Opening Day

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I had a 15-year streak that ran from 1978 through 1992.

I had tickets for 1993 but was horribly sick, so I didn't go, and haven't done Opening Day since. Wow, if I had stuck with the tradition this would be number 29 for me.

Boy do I feel old.

[soupcan]

How about that Carter game - Freakin' cold right?

[Elster88]

List out your top ten Opening Days attended.

[soupcan]

Sandgnat wrote: Flying up from Savannah. Upper deck 4th row behind home plate. 850 miles can't stop the opening day tradition.

Hey I just got this - Savannah Sandgnats.

Know Doug Vroman?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Cold.

[Elster88]

Vroman who went to Staples?

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

="soupcan"]How about that Carter game - Freakin' cold right?

It was unbelievably cold. I remember when it went into extra innings, I thought that the next morning they'd find 50,000 dead bodies in Shea Stadium, and nobody would know what happened.

That was my best Opening Day, and really, one of only two that really stand out. (The other being Seaver's return in 1983.)

I do remember seeing Jerry Koosman was the starter in 1978 as the Mets debuted their new uniform shirts. And I remember the flag-raising and the ring ceremony in 1987. I don't think I could do a top ten, though.

[soupcan]

Yeah. Vroman from Staples.

My son attended a little hitting workshop he ran this past fall . NIce kid.

I guess his dad was a big deal in the Westport LL.

Do you know him?

[soupcan]

I can't do a top 10 either but Seaver's return is on it if I could.

Glavine getting clobbered for 900 runs in his debut would not be.

[Guest KC]

Seaver's return and the Carter homer top my list. Me and my friend sat in
the last row of the upper decks for the Carter game so we got the wind blowing
in from behind too through the screening - bone freezin' cold.

I think Pres Bush l threw out the first pitch.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

You're right, but it was Vice President Bush. He was wearing a blue Mets jacket.

[soupcan]

That's where I was sitting too - upper deck third base side.

[Elster88]

soupcan wrote: Yeah. Vroman from Staples. My son attended a little hitting workshop he ran this past fall . NIce kid. I guess his dad was a big deal in the Westport LL. Do you know him?

I know of him from Staples football and baseball. Don't know him personally. Good athlete.

[Lundy]

I'll be there. Gonna do some work first and take the LIRR out of Penn Station to Shea.

[Gwreck]

soupcan wrote: Pre-paid parking comes with certain season ticket packages and lots of times if you buy expensive seats in advance, parking is included.

??

I was pretty sure pre-paid parking was available only with a full-season plan.

[soupcan]

I glom off my brother-in-law's plan and he has a full package.

I assumed they offered it with some other plans.

[Guest Purveyor of Pomposity lV]

Sadly, my ship was detained in Miami by The Coast Guard and now we're docked in Virginia with reactor problems. Nuclear powered ships are wonderful when they're working, but getting parts and someone to troubleshoot the problems can be a harrowing experience.

Perhaps later in the season. Ta.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Yes!

[Guest cooby]

Beside the point, but my daughter is going to the Phillies' opener in Philadelphia

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Seaver's return was perhaps the only time in my life I cut classes in order to attend a ballgame. It was worth it.

[Methead]

Off the subject, but I'm pretty sure I've met the Vromans too. My brother-in-law played for Staples when they went to the state final back in '97. All the kids' parents from that team still get together.

[Vic Sage]

If you wanna talk about "opening day memories", here's one from the archives...

4/1/03

METS OPENING DAY... A LOWDOWN, DIRTY SHEAm

I called in sick and drove to Shea with John, a Cubs fan. Its Ok, though... he's from the mid-west, so I don't hold it against him. We were going to meet KC in the parking lot... KC, the source of all tickets and king of the tailgaters.

The Grand Central was backed way up, so I took the Van Wyck but missed Exit 12a, and ended up taking 12b to Junction Blvd, and taking the streets of Queens back to the park via Roosevelt Ave, under the 7 train. I still got there faster than those poor suckers sitting on the Grand Central. I imagine them now as skeletons, still sitting in their cars, frozen in time. I parked in the lot on Roosevelt across the street from Gate C, by the Tennis stadium. It was $10 for parking. $10. They just keep cutting the flesh from your bones, don't they?

We walked around looking for KC's tailgate party, but we were late and they were gone. Headed into the stadium, on this bright, sunny but brisk mid-afternoon. I'm thinking: "hell, this ain't so bad. I've been colder." I was thinking of the night game in August I saw at Candlestick Park. THAT was sick cold. This? Not so bad.

We go up to our seats. They�re right behind home (section 2), but �Rear Mezz�, so under the overhang and no sunlight. We stopped for snacks. Get this... $4.50 for a hotdog. I kid you not. $4fucking50. With the ticket, the parking, a yearbook, scorecard, hot dog, fries and a hot chocolate, I'm already in for over $75 before I've even sat down.

The park looks the same, with a new coat of paint. More signage than ever. The field is cut in alternating rays emanating from home plate. Very nice, in a "Better Homes & Gardens" sort of way.

Then, of course, the game starts and my day turns to crap. I'm immediately realizing that Glavine, a control pitcher who relies on "touch", can't feel the ball and thus can't locate at all. We better score a lot today.

And, down 4-0 after the first inning, we come back with 2 runs against Wood in the second. I'm thinking: "Ok, we can make a game of this." But we don't. That, it turns out, was the hitting for the day. Mikey hit a few shots hard, right on the nose, but to dead center, and Patterson pulled them in. Nobody else did much at all. Oh, yeah... Burny hit a pair of doubles. Big whoop.

Defensively, it was just as I'd feared in the pre-season. Uncle Floyd kicks one around the alley in left-center, allowing guys to race around the bases. Malomar fields two routine grounders to his right, falls down both times and throws neither hitter out. "Cey Hey" Cedeno? He made a nice diving catch in the early innings. Then, he misplays a deep fly by forty-something feet, turning Bellhorn's out into a 3-run triple.

Well, at least the bullpen sucked too. Strickland added to the depressing walk total. Then, Bascik got his shot... 9 runs, 2 innings. Wow. Could he be mailed to Norfolk in a FedEx box? Lloyd pitches an ok inning, and so did Weathers, but he forgot to cover First Base for yet another error.

Speaking of errors... the only thing scarier than Cedeno in center were the two ...um... ladies sitting behind us, calling out their sexual attraction for Mikey and for Super Joe McEwing, in voices like drunken foghorns high on Rhino-horn powder. I'm sure that the testicles of every male within 30 rows shot up into their respective abdominal cavities every time these Gorgons caterwauled their lustful intentions.

By the seventh, the cold had penetrated our bones like myeloma. It was a killing frost, whipping through us like an angry dominatrix with a cat-o-nine-tails and a mean hangover. The hot chocolate, uncovered because they ran out of lids, had long since frozen and I was licking it like a Popsicle. I went to piss in the fourth, but could scarcely feel my legs and couldn't find my dick. By the seventh, it was getting dangerous out there, and all we were doing was waiting around to see if Sammy would hit HR #500. He didn't. He walked. And so did John and I, back to the car.

It was easy getting out of the lot. Thought I�d be smart and take the Grand Central west, to the Triboro, and up 87. But, of course, we got stuck in traffic due to construction. NYC construction is much like the Mets... arbitrary slabs of rehabilitation, more for cosmetic purposes than anything else, and generally resulting in worse conditions than when it started.

Final thoughts...

- I'm not worried about Glavine. I think he'll adjust. And this cold can't last forever. Unless we've drifted out of our orbit away from the sun, in which case we've all got bigger problems to worry about.

- The Cey Hey kid is proving to be everything I feared. He was my biggest concern going into the season. As my buddies in the I.R.A. say: "FREE TIM O'NIEL!... and pass the Guinness and C4..."

- I'm still pissed we gave Fonzie's money to Uncle Floyd and his Mets debut did nothing to assuage my dissatisfaction.

- Burny hit 2 doubles, but lets not get too excited.. He started off pretty good last year too.

- Malomar looks really fucking old. Can you say �Baerga�?

- Bascik is only here because Astacio is on the DL, but should that have come as any big surprise, with his injury history? We are short on quality major-league starters. But then again, who isn't? Still, when Cone's arrival is awaited as if he's Doc coming back from rehab, we've got a serious problem on our hands. And Shane Reynolds ain't gonna fix it.

Art Howe says he's �not going to lose sleep" over this disaster, and "It's early". Well...no shit, Artie. But don't ever say that again or I�ll come down there and beat the living crap out of your balding pate with a tire iron. I swear by whatever god you choose, I will do this. I'm not kidding. OK, I may change my mind later, but that doesn't mean I'm kidding now.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

That was a bad game and a bad year, wasn't it?

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Yep.

At least giving Fonzie's money to Floyd has worked out pretty well.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Elster - "List out your top ten Opening Days attended."

Was it just me or did anyone else have an avi flashback when they read this?

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Rockin' Doc wrote: Elster - "List out your top ten Opening Days attended." Was it just me or did anyone else have an avi flashback when they read this?

LOL - it certainly wasn't just you