Royalty w/o 8/19 in review

Monday morning my missing bag finally showed up. The driver called me when I was taking a shower as I prepared to go to work. He left me a voice mail. Luckily I was able to get in touch with him before he left the area. He said he was up the block. Thankfully he was kind enough to come back to the house and he gave me my bag. I couldn't thank him enough for accommodating me.

I then proceeded to go to work after I took a week off to go the West Coast. I had to play catch up in the office all day. After work I came home and I made myself dinner. After I ate, I went around the block and I did my laundry.

Tuesday night after work I returned to Citi Field as the Mets opened a homestand against the Atlanta Braves. I saw my pal Sam Citron at the Rotunda gate. As always, it was a pleasure to see him.

Me with my Home Run Apple Bank 

Upon entry I got a Home Run Apple Bank which they gave out to the first 25,000 fans. I then proceeded to get my MLB Passport book stamped at the Fan Assistance booth on the field level. Since it was another Citi Tuesday I went out to the Citi booth by center field & I got my $10 gift card for showing my Citibank credit card. I then decided to use it at Blue Smoke where I got four made to order hot smoking Kansas City barbecue ribs. They were outrageous. A person who was nearby where I was eating them said to me and I quote "are they as good as they look". I responded, absolutely. I was a very satisfied customer.

When I got done eating, I went upstairs to section 516 where I was joined by the Royal Court which included the King, Vinny Ascanio, Alan Gimpel, Pat Gorman, David Sack, Michael Carson, Harry Schwartz & Jerry Caffarello.

As for the game we saw, the Mets got a nice pitching performance from Zack Wheeler as they beat the Braves, 5-3. It should be noted that Mets rookie Travis d'Arnaud got his first major league hit, a double in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Wednesday night after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees play the Toronto Blue Jays. Before I went into Yankee Stadium, I stopped of at Foodtown a few blocks away and I bought myself a ham & swiss sandwich which I ate when I got up to my seat in section 420B row 7 where I met up with the King.

Ichiro's 4,000th Professional Hit

As for the game we saw, we witnessed history for what it's worth as Ichiro Suzuki got a single to left which was his 4,000th professional hit which includes the ones he got while he played in Japan. It should be noted that former Met Jose Reyes got thrown out of the game in the 2nd inning for arguing a called third strike. The game was tied at two until the bottom of the eighth inning when Alfonso Soriano hit a two run homer off Blue Jays' starter & former Met R.A. Dickey who threw a eight inning complete game but he got saddled with the hard luck loss as the Yankees held off the Blue Jays, 4-2.

Thursday night I came home for a rare night off. I was able to rest up and relax.

Friday night after work I went to Taste of Dolly's for a pre game meal before I returned to Citi Field as the Mets opened a three game weekend series with the Detroit Tigers.

When I got up to section 516 I was joined by Mike Carroll, David Sack, his friend Andrew, Pat Gorman, Michael Abrams, Bill Graven, Michael Carson & Frank Anichiarico aka Duck.

As for the game we saw, Daisuke Matsuzaka aka Dice K made his debut as a Met. He didn't really impress as he gave up five runs in five innings. Torii Hunter hit a solo homer and a run scoring single. Miguel Cabrera hit a three run homer and Austin Jackson hit a solo shot as the Tigers beat the Mets, 6-1.

After the game, there was a post game concert by Third Eye Blind who we saw last year after a Nationals game. So I was looking to it. Much to my chagrin, this performance was awful.

Saturday afternoon I returned to Citi Field for game two of the series between the Mets and the Tigers. Before I went into the ballpark, I met up with fellow ballpark chaser and Tiger fan, Mark Walker who was there too. I gave him some pointers since he was from the Midwest. I wanted him to feel at home here in NYC.

After we spoke briefly, I went inside and I went up to section 516 where I was accompanied by my pals Phil Butleman, Manny Morales, Marc Beck, Al Linderman, David Sack & Pat Gorman. It was Fiesta Latina Day. As a result, the Mets wore orange Los Mets jerseys.

As for the game we saw, it was a rematch of the All-Star game starters, Max Scherzer for the Tigers and Matt Harvey for the Mets. Max Scherzer threw six shutout innings allowing three hits while he did walk four and he struck out ten. He also got a run scoring double. While Matt Harvey gave up two runs on 13 hits in six and two thirds innings. The Tigers' bullpen shut down the Mets offense over the last three innings as they beat the Mets, 3-0.

After the game, we went to Donovan's Pub where they were having a grand re opening. Earlier this year, there was a ownership change. Donovan's is now better than ever. It turned out to be a very festive gathering as many of their regular customers over the years were there to celebrate this special occasion.

Tom Seaver Bobblehead Doll Day

Sunday afternoon I returned to Citi Field for the finale of the three game series. It was Tom Seaver Bobblehead Doll Day for the first 25,000 fans. This time I was joined by Alan Gimpel, Frank Anichiarico, Phil Butleman, David Sack, Michael Carson & Martin Caamano.

I did get a special visit from fellow ballpark chaser, Bob Deal who came by for a few innings. He was at the game with friends of his in section 520. I want to personally thank Bob for stopping by. It's always fun to catch up with him.

In addition, after Bob left, another fellow ballpark chaser, Terrence Williams came by to meet me. It was nice of him to do so. He's from Toronto but he said he has friends who live in Brooklyn so he comes down here often to visit. Hopefully our paths will cross again soon.

As for the game we saw, the Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Miguel Cabrera hit a two run homer. In the fourth inning, Travis d'Arnaud hit his first major league home run that gave the Mets a 3-2 lead. It was short lived as the Tigers regained the lead in the sixth inning when Andy Dirks hit a two run homer to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead. The Tigers put the game out of reach with a seven run outburst in the ninth inning as they won the game, 11-3 which gave them a sweep of the three game series.

Stay tuned as I continue to play catch up whenever time allows me to.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman