Queens

On Doing the Work

Not Shea Stadium, 2022

Sunday July 10, 2022
Miami Marlins vs. New York Metropolitans
Not Shea Stadium
MLB National League
Queens, NY
1:40 PM

Outside the Game:
I had a weird corporate four-day weekend that would have been more welcome under the circumstances if they had told us they were giving us a four-day a weekend more than a month in advance. As a schedule guy, it also screwed up a ton of schedules having two missed work days in there, but hey, free four-day weekend in July right after one for the Fourth. Sadly, I spent most of it dealing with real-world things, but I knew I was going to catch a game of the Metropolitan homestand somewhere in there. Saturday was the retiring of Keith Hernandez's number, as well as a bobblehead giveaway, so that game was sold out; I decided to go for the more sedate Sunday afternoon game, being sure to get tickets in the shade.

The third day into a three-day weekend I was pretty slow getting up, but I had gone to bed early enough that I was out of the house by nine-ish. But I clearly wasn't fully awake, as I remembered several blocks into Hoboken that I had forgotten my camera, so instead of going back, I decided to try out a game just with my camera phone. I took a leisurely walk the rest of the way to the Hoboken PATH station, grabbing a convenient train to 33rd, then up to the 7 and over. I didn't have too long to wait for any trains--a blessing on a lazy Sunday when mass transit can seem similarly sluggish--so I counted my blessings at this point. The 7 train was sparsely filled with eager-beaver Metropolitans fans such as myself, and we were disgorged in Queens with over an hour and half before gates.

I took my time walking around. I visited that odd little park that the Mets had installed next to the subway station; tried to figure out an angle to get a photo of the stadium, Seaver, and the original apple; and even took a trip out to the Shea infield in the parking lot. After walking a bit, I settled on the right field entrance again, with its welcome shade and short line. The gates opened, and in I went.

After being shooed out of the stadium by staff just looking to close up after the end of the homestand, I meandered back to the subway in time to sit on the 7 Express for a while before heading back. Two quick connections had me back in Hoboken, but I decided for a Lyft back home, where I sorted out my purchases and fixed the game bag before settling in for a long, dark Sunday evening.

The Stadium & Fans:

Center to home, Not Shea Stadium

The crowd at the game this day was a curious kind of exhale after the previous day, where Keith Hernandez had his number retired amidst a sold-out audience craving the ceremonial bobble-head given away in its honor. The crowd was big, but not over-eager or clawing at the doors, and it was a reasonably laid-back Sunday afternoon with no particular expectations.

The stadium had not changed much since the visit earlier in the year, with the exception of the removal of the protective fence around the Seaver statue. There was a sizeable crowd in place, but nothing extraordinary, and the between-inning events were nearly the same.

At the Game with Oogie:

Scoring away

As I was one of the first in the park through the right field gate, my beeline to the Shake Shack resulted in me being served the first order of the day, which was wolfed down in a shaded table in center field. My regular process followed, with a trip to the team store and museum, and then more ramblings around the park. I was hungry at this game wedged between lunch and dinner and managed to eat some pizza and an order of rice balls before the affair was complete.

I was smartly seated in the shade of the bronze club level of whatever sponsor has the naming rights this year, just shy of third base, even though it has been nearly a decade since David Wright has departed. It was pretty packed in that day. There was a family to my left, some younger folks in front, and an older couple next to me. For all our close quarters, there wasn't much discussion until towards the end of the game where the father next to me and I were both bemoaning the sate of play and trying to identify what exactly was happening in the late innings.

The Game:

First pitch, Marlins vs. Metropolitans

The first-place Metropolitans were squaring off against the lowly Marlins this Sunday, but the Marlin's Cy-Young-Candidate ace was on the mound in the last game of a four-game set, facing off against Walker for the good guys, so it was going to be quite the pitcher's duel. There were high hopes, but no offense.

The Marlins managed just a one-out single in the first, erased on a double-play, while New York went in order. Miami then went in order in the second and third, while the Metropolitans went in order in the second and had their own one-out single erased on a double-play in the bottom of the third. Both pitchers had given up one hit and faced the minimum at this point.

Both teams saw some life in the fourth. The Marlins started the inning with a hit batsman and a single, but a double-play and groundout ended the threat. New York staggered two singles with nothing to show for it in their half of the inning. Miami went in order in the fifth, with the Metropolitans stranding a single. The Marlins again went in order in the sixth, but New York had a leadoff error and walk erased on a double play and a fly out to no avail.

Miami had a leadoff single and a walk in the seventh, but stranded them on three straight outs. The Metropolitans had two, two-out singles stranded in their own half. The Marlins went in order in the eighth, and New York stranded another lone single. We limped out of regular baseball with Miami going in order, and the Mets stranding a reached-on-error.

Extra baseball went quickly. The Marlin's ghost runner stole third and scored on a wild throw. Three more singles followed between outs to plate the first runs of the game at 2-0, Marlins. New York's offense continued to sputter. The ghost runner made it to third on a fly out, but died on the vine despite a walk getting the tying runner on base. The Marlins won, 2-0.

The Scorecard:

Miami Marlins vs. New York Metropolitans, 07/10/22. Marlins win, 2-0.

I used the scorecard in the Mets program. There were no changes from the one earlier this year, so no need to go into the details.

For most of the first nine innings, there was nothing of note, for the most part. Both pitchers were throwing a gem, and both had faced the minimum through three. In the top of the fourth, Lindor made a great diving stab that started a double-play that was worth a gem (!). In the bottom of the fourth, there was a collision between the Marlin's left fielder and shortstop that resulted in the shortstop being removed from the game the next inning.

Then we get to extras. The damnable "ghost runner" starts on second, so I used a dotted line to get them there with an "EI." The Marlins put in a pinch runner for their ghost runner, just to make it even more ridiculous (he stayed in an played left). He stole third, and the catcher threw it into left for an error to score the game's first run. The jiggering into the bottom of the tenth had a new pitcher coming in and batting for himself, though he never got up. Alonzo stopped being DH and played first in the tenth, while the previous first base slot became the pitcher. This apparently is becoming common now, and I just hate everything about it.

The Accommodations:
Home, sweet Jersey City

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

Stand-Alone Trip

Queens

On Yin and Yang

Not Shea Stadium, 2022

Saturday, April 16, 2022
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. New York Metropolitans
Not Shea Stadium
MLB National League
Queens, NY
7:10 PM 

Outside the Game:

I had a fitful sleep the night before, struggling mightily against my alarm that morning. I had my clothes all laid out for days--I was trying out the Jomboy Media Shea Station blitzball jersey for luck appraisal--but even with the prep work, I eventually left a lot later than I expected, taking a Lyft to get to the subway at around 9:30 AM. I hit a string of good luck, quickly getting a PATH train to 33rd Street, and an orange up to the 7, although I just missed an outbound 7 going to Queens. Even this early, several Mets fans were shifting around half-awake, awaiting the next train that pulled up in due time and had us heading Queensward in the Saturday morning.

I was dumped out about a half-hour before the gates were to open. I, of course, immediately went to the new Tom Seaver statue, dominating the plaza outside the home plate entrance. I'm not saying that the remarkable performance of the Metropolitan starting pitching so far this year is due to finally giving Seaver his due, but I am not saying it isn't. The statue is everything that it should be, and it is defines the stark contrast of having an owner who is a fan of the team and owners that were fans of a team that jilted the city a half-century ago.

The give-away was a replica of the aforementioned statue, so it was going to be a big crowd. Walking around to the various entrances, I found that the right-field entrance had a line of just a several dozen people, while also having the virtue of being close to Shake Shack. I parked up there with about twenty minutes to go and then amused myself on my phone until the gates opened up and I got my precious trinket.

The way out was more sedate, but I took another look at the statue before heading onto the trains back to Manhattan. A couple of quick transfers got me back to Hoboken, where it fell apart. Lyft had few drivers running, and not wanting to give those bastard Hoboken taxi drivers another penny of my money, I just decided to hoof it back to my apartment, calling my mother to pass the time. And thus a mostly disappointing day ended.

The Stadium & Fans:

Center to home, Not Shea Stadium

So, the obvious big change was the statue out in front, which we covered. I'll talk about some concession changes below, but there were other little cosmetic differences around the park. The M&Ms were removed (due to some expiring partnership, I imagine), a "Hit It Here" sign for the lottery appeared in right field, and a Home Run Apple home run counter (which did get to tick over during the game) showed up in left field. The home lineup at the top of the Jackie Robinson rotunda changed from replica baseball cards (which I really liked) to a digital display (which I guess was okay). A lot of smaller digital displays found there way around the park, and they were coordinated for things like home player introductions, or--in a much more Orwellian fashion--during advertisements. At one point, a DraftKings promo urged people on every screen in the park to place a bet during the game, which no doubt had Shoeless Joe Jackson spinning in his grave enough to potentially affect the rotation of the planet.

The crowd was big and boisterous, but it had little to cheer for until the late innings, when they got loud if out of boredom of something to do. Mr. and (regrettably) Mrs. Met were on hand for most of it, doing their pre-game shenanigans and then shooting t-shirts into the crowd and leading sing-alongs. Not a ton had changed there.

At the Game with Oogie:

Home Run Apple Ice Cream

With social distancing rules but a memory, the stadium was completely packed in this second home game of the year and the first weekend game after the unveiling of the Seaver statue, even though it was the day before Easter and deep in the heart of Passover. I gained entry early enough that crowds weren't too much of an issue. I immediately made my way back to Shake Shack, which had over the last year completely colonized the center-field concession spot it had shared until recently with Blue Smoke. I was able to walk right up to the counter and have my order nearly immediately, and claimed a small circular table to have my repast, while taking my new Seaver statue replica into my observation.

Thus filled, I made my way back to the front of the park to make my pilgrimage to the museum. It had a new exhibit on the 60th anniversary on the Metropolitans, and then I made the small lateral move to the store, which had been reorganized in the offseason. I made a bunch of ill-considered purchases, and then found that the line for the registers actually snaked back into the museum. Despite the length of the line, it moved swiftly and efficiently, and I was out into the rotunda in under five minutes.

I took a trip up to the club level. Signs for the long-forgotten "Ceasar's Club" were still in the stairwells, but it was now the True Premium Vodka Lounge, sponsored--for some incomprehensible reason--by Mike Piazza, complete with prominent Italian flag. Because when I think of vodka, I think of Italy. I continued my walk around the park, eventually seeing Mr. and Mrs. Met in the back of center field and then retreated back to the lounge an hour or so before the game. I purchased the new Home Run Apple ice cream and a souvenir soda and settled into my seat behind third base.

The area was packed. A young Asian couple was immediately to my left, where the woman was clearly the baseball fan and the boyfriend spent most of the game texting his friends and making car stereo purchases on his phone. A pair of Indian friends were to my right, making frequent long trips for beers while bravely leaving their Seaver statue replicas unguarded under their seats. Families were in front and behind me, a pair of fraternal twins scoring in front of me, and a young girl and her brother warred for most of the game behind me with no Metropolitans offense to distract them.

The Game:

First pitch, Diamondbacks vs. Metropolitans

The Metropolitans were looking good so far this year, but their losses had all contained around three things: poor defense, a pause in the offense, and the implosion of the at-best shaky bullpen. All three were on display today in this game against the Diamondbacks, a team with one player batting over .200 at the start of the game.

The game was lethargic for the first half. Arizona went in order in the first, and the Mets only managed a walk. The Diamondbacks stranded a single in the second, and so did New York. Arizona went in order in the third, while the Metropolitans stranded another single.

The middle innings didn't have much else happening, either. Carasco worked out of a top of the fourth with a single and double leaving second and third with no outs, intentionally walking the only decent Diamondback's hitter to load the bases for a player batting 0.000. New York went in order in the bottom of the frame. Arizona just had a walk and a stolen base to show for the fifth, while in the bottom half, the Mets erased another hit batsman with a double-play. The D-backs went in order in the sixth, while New York stranded a leadoff walk.

Things finally got moving in the last third of the game. The top of the seventh started with a leadoff single for Arizona, and then after a pitching change, the bullpen finally lived up to form and gave up a two-run homer to the lightest of hitting shortstops. A two-out walk was followed by a misplayed and lollygagged double that scored another run, leaving Arizona with a 3-0 lead. The Metropolitans limped through the bottom of the inning with a single to show for it. The Diamondbacks just had a single in the top of the eighth, and then it looked like New York finally remembered the team that they were for a second. A one-out single was followed by a no-doubter homer to left. Lindor walked the tying run to first, bringing Big Meat Pete to the plate, but his scorcher was right to the shortstop, leading to a double-play to end the inning--and rally--at 3-2 Diamondbacks. Arizona threatened again in the ninth, with back-to-back one-out singles. A two-out intentional walk loaded the bases before a strikeout ended the threat. The Mets, not rising to the moment, went weakly 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth, leaving the final tally 3-2 Arizona.

The Scorecard:

Diamondbacks vs. Metropolitans, 4/16/22. Diamondbacks won, 3-2

I used the $6 program scorecard again, which wasn't much changed from the previous year: cardstock paper in the centerfold with no ads. There were twelve player lines with room for substitutes (less an issue with universal DH [boo]) with AB, R, H, and RBI totals, and twelve inning lines with R/H splits. There were six pitching lines for each team, and totals for Double Plays, Doubles, Triples, Home Runs, Errors, and Left on Base.

A lot of things of note. Alonzo had a sterling play in the top of the third to save a single, looking like a water buffalo trying to dodge a bullet. The Mets lined back to the pitcher in the bottom of the fifth, who was able to double-up the runner at first and kill an incipient rally. Also worth noting is the misplay in the seventh that gave Arizona the insurance run they needed. Marte misplayed a double (by Marte--conspiracy?) and that got across what would be the deciding run of the game.

To really underline the ineffectiveness of the Mets' offense, no less than three Diamondbacks had golden sombreros this game, and they still won. Mets' starting pitching: 5 innings, 3 hits, no runs, 8 Ks. Mets' relievers: 4 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 8 Ks. Just kill me.

The Accommodations:
Back in my non-mandatory isolated apartment in Jersey City

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

Stand-Alone Trip, 2022

Queens

On Getting Back on the First Horse of the Apocalypse

Not Shea Stadium, 2021

Saturday, May 8, 2021
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. New York Metropolitans
Not Shea Stadium
MLB National League
Queens, NY
7:10 PM 

Outside the Game:

So here we are, able to go to a game again. The first thing I did when I was scheduled for my first vaccination was to figure out the date two weeks after my last shot, determine which team was going to be home that weekend, and then buying a ticket for said game. Even that did not go without incident, as three weeks before the game, I received a call from the Mets office saying that they expected to have full capacity by May and therefore oversold the game. For some reason, I was unable to convince them that they had, in fact, oversold the game. The official party line seemed to be that this was some horrendous injustice done to them that no one could have expected. I took my logical frustrations out as far as I was able, and then had to call back in a week later to actually re-buy a ticket in the new "pod seating" sections. There were limited single pods, and somehow I ended up paying another ten dollars, even though I was moving from the club level to a seat out in right field downstairs that they were charitably calling "lower infield."

But as soon as I actually had a ticket, I didn't particularly care. There was more follow-up forms that I had to fill out and whatnot, but all I was concentrating on was going to my first ballgame in almost exactly a year and a month, and my first game at home for over two years. The itch was real.

With the stadium only being at 10% capacity, I was less concerned than normal about getting in, but alternatively, I needed to get to the park as early as possible, because I finally could. I decided to drive out to Not Shea for the first time since the early 80s. Not on my own, of course, but hailing a Lyft out there, with a ride that was slightly shorter than the public transportation option. I was picked up by a rather no-nonsense gentleman who did not speak a word for the entire ride, which I appreciated immensely. Even though we hit some traffic at around 3:30 crossing Manhattan, I was struck by the fact he was the most technically competent driver with which I think I ever had the pleasure of traveling. He was always in complete control of the vehicle, at the proper distance, aggressive but not dangerous. It was quite a thing to behold. I told him as much when he dropped me off at Not Shea with a little less than an hour to kill before gates opened.

Walking around was surreal. Even for a regular May game, there would be a decent-sized crowd before gates opened, and now it was nothing more than a handful. I wandered around the abandoned landscape, taking in the large same-day testing centers that they had in place by the entrances and seeing all the familiar places before setting up, second in line by one of the gates at the rotunda. About fifteen minutes before gate opened, they let the lines into a socially distanced fence maze, and the hundred or so people in attendance at the time filtered through. At the first checkpoint, they confirmed your vaccination or test record (but not the form I had with me that the Website assured me would be required for entry), and then straight over to the metal detectors, and then ticket scan, and then receiving a Wonder Woman Mrs. Met Bobblehead. It took 600,000 deaths, but the Mets finally improved their gate process.

On the way out, I was taking my time. It was crowded, but not packed back-to-back on the way to the subway, even though they had inexplicably closed the main subway entrance, forcing everyone to go up the narrow side entrances. They re-arranged the tracks as well, but I found the super-express 7 train back to the city, sat in a half-empty car, and was whisked back to Manhatten. A surreal walk to the PATH entrance through an empty Saturday-night midtown put me on a train back to Hoboken, and then a quick and shorter Lyft home, to crash in bed as Sunday came into being.

The Stadium & Fans: 

Center to Home at Not Shea Stadium

Not Shea Stadium had changed quite a bit in the two years I had been away. And I'm not talking about the "Ford Garage" obstacle course in center field that replaced the dunk tank, or the Tom Seaver exhibit they added in the museum. The place had been made "Covid compliant," most noticeably by restricting all eating and drinking to the seating areas by removing every last outside table and chair. Every concession had social distancing lines in place, and every seat that was not designated for pod seating was zip-tied up to prevent it from being used. They also were strictly enforcing ticket areas, so you couldn't just wander around to any section of the park. They didn't even let you down for batting practice (though that was moot on this evening, as the tarp was out until just before gametime). Mr. and Mrs. Met were wearing face masks, which I both understood but didn't. All guests needed to have a real facemask and were only allowed to take them off when they were in their "pods."

The crowd looked like a late-season September match-up the week or two before fan appreciation day. It was patchy due to the distancing, but it was still incredibly satisfying to be in the a crowd watching a ball game again. The noise isn't what it was, but it was still identifiably watching a ballgame, and that was more than enough.

The Mets spent a good portion of the evening owning an awkward conflict from the previous game, where Jeff McNeil and Franciso Lindor engaged in an altercation in the dugout tunnel that had the whole team running in to see what was going on. It was given the awkward PR gloss of an argument over whether they had seen a rat or a raccoon running around. The Mets leaned into it hard, with a pre-game quiz contest over "Rat or Raccoon," and a McNeil homer had a raccoon superimposed over his face on the video board during his trot.

At the Game with Oogie:

First Shake Shack in two years

It was me and my mask at the stadium. Old habits die hard, and even though I was maybe in the first ten people in the stadium, I made a bee-line for Shake Shack and was perhaps their third customer that evening. Instead of sitting down and watching BP, I headed back to my seat in the pod to eat it up before heading back out. I went to the team store next to buy my normal crap before making a stop in the museum before wandering around on the lower promenade for a while.

I was half keeping my eye out for Jomboy Media's Jake Storiale, who was at the game that night as part of a promo campaign with the D-Backs. While we never ran into each other, I did work out that he was sitting just across from me in the right field seats, so I was able to grab a stalker picture.

I will say this: Pod seating is awesome. While only being able to eat in your seating is kind of a bummer, being able to sit and spread out comfortably is just great. You're close enough to other fans to be part of the cheering and get the atmosphere, but you're also not crammed up against some guy from Staten Island who is scarfing onion dogs all night and yelling on his cell phone to his distributor who is "just screwing him on this deal."

I brought some rice balls and a souvenir soda back to my seat for the game, since there were no concessions in the seats (although you could apparently pre-order with an app, but I never bothered to check). I left my soda cup in my seat on the way out, so that was a bit of a disappointment. But if I have the option of "unvaccinated" pods or wall-to-wall seating, I know which one I will choose going forward.

The Game: 

First pitch, D-Backs vs. Metropolitans

The (at the time) newly resurgent New York Metropolitans were facing the surging (at the time) Arizona Diamondbacks early in the second month of the season. Not quite a pitcher's duel and not quite a slug fest, the game ended with a Metropolitans win, so I can't be too critical.

There was a dearth of action early. With the exception of a catcher's interference, the D-Backs went in order in the first, while New York scratched out a single walk in their half. Arizona went in order in the second, while the Metropolitans managed just another walk. The Diamondbacks had a mini-two-out rally in the top of the third, getting a walk and another catcher's interference on base (more on that later), but a strikeout ended the threat. New York, however, got on the board in the bottom of the frame with a leadoff walk driven in by a two-run bomb to right by Jeff McNeil. A walk followed by Lindor, who stole second and scored when the catcher deposited the ball into the outfield, granting an early 2-0 lead, before three straight outs ended the threat.

Arizona went in order in the fourth, while the Metropolitans stranded a leadoff double that made it to third base on a fielder's choice. The D-Backs got a runner to second in the fifth after a one-out, hit-by-pitch got sacrificed over, but there he died on the vine. New York stranded their own runner in their half, with a one-out double making it to third on a ground-out, but no further. In the top of the sixth, Arizona got on the board with a leadoff single that made it to second on an errant pick-off throw, third on a single, and home on a ground-out to second, closing the deficit to 3-1, before a new pitcher and two strikeouts ended the chance. The Mets just had a walk to show for their half of the sixth. 

The Diamondbacks tried to extend their momentum in the seventh, and managed a two-out rally. Three singles loaded the bases, but a fortunate ground-out ended the threat with no runs across. New York tacked on a run in their half of the seventh. A leadoff walk was erased on a fielder's choice, but the trail runner stole second and got brought home on a timely single to right, extending the lead to 4-1. Arizona got one back in the top of the eighth with a single, walk, and two-out single to close New York's lead to 4-2. The Metropolitans went in order in the eighth, but the D-Backs only had a leadoff single to show for the ninth, and it went in the books as a 4-2 Mets win.

The Scorecard:

D-Backs vs. Metropolitans, 5/8/21. Metropolitans win, 4-2.

Just happy to be in the ballpark, I decided to forego my BBWA scorebook and use the program scorecard. And there was a lot to take in.

The Mets default scorecard has improved over the years. Now, it is on regular paper with a white background in the centerfold of the program, with good spacing for notes. The top has data lines for the opponent, their record, attendance, date, final score, and home record. There are twelve players lines with spaces for replacements, and each scoring square has a lightly printed diamond, with rows ending in At Bats, Runs, Hits, and RBI and columns ending in runs and hits for the twelve innings provided. Underneath are six pitching lines for each teams with standard stats, along with cumulative totals for double plays, doubles, triples, home runs, errors, and left on base for both teams.

First and foremost, there was not only my first catcher's interference play that I've seen in person, there was the second, with the same batter, in two subsequent plate appearances. That was definitely a case where I whipped around to the big scoreboard when the runner was going to first after clearly not being hit or having four balls. The first CI call was amazing, but the second one just left me incredulous.

The first catcher's interference led straight into the second noteworthy call of the night, where the Metropolitans promptly turned a 6-4-3 double play to erase the issue, but the play was overturned on review, leaving a 6-4 put out. We skip to the third, where Lindor's steal of home from first base was, in fact, his 100th stolen base--and what a steal it was.

In the bottom of the fourth, a play was made on a close play on a grounder back to the mound to catch the advancing runner on third. The runner was called safe, and it was upheld on review, leaving Arizona 1-2 on the day. Top sixth, a leadoff runner made it to second on a E3 on a 1-3 pickoff attempt. Last of note was a two out "hit" in the top of the seventh that was clearly some home-cooking on an E6.

Arizona second baseman Escobar got a golden sombrero and a lovely little hat drawing. 

The Accommodations:

I was returning to my same, old apartment, but it was after an evening out, which was a first after over a year.

So there's that.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2021 Stand-Alone Trip

Queens

On Miracles

Not Shea Stadium, 2014

Saturday, April 5, 2014

New York Metropolitans vs. Cincinnati Reds
Not Shea Stadium
Major League Baseball, National League
Queens, NY
1:10 PM


Outside the Game:
Work, stress, etc. Lather, rinse, repeat. We've all heard it.

It was a 1:10 PM first pitch, so I had to just set my alarm for my regular weekday time to get there for gates. I was a little reluctant to get out of bed, but I eventually got dressed and out the door.

And I got to the PATH station just as a 33rd train was preparing to leave. And I got to the subway just as an orange was ready to leave. And then I got on a 7 that was about to leave. This was an unprecedented run of luck, and confirms that my best time from home to Not Shea, on non-express trains, is one hour and five minutes under the best conditions. I had worked that out in theory during my many trips out that way, but it is good to have observational data to confirm it.

I had dressed to what I thought was excess that morning. The weather report was mildly optimistic about temperatures in the 50s, with sun but "some" wind. I was in two pairs of socks, four t-shirts, Spring jacket, earmuffs, baseball cap, "texting" gloves (an unfortunate, but useful, give away in years past), with a Mets wool hat in reserve (ditto). This clothing choice was borne out when I got off the subway. The wind was absolutely whipping out at Willet's Point' knocking over signs, barricades, small children, and unsecured concrete. It wasn't cold out, per se, but that wind was not helping the situation. Everyone waiting on line to get in at the stadium were arrayed like a herd of water buffalo, backs to the wind in a vague semi-circle, hunched together for heat. As per normal, they only let non-season-ticket holders in two hours before the game. Thankfully, I was there early enough to be right at the front of a line, so I was one of the first ten non-special people to get in the door.

Getting home was getting there in reverse. I was right onto a 7 express back to the city, and then an orange to the PATH train back to Hoboken, which I barreled on to as the doors were closing. On the 7, I believe I was sitting next to a woman recording a Spanish 101 audio tape during a phone conversation. God as my witness, she was asking what time to meet someone at the library.

I have used up all my good luck. I fear for my life.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Not Shea Stadium

Not Shea is still Not Shea, with a circus now seemingly a permanent fixture in the parking lot. There wasn't a whole lot new at the park this year. They had put in two more walkway plaques to commemorate the All-Star Game last year and David Wright's All-Star homer in 2006. Mike "Jackass Roid Freak" Piazza was added to the Mets Hall of Fame. In more useful tributes, Ralph Kiner had a "Kiner's Korner" exhibit added to the Mets Museum, a grass-paint tribute behind home plate, and a circle added to the retired numbers, which are now behind the Party City seats in left. There was also a bunch of Kiner merchandise in the stores. Miss you, Ralph.

Ralph in our hearts; Casey with us always

The only other new addition was the remnants of All-Star game crammed into the Bullpen entrance. The two All-Star apples were perched up in front of the bullpens, and the giant All-Star sign that was on the scoreboard was placed at the end of an alley. Once again, I really have to wonder who the heck is in charge of these things over there.

Just some guy

No doubt thanks to the weather, the crowd started out sparse, at least in the seats. It would not surprise me if a good portion of them were seeking shelter at the enclosed parts of the park. There were also an unreasonable amount of Reds fans in attendance. I have to imagine it was just the start of the season buzz that shook all the displaced Cincinnatians to the park. By the end of the game, the crowd was of more respectable, and it got loud in the ninth.


At the Game with Oogie:

Scoring possibilities

I was in the Caesar's Club Bronze seats along the first-base line for this game. I normally do the third-base side, and I think I will again, but it was a good change of pace, and it worked at karmically. Also, the prices for tickets were sliced in half this year. My seat only cost $39 bucks. I again was the first person served at Shake Shack, as I went straight back as soon as the gates opened at the Jackie Robinson Rotunda.

Perhaps because of the weather, people were sparse in our section at the start of the game. There was a guy who looked a lot like Buddy Holly sitting two or three rows ahead of us who earned the ire of those in the section by getting up every half inning in the middle of plays to head out to do Buddy Holly things. Go take a plane ride, guy.

First shack of the year

There was eventually a group of teenage boys sitting to my right (including one of those oddly numerous Reds fans), and a young Hispanic family to my right. The family had an adorable daughter, or what I expect was a daughter, as only her eyes poked out of a big pink swaddle of clothes against the wind. They didn't show up until right before the Mets took the lead for the first time, so I shall treat them as lucky.


The Game:

First pitch, Reds vs. Metropolitans

Where to even begin.

The Metropolitans came crashing out of the gate and were 1-3 going into the first weekend of the season. Dylan Gee, going for the Mets this game, was a hard-luck loser on Opening Day and facing a 1-3 Reds team that weren't nearly as bad as their record indicated, if last year was any benchmark.

I believe I have already mentioned the cold and wind issue. It was going to have an impact somehow, either on the pitchers, or the batters, or the fielders. What it would be was to be seen by all of us freezing our patooties off in the seats at Not Shea.

He's so dreamy.

And the answer seemed to be the batters. The Reds went in order in the first, and the Mets only managed a two-out walk that went nowhere. The Reds went down in order again in the second, but the Mets worked something of a rally. A one-out walk made it to second on a ground-out to the pitcher. The number eight man drew an intentional walk, to make it first and second with two outs, and then the Reds' pitcher balked them both into scoring position. But with pitcher Gee at the plate, he meekly struck out to end the inning.

A one-out single in the top of the third ended the no-no, but a couple more ground outs ended the threat. The Mets only managed a runner on an E4 in the bottom of the inning, and the Reds and Mets both went in order in the fourth. Perhaps having finally gotten acclimatized to the weather, the Reds started the fifth off with a line-drive homer to right, then scaterring a couple of two-out hits before ending their half. The Mets could only manage a one-out double to end the Reds' no-hit bid in their half of the fifth.

The Reds went in order in the sixth, but the Mets started it off with a single in the bottom of the inning. A fielder's choice swapped runners on first, and then new acquisition Curtis Granderson crushed a homer to right. A two-out single was all they had for the rest of the inning, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead at the end of six. The Reds had some baserunners thanks to a walk and a fielder's choice in the seventh, and the Mets only managed a two-out single.

The Reds had some life left, however. They started the eighth with a double to right, and promptly bunted him over to third. That was for naught, as the next batter lined another homer to left, pulling the Reds into a 3-2 lead. With the lead lost, the Mets felt safe to go to the pen, and two quick outs followed. The Mets responded in the bottom of the eighth by going down in order in the heart of the lineup. The top of the ninth featured a new Mets' reliever and a one-out single, but nothing else.

And then the bottom of the ninth. The bottom of the order was up for the Mets; the closer was in for the Reds. It did not look good. A leadoff walk gave some hope. An attempt to bunt the runner to second apparently ended in a 1-6 putout, but Terry Collins popped out of the dugout and issued a challenge on the play. And we're off to the races. The process, which we were assured would be under a minute, took at least three, but it ended with the call being overturned, and the runner ruled safe at second. The next batter walked to load up the bases with no outs. The pitcher spot was up.

Our hero

And out walks Ike Davis, newly demoted from the starting first base job and relegated to the bench. Not a man with anything to prove at all, I'm sure. He crushed a pitch to right for a walk-off, pinch-hit, grand slam. The crowd goes wild. Put it in the books.


The Scorecard:

Reds vs. Metropolitans, 04/05/14. Metropolitans win, 6-3, on a pinch-hit, walk-off, grand slam.

As crazy a game as it was, it even hit on my scoring checklist of getting a review play while I was scoring.

I was using the BWAA Official Scorebook again, although I bought the program anyway for the Ralph Kiner tribute. Early on during the hitting freeze, there wasn't a lot interesting going on except for the balk in the second. All the runs came from dingers, which was an odd bit of information, as was the only three put-outs the Mets made in the field at first base.

The scoring story of the game was the challenge, however. Actually, there were almost two, as the Reds manager came out for a chat on the 5-4 putout in the top of the seventh inning. The best guess was he was asking if it was reviewable, but the umpires apparently judged it a neighborhood play at second which could not be reviewed.

The main event was in the bottom of the ninth. The sacrifice bunt back to the pitcher and over to the shortstop at second was ruled on the field to be a 1-6 putout. Collins used his appeal, and people went off and reviewed the play, and the runner was eventually judged safe at second, something everyone in the stands already knew, because the TV screens showed us a clear replay nearly immediately.

I gave the play an asterisk and noted the original call and the over-turn, and then scored the play as finalized in the scorecard proper. And a check mark for Saturday.


The Accommodations:
Hoboken, Sweet, Hoboken

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2014 Stand-Alone Trip

All-Star Queens

On a Game with All the Stars

The All-Star Game at Not Shea Stadium, 2013

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

American League All-Stars vs. National League All-Stars
Not Shea Stadium
Major League Baseball
Queens, NY
8:10 PM


Outside the Game:
This likely being the last time that the All Star Game would be in Queens in my lifetime, I decided to take the plunge and get a ticket. The cheapest way to do so was to get one off of Stub Hub, as the alternatives meant getting a season ticket plan that guaranteed a seat, and then being forced into buying an "All-Star Package" that included tickets to Fan Fest and the Home Run Derby, and everything else. I had little interest in all the other fluff, and the upper-deck ticket I snagged from StubHub before leaving for Taiwan was pretty expensive, but it was much less so than every other option, by far.

To recoup this investment, I took a half-day off work that Tuesday to ensure that I'd be there when the gates opened and get my best cost-per-hour at the park. With careful avoidance, I was able to leave for work on time, although there were several scares right before I had to leave. I went home and changed my clothes and headed back out with my game bag for the PATH and subways. It being mid-afternoon, the trains weren't crowded, and there weren't even that many people going to the game on the subways yet. All the doors were going to open at 4:30, and it looked like I'd be getting there at about 4.

The parking lots had just opened, and even still, it was about a quarter filled by the time I arrived. I did a bunch of walking around and taking pictures of the festivities before going in, and the gates did promptly open at 4:30.

The mad dash out

The way home wasn't as bad as I had feared. It was about the same as any early-season game with a big crowd. The express 7 trains were packed to the gills, but it wasn't unbearable. By the time I got to the PATH trains, it was well past midnight, so there was only one train running from 33rd. It wasn't even that crowded, though. By the time I got home, I dumped all my stuff on the kitchen table, went to the bathroom to wash the grime off of an evening spent waiting in the heat, and then trudged off to bed to get not enough sleep for the next day's work.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, 2013 All-Star Game

Not Shea Stadium was still Not Shea Stadium, but they dressed it up quite a lot, and there were more people than usual. In the apple plaza, there were a bunch of contest and merchandise stands set up. Along the third base side of the parking lot, a giant Modell's tent was selling stuff for people who couldn't wait to get inside. Vendors selling programs were lined up at the exit to the subway, in addition to being scattered throughout the outside of the park. Out where the Cirque du Solei usually was located was the "All Star Pre-Party," that you had to have special tickets to get in. From what I could tell, there was a concert stage, and a bunch of activities, including a zip line. I could not have been any less interested. Around the back of the park was closed off with media and VIP tents and all sort of extra things for people better than myself.

All-Star Casey

Once inside, everything was more expensive, there were All-Star signs everywhere, and there were more vendors stuffed into every available space on the promenade. Oh, and there were tons more roving vendors and people in the place, but that was mostly it. The home run apple got an All-Star makeover as well. The Accela Restaurant got turned into extra press space for the game, and there were two extra seating areas wedged into the area behind home plate, protected behind large Plexiglas walls so the inhabitants wouldn't be murdered by foul balls.

In case you were wondering

The networks had at least three basecamps. There was a broadcast booth set up right by Shea Bridge, there was one near the Pepsi Porch, and there was one for the MLB Network on the field down the right field line that stayed constructed until the very last minutes before the game. (It was then re-assembled rather quickly for the post-game as well.)

The crowd turned out to be the largest in Not Shea history, which I suppose makes sense. It at least gave the random guy in the Brewers jersey who you see at every game a reason to be wearing a Brewer's jersey at Not Shea.

But everything about the park seemed the same, to be honest. Just more people.


At the Game with Oogie:

Of course I scored it. From a distance, however.

I was a big old sucker as far as merchandise went. I bought the All-Star game home-run apple, and a T-shirt, and a Matt Harvey All-Star fake-LEGO minifig, and the commemorative smooshed pennies. They saw me coming, let me tell you. The give-away at the door was a crappy "cause wristband," but a Walgreens stand on the promenade gave you free bags to hold your stuff and a pedometer, for some reason. The one thing I didn't buy was the fake-LEGO baseball field sets they were selling for something like $75. A LEGO ballpark was a project I was thinking about for the off season, and this would have been perfect except for two things: 1) the baseplate was just a crappy printed-on field instead of something more substantial, and 2) they didn't have a Mets set for sale at the Mets' stadium. I mean, really.

Sucker twice-removed

But my first stop was the Shake Shack in back, because I knew what level of epicness those lines would get to later. I got my single shack and fries at the jacked-up All-Star prices they justified by throwing in a pair of cheap sunglasses with the meal.

The seat I had bought at StubHub was in the upper deck between third base and left field. It turned out to be in the next-to-last row in the stadium, but to be honest, the view wasn't that bad. Only the furthest corner of left field was obscured from view, so it wasn't awful. The view to the field was fine, and everything didn't seem very far away. I was jammed between some Yankee fans on my left and some Cardinal fans on my right, and Mets fans in front and behind. It was weird seeing Not Shea this filled, and I will say that a big crowd actually adds something important to the park that is not there when it is only half filled.

My night ended with a personal touch. Bud Everything-That-Is-Wrong-With-The-World Selig was in attendance, and after the game, he presented the MVP award to Mariano Rivera and his family. By this time, I was able to get downstairs to watch the presentation. As he was walking off the field, I yelled, "You suck Selig!" as loudly as I could. It was at a quiet moment, and he turned his head a little when I yelled it, so I like to think he heard me.

A legend, and some guy in an ill-fitting suit

And if you are reading this, Bud: You do suck. Stop killing baseball, you useless piece of excrement.


The Game:

First pitch, 2013 All-Star Game

In theory, a tightly fought, low-scoring game is the sort of thing I live for, but with the constant replacements and the lack of overall flow, the game just sort felt kind of dislocated. Also, the fact that the teams were both using the DH in a National League park smacked of Selig's dire intervention and the slippery slope to the abolishment of the last vestige of real baseball we have left in this league that is rapidly become more plastic than it was in the 70s.

Tom Terrific

The pre-game was all very dignified, with Red Sox, Phillies, and Braves players getting booed within an inch of their lives. There seemed to be some confusion on the American League line-up and everyone was shifted down way more than they should have been. There was a tribute to veterans that some sort of voting was done about before the game. They came out after the players were announced, and each one of them received a flag flown at the stadium of their favorite team by the All-Star player from that team, which was nice.

For a game being hosted in NY, this All-Star game had the smallest roster of NY players in decades: two a piece for the Mets and Yankees, and only three of those were starters for their respective teams. (The entire Yankees first-string team being on the Disabled List for most of the season likely had something big to do with it. The only two Mets that deserved to be there were there.)

But one of those Mets was the starting pitcher and sophomore phenom, Matt Harvey. This would mark the first time I would see him pitch in person, and given the negative juju that often brings to Mets' pitchers, I was a tiny bit worried about it.

When Harvey's first pitch in the top of the first was doubled to the gap, I wasn't that worried. Trout was clearly sitting dead red and got his shot in. Bravo, and let's move on. His second pitch decked one of the only other New Yorker's in the game, Robinson Cano. He took his base to make it first and second with no outs, but he was quickly pulled from the game for a pinch-runner. This wasn't going to be a fiasco. Everything was going to be all right. Krusty will come... Krusty will come...

Harvey then got Cabrera, Davis, and Bautista in order, striking two of them out, and then I knew it would be okay. The National League went in order in their half, and let's get used to that sentence for the rest of the night. Harvey neatly took care of the AL in the second, striking out one, and making a perfect All-Star game debut, if you ignore those pesky two first batters.

It was then that the cavalcade of every-inning pitching switches came into play. The Mets' David Wright led off the bottom of the second and ironically grounded out to third. The NL went in order after him. The AL did as well in the third, and the NL went in order again in their half.

The AL got something going in the fourth. Another leadoff double moved over on the following short single. A sacrifice fly got the run in before lumbering David Ortiz hit into a double play to end the half with the AL up, 1-0. Perhaps not up to tying the game, the NL at least broke up the no-hitter with a one-out single by Carlos Beltran, who was replaced by the Pirate's McCutchen at first. The pinch runner promptly stole second, moved to third on a ground out, and then got stranded there.

The AL went back to it in the fifth with another lead-off double followed by a single. Play was then interrupted during the next at-bat by a Yankee fan in a Cano jersey running out onto the field. He was all smiles when he reached second base and playfully raised up his hands as security approached. He stopped smiling as he got leveled by a security guard and roughed up before taken off the field where he was cuffed and charged by the waiting police. The batter grounded to second after the delay, but he got the run in from third before a double-play ended the inning 2-0, American League. The NL went in order, as did the AL in the top of the sixth, and the player replacements started to come fast and furious. The NL mixed it up with a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth before going in order, and the AL did the same in the top of the seventh.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, David Wright got his last at-bat and gave the home crowd what they wanted, with a clean single. This led to a change of pitchers for the AL, a strikeout, and then another pitching change and another strikeout to strand Wright at first. Wright was swapped out after the inning, and my interest in the game waned considerably.

Neil Diamond came out between innings and sang "Sweet Caroline," the Red Sox's standard, for about a half hour. There were verses I never even imagined in that song. The AL seemed energized, as they got back-to-back singles in the top of the eighth before a double-play erased two of the runners. Kipnis then got a double to bring in an insurance run. He then made it to third on a wild pitch before getting stranded there by a strikeout to end the half. Given the offensive production to this point, the AL had an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

The greatest

And then Mo. AL manager Leiland brought Rivera in for the eighth because if the NL inexplicably came back to get the lead in the bottom of the eighth, Leiland would likely reneg on his promise to use Rivera in the game, as the NL might not give them the opportunity to have another pitcher. I found out later than Rivera and the catcher came out alone to warm up, but at the time, I didn't even notice they were alone. They started to play "Enter Sandman," and I was torn between being really annoyed they would play that in our park and being appreciative that the tribute to Rivera was happening. He stood out on the mound acknowledging the crowd for about five minutes before warming up. He eventually got the NL in order.

The most unlikely of events happened in the top of the ninth, as Prince Fielder hit a line drive to right that got past the diving right fielder and let the sweating, huffing, bulky Fielder drag himself around the bases for a triple. Of all the things I saw this evening, that was the statistically least likely, unless he decided to try and steal home. The AL went in order after that, giving him time to catch his breath. The NL started the bottom of the ninth with two strikeouts, but a two-out double by Goldschmidt gave the NL a tiny ray of hope, before Pedro Alvarez snuffed it out by grounding weakly out to second. The AL won, 3-0. And I'm not sure anyone cares.


The Scorecard:

American League vs. National League, 07/16/13. American League wins, 4-0.

In a day full of rip-offs, the scorecard was particularly galling. The "Special Stadium Edition" of program (as opposed to the "Special Collectors Edition," also on sale) was a whopping $15. Granted the program was a bit more beefy than normal, it in no way justified the jacked-up price that much.

It does mark the first time that I even underestimated a scorecard. Usually, I assume that the card is crammed in and will not going to provide enough space for everything, so I immediately start by conserving as much space as possible by trying to get two people on the same line or saving up space for the pitchers in a long game. For once, the All-Star game scorecard actually provided more room than I actually needed, with a plethora of space for position players and fielders. And it was on nice, heavy-weight cardboard.

Thus ends the nice things I'll say about it. They chose to make the background color dark and solid, so it was impossible to write legible notes anywhere in the margin. Also, they printed the scorecard on two sides, so you had to keep going back and forth, but they didn't even print it on two sides so that you could keep the book in one position and just flip the one page. You had to flip over the entire book every half inning, and it made it incredibly hard to quickly check something on the other team's side.

All of that said, there wasn't much really odd scoring-wise that happened in the game outside of all the replacements. I did get to make a note on a fan running out on the field, which I never got to do before. (But it had to be crammed into a blank line above the umpires listing because of the solid background.)


The Accommodations:
I was back at my apartment in Hoboken, early enough to still be exhausted, and late enough to know that I was going to continue to be so the next day.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2013 Stand-Alone Event