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| Vincent Ascanio and me |
We met up by the Home Run Apple which is located right between the subway entrance and the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Upon arrival, I noticed an incredible line of people by the ticket windows. I couldn't believe it. I know it was the first Saturday afternoon game of the season and it was a somewhat nice day but I never thought there would be so many people looking to go to the game at the last minute. Back in the day, teams did well on the day of the game with decent walk up crowds. These days people are programmed to buy their tickets way in advance so they can get a decent seat and also by doing so they can just go right into the ballpark with having to wait to get a ticket especially if there's an unusual number of others that are trying to do the same thing.
With being said, I had Don and Jack wait on the shortest line while I went to see if I could round up a few tickets from someone outside the ballpark. Oddly enough, I didn't see any scalpers or anybody trying to unload tickets not even a single one. All of a sudden, I recognized a scalper I knew by face. I approached him and I told him I needed two tickets to help a few friends out. He told me since it was for me he would give me a good deal on a few tickets he happened to have. I pulled Don and Jack off the line and they bought the tickets from him and we headed in. Surprisingly, Jack who was rather quiet for the most part, suddenly got all excited when he saw the tickets he couldn't thank the scalper I knew enough for them. I felt so good inside because I just made this young man's day.
We proceeded to go inside to watch the game together. We did get into the ballpark in the bottom of the first inning because the line to go through security like the ticket windows was totally out of control.
If I wasn't helping these special people out I would have been in on time for sure. That's the way it goes in life. You never know when you're going to get thrown a curve ball.
We went upstairs after the first inning where the royal box is located if you will. I wanted to introduce these people to the people I know from going to so many baseball games. They were dazed and amazed to say the least.
We enjoyed each other's company during the game. Needless to say, Don and Jack had a blast. It was their first time seeing Citi Field too. They couldn't thank me enough for helping them make this possible. I told them it was an absolute pleasure to do so.
As for the game we saw, the Mets beat the Braves, 4-2.
Late in the game I said goodbye to Don and Jack because our friend Bryan Gilligan decided to drive the King, Vincent Ascanio and I down to Baltimore where the Orioles were playing the Minnesota Twins at 7:05PM at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
With that being said, we decided to leave after 8 innings so we could get to Baltimore as fast as a possible.
Bryan literally flew down the road to get us they're quickly. He dropped us off nearby so we could go ahead and get tickets while he went to park the car. That's another example of how teamwork makes the dream work.
We wound up missing a few batters in the top of the first inning. I must say it was an amazing display of driving by Bryan. We couldn't thank him enough for taking us all down there.
As a result, we got to see our friend Phil Butleman who was at the game too. Phil was staying in Baltimore for 6 straight games. He loves that ballpark. Can you blame him?
As for the game we saw, the game was scoreless after the first inning. The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Adam Jones hit a solo home run. They added two more runs in the third and three more in the fourth to extend their lead to 6-0 off of Twins' starter Francisco Liriano. The Orioles wound up cruising to an easy 8-2 win.
After the game, Bryan drove us back to Midtown Manhattan and we took the subway home since he lives in Westchester.
Thanks to Bryan I got to extend my streak of seeing at least one game at Camden Yards every year since it opened back in 1992.
Stay tuned for a special post that will tell you how I spent my Easter Sunday. It was quite a royal experience to say the least. Please bear with me.
Thank you for reading and following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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