May 17, 2007

My 7 Hours At Shea...

Yesterday was game number two of the 7 game power pack, so at 1:45, I packed up my stuff, headed over to my friend Jamie's house to make the trip to Shea together. (He owns the other seat of the 7-pack) The moment I walked in the door to his house, his mother told me that we should leave ASAP. It was 3 o'clock, and he lives roughly an hour from the stadium, so of course, Jamie yelled back, and hilarity ensued. We ended up waiting a few minutes, but leaving relatively early.

3:30 came, and we hit the road with sky's looming dark, and as Jamie put it, "it looks like the apocalypse..." Within two minutes of leaving the house, the rains came. It started raining like I had never seen before. Within 10 minutes the roads were flooded. Jamie and I exchanged looks of sadness, as we assumed the game would have no chance. The rain came and went, moving between a drizzle, a downpour, and a monsoon, even stopping at some points. All the way into the Shea Parking lot, where Mike and the Mad Dog were still saying the Mets hoped to play tonight.

We entered the stadium at 6:00, walked up to the Mezzanine, found the food stand, and purchased $16.00 worth of food. Walking to the other side of the stadium, finding section 19, and plopping down in our wonderful covered seats. And the waiting began...

Around 6:30 or 6:45 the screen under the Bud Light "It's Flippin' Cold" sign displayed "Tonight's Game Will Be Delayed Due To Weather." This did not come as a shocker. Everyone was saying the rain would end by 8, so we get a game in. And we waited...and waited...and waited...

Around 9:00, we started to see the grounds crew milling about, as the rain started to slow. Around this time, we met one curious character, a man claiming that we will see baseball, no matter what! The man said that he talked to a supervisor who told him that the Cubs are refusing to play a double header on Thursday, because they have a day game in Chicago on Friday. He said they have up until 2 AM to start the game and they won't take the tarp off until they know it will not rain anymore. The PA system came on and told us the game would start sometime after 9, weather permitting. They wouldn't take the tarp off yet because there is more rain coming, he said, and we really didn't believe him. But, as 9:30 rolled around, the skies opened up again, and the rain came. Moans and groans from the remaining fans could be heard throughout the stadium. The man, who happened to be Harvey Fierstein's first cousin, was not scared, and knew the rain would stop. And he was correct again. At 9:45, three hours and forty five minutes after we arrived, the tarp was taken off the field, and we celebrated.

The game began at 10:15, and we were relieved that we actually could see a baseball game after all this. The game went off without a hitch, as the Mets rode Jorge Sosa's amazing pitching to an 8-1 win. During the game something happened which Jamie and I were completely amazed by.
One man caught two foul balls. I have been to plenty of baseball games in my life, and haven't ever come close to a ball. This man had two, hit directly to him, he didn't even have to move. Lucky!

All in all, it was a great night, even with the rain, and I can now claim I have seen a game in Shea at 1 AM, and sat through a rain delay which was longer than the game.
Lets Go Mets!

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