Good afternoon sports fans! We know this is the moment you've all been waiting for...it's time to discuss Opening Day (please begin playing the theme from Star Wars...please refrain from posting what you think are the lyrics to this song. Thanks Mr. Europe Fan). We shall get right down to it.
Lisa attended Mets Opening Day on Monday, April 13th. Her account is as follows:
"The season was finally here. I was more than excited to attend the first "real" game at Citi Field. I say "real" because I think it was extremely unfair that they made such a big stink about the exhibition games with Boston. It stole the thunder from the many Opening Day ticketholders that had paid an obscene amount of money to be there. But enough about that. I went to the game with my friend, Laurie aka: the Piazza lover and her son, Ethan. Alan, who appears to be our #1 fan on the blog, and his two sons joined us.
My excitement came to a stop when I was told by Laurie that I would have to transport the three boys ages ranging from 5-8 in my Corrolla because Alan was meeting us there. Any single person with no kids would side with me. The trip to Citi Field was anything but quiet. Laurie came up with a great idea and decided to bribe the kids with money if they were all quiet. It worked with two out of three. I won't mention the name of the guilty party.
Our traveling circus pulled into the parking lot. I had mixed feelings as I gave the lady $18 for parking. The stadium stood tall and stunning but I would need it to prove itself to me before I was in awe like I had been with Shea. Kinda like when you get new boyfriend. We set up our tailgate equipment and began to cook. Some hot dogs, chicken, and steak compliments of Laurie. I sat down and immediately popped open an alcoholic beverage to ease the pain of the car ride. Alan finally arrived and the whole gang was here. Now Alan can deal with those wonderful kids. It was getting closer to game time and I saw a huge line forming, so we packed up shop and headed for the stadium.
I am not going to describe too much of the stadium or show pictures for I must travel there with my awesome sidekick, Serena in August. And we will blog together about Citi Field.
We walked through the masses of people to get to our seats. I really could not even walk around because it was swamped. We sat in field box, which was very nice and the new green seats have lots of room. I still had this strange feeling that I was at an away game. The men and women who fight for our country came onto the field and unfolded a beautiful, giant flag for the opening ceremony as the cast of a Broadway play that I cannot remember sang the National Anthem. It was quite a sight to see. Game time was near and I could see Laurie's face glowing. I knew what was coming. The first pitch and there they were: Mets legends Tom Seaver and...Mike Piazza to start where they ended at the last game at Shea. Luckily I came prepared and shoved ear plugs in my ears as Laurie shrieked with love for her man.
We had Pelfrey backing us up tonight. He was up against an unknown pitcher who came from the Mexican League. Most fans thought, easy win. NEVER think that because the Mets will prove you wrong! Most would have been excited to see the first home run at the new stadium, but not when it came from the away team. Before I knew it, the Mets were losing 4-1. Our pitcher was clearly off and decided to collapse on the mound as well. Unfortunately, he was okay. I guess I should've been happy. I was experiencing a lot of firsts at Citi Field. At this point, since the game loo
ked like it was going to be a flop, I decided to waste my energy on someone it needed to be wasted on. MR. MET!!! Where is he?? I have not seen his grand baseball head at all. Could the rumors be true? Did Mr. Met retire? Panic took over my body. It was already the 4th and he was missing. Sure enough, as I sat there, Alan yelled, "Look! Mr. Met!" I thought for sure that he was being sarcastic, but no. There he was coming down the steps. I jumped up with glee! My hot chocolate spilled upon me and I ran down the aisle fighting the first degree burns. The Pepsi Party Patrol stopped me and said I had to wait. But after he was done wishing a fan a happy birthday, she allowed me to take a picture. I took my picture with the MVP of the Mets and walked back to my seat with a smile from ear to ear. The score was now 5-2.
Mr. David Wright, who I can only assume was jealous of my affection towards Mr. Met, decided to catch my attention and hit a 3 run homer to tie the game. The crowd was in an uproar. I screamed like Laurie, the Piazza lover. The moment was here. The famous apple popped up. It was bitter sweet for the apple was not the same and it came out a hole in center field. It made me sad. I had mixed emotions like many other things I had seen at this new home for my team.
Sadly, I knew the game was over for us when Feliciano got called on a balk, making the score 6-5. Laurie, Ethan, and I shortly left. Alan stayed with his boys to watch the letdown. The one feeling that felt slightly familiar that Shea gave me was that uneasy, annoyed feeling of doing the walk of shame back to the car because the Mets had let us down once again. Citi Field is absolutely beautiful, but it will take some time to get used to and from what it seems, take even more time for the memories to start forming. All I have to say is thank god for Mr. Met. "
Because Serena is cheap, she experienced the very first opening day ever at the new Yankees Stadium from her snazzy cubicle at work in a very stealthy, James Bond-like manner v
ia ESPN.com's Gamecast. Now that she's just admitted this on the internet, her office will probably block the site in order to prevent this from ever happening again. Her account is as follows:
"Prior to the game, I had high hopes for the Yankees. They had just completed a series at Tropicana Field with two solid victories over the Rays. Now we can just forget about that disaster of a game on Monday when Nick Swisher actually had to make an app
earance in relief. CC Sabathia pitched a decent game, allowing only 1 run in 5 3/4 innings. Jorge Posada kindly tied the game in the 5th with a solo home run. It was at this time that I emailed Sean the following statement: "I am so jealous of Matthew right now. He's enjoying a really good game in really good seats."
Perhaps I should've kept my big fat mouth shut because the rest of the game breaks down like this: Edwar Ramirez enters the game in relief at the end of the 5th and faces two batters. He does absolutely nothing to help CC's cause. Granted, Tony Graffanino reaches first on Ransom's throwing error, but Trevor Crowe reaches base on a legitimate infield single to 2nd. This prompts me to wonder what happened to Edwar's Malcom X-style glasses? Why wasn't he wearing them anymore? Were these glasses to Edwar what long hair meant to Samson? Put the glasses back on, man! Haven't you seen Major League 2? Charlie Sheen returns to wearing his glasses at the end of the movie and then strikes that jerk Parkman out. Phil Coke relieves Ramirez and gets Grady Sizemore to fly out to left field, ending the inning without further trouble (thank goodness).
Bring on the 7th inning. All hell officially breaks loose. Jose Veras relieves Coke and with no outs, Mark DeRosa and Victor Martinez score on a Jhonny Peralta double. I must focus on breathing. 3-1 is not an impossible deficit and Veras just needs to shut the offensive game down right here in order to keep the score close. Once a level of calmness is achieved, I wonder why someone would spell Johnny as Jhonny? Is that really necessary? Me thinks not.
After Jhonny B. Goode's double, Joe calls upon the bullpen yet again. Damaso Marte takes over for Veras, who gives up a single to Kelly Shoppach, which scores Peralta and loads the bases. Wee! The f-bomb now falls repeatedly from my mouth (under my breath, of course, so as not to disturb her co-workers). It's difficult to concentrate on editing an article when the Yankees are playing like implants. Marte hits Shin-Soo Choo (WHAT?) with a pitch to load the bases and then walks Crowe, bringing in another run, making the score 5-1, and really pissing me off (as if I wasn't pissed prior to that walk). I leave my desk and head for the bathroom because I cannot take it anymore.
I return from the bathroom only to discover that the 7th inning is still being played and
it is now 10-1 thanks to a grand slam by Sizemore and a solo home run by Martinez (who I could've sworn had just been up to bat not that long ago). Marte gets Peralta to fly out to left field and the nightmare known as the top of the 7th is mercilessly over. I email Sean to let him know that the Yankees are *insert desired expletitives here* and that I am glad I didn't waste my money on tickets to this stupid game.
Cliff Lee is relieved by Rafael Perez and the Yankees manage to scratch across 1 measly run at the bottom of the 7th to make the score 10-2. Why do they bother teasing us?
The newbie, David Robertson enters the game for the Yankees in the 8th and actually manages to retire the side. You read that correctly. Not one single Indian made it on base. Someone alert the media. The Yankees offense does nothing but pick their noses during the bottom of the 8th. The top of the 9th comes and goes in a somewhat uneventful manner. By uneventful, I mean that the Indians may have left men on base, but no one scored. In the bottom of the 9th, the Yankees stage a mock rally, and then end the game on a double play. Good job, guys."
Now that the venting is complete, it's time that we throw a shout out to Caryn, who posted a comment on last week's post. Caryn has an intelligent and well-written site following the boys in Flushing. For anyone that's interested, her site "Metsgrrl" can be found under our section called, "Extra Bases." Caryn made an excellent point regarding our profile picture, but we're sorry to inform her that the picture stays. Perhaps one day on one of our many journeys, we will take another picture that the both of us equally enjoy. Since most of our photos involve us looking sweaty, grungy, and/or sporting baseball attire, this photo may not be taken anytime soon. But we promise to try. Caryn was also nice enough to link our site to hers.
On to our poll! It appears that we have a disappointing tie, which has never happened to us before. People seem to either think that the Yankees should invest in a mascot because they've wasted money on Johnny Damon (spelled J-O-H-N-N-Y) and others seem to think that a mascot would be against Pinstripe tradition. *Sigh* We just want a mascot to stalk. Is that so much to ask? Think of how many suicides Mr. or Mrs. Yankees (mitt) may prevent simply by bringing joy to the masses during a loss. We can always dream a little dream, can't we?
Random baseball notes: Barry Zito gave up 6 runs in 5 innings last night. The Dodgers won 7-2. We could've sworn he spent the entire spring training working to become a better pitcher. What happened with that, Barry? Too busy doing the downward dog? The Marlins swept the Braves yesterday, making them 8-1. They're probably in first place. Figures.
Last but not least...the Traveling Baseball Babes will take on the new Yankees Stadium on Monday night...and finally, hopefully, be reunited with Brad Ziegler from the Athletics. "Reunited and it feels so good."
We leave you for the weekend with these poetic lines written and performed by Daniel Powter: "You had a bad day. The camera don't lie. You're coming back down and you really don't mind. You had a bad day..." Okay, the Mets and Yankees may not have minded but their fans did. Giant pansies (as stated by the Limur King in Madagascar).
