May 10, 2011
Sunday, May 8 2011 – Mets 2, Dodgers 4
As I mentioned in the previous post, I spent this past Sunday with my family at Citi Field, our first ballgame as a family and Lily’s first game ever. Both girls were pretty excited, but in all fairness they would be excited to go to prison as long as there was the promise of hot pretzels and cotton candy.
Having Kate and I for parents has predisposed them to the Mets and baseball. It’s on the TV most weekends and Mr. Met and the various Mets logos decorate a number of my t-shirts and hats. They recently picked out some Mets hats of their own and Caelyn still squeezes into a David Wright shirt I bought her two years ago because she loves it so much. They’ll occasionally “watch Mets with Dad” as they call it, but often that watching involves a lot of playing with My Little Ponies and the occasional glance up at the screen when David Wright comes to bat.
Neither of us went into this particular trip to the ballpark with expectations of actually, you know, seeing the game. I didn’t even know that it was Mother’s Day when I bought our tickets. I just chose a free Sunday and a team I’d like to see them play. We arrived to a fairly empty parking lot and for only the second time in my life I parked close to the stadium itself. Even arriving early in the past, earlier than we were on Sunday, I’ve always parked by the Marina, the stadium lots full. The only other time I got a spot this close was on the last day of the 2010 season – my first game with Caelyn.
Click here to read the rest of: “Bring Your Kiddies, Bring Your Wife…”
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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 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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