Tuesday, July 24, 2007

BALBOA VS. THE EARTH-SLAYER. [7-24-07]

August, 2008: Hello, Bruce Springsteen fans. Sorry you ended up here while looking for your mp3 of a not-very-good song. You might like to read some of my Springsteen writing at jukeboxgraduate.com, however.

What I thought was going to be the best part of the game tonight happened during the 4th inning, just before John Maine came to the plate. The Pirates’ catcher runs out to the mound, followed by someone from the dugout.
“Noooooooo!” my father yelled. “Keep him in! We like him!”
“It’s the *pitcher*,” I added, enjoying a joint heckle with my dad, for the first time in my life. (It was a very satisfying feeling. I definitely get most of my sarcasm from him.)

Of course, a few moments later, this would become my absolute favorite moment in the game:

[More, after the jump.]

Followed closely by this moment:

Tonight my father came to Shea Stadium for the first time in about 20 years. And tonight Johnny Maine hit what will likely in all probability be his only home run, ever.

Luckily, my father was not with me when I got on the 7 train at Times Square and met these fine folks:

TBF was charged to try to talk to my father about baseball as much as possible. Not that I couldn’t do it, it’s just that my father thinks of TBF as The Baseball Guy. (Although I would learn that he thought more of my pre-Mets baseball knowledge than I ever did, and my dad is not a guy you can bs.) TBF was up to the task, as much as was possible. Dad is not exactly a man of many words, however, and he did not anticipate how incredibly uncomfortable the seats were going to be. Luckily the season ticket holders we do not like who sit in front of us were not there, and Dad moved down a row. Comfortable for him, but not easily conducive for conversation.

Dad was very interested in John Maine and David Wright; also enjoyed watching Jose Reyes round the bases. He was not particularly thrilled with Mr. Maine in the early part of the game, and kept asking me for the pitch count.

In case anyone cares, Dad is not down with the whole idea of CitiField being an homage to Ebbets Field: “The Dodgers left,” was his point.

He was interested in stats, in who was who, who was doing well, who was doing badly. Apparently, my dad likes listening to Mike & the Mad Dog and would get irked last year when they would give Willie a hard time.

This is about all I can report to you on that front. But, Dad is not a chatterbox; this is not news to me. I guess I hoped we could coax some more memories out of him by actually taking him to the ballpark; I talked to him about the exhibit at MCNY, which he had heard about and seemed interested in - and maybe we can get him to go to it with us before the year is over; maybe that is my key to getting some real memories out of him.

Aside from Dad, the usual suspects were there tonight as well, all introduced to my father and all on their best behavior. By the end of the game, we were sitting back talking about trade prospects, which degenerated into an animated discussion between TBF and the Redheads Behind Us about A-rod coming to the Mets. This is all my fault, because I said all I wanted was a goddamn second baseman.
“David Wright said that if A-rod came to the Mets, he would play second base,” William said.
“Sometimes David Wright should shut his mouth,” I said.
“Who else can afford him?” offered another Redhead.
Much debate about teams, which returns to the Mets.
“But he said that he could play second base, and A-rod could play third base,” Andrew said.
“That’s nice,” I said, trying to end the convesation.
“And if A-rod came to the Mets--” TBF started.
“And if the Easter Bunny came to dinner at our house, he’d have to sit on the couch in order to accommodate his big, fuzzy tail. We might as well continue this discussion, because it’s actually more probable than A-ROD COMING TO PLAY FOR THE METS,” I said, bringing this discussion topic to a close.

Quick notes:

Does Paul Lo Duca really need to play “Smoke On The Water” as his one of his new at-bat songs in order to remind us that he’s one of the old white guys on the team? On a similar note, why did they play Kanye West for Milledge’s home run, but not John Maine’s? I mean, can I be a tiny bit offended by that? I think “Touch The Sky” is a GREAT song to play after ANYONE gets a home run, not just the young African-American guy.

Or maybe I’m reading too much into it.

PERSONAL TO KEITH HERNANDEZ: *everyone* in the goddamn Mets does a victory dance on the top step of the dugout from time to time. If you’re gonna check someone, check Jose Reyes first, and then get to Milledge last on your list. Mr. Cranky, are we out of Tootsie Pops?

Express 7 train home: Oh, my word. The difference was night and day. 6 minutes my rear end. Literally we were in the car going home about 15 minutes after getting on the 7 train.

Flickr set for the game is here. Do not miss the Reyes-Milledge dugout dancing (hear that, Keith?)