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| Jason Grilli |
After work I still went out to Citi Field to see the Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates play out the string. Upon arrival, I was greeted by Sam Citron. He always brings out the best in me regardless of how I feel. Like he always says, it's always a pleasure. That is so true. After I said hello and goodbye to him, I decided to go out to the center field food court area to have my dinner since I had some money left on the gift card I had. Quite amazingly, the line at Shake Shack was very short so I decided this was a perfect opportunity for me to go there. I ordered a double and I got a vanilla shake. Wow it was delicious. I can see why the line is so long almost every game no matter how many people actually show up at the ballpark.
After I ate, I made my way around to the other side of the ballpark so I could get to the area where we sit behind home plate to watch the game. I was joined by the King, Vincent Ascanio and Bryan Gilligan. Shortly thereafter, we got a visit from a few special guests. I'm referring to Alvin Pachter and his father who made the trip from Scranton, PA. They like the Pirates and they had to wait all season to see they play at Citi Field. As the saying goes, better late than never. It was great to see them both again. Since their local team, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees had their stadium renovated this year they didn't have any games to go to in their own backyard. Hence they didn't get to see a lot of baseball games. However they did go to Pittsburgh a number of times they said though to see their Pirates play at PNC Park.
As for the game we saw, the Mets beat up the Pirates who were in the midst of finishing under .500 again for the 20th straight year. They were playing so well until August came around. All of a sudden, like the Mets they totally fell apart. It's a shame that this happened to them. The Mets got a rare power surge as Ike Davis hit two home runs and he drove in five runs to lead the way as the Mets got a 6-2 victory.
Tuesday night after work I went back to Citi Field for more baseball as the Mets were playing their out last homestand of the season. After I saw Sam again I went inside to see batting practice. My main goal was to see if I could find Jason Grilli. After I looked around the outfield, I spotted him in left center field. I went down near the Party City Party Deck and I got his attention. Moments later, he came towards me and he threw me a batting practice baseball. I caught it. I told him thank you. We chatted for a few minutes. I did tell him I'll see him in Pittsburgh Saturday night at PNC Park. I was so excited to see him. He made my night complete especially since I had a very rough day at work. I told his business partner and friend of mine, JeanAnn Harrison I was on a mission to see him and true to my word I made it happen. She told me he was visiting family while he was in town.
After seeing Jason, I went over to Blue Smoke and I had some Kansas City spare ribs for dinner. They were so good. After I ate, I went up to our perch in the upper deck behind home plate to watch the game. This time I was joined by the usual bunch. In addition, we had our pals Manny Morales, Charlie O'Reilly and Michael Abrams amongst us.
As for the game we saw, the Pirates beat the Mets, 10-6. Jason Grilli came in the eighth inning and he got the Mets out 1,2,3. On a positive note for the Mets, David Wright got a single to right center in the seventh inning which was his 1,418th career hit as a Met. It tied him with Ed Kranepool for the most hits by a Met all time.
Wednesday night after work I went back to Citi Field for the last time this season since they were closing out on Thursday afternoon and I had to work. I wound up starving all day due to religious observance. When I got to Citi Field I made sure I fed myself. I didn't want to eat a lot so I wound up getting a few slices of pizza from Two Boots. They make good brick oven pizza.
After I ate, I got ready for the game. I met up with the King and Vincent Ascanio in the upper deck.
As for the game we saw, the Mets got a solid performance from young Jeremy Hefner who threw seven shutout innings as the Mets beat the Pirates, 6-0. In the process, David Wright entered the Mets' record book by himself as he got an infield single to third base in the third inning. It was his 1,419th career hit. With that hit, he moved into sole possession as the Mets all time hits leader.
Thursday night after work I came home and I made dinner. After I ate, I went around the block and I did my laundry which had been piling up since I was so busy running around.
Friday night after work I went home to rest and relax. I got a text message late in the afternoon at work from my friend and big fan of my blog, Eddie Pelle. He wanted to see me he said. I told him I get out of work at 5:30PM. He told me he'll meet me then. It worked out perfectly as I met him when I got out. He had a personalized autograph of former Colts' quarterback and broadcaster Mark Herrmann for me. He jokingly told him that I'm his long lost cousin. Eddie had a conversation with him when he was at the Indianapolis Colt game against the Jaguars. He told him about my passion for football and my blog. Mark Herrmann seemed very interested. I hope I get to meet him some day myself.
Stay tuned as I'm going to recap my latest weekend getaway with some more special posts. Please bear with me as I try to find time to do them.
Thank you for reading and following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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