Royalty w/o 8/5 in review

Monday after work I came home for a rare night of relaxation. After I made myself dinner, I took it easy because I was so tired from being out late the night before. I struggled through the day at work. It was tough for me. Old age is catching up to me.

Tuesday night after work I went to Taste of Dolly's on my way to Citi Field where I saw the Mets open a three game series with the Colorado Rockies who were making their only visit to the area. I saw my pal Sam Citron when I entered through the Rotunda gate. I proceed to go out to the center field area where I showed my Citi credit card and I got a $10 gift card since it was another Citi Tuesday. When I was done, I walked back around to go up to the Royal Court which was in session in section 515. We had Martin Caamano, David Sack, Phil Butleman, Manny Morales & Pat Gorman on hand that night. Later on in the game, I got a special visit from Bob Kelly who returned from a business trip he took to Montreal on Monday. He decided to see another Met game when he got back to NYC. He actually had a seat downstairs near the Met dugout he said. He came up to pay respect to the King & I. I want to personally thank him for doing so. That was very nice of him.

As for the game we saw, the Mets took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when center fielder Juan Lagares delivered a two out, two run triple to right center field. The Rockies got a run back in the top of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Nolan Arenado to make it a 2-1 game. In the sixth inning, the Rockies got even when Charlie Blackmon hit a pinch hit home run to tied the game at two.
Thankfully Eric Young Jr. hustled around the bases on an infield single to second base by Juan Lagares as he slide in safely which turned out to be the difference in the game in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Mets beat the Rockies, 3-2.

Wednesday night after work I went to Subway & Carvel for my pre game meal as I returned to Citi Field for more baseball. All-Star starter Matt Harvey was pitching so I knew I had a chance to see something special. When I got upstairs in section 515, I was joined by William Frank Guthrie, Michael Abrams, Steve Tepperman, Frank Anichiarico, Manny Bonilla & Rich Wolber. In addition, Phil Butleman, David Sack & Pat Gorman came back for more too. Furthermore, we had the Hooligan's who provided some added entertainment in section 513. It was a fun night to be at the ballpark.

As for the game we saw, Matt Harvey was as good as advertised on this night. He pitched his first complete game of his young career. He allowed four hits and he struck out six as he earned his ninth win of the season as the Mets beat the Rockies, 4-0 in a quick one for a change. The game lasted only two hours & twenty minutes. It should be noted that Mets' rookie Wilmer Flores got his first major league hit in the second inning. He also added a double in the eighth inning which cleared the bases to give Matt Harvey the insurance he needed to have an opportunity to finish what he started. It was a rare feeling indeed.

Thursday night after work I came home since the Mets & Rockies played an afternoon game to wrap up their three game set. It worked out well for me because I needed to do my laundry and I wanted to pack my bags in anticipation of my big week long trip to the West Coast. It turned out to be a very productive evening as I got everything done as I planned to.

Friday night after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees open a three game weekend series against the Detroit Tigers. Before I went inside Yankee Stadium, I decided to try a different place for dinner. I went to U.S. Fried Chicken where I had a few pieces of chicken and cole slaw. It was good. I'm glad I gave it a shot. As I like to say, it never hurts to try. You can't succeed if you don't. When I got done, I walked back over to the Stadium. It stopped raining after it started briefly when I got off the subway.

When I got upstairs to my seat in section 420B row 7, the tarp was on the field for no apparent reason. The Yankees notoriously like to hold their fans hostage even when it's not raining. By doing so, they delayed the start of the game by 47 minutes. Needless to say, the King & I weren't too happy especially since we had to catch an early flight in the morning.

Among us unhappy campers were our pals William Frank Guthrie & Steve Tepperman who can't understand it either.
 
As for the game we finally saw, the Yankees' starter Ivan Nova pitched well allowing just one run over seven innings. He left the game with a 3-1 lead. It stayed that way until the ninth inning when Mariano Rivera came on to try & close it out. Quite amazingly, he failed to do so. With two outs, and a man on second, Miguel Cabrera battled Mariano. He fought off a few foul balls that hit off his ankle. He could barely walk. He finally gathered himself & he proceeded to launch a ball over the center field fence that tied the game at three which stunned the crowd that was still left. After the Yankees failed to score in the bottom of the ninth inning, the game went into extra innings. I really wanted to leave since I needed to get some sleep. I decided to stick out an extra inning. Luckily with two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning, Brett Gardner poked a ball through to left field which scored the winning run as the Yankees outlasted the Tigers, 4-3. He was the last batter I was going to see.

Stay tuned for the numerous special posts I plan to write that will recap the big West Coast trip that the King, our friend Frank Anichiarico & I took. Please bear with me as I try to find the time to go into detail about it.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 7/22 in review

Monday night after work I went to Taste of Dolly's for a few slices of pizza on my way to Citi Field as the Mets opened a four game series with their division rival, the Atlanta Braves. When I arrived at the ballpark, I entered through the Rotunda gate and I was greeted by my pal Sam Citron. As always, it was a pleasure to see him.

When I got upstairs to section 516, I was joined by the King, Vincent Ascanio and Bryan Gilligan. In addition, we also had our pals Phil Butleman, Manny Morales, Pat Gorman, Alan Gimpel & Al Linderman on hand. Furthermore, in section 513 the Hooligan's were present and accounted for. It's always fun when they show up.

As for the game we saw, the Mets got a great start from starter Dillon Gee who threw seven shutout innings. He left the game with a 1-0 lead. The Met bullpen did its job in the eighth inning but in the ninth it sprung a leak as closer Bobby Parnell was unable to seal the deal. He allowed three hits and two runs to give the Braves a 2-1 lead. The Mets tried their best to tie or win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. With runners on first & second & two men out, Justin Turner pinch hit and he drove a ball to the gap that appeared to be good for at least one run if not two. Thanks to Jason Heyward of the Braves it was good for none. He made a great game saving catch to end the game as the Braves hung on to win, 2-1.

Tuesday night after work I went to Checker's for dinner before I returned to Citi Field for game two of the series with the Braves on Citi Tuesday. Every Tuesday night home game, the Mets offer their Citibank cardholders special discounts and a $10 gift card just for showing their card. Since the King & I have Citibank credit cards we get to take advantage of this unique perk.

After we went out to the booth near the Apple in center field, we went up to our perch in section 516 behind home plate to watch the game. This time we were joined by Manny Bonilla, David Sack, Phil Butleman & Frank Anichiarico.

As for the game we saw, it didn't start off well as Braves' shortstop Andrelton Simmons lead off the game with a home run to give the Braves a 1-0 lead off Mets' starter Carlos Torres. Luckily Torres settled in nicely as he proceeded to shutout the Braves for six innings. He even helped his own cause by getting a hit in the third inning that tied the game at one. The Mets added three more runs in the sixth inning which made a winner out of Torres as the Mets beat the Braves, 4-1 to even the series at a game a piece.

Wednesday night after work I stopped off at Subway & Carvel by Junction Blvd on my way back to Citi Field for game three. After I had a quality meal and a royal dessert, I got back on the 7 train and I went to the ballpark.

After saying hello to Sam again, I made my way up to the Promenade level in section 516 where I met up with the rest of the crew that were in attendance that night. I'm referring to David Sack, Manny Morales, Rich Wolber, Martin Caamano, Frank Anichiarico, Pat Gorman & Michael Abrams.

As for the game we saw, the Braves overpowered the Mets who were wearing orange jerseys with "Los Mets" on them in honor of Hispanic Heritage night. The Braves built a 6-0 thanks to the long ball. They got a solo homer from Evan Gattis in the second inning, a three run homer from Dan Uggla and a two run blast from Andrelton Simmons in the fifth inning which propelled them to an easy 8-2 victory over the Mets. Unfortunately for the Braves it turned out to be a painful night for them because they lost starting pitcher Tim Hudson who dominated the Mets for seven & two thirds innings. Hudson got spiked accidentally by the Mets' Eric Young Jr. on a play at first base.

Thursday night after work I went home to get a much needed night of relaxation. I made myself dinner and I watched some TV.

Friday night after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees play the red hot Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. Before I went into the ballpark, I stopped off at the Court Deli Restaurant and I picked up a corned beef sandwich.

It should be noted that night marked the return to the Bronx for Alfonso Soriano who got traded back to the Yankees earlier in the day from the Chicago Cubs. He was in the starting line up.

When I got up to my seat in section 420B row 7, I was greeted by a fellow ballpark chaser, Ben Fallon who was there with his son Declan. Ben came up from the Washington DC area to visit his family who live on the Jersey Shore. It was nice of him to stop by to say hi. I met him last September for the first time when I went to Nationals Park. Speaking of Nats Town, stay tuned for a special post that I'm going to do that will recap the weekend I spent down there. It worked out well that I got to see Ben here because he wasn't going to be there.

As for the game we saw, the Yankees got beat up. CC Sabathia started and he got bombed. He gave up six runs in the second inning as the Rays batted around. He wound up giving up seven runs in five innings of work. The Yankees trailed, 10-1 after seven innings before they staged a late comeback attempt that fell short in the ninth inning as the Rays used four relief pitchers to finish off the Yankees, 10-6. The game took 3 hours and 44 minutes. It was painful to watch for any baseball fan. As for Alfonso Soriano, he was a non factor as he went hit less in five at bats.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman