6/24/08 Shea Stadium

The day started off the same as any other day going to Shea. But, today I brought my girlfriend, PJ along who has always been "interested" in baseball but never really got into it as much to go to a game up until this year. This was her third game of this season and if you watched the game yourself, or just happened to catch the highlights on SportsCenter, you already know what happened.

We crossed the LIRR bridge to find that the gates were locked(?!) I've never seen this before and it was a bit strange to me so we decided to snap a picture and follow the 20 or so other fans going down a side bridge before crossing the street and heading through the gets of Shea.

I had a pair of un-used tickets from the June 14th game against the Texas Rangers that I was planning to exchange at the Advance Ticket Window. The two games I had chosen were both sold out in sections I requested so I settled for the July 9, 2008 game vs. San Francisco Giants. It wasnt a "bad" choice but I wish I could've gotten something sooner so I wouldn't have to order tickets off of StubHub! until later this month.

Once approaching Gate C , we waited there for a good 25 minutes and then raced to Section 33 for BP. If you know me, you know I am NOT a baseball collector but, I had promised PJ the next baseball I get at a game is hers. I only got one baseball in my entire life at a game and that happened on May 9, 2008. (Full Story) I came close on September 27, 1997 which happened to be my first New York Mets game but my Dad decided to jump in front of my glove and spill all of the tasty treats we had causing me to miss the ball. I wasn't even trying to get a baseball. I just got lucky that it was in my section and headed for my exact seat. Before this year, reading Zack Hample: The Baseball Collectors' blog, I never really got into collecting major league used baseballs, although, it does buy the time at batting practice.

About 15 minutes into the Mets' BP practice, a left-handed batter launched a shot deep to Section 33. I was standing in an aisle with the Section 31 tunnel behind me and had more than enough space around me to move anywhere I wanted. The only competition surrounding me for the first 25 minutes was one kid (17) with a glove, that didn't know how to open his mouth and ask for a ball. He judged the deep fly ball wrong and didn't even flinch to get it. I quickly ran over a section to my right and this was the beautiful prize waiting for me: I walked over to show PJ and told her that this baseball couldn't be hers and I felt so bad for doing so but I didn't even have a clue that teams had these yet. After I did that, I knew I HAD to get another baseball today for her. If I didn't, I would've really felt like a **** but, ten minutes before the Mets wrapped up their BP practice, I spotted Guy Conti in the bullpen with a baseball in his hand. The entire practice he had a baseball in his hand but didn't respond to anyone. I figured I'd give it a shot and when I said, "Hey Guy! how about that ball, PLEASE?!" He looked up at me, looked down at the baseball, and tossed it up just barely reaching my glove. I noticed it was an "almost new" Commemorative Shea Stadium baseball so I marched over to where PJ was sitting, and I placed the baseball in her hand to watch her face light up with joy(?) It was good I got that baseball because I would've been in a heap of trouble if I hadn't.

I was told by an Ichiro Suzki fan that yesterday he hit two BP blasts in this section so I stayed for Seattle's BP session. After waiting 20 minutes, watching only one baseball land five sections away, taking a picture with FanPhoto, and watching the section grow larger with fans, we decided to sit down for a bit and chill until the game started.

Soon after, at 7:10 PM when the first pitch was thrown, the Upper Deck was PACKED as the New York Mets went up against the last place team in the MLB, Seattle Mariners. The first inning was smooth and then the Mariners broke out and stomped the Mets out the rest of the night. Besides the Carlos Beltran/Jerry Manuel/Brian Runge incident, there wasn't any louder cheers the entire night. This game had absolutely NO action whatsoever and it wasn't what any Mets fan would want to see. After the last out in the 6th inning, PJ and I decided to call it a night and beat the fans to the LIRR and get an early start home. When we arrived at the tracks, the crowd wasn't as small as we hoped. We got on the LIRR and an hour and a half later we arrived back home. The day was complete and yet another Mets loss was chalked up on the board.

Final score: Mariners - 10, Mets - 0

The next game I plan on attending is July 9, 2008 because of the Subway Series weekend and the couple of long road series' they have coming up. If another game is added to my schedule beforehand, you know you'll read a blog about it.