Royalty w/o 5/30 in review

Mets Season Ticket Holder of the Game

I lived at Citi Field for the whole week except for Thursday afternoon because I was doing something called work.

Monday night the Mets had a nice military salute and tribute for all the brave men and women who have and continue to protect our country day in and day out. We're always proud to be Americans everyday but Memorial Day is one of those days that patriotism takes on more meaning.

On this night, the Mets built a lead against the Pittsburgh Pirates only to have the score tied up at the seventh inning stretch.

Apparently the Mets were inspired by the special rendition of God Bless America in honor of Memorial Day. They stormed back to retake the lead by scoring two in the seventh inning and two more in the eighth and they held on to beat the Pirates, 7-3 sending the crowd home happy.

It should be noted the Hooligan's were in attendance as well. They provided their usual added entertainment as they sang their songs as the Mets batted.

Tuesday night the Mets scored a run in the first inning. Unfortunately they didn't score anymore. They wound up giving up three runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth as they fell to the improving Pirates, 5-1.

It should be noted that Pirate rookie Josh Harrison made his major league debut and he got his first major league hit.

Wednesday night I was back for more punishment as it turned out. The Mets had a 2-0 lead going into the seventh inning when the Pirates broke through on the Mets again. They scored five runs in the inning. They added four more in the eighth to put the game away. The Mets added one more as they lost this one, 9-3.

We did have a special surprise guest on this night so it wasn't a total loss or waste of time. The King's half brother Charlie Casiano stopped by to say hello. It was a pleasure to see him again. Hopefully he'll join us for a road trip in the near future.

Thursday night I got a break from watching Mets baseball. After those last two games, it couldn't have come at a better time.

Friday night I went back to see if they could win again in front of me. This time their division rival, the Atlanta Braves who were visiting Citi Field for the first time this season.

The Mets once again had a lead until the late innings. This time they were up 3-1. Their starter Jonathon Niese pitched well before he was taken out of the game with two outs in the eighth inning. The bullpen allowed the Braves to tie the game after Niese departed. Jason Isringhausen was victimized this time. In the ninth inning, they brought in Francisco Rodriguez aka K-Rod in to keep the game tied. He failed to do so. He got hit hard this time as the Braves chopped him up as they scored three more runs to take game one of the series, 6-3.

Saturday night was different in more ways than one. The week before my ticket representative for the Mets, Michael Parton arranged for me to be selected as the Mets Season Ticket of the Game. I got to say the two words baseball fans long to hear before the game starts. That being "Play Ball." It was a thrill and an honor to do so.

I must have inspired the Mets who wound up scoring five runs in the seventh inning to break open a scoreless game. They amazingly hung on to win, 5-0. Dillon Gee pitched seven shutout innings to improve his record to 6-0.

It should be noted our fan club in section 516 was in the house supporting me. I also had Vincent Ascanio who took the great picture of me on the scoreboard as you can see and his father Ralph was with him for this special occasion.

Sunday the Mets and Braves wrapped up their three game series at night thanks to ESPN which decided to take the game. As a result, Citi Field looked a lot less crowded than it would have been for a day game.
Those of us including our pals Manny Bonilla and Arjun Lal who decided to show up got treated by the Mets as they had early 6-0 lead. Despite that they still tried their best to blow the game. Thankfully they held on again to win, 6-4.

In the future, if you plan to come to Citi Field let me know so we can arrange to hook up.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman