Opening Day at Shea

Game 7: Phillies 5, Mets 11
5-2 for the season

I wish I were eloquent enough to describe the feeling of walking out the ramp to the seats and seeing the ballfield in front of my for the first time each year. Truthfully, I get a rush every time I go to a game and walk out into the stands-- going from the dark of the concession area to the brilliant light of the field, from the clamor of thousands of fans to the expanse of space ahead-- it's exhilarating every time, but never more so than the first time I do it each year.

We were sitting in the nosebleeds, an area that reeks of true (and sometimes insane) fandom. As much as sitting field level gives an awesome perspective of the players up close, I love sitting upstairs. Those of us up there are not rich, can't routinely buy better seats, but care just about being in the ballpark. The only drawback of our seats is that they were shaded throughout the game, but we were prepared; my layers did me well, and I never shivered.





Opening day was welcome indeed.

it being Opening Day, there was some pomp and circumstance to witness; this is how the field looked right before they announced the starting players.

during the break in the 6th inning, Mr. Met and some teenagers come out to launch t-shirts into the crowd. it's not like there's anything phallic about white stuff launching out of a dark tube. not like that at all.

This dude had Mr. Met glued to his cap.

BJC and I were cold, but having a great time. It's so nice to get to be friends with your friends loved ones. It's a good thing that BJC and I are baseball fans, because of course we'd have nothing at all to talk about if we didn't have that in common.

What is there to say about the game? The Mets clearly understood early on that they were going to have trouble with the Phil's starting pitching, so they tried but mostly waited until they had a crack at the bullpen, at which point they put the game away with a 6-run 8th inning. There's nothing like being a fan in the stadium to witness your team slaughter their opponents, particularly on opening day. My dad pointed out on the opening night of the season (when the Mets played in St. Louis), the best part is that by the 4th inning, you stop thinking about it being the first game of the year and just settle in to watching baseball again. I didn't feel the same way about the April 1 game that he did, but I definitely felt it at Shea yesterday-- after all the extra pomp and circumstance surrounding it being Opening Day, by the 4th inning, it was just great to be watching a ballgame.