A Night at Shea

Once tax season ends on April 15, I like to spend the next day at the ball park (Shea Stadium) in Queens, New Yawk watching the New York Mets play baseball.

For a number of years, there were day games on April 16. That was awesome.

This year my lodge (like the Water Buffaloes from the Honeymooners) purchased $5 tickets for the April 17 game against the Washington Nationals. I bought a ticket.

So, yesterday I took the Long Island Rail Road to Shea. Driving is a nightmare as they are constructing a new stadium (Citifield) right in back of Shea and parking is limited. The train ride is only a short ride from Manhattan and quite convenient.

I got to the ball park in no time. Somehow, I managed to get through security. I was wearing a blue Met cap and a Met jersey I bought off Ebay for $20 (as opposed to $80 elsewhere).

I bought a program ($5) and a yearbook ($12) and then decided that sitting in a $5 seat was beneath me. So, I found a seat in the Loge behind home plate and sat there comfortably for 6 innings. In the 7th inning, the actual purchaser of the seat showed up. They must've known the game would last 14 innings. So, I moved a few seats over.

The game was excellent. The two starting pitchers pitched wonderfully and I saw a play I had never seen before. A line drive was hit back to the Met pitcher, Nelson Figueroa (from Brooklyn) and he just stuck his glove out and backhanded it (caught it).

I sat peacefully in "my seat" through the 10th inning. After the 10th inning, I moved closer to the train as I had to be on the 11:06pm train back. The next one was 12:06am.

I caught the 11:06pm and got home with no problem.

It was a wonderful night out and very much needed after tax season.

There's nothing like going to a ball park to watch a baseball game be it major or minor league.

Consumer Marty highly recommends.