CyberMusings

This post could easily have been about an opportunity lost.  At just about any other time, it would’ve focused on John Maine’s erratic pitching (O runs allowed but only lasting 5 innings), another blown save by the bullpen after tempting fate all weekend, Damion Easley’s rally killing double plays, and the lack of clutch hitting in general.

While those are valid topics all, this post focuses on something special.  On Monday, I had the opportunity, along with my brother, to take two kids to their first major league baseball game.  This was actually a repeat attempt of a trip to the ballpark last August.  That time, we made it to PNC Park for my first trip there but the game was rained out with nary a pitch being thrown.

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The Mets bullpen is a mess.  While that isn’t exactly news to anyone who has been following the Mets (or subjected themselves to ESPN for more than 5 minutes, God help them), I doubt anyone has felt the effects any more keenly than their ace, Johan Santana.  Sure, Mets fans are rather angry at the bullpen but then that goes along with being a Mets fan.

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I’ve been griping for a while about the new baseball palace in which the Mets will take residence beginning next season.  It’s not that I doubt the need for a new ballpark.  Shea Stadium is beyond old and antiquated and in dire need of replacement.  While it is the site of many of my fondest childhood memories and I will likely be sentimental at its passing, I know it’s time to go.

It’s not even any real concern I have as to whether I’ll still feel Citi Field is indeed a baseball palace once I make my first visit there.  I’m sure that it will be everything I could have wanted in a home for my Mets.   No, my gripe with Citi Field likes purely in its capacity to hold paying customers.  Shea Stadium is something of a behemoth relative to most baseball parks these days with the ability to hold 57,000 plus.   So it was something of a shock to learn that Citi Field would only hold 45,000 at max capacity and that 2,500 of that capacity was standing room only……standing room only????

My perspective changed a bit tonight.  (more…)

PNC Park is beautiful.  PNC Park is amazing.  PNC Park is picturesque.  PNC Park is (insert superlative adjective here, don’t worry, any one will do).   As my brother likes to say, “The only problem with PNC Park is that the Pirates play there”.  Ah, but last night, and for the rest of this weekend, it was not much of a problem.  After all, the Mets were playing there as well.

During my August sojourn to the area approximately a year ago, I had the opportunity to marvel, gawk, and gaze at the beauty that is PNC Park.  I reveled in the open concourses, the reasonably priced refreshments, the perfect sight lines, and the monuments to Pirates heroes past.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature was in a bit of a snit that day and the scheduled game between the Pirates and Reds was rained out.

Last night was a different story.  (more…)

I had been anticipating this trip for quite a while.  The feeling started growing the moment my brother and his wife told me they were expecting and continued right through the three months following the baby’s arrival.  So, it’s not entirely surprising that when I finally hit the road I arrived here in Washington, PA in record time.

From just about every conceivable angle, this trip could not have come at a much better time.  (more…)