Queens

On Resuming

Not Shea Stadium, 2025

Friday, May 10, 2025
Chicago Cubs vs. New York Metropolitans
Not Shea Stadium
National League
Queens, NY
7:15 PM

Outside the Game:
After a season's absence trying to organize my life situation to an acceptable degree, I decided to take the plunge and head back to the ballpark from my new, old place.

I dallied with the thought of driving to Queens for about two seconds, and then considered taking in the train, which would be too time inflexible coming home, or would involve me driving and parking in Hoboken (again raising the specter of driving), and then conceded to the inevitable and decided to try and take the bus right by my house to the stadium. This would end up right at Port Authority, where it would be a quick 7 ride to the park, and really, how bad could even the bus be on an early Saturday afternoon?

The answer is what made me largely abandon the bus as a means to commute. Firstly, on the weekend, NJ Transit combines two bus lines into one, nearly doubling the commute time, but that was factored into their scheduled timing. But even with that, the bus ended up arriving over twenty minutes late for no appreciable reason other than incompetence. No traffic, or accidents, or construction would justify it.

At any rate, the good news is that I was eventually and tardily dumped into Port Authority, where there is a direct connection to the 7 trains, which still managed to transport me to the park a half hour before gates opened. I took a quick walk around to see the receding of the chop shops to progress and the pre-game "Street Party" going on before attaching myself onto one of the longer-than-expected lines by the right field gate. I soon discovered this to be because of a bobble-head giveaway that evening. But at least I was in the shade while I waited.

Heading home was similarly disappointing, and not just because of the game result. After boarding a 7 train that the passengers were assured was an express, we soon found it to be a local, elongating the commute. Back at Port Authority, it took a couple of tries and nearly being locked in a gate--which was opened to enter but not to exit--to find the correct berth for the bus home, as well as a bonus miserable 20 minute wait in the muggy heat, thirsty and sweaty. But board the bus we did eventually, and it had the two-route path home as well, but I eventually was dropped off a block from my house, where I quickly grabbed a drink and a much-needed shower before bed.

The Stadium & Fans:

Center to home, Not Shea Stadium

In my involuntary one-year sabbatical, there were a lot of little changes to the Not Shea. The museum, for some reason, was ousted from its home to make more space for the already sprawling team store, with the Hall of Fame plaques relegated to pillars at the top of the main escalator, by the lineup board. The Shake Shack finally ousted Blue Smoke to take over the entirety of that center-field pavilion for itself. I'm not sure if it lessened the lines at all.

The restaurant on the club level was no longer reservation-only and was open to the masses, and to be honest, I can't remember which member of the cola wars owned the current Coca-Cola Porch the last time I was there. Mr. Met & his wife were taking photos as soon as gates opened now, and the aforementioned "street party" special event was a DJ, some food stalls (one run by Mookie Wilson's family), and merch. So, you know, whatever.

It was a good Friday crowd that kept faith until the end, but they went home without anything to cheer about.

At the Game with Oogie:

The first Shack in a while

I went straight in the right field gate to Shake Shack and landed my first Shack of the year, then did my normal bumming around and photography before shouldering my way into the team store and trying to track down what happened to the museum. I had a supplementary pizza & pretzel before the game started in the luxury level. I honestly can't be bothered to learn the new names anymore. Caesars? Smirnoff? Whatever. I had pizza.

My seat was on the third base side at the top of the bronze level. There was a lovely old couple sitting next to me, and a gaggle of Japanese fans in the row in front of me, clearly here to watch the Cub's Suzuki.

The Game:

First pitch, Cubs vs. Metropolitans

The Metropolitans, flying high for most of the year, of course started their first rough patch as soon as I show up for a game, contesting a match with the playing-over-their-heads Cubs. But you can blame anybody except Baty, who went 2-4 with five RBIs in an attempt to single-handedly win the game despite the ambivalence of the rest of the team.

The Cubs struck first and early. A leadoff single, an error on a stolen base attempt, a walk, a single, a walk, and another single brought home two runs, giving the North-siders an early 2-0 lead. New York went uninspiringly in order, as did Chicago and the Metropolitans in the second. The Cubs opened the third with a double and a single to extend their lead to 3-0. New York got an odd hit-by-pitch followed by a catcher's interference that went nowhere in their half of the frame.

Chicago lead off the fourth with a home run to pad the lead to 4-0, but the Metropolitans finally got something going with two singles and Baty home run to center to close the deficit to 4-3. The Cubbies only had a stranded single to show for the fifth, as did New York. Chicago finally went in order again in the sixth, while the Mets stranded a leadoff single that stole their way into scoring position.

The Cubs went in order again in the seventh, while New York left a single and walk on the basepaths. The eighth heated up again as Chicago strung a series of walks and singles into two more runs to open up their lead to 6-3. In the bottom of the inning, the Metropolitans got a man on base for Baty to hit another one out, closing the lead again to one run at 6-5. The Cubs went meekly in order in the ninth, as the Mets erased a leadoff walk with a double play and couldn't get the batting order around to Baty again, ending the game at a 6-5 loss.

The Scorecard:

Cubs vs. Metropolitans, 5/10/25. Cubs win, 6-5

I was trying out the new Frixion erasable pens for the first time at a park, so I went to use the regular program scorecard for the first time in a long time.

Using the new heat-erasable ink actually went a lot better than I expected, and scoring the game involved a lot less paraphernalia, so this may be something I move to going forward, even if the cost of pens over pencils is appreciably higher.

The game itself had few things of note. An infield single in the top of the first was nearly a great 5-3 putout and was noted as such, and in the bottom of the third, an F-6 putout was erased on a catcher's interference, awarding the batter a base.

And that was pretty much it.

The Accommodations:
Clifton of my heart

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

Stand-Alone Trip

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 Beginnings, Big Brother, and Baffling Baseball

Not Shea Stadium, 2019

Sunday, April 7, 2019
Washington Nationals vs. New York Metropolitans
Not Shea Stadium
Major League Baseball
Queens, NY
1:10 PM

Outside the Game:
So this whole endeavor started with a calendar mistake. Way back when I was buying these tickets in January, I purchased my first regular-game ticket at the same time as I bought my Spring Training tickets. I'm not entirely sure how I did it, but I managed to buy a ticket for a Sunday game instead of a Saturday game. As they were both afternoon games, and not the dreaded Sunday evening game, it was a bit of a wash, but it didn't really bode well for my planning capabilities, especially as I also managed to buy it as an eTicket and not a Will Call. I was firmly convinced I had tickets for the Saturday game until the end of the week, and only when I was showing someone at work on Friday my eTicket did I realize that I actually had a Sunday ticket.

And so on Sunday I arose extra early, got my breakfast in along with a soak in the tub, and headed off to the game at around 9 AM. I was able to get a Lyft quickly to deposit me to the PATH station, and again I arrived just as a 33rd train was leaving the station. This repeated for the orange line, and the 7, and I made it to the park in an unprecedented hour and a few minutes. I thought at the time that I had blown all my luck for the day, and I was mostly right.

There was a big crowd waiting to get in already with over two hours before gametime. They were giving away a Jason deGrom Cy Young bobblehead, and that brings out big crowds. I took my pictures and was sorting out where to enter when I saw some friendly blue tents advertising faster entry to the park, and so my interest was piqued. This turned out to be a bad idea.

Big Brother loves you.

The tents were from "clear," and they were advertising special express lines into the stadium if you signed up for something at a kiosk for free. Okay, sure. So I walked up to a kiosk, and it asked me to put two fingers on the screen. I asked an overly friendly attendant why it wanted me to do that.

"So it can scan your fingerprints," she cheerfully replied.

I replied with something rhyming, "Duck off."

She then went into a spiel telling me how safe it was, and I asked her who got the data. She said her company, MLB, and the Department of Homeland Security. I told her to do something with waterfowl harder. I then went around to the other people signing up to ask if they realized they were giving their fingerprints to the cops, and a couple of people started to walk away. A less friendly attendant came up and told me I was causing a disturbance and they would call the police if I didn't leave. Truly amazing.

So I went to the right field entrance and joined a short line and waited for the gates to open. I made some conversation with a family in front of me who apparently were from the area and coming back for the first time in a while. My only issues were with the eTicket MLB Ballpark app, which kept crashing. But I managed to get my ticket stable enough to be read. The time passed quickly on the temperate morning, and the gates opened at 11:10 AM, and I entered, and received a bobblehead without giving my unchangeable biometric information to the government.

My precious

On the way out, I dallied a bit to finish my scorecard, and then immediately boarded a "super express" 7 back to the city, and hit all my connections immediately again, so at least that was still working. I unpacked everything and settled in for an evening of Sunday TV watching.


The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, Not Shea Stadium

Beside the fascist data collection outside, Not Shea Stadium hadn't changed all too much in the passing year.

There were a couple of new team store locations, a switch up on some concessions (including the welcome addition of a rice balls kiosk, but the removal of Raos), and a little more of the Iron Triangle slowly gone in redevelopment. There was no sweeping changes, and that's not really a bad thing. Although they absolutely need to do something about the center field plaza. They've squeezed in more and more concessions across from Shake Shack and Blue Smoke, and getting around just before gametime is an absolute scrum, and someone is going to get hurt if they don't do something.

Love ya, Casey

There was a huge crowd for Opening Weekend, plus the bobblehead giveaway, so the crowd was very involved during the ensuing fiasco. Mr. Met and his misbegotten wife were in attendance, as always. The minor cut-down to commercial time in the name of pace of play were in effect for the first time, and although they were minor, they were, in fact, noticeable--at least to me. But then again, this game dragged on to four hours anyway. Who knows how long it would have gone in the bad old days?


At the Game with Oogie: 

First Shack of the Year

After entering through the Right Field gate, I went straight to Shake Shack for my first Single Shack and Fries of the year. There was already a small line, but I got up to the front after a short wait and almost immediately got my food, eaten with gusto on the center field patio prior to my walk around the park. Upon getting to the club level (and again struggling with my eTicket [never again]), I was disappointed to find that the Raos concession had closed down and been replaced with some or other new generic concession. I only ended up getting a hot dog and souvenir soda on the special level.

Scoring row

I took a trip through the museum, but the Team Store downstairs was far too crowded, so I went to a new satellite store on the field level to do my shopping. After walking around and taking my pictures, I ended up Ass in Seat at about 45 minutes before the start of the game. To my right was a group of Asian friends who bailed relatively early when things started looking grim. There was a family in the row in front of me with a young baby in Mets gear who didn't know he was in for a lifetime of pain and disappointment. To my left we two old Jewish season-ticket holders. They were also scorekeepers, so we got to talking during the game and the building insanity towards the end. We had a good time of it trying to figure out some of the more intense absurdities of it all. It would have been a worse game to sit through without them there, so there's something to be said for community, I suppose.


The Game:

First pitch, Nationals vs. Metropolitans

You can't win a game when you walk twelve batters. You can make it close, but you just can't win it. And that pretty much is the story of this Opening Week matchup between the Nats and the Metropolitans.

The game was led off with a walk, presaging the rest of the game. It was erased on a double-play and led to an unconventional 1-2-3 top of the first. Not to be outdone, the Metropolitans started off their game with a hit batsman erased on a double-play, and a 1-2-3 bottom of the frame. Things went off the rails quickly in the Nats' top of the second. Another leadoff walk was followed by a one-out single, another walk to load the bases, and then a short single to start the scoring. Another single brought in another run, while a double plated two more runs and left it second and third with one out. A sacrifice fly to center brought in another run, before a grounder to short mercifully ended the inning at 5-0 in favor of the Nationals. New York retaliated with a leadoff double that got to third on a throwing error on the play. He was brought in on a following single. Another single followed, and then two strikeouts followed. The second strikeout was a lack of awareness that led to a double-play, and the dropped third strike led to the runner trying to go to first, but he was not allowed to do so by the rules, and the runner formerly on first was caught off the base in an inning-ending double play, leaving the score 5-1. Both sides went mercifully in order in the third, and we headed off to the fourth.

Surprisingly, both sides went in order in the fourth, but not so the fifth, for the Nationals at least. Five walks and a wild pitch led to two runs coming in to extend their lead to 7-1. New York went in order in their half. Washington kept scoring in the sixth, where four more walks and a single tacked on two more runs, leaving it 9-1 for the visitors. The Metropolitans stranded a one-out double and another hit batsman in the basement of the sixth.

The scoring was not over, as the Nationals turned a hit batsman of their own and a single into a setup for a three-run blast to left, extending their lead to a powerful 12-1. New York was not done, though. Scoring erupted in the bottom of the seventh, and two singles, a double, another single, and a three-run homer of their own closed the lead in half to 12-6. Washington only had a leadoff single erased on another double-play to show for the eighth. The Metropolitans stranded a hit batsman and a walk, even with two wild pitches to help them along the basepaths. These missed scoring opportunities would prove costly. The Nats were struck out in order in the top of the ninth, and New York made their last bid for parity. Another hit batsman lead off the inning and then a walk set the stage for another three-run bomb, this time to right, closing the gap to just three runs after being down by 11 runs just a few innings ago. But three straight outs followed to kill the impossible rally, and the Nationals went away with a 12-9 win, but not without using their closer for the save. A moral victory of sorts, one supposes.


The Scorecard: 

Nationals vs. Metropolitans, 04/07/19. Nationals win, 12-9.

Given the surprising improvement in the Metropolitans scorecard in the last few years, I again delved into the $6 official program scorecard. It is in the centerfold on heavy paper, now thankfully on a white background that makes it easy to make marginal notations. There is also no printing behind the scorecard squares, so readability is improved. Each scoring square has a dimly printed diamond that does not impede scoring at all. There is some oddness with the summaries at the top. You get the regular opponents, attendance, date, and final score, but the odd additions are the win-loss records for each team.

There are twelve players lines with spaces for replacements, which should be sufficient for most games, although this one gave it a workout. There is no formal place for player numbers, but spaces on each line for position and inning entered. At the end of each line are summary stats for the familiar at bats, runs, hits and RBIs, and each column ends in the expected runs and hits. Six lines of pitching lines are at the bottom of each side, with team totals to the right for double plays, doubles, triples, home runs, errors, and left on base. There is no advertisements taking up real estate, so it is comfortably spacious to work with, even with complicated games such as this.

So much weirdness, though the play in the bottom of the second takes the cake, and required an explanatory note on the card. With runners on first and second and no outs, there was a strikeout with a dropped third strike. The batter took off for first, but the problem is that with two men on base and no out, the batter is not entitled to become a runner in that scenario. The runners on the bases took off as well, with the runner on second making it to third. The runner on first broke for second, but was left between first and second, and he was tagged out after the catcher threw to second, for a rather unconventional K-2-6 double-play. Only the Metropolitans.

There was an unstoppable flow of walks from the Metropolitan pitching, which was the story of the game. You just can't win a game when you walk 12 batters, including walking in two runs. Because of all the double-switches, I was compelled to use three placeholder letters on the scorecard for the home team, and one for the visitors. Even with that, I had to double-up on player lines three times due to pinch hitters and pitchers. Two Metropolitans players got the unadorned golden sombrero for three strikeouts.

All in all, it was a bizarre game.


The Accommodations: 
Home, sweet, Jersey City

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2019 Stand-Alone Trip

Queens

On a Fine Start to the Season

Not Shea Stadium, 2018

Saturday, March 31, 2018
St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Metropolitans
Not Shea Stadium
MLB, National League
Queens, NY
1:05 PM


Outside the Game:

The object of much desire

I thought I was starting the day under a bad sign. Thanks to some problems with the company’s site, I was late getting my Lyft to the PATH to go to the game. I felt a little slow the whole drive there, and sure enough, as soon as I got down the stairs, I had just missed the subway to 33rd Street.

And then they announced the delays on the PATH service, no doubt a hold-over from earlier in the week when a rail broke on the line, which made every commute to and from work a nightmare for most of the week. I was prepared to have quite a nice sulk when another 33rd Street train showed up out of nowhere and quickly sent me in the right direction. I got off, just in time to catch an orange train going north, and just again in time to grab the 7 heading east. I began to question if my initial assessment about my luck was not quite correct for today.

Along the way, the 7 train picked up a half-dozen young men who were blitzed off their asses. Thankfully, they were just loud and obnoxious drunk on Saturday morning, and not angry and dangerous drunk on Saturday morning. At every stop, one of them saw fit to hang out of the train doors and scream "All aboard!" before the doors closed.

There was an older Hispanic couple on the train, and in trying to stay out of the drunks’ way, we were huddled together in one corner of the car by the doors. I found out that it was "Build-a-Bear Workshop" free Mets teddy bear giveaway, and that the wife was particularly interested in getting her bear. We both took pictures of the stadium at the approach, and once the doors opened, it was every man for himself to get to the entrance.

There was a huge crowd already lined up for the game over two hours before the start of the game. I had yet to pick up my tickets, so I cut through the crowd to get to the ticket kiosk. I was confronted with a bank of broken or out of service machines, when I found one that was working and was quickly able to get my ticket.

As I was walking to the back of the stadium to see if the lines were shorter at those entrances, I walked right by a new entrance with no line that was opening up just as the gates were opening, and I was one of maybe the first hundred people in the stadium, inside and with my bear before people who had been waiting for over an hour even moved. Luck was definitely at least flirting with me at this point.

The way out was uneventful as well. Large crowds swarmed to the 7 trains, and it was wall-to-wall people on the extra express until the first couple of stations started to bleed passengers from the train. I went straight from the PATH to my car, as I had to go to my parents’ house to prepare the eggs for Easter the next day.

(And on my way home from that, I was trailed by a cop who decided to pull me over right as I was pulling into my garage to point out that I had managed to drive from my parents' house back to Hoboken without my lights on. Seeing my Metropolitan gear, he jokingly let me off with a warning because I was a fan.)


The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, Not Shea Stadium

 Not Shea Stadium hadn't changed much since last season. The big updates were the addition of a NY lottery "Hit It Here" sign in right-center, the addition of a Citi Community Home Run apple in center field, and the fact that Mr. Met came out way earlier than last year. (He used to come out maybe a half hour or so before game time, and he was out and taking pictures at least an hour before, if not longer.) Also, the digital scoreboard in left field that showed the Manager Challenges next to the out-of-town scoreboard was altered to show the Challenges and the number of mound visits that each team had for the game, as part of the new "pace of play" rules for 2018.

Mr. Met

Opening Weekend always draws a big crowd, and especially with the Build-a-Bear giveaway, there was a thronging crowd on hand to see Jason deGrom pitch in only the second game of the season. It was your standard NY crowd. In between the selfies, there was a lot of cheering for what was happening on the field.


At the Game with Oogie: 

First Shack of the Year

There were more pre-teen girls at the game for the teddy bear giveaway than I think I have ever seen at a professional baseball game.

I went and did my run to Shake Shack for the first Shack of the year, and then did my tour of the museum and team store. While I was in line at the store, I ran into the Hispanic couple from the train who were looking for magnets that I had just found. The wife had gotten her teddy bear, so all was fine in the world. In doing my second walk-around, I was surprised to find Mr. Met out so early doing pictures, and then I went up to my seats in the Foxwoods deck, grabbing a Rao's meatball sub in the club area before doing more wandering around.

Second lunch

I settled into my seat on the third-base side of the club level about a half-hour before game time. There was a guy and his girlfriend to my left. He didn't show up in person until the second inning because he was waiting in concession lines, and she was fashionably dressed in cut-up jeans that left her freezing through the entire game. There was a large group of friends to my right who popped in and out throughout the game between beer and concession runs.

The boyfriend to my left was scoring the game, as well as a guy in the row in front of us. It was quite the number of scorers for this day and age. We talked a little about things, and I helped him fill in his card for the plays he missed while getting his date a hot dog at the start of the game.


The Game: 

First pitch, Cardinals vs. Metropolitans

 The Metropolitans were hosting the always-feisty St. Louis Cardinals in, thanks to the odd new scheduling debuting in 2018, the second game of the season this cold Saturday.

The Cardinals were certainly cold, as Jason deGrom set them down in order in the first. New York jumped out to an early lead with a leadoff double, a walk, a fielder's choice that eliminated the lead runner, and another double that brought in two runs, raising a 2-0 lead before going in order the rest of the inning. St. Louis only managed a single in the top of the second, while the bottom of the Metropolitans order only got a walk in the bottom of the inning. The Cards went in order again in the third, and New York repeated the feat.

St. Louis finally got something going in the top of the fourth with a leadoff walk, sacrifice bunt, and back-to-back, two-out singles to bring in a run, to cut the lead to 2-1. New York answered back immediately with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the fourth before only scrounging a single for the rest of the inning, but increasing the lead to 3-1. The Cardinals went in order again in the fifth, while the Metropolitans got a one-out home run to left to get a 4-1 advantage. The Cards got a leadoff single to second on an error in the sixth, but then struck out in order to strand the runner, and New York managed to squander back-to-back leadoff singles in their half.

The Cardinals wasted back-to-back leadoff singles of their own in the top of the seventh, while the Mets turned a leadoff single, walk, ground out, and sacrifice fly into another run, for a 5-1 lead. St. Louis cracked a one-out homer to center in the top of the eighth, while New York converted two singles and a double into another insurance run to make their lead 6-2. The defeated Red Birds only got a walk in the top of the ninth, and the Queens faithful went home happy with a 6-2 win to extend the undefeated streak to two games.


The Scorecard:

Cardinals vs. Metropolitans, 03/31/18. Metropolitans win, 6-2.

Out of perhaps morbid curiosity, I decided to back and try the Metropolitans’ official scorecard, part of the now $6 program. For those poor fools of you who have read all my previous ramblings about the official card (I know you're out there), you'll recall that the Wilpons have done no right in the last decade or so with the scorecard, except for keeping it the full size of a two-page spread and not putting advertisements on it. It has been a wasteland of smudging background colors on the card area itself, erasable lines, and wasting most of the spread with dark background colors around all the borders, making them unable to be written upon.

So imagine my surprise when I was confronted with the clean, new, scorekeeping-friendly scorecard the Metropolitans had. The background was nearly all pristine white and the print quality was decent enough that it didn't erase away. It was intelligently laid out, had minimal use of color, and plenty of space for scoring. It was almost as though they had designed a scorecard to be actually used for scoring.

That said, there were very few interesting plays to score this game. There was a 5U in the bottom of the first on a ground-out to third with men on first and second, a 4Ut in the bottom of the second on a two-out grounder with a man on first, and an overshift ground-out in the bottom of the third (4o-3). The bottom of the sixth had the weirdest play of the game, a CS 8-5 when a runner tried to go first to third on a single, and there was an infield fly rule in the bottom of the eighth (F-6 IF).

The only now-play scoring of note was thanks to the pitcher batting in the 8 hole, I had to do a lettered skip-down to accommodate everyone in the eighth position as the game went on.


The Accommodations: 
Jersey City, sweet Jersey City

Click here to see all the pictures from this trip.

 2018 Stand-Alone