7/9/08 Shea Stadium.

Today was the third time this season I accompanied somebody to their first Major League game. Today, my 12-year-old sister, Amanda was the rookie and it was my duty to show her Shea Stadium. We come from a family of New York Mets fans with the exception of my Uncle who I went to Yankee Stadium with on my last visit so, it was right to bring her to Shea and nowhere else.

We took the 4:29 P.M. train out of Linden and arrived at Shea Stadium a little over an hour later. We were already late for BP and I didn't even bother to look at the field from the Subway stairs so, we both proceeded towards the front entrance of Gate E. The usher checked my bag and once our tickets were scanned, we raced up to section 31 in the Loge. Someone's first look at a Major League field is always important but when you see a tarp over the field without a single rain drop falling from the sky, their first look is basically ruined. It was about 83 degrees outside with 76% humidity so we decided to head up to the Upper Deck where the wind was and cool off until the game started. The tarp came off the field around 6:05 P.M. and by 7:10 P.M. when the first pitch was thrown, the crowd still wasn't what a summer crowd should look like. The first two side by side pictures are at 6:05 P.M. and the other two were taken at 7:10 P.M. It wasn't until the 4th inning where some action actually happened. The first four innings took just over an hour to get through having only three hits between both teams. It started drizzling for about five minutes in the 4th until Ramon Castro belted a three-run shot to put the Mets on top. In the fifth inning, the rain started to pick up and eventually led to a 42 minute delay. Once Carlos Beltran caught the last out of the 5th inning, everyone in the Upper Deck rushed down to the concourse of Shea. I said it was crowded at the last rain delay but this was INSANE. The Giants came back onto the field at 9:17 P.M. and within five minutes, Alex Hinshaw was warmed up and ready for the bottom of the 5th.

We moved from the Upper Deck down to the Mezzanine under the awning just incase the rain had come back. Jose Reyes walked to lead the inning off and advanced all the way to third before Beltran flied out to the shortstop to end the inning. We decided after the 6th inning that we'd leave, considering it was already 9:45 P.M. and this game wasn't going to be complete until 11:30 P.M. or later. Castro was the last out we saw of the night before we headed back towards the LIRR. The train didn't come until 10:13 P.M. and the ride to Penn Station felt like the longest train ride ever. Once we got into Penn, we ran to Track 4 which was already in the process of boarding, and just made the train. I got home around 11:30 P.M., turned on SportCenter, and enjoyed watching the highlights of the Mets holding onto the lead and winning their fifth straight game. Still 1.5 games behind the Phillies and out of first but, it's definitely better than where they were two weeks ago.

Since this upcoming week is All-Star Week, I will not be attending any games at Shea because of the Mets' road-trip to Cincinnati. When they come back to play at home, the Phillies will be in town and there is a 95% chance I will be at the opener of that series on Tuesday, July 22, 2008. There is a slight chance that I will be attending the Oakland Athletics vs. New York Yankees series on July 18 - July 20, but if I'm feeling antsy enough, I'll be there.