Royalty w/o 5/6 in review

Monday night after work I got to go home and relax for a change. There were no baseball games to attend in the area so I did the next best thing. In other words, I was able to catch up on my blog. I didn't want to fall further behind. As time goes on, I unexpectedly find new things and people to write about. So I need to use my free time wisely.

With that being said, I'm going to summarize the week I had then when I have some spare time I'm going to do some special posts about some people, new and old, I got to meet and greet along the way.
Tuesday night after work I went to Taste of Dolly's for dinner on my way to Citi Field to see the Mets open a two game series with the Chicago White Sox who quite amazingly were making their first ever visit to Queens to play the Mets.

Upon arrival, I got to see my pal Sam Citron who greeted me by the Rotunda entrance. He told me that a lady came in earlier with her son. He was describing Rebecca Herman who I met at Yankee Stadium over the weekend. She took a picture of him because I saw it on Twitter. Rebecca said and I quote "Sam is a very nice gentleman." That tweet made me feel real good. Shortly thereafter, I saw another tweet that another person that I follow thanks to other people I know was also at the game. I got all excited about the potential tweet and greet. For some reason, my phone decided to act up. As a result, I couldn't get in touch with Rebecca Herman aka The Baseball PHD. She told me she had seats in the Delta Suite with her son, Trevor who's afraid of heights. With that being said, I decided to go upstairs to section 516 so I could get ready for the game.

We had a nice gathering in the Royal Court if you will as the King and I were joined by the usual regulars, Bryan Gilligan and the Ascanios, Ralph & Vincent aka the Kid. In addition, we also had our friends Frank Anichiarico, Phil Butleman, Pat Gorman, Martin Caamano & Charlie Vitanza in attendance.

As for the game we saw, Matt Harvey was starting for the Mets. With that being said, we knew we had a chance to see a great game. He was opposed by Hector Santiago who started for the White Sox. As advertised, this match up turned out to be a beauty. Matt Harvey out pitched Hector Santiago but neither one got a decision as the game was decided in extra innings. Matt Harvey in fact was almost perfect for the first nine innings. He allowed an infield hit to shortstop Ruben Tejada who couldn't put enough on the throw to get Alex Rios who barely beat it out at first base with two outs in the seventh inning. He struck out twelve batters too. He was simply amazing. Unfortunately the Mets couldn't score a run off the White Sox pitching for the first nine innings either. Santiago pitched well for seven innings. Matt Lindstrom pitched the eighth. Then Nate Jones came on for ninth and he pitched into the tenth when the Mets finally broke through to ultimately win the game, 1-0 thanks to a game winning pinch hit by Mike Baxter to make a winner out of reliever Bobby Parnell who pitched a scoreless tenth for the Mets.

Wednesday night after work I went to Subway and Carvel for dinner and dessert on my way to Citi Field.
On this night I was joined by Rich Wolber, Phil Butleman, Frank Anichiarico, Pat Gorman and Charlie Vitanza as well as the usual regulars.

It should be noted that the Hooligan's were present & accounted for in section 513. They made their presence felt when they chanted "Where's the King?". He was talking on his cell phone at the time. As a result, they caught him off guard. It was quite a scene.

As for the game we saw, the White Sox finally got a run in Queens. Lead off batter Alejandro De Aza hit a home run to right field to make it 1-0 right off the bat. The Mets tied it in the second inning when Lucas Duda returned the favor hitting a homer to right. In the third inning, the White Sox got four straight hits after the first out which scored three more runs off Mets starter Jeremy Hefner. They tacked on another run in the seventh and the ninth innings while the Mets added one in the eighth and another in the ninth but they fell short as the White Sox won the game, 6-3 to earn a split in the two game set.

Thursday night after work I went to Checker's for my pre game meal on my way back to Citi Field to see the Mets open a four game weekend series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

When I got upstairs I was joined by Phil Butleman, Manny Morales, Michael Abrams, Pat Gorman, Alan Gimpel and Martin Caamano.

As for the game we saw, the Mets and Pirates played a seesaw battle as both teams took turns scoring single runs. The game was tied at two going to the bottom of the ninth inning. The Pirates decided to bring in their new closer this year my pal Jason Grilli in a tie game. He gave up an infield single to Marlon Byrd to start the inning who was then bunted to second by Andrew Brown. With one out, Mike Baxter pinch hit for center fielder Juan Lagares who made a nice catch to end the top of the ninth. Baxter became a hero as he delivered the game winning hit to give the Mets a 3-2 victory. Since it came against Jason it was bittersweet for me because I want to see him to do well every time he pitches.

Friday night after work I went back to Citi Field to see game two of the series with the Pirates. I wasn't hungry so I decided to go straight to Citi Field in hopes of seeing Jason Grilli after batting practice ended. Unfortunately I heard Jason went in by the time I arrived. I was surprised but being in a new role this year, he has other responsibilities.

After I struck out, I went upstairs so I could get ready for the game. I had some company. The King, Bryan Gilligan, Vincent Ascanio as usual were already there. In addition, our pals Frank Anichiarico, Al Linderman, Pat Gorman and Alan Gimpel were there too.

As for the game we saw, the Pirates took a 6-0 lead midway through the game. Catcher Anthony Recker hit a solo homer to break the shutout to make it 6-1. The Pirates added another run in the ninth to go up, 7-1. In the bottom of the ninth inning, former Yankee Jose Contreras came in to finish the game. He couldn't get it done. Instead he wound up setting up a save for my pal Jason Grilli who got Ruben Tejada to fly out to center field to end the game as the Mets came up short as they lost, 7-3.

After the game, Bryan Gilligan, Frank Anichiarico, the King and I went to Donovan's Pub for a post game meal.

Stay tuned for the special posts I plan to write about the people I met along the way. In addition, I'm going to do another special post that we recap the weekend as well.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman