April 29, 2011
Hello fellow Mets fans and welcome to another exciting edition of Friday Baseball here on Raising the Apple! This Friday ends a particularly busy week for me work-wise, one that has left me with very little spare time to devote to any of my myriad of hobbies and interests, let alone this journal which has been woefully un-updated as of late.
This recent lack of time and increased focus on work and my familial duties has gotten me thinking about just how I tend to manage my free time and what my energy gets devoted to when I am not working or parenting or husbanding. Fortunately my wife and children are the things I love most in this life, so I always make sure to spend a good deal of time with them, and Kate shares many of my adult interests, such as baseball and certain other cultural touchstones such as books, plays, movies, and television. Thus we get to pursue a lot of our shared interests together, and what remains is the same for most people I suspect: the niche interests of the individual.
Click here to read the rest of: “Friday Baseball – You Down With OCD?”
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April 22, 2011
Friday has come once more, and with it another weekly installment of Friday Baseball here on Raising the Apple. I’ve been waiting for this weekend since last Sunday afternoon. There’s nothing particularly special about this weekend, no big events to anticipate or any big games from a baseball perspective. It’s a holiday weekend depending on your religious proclivities, but I’ve never been a huge fan of Easter myself. No, I’ve spent all week dreaming of this weekend because I’ve been away in the very windy city of Chicago all week attending a conference, and this weekend is my first opportunity to see my girls in what has felt like no less than an eternity.
Ordinarily I like to travel, seeing new places and having new experiences in them, but this trip was a solitary one and I found myself feeling more acute loneliness than I ever have before. My well documented fear of flying certainly did not help as it bookended the trip with the fear of never seeing my family again, but even my days safe on the ground felt hollow and empty without them.
Click here to read the rest of: “Friday Baseball: There’s No Place Like Home”
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April 19, 2011
Monday, April 18 2011 – Cubs 1, Padres 0
I finally got to realize a longtime dream last night and attend a ballgame at Wrigley Field. I was in the very windy city of Chicago attending a conference for work and as soon as I paid my registration fee last month I started looking for tickets. I got an incredible seat from the Cubs website, directly behind home plate, 10 rows back from the dish – for $40 – and that includes the ticket fees. By way of comparison that same seat is currently $1,250 at Yankee Stadium and $300 at Citi Field. I couldn’t wait to take it all in, the ivy, the classic scoreboard, the flags showing if the wind was favoring the pitcher or hitter, the rooftop bleachers across the street.
When the night finally came, the temperature was 30 degrees and falling, the sun hadn’t made an appearance all day, and the wind was piercing. I took the red line subway out to the ballpark and walked around to the main entry gates at the front of the stadium where the famous sign proclaimed that I had indeed arrived at Wrigley Field, Home of the Chicago Cubs!
Click here to read the rest of: “The Very Friendly Confines”
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April 18, 2011
Sunday, April 17 2011 – Mets 3, Braves 2
I hate flying. I hate everything about it. The long lines, taking off half my clothes in security, the ubiquitous airport terminals, the delays and suddenly switched gates, the bad food, the cramped seats, the stale air, and most of all the gut-wrenching fear of imminent death.
I know that statistically air travel is far safer than taking your car out on the interstate, but I also know that when a plane crashes all they have to do is add the number of crew to the number of passengers to get the death toll, statistically speaking. That and I know far too much about mechanical contraptions and the rate at which they are serviced and maintained properly. And I’ve had the personal experience of having to pull my car over to the shoulder when something went wrong. It was inconvenient at worst. There’s no pulling over in the friendly skies.
Click here to read the rest of: “Another Pleasant Valley Sunday”
Posts: Game Journals, From the Couch | No Comments
April 15, 2011
Happy Friday to you all! It’s the end of the work-week (well at least my work-week) once more, and with it comes another edition of Friday Baseball here on Raising the Apple. The Mets have been swept at home by the Rockies in a 4 game set that included a traditional doubleheader and are ending their first home-stand of the 2011 season 1-6 while heading into Atlanta tonight with a 5 game losing streak. But all is well, cause, that’s baseball.
Click here to read the rest of: “Friday Baseball: Keep Calm and Carry On”
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April 14, 2011
Thursday, April 14 2011 – Mets 5, Rockies 6 & Mets 4, Rockies 9
When Tuesday night’s game against the Rockies was rained out and a single admission doubleheader (a real and true doubleheader) was announced for Thursday afternoon, which looked to be the first nice day all week, I immediately wanted to go. To the internet I flew like a flash! Tickets were both abundant and cheap and I was sorely tempted to channel my inner Ferris Bueller and play hooky from work.
Alas, after much internal debate I chose the more “adult” option of staying at my desk and getting my work done, clearing the decks in advance of my departure this Sunday afternoon for a week-long business trip in Chicago. I will however be seeing the Chicago Cubs take on the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field (where I’ve been dying to go for some time) so Ferris will be served in some small way.
Click here to read the rest of: “Radio Free Flushing”
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April 11, 2011
Sunday, April 10 2011 – Mets 3, Nationals 7
Monday, April 11 2011 – Mets 6, Rockies 7
Well, you can’t win ‘em all. And I certainly don’t expect to, but when the bullpen blows up a game after a great start it’s a tough loss. Especially after a start like the one Chris Young gave on Sunday afternoon, going 7 full innings and allowing only a single hit and earned run. It seemed like just when you start thinking that the starting rotation might be working out the kinks, the bullpen shines a spotlight on the holes in the Mets’ pitching staff. At least Alderson took quick action and sent Boyer packing to make way for Izzy, who in my opinion should have claimed that final relief spot on day one. And he certainly demonstrated that last night when he shut down the rallying Rockies in the 7th, keeping the score tied in what had already been a rollercoaster game with the lead changing nearly every inning.
I think all Mets fans knew that this was not going to be an easy season by any stretch of the imagination, and that the wins would be hard fought for the most part and lucky for all the rest. But that managed to capture my interest and imagination far more than if they had set themselves up to be the pen and paper goliath the Red Sox were on March 31. It’s why I love the Mets, the victories are earned with blood and sweat and when they do come, they are all the sweeter for it.
Click here to read the rest of: “You Don’t Know Jack”
Posts: Game Journals, From the Couch, Personal History | No Comments
April 9, 2011
Friday, April 8 2011 – Mets 2, Nationals 6
It wasn’t the coldest Opening Day I’ve been to, but it sure felt like it. That honor went to Opening Day 2007, where the sun was shining bright, but unfortunately much too far from the Northern Hemisphere to make much of a difference. Kate and I were there with a six-month-old Caelyn bundled up and inside Kate’s coat, with only her head sticking out like Quato in Total Recall. We didn’t make it through the whole game that time.
Yesterday was my fifth Opening Day with the Mets and my first at Citi Field. I took a half-day at work and Kate and I drove down with a cooler filled with my homebrewed “Regular Saison” a Petit (session strength) Belgian Saison, an Italian hero to share, and a few bags of pretzels. We “tailgated” beside the bay in the Marina parking lot and for the 100th time inhaled the smell of charcoal and slightly burnt hamburgers and wished we had brought a little grill with us. Next time, next time.
Click here to read the rest of: “Opening Day”
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April 8, 2011
Step right up and greet the Mets! Bring your kiddies, bring your wife, guaranteed to have the time of your life! Because the Mets are really socking the ball, knocking those home-runs over the wall! East-side, west-side, everybody’s coming down – to meet the M-E-T-S Mets of New York Town, of New York Town!
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April 7, 2011
I checked the weather report 5 times yesterday, and each time it said the same thing. 70% chance of rain for Friday, April 8 in Queens, NY. I’ll likely check it 10 times today, just for good measure, but I’m not expecting much improvement in the forecast. Kate and I are packing our ponchos and hats and gloves, but I’m just hoping there isn’t a rainout and that the clouds give way just long enough for them to get the game in. I’ve only been at the ballpark for one rainout in my brief tenure with the Mets, and that was the day of my father’s first baseball game.
My dad was never really into sports, and aside from watching a few minutes of a Penn State football game now and again (he’s an alum), I don’t recall him ever watching a game of any sort. Given that most kids inherit their parents (and more often than not specifically their father’s) favorite teams, I too didn’t have much interest in sports beyond playing them with the kids in my neighborhood. That was strike one.
Click here to read the rest of: “That First Game with your Dad”
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