being blown around and
peanut shells and it was just crazy.
And it was nearly impossible to
hear the loudspeaker system. We had to rely solely on the closed
captions on the side panels.
All in all, I had a deliriously
happy day today. The game went to hell in 2/3 innings, with good ol’
Ollie at the mound, but we amused ourselves in other ways.
The caption of this photo, by the way, is “Ollie, GTFO.” Our Problems With Ollie….. that’s a whole new post, entirely. And so is Sheffield, by the way. I’ll
keep my displeasure about those two things to a minimum in this post,
since it’s a celebratory post. Citi Field was amazing. I am so proud
to be able to call it my home stadium.
Spring Training!
I’m getting increasingly excited for my first spring training trip ever, although it’s during the World Baseball Classic. It would’ve been amazing to see D-Wright and Reyes in action, along with Delgado and Beltran and Tatis and all the other 16 Mets that are out and about. Still, I’m not too bummed. The weather forecast says it’s going to be 80 degrees and sunny, I’m going to be watching BASEBALL!, and some of my favorite guys are still gonna be there. Big Pelf, Maine, Santana, Ryan Church… ahhh, the excitement grows!
I’ll be there from Wednesday to Sunday, and I’m going to the Thursday night game against the Marlins, the Friday day game against the Tigers, and the Saturday game against the Cardinals. Plus, my friends and I figured.. we’re going all the way down to FLORIDA.. might as well get some real seats. So we shelled out the cash for the closer seats. During the Marlins game, we’ll be sitting near the Marlins’ dugout. I… might have some choice words for Hanley Ramirez. lol.
I caught the Canada v. U.S game today; it was pretty exciting. I was really torn though. I mean, rooting for the team Jimmy Rollins is on… it’s very conflicting. AND considering the fact that a U.S. loss means more Mets in camp sooner. Still, it’d be pretty embarrassing if the U.S. didn’t win, now that we’ve got all our All-Stars in the game. I mean, last WBC, no one paid attention. This time, … well, we’d just better win. C’mon.
Did you guys see that article on MLB.com about their lockers being separated by Derek Jeter’s? I thought David’s quote was so funny — saying they’ve buried the hatchet for now, but once the WBC is over, their feud would start up again. lol. Not even trying to pretend that the rivalry is just between the fans. My non-baseball friend asked me why I found it so funny, and I just told her… David Wright being so comfortable talking about his dislike for the Phillies is like… Mother Teresa saying, “Yeah, I don’t really like the Phillies. They’re jerks.” … in baseball terms, anyway. What a loveable goober.
And I have to admit I really enjoy seeing baseball played in March. And real, exciting, high-stakes baseball. That crowd was electric! The players really got into it, I could tell. Annnnd again, with the conflicted emotions. My train of thought went a little something like this: Okay boys, this is pretty exciting. Whoa, David. Whoa. Let’s not get crazy here; save your stuff for the real season. Oh crap, bases loaded. Let’s go David, let’s go. OH CRIMINY.
It was a liiiiittle too familiar for my tastes, seeing David bloop to infield with bases loaded and the stakes high. Maybe he should’ve stayed in Port St. Lucie and done some more of that 80 Pitches drill.
Anyway, SPRING TRAINING!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
The Dreary Off-Season
The way I see it, die-hard fans obsessed with baseball can only do so much during the off-season.
Watch the Trades: It was mildly exciting when we started making moves to address the bullpen this season. It definitely raised my pulse when I heard about Putz and K-Rod. Still, you read a piece of news, you get excited about it, you forward the mail to all your baseball buddies, you tap your fingers on the desk and wait for replies. The replies usually run like this: “Awesome. K-Rod and Putz will close out those games for sure. No more sad stats about how many games we would’ve won by if games were only 8 innings long.” You nod emphatically, you tap your fingers some more. You fruitlessly return to Metsblog.com or MLB.com or ESPN.com and scour the headlines for something about your team. You may even get desperate enough to flip through Page Six. David Wright said what about black people and voting?! Someone ran over two people in the Dominican Republic? And then, ho-hum, back to the drawing board.
Other Sports: I haven’t invested in a pro-football team yet. I love football but as of yet, I only root for my college team – Rutgers. I’ve had lots of advice from all sides about whether I should root for the Giants or the Jets but I can’t decide. The way I saw it, if I started rooting for one of those teams in the 2008 season, I’ve already lost credibility as a fan. Become a Jets fan and it would’ve been: “Oh, you’re just hopping on the bandwagon because of Brett Favre.” Become a Giants fan and of course, I’d hear: “Easy choice – Super Bowl winners – c’mon.” The choice has become easier now that Brett Favre stunk it up big time. I do enjoy rooting for the losing team. The Jets are sounding better and better.
Books: I’ve started reading baseball books. Anything I could put my hands on. I read “The Bad Guys Won,” about the 1986 Mets. It was a great read. I’m reading “Watching Baseball Smarter,” although the information is a little basic for me. Still, it’s a really fun way to fill in the gaps in my knowledge. I’ve picked up the rules and strategy of baseball through word of mouth, drunken discussions, and good ol’ Gary, Keith, and Ron. I mean, if it weren’t for this book, I’d never have learned the proper release technique of a screwball and that sometimes, at the mound, they talk about restaurant reservations (lol). Although I did already know that Ray Chapman was the only casualty of baseball.
My friend and I were having a completely un-baseball-related discussion (what profession do we find most attractive on men). I believe I had broached the topic of uniformed men and hotness. Things like .. police officers, firemen, soldiers .. and when she added baseball players, I hesitated. For me, the hotness-uniform proportion related directly to the danger associated with the job. The risk of death.
“And c’mon.. I mean, baseball players are hot, but the uniforms don’t lend to it. I don’t know of anyone who’s ever died playing bas-”
“RAYCHAPMANDID.”
That effectively shut me down.
Pine: Having exhausted all the other distractions, what is there left to do but pine? Pine after your boys of summer.
Oh, and did I mention “Plan“? I’m taking a trip down to Port. St. Lucie in a week!!! Most of the stars will be at the World Baseball Classic, but I don’t mind. Maybe it’ll thin the crowds a bit. I just can’t wait to feel the warm weather, smell the grass, and watch some freakin’ baseball!
Thank goodness the off-season is over. Now that spring training is
fully underway (although WBC is cannibalizing our players), I can
breathe a sigh of relief. There is baseball on tv once again.
Everything’s going to be all right.
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