Royalty does a Major League doubleheader and sees another roadtripper in the process!

Saturday afternoon the King & I took the subway to Citi Field to see the Mets play game two of their three game set with the Miami Marlins. Upon arrival, we greeted at the Rotunda gate by our pal, Sam Citron. Since Sam told me he plans to work every game this season, I will try my best to see him every time I go to a Met home game. He's such a down to earth human being who has nothing but kind words to say to me about my blog and my writing ability. I owe it to him to always give him the courtesy of a royal hello. As a result, he recognizes other members of the royal court when they come into the ballpark. He fills me in when I see him. He tells me who's inside already. We have a great rapport that continues to grow every game we see each other. He makes seeing the game seem secondary. More importantly, he adds instant credibility to whole royalty experience if you will.

After seeing him again, we went inside and headed up to our seats in section 516. Every game we have a number of regulars who attend. In addition, we have others we know that can only make the weekend games and occasional ones during the week. For example, I'm talking about Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich and William Frank Guthrie who were there. We also had a rare weekend visit from Mike & Sharon Jaffee who showed up. They normally attend the midweek afternoon games when I'm working so I usually don't get to see them too often. Furthermore, we had our pal Manny Morales and his buddy Marc Beck there. They have a Saturday plan in our section. Moreover, we had a visit from our friend Phil Butleman who was on hand with a young man named David Sack who's been coming more often. Since Phil's a Yankee fan he doesn't come to Citi Field that much. He likes to pick his spots.

Besides the King and I, the usual fixtures were present & accounted for. I'm referring to Ralph & Vincent Ascanio as well as Bryan Gilligan who like the King and I are full season ticket holders and they rarely if ever miss a Met home game. Among other regulars, we usually have Pat Gorman and Donald Cohen aka Fuzzy who has the distinction of being called a New York institution. Fuzzy's been going to sporting events on a regular basis long before I was even born. That alone tells you all you need to know about his legacy.

As for the game we saw, the Mets got a quality start from their starter Jonathon Niese who gave up two runs in six innings of work. Unfortunately he didn't get a decision in the game because the game was tied up at three after he departed. The Mets rallied to score three runs in the seventh inning and they tacked on another one in the eighth as they went on to beat the Marlins, 7-3.

When the game ended, Bryan Gilligan drove the King and I as well as Vincent Ascanio and Phil Butleman down to Philadelphia so we could all see a second major league game at Citizens Bank Park, which is the home of the Philadelphia Phillies. They were hosting an interleague game against the visiting Kansas City Royals. Upon arrival, I entered the ballpark through the right field gate so I could see Lisa Wilson who is a supervisor that we've gotten to know from going there so often. She's always been so nice to us over the years. She always greets us with a big sincere smile. As a result, we get royal treatment at home and on the road.

In addition, we got an added bonus when we were standing behind section 319 which is where we hang out and hold the royal court if you will. Our pal Chris Coats aka KC Superfan was on hand with his lovely girlfriend, Brittani Murphy who joined him for this road trip. Brittani like Chris is a big Royal fan. In matter of fact, Chris has a streak of seeing over 700 consecutive Royal home games in person. He also sees a number of their road games when he can get the time off from work. He works for the United States Postal Service in Missouri near his hometown of Raytown which isn't far from Kauffman Stadium which is the home of the Royals.

Brittani, Chris & I at Citizens Bank Park

It was great to meet and greet Chris again as well as his better half, Brittani who I met for the first time. They appeared to be very happy together. We got to chat and we caught up since we last saw Chris in November at a Missouri Tiger football game. Chris plans to come back East a few more times this season which was music to my ears. He's going to the All-Star Game at Citi Field in the middle of July as I'll be his personal tour guide. In addition, he said he plans to come back to Citi Field again the first weekend in August with Brittani so they can see their Royals play again on the road. I will see to it that it's a great adventure for both of them. By then, Chris should be a veteran of NYC.

As for the game we saw in Philadelphia, it appeared that the Royals were going to beat the Phillies again. They whipped them on Friday afternoon which was the Phillies' home opener, 13-4. This time the Royals lead, 3-1 going to the bottom of the ninth inning. They brought in their closer Greg Holland to close it out. He was very wild when he came in. He wound up walking the bases loaded before he recorded an out. He then struck out Domonic Brown swinging for the first out of the inning. He proceeded to get John Mayberry Jr. to strike out for the second out as he looked at a third strike. It appeared he was going to get of the jam he created for himself. It wasn't meant to be as pinch hitter Kevin Frandsen batted for catcher Humberto Quintero and he delivered the big blow as he hit the ball in the gap in right center which cleared the bases to give the Phillies an improbable 4-3 come from behind victory. Chris & Brittani were disappointed but they weren't surprised being Royal fans. As for the majority of the near capacity crowd of 39,475 they walked out of the ballpark in total elation as a result.

Stay tuned as I'm going to write another special post that will recap how that Sunday afternoon turned out as another special guest joined us for the festivities.

Thank you for reading and following.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty witnesses history as the Mets finally pitch a No-Hitter thanks to No-Han at Citi Field!

No-Han!

After work Friday night I went to Taste of Dolly's again to have dinner. While I was there, my pal Manny Bonilla called me. I told him I was there. He wanted to join me. I waited for him. We ate then we took the train to Citi Field to see the Mets host the Cardinals.

We went to the Rotunda entrance where we were greeted by Sam Citron which set the tone for a memorable night.

We proceeded up to the upper deck to our usual perch. On this night, our bunch decided to sit in section 517. I wound up sitting in row 14 seat 5. I never moved.

We had a nice gathering on hand. We had the King, Frank Anichiarico, Bryan Gilligan, Ralph & Vincent Ascanio. Phil Butleman, David Sack & Joe Klein were all back for more on this night. In addition, we had Danny Werba and Donald Cohen aka Fuzzy a New York institution as he's known by many over the years.
Little did we know, we were going to see history on this night.

After playing 8,020 games in their 50 plus year history, the Mets finally got a no-hitter as Mets' pitcher Johan Santana etched his name in the history book as he didn't allow a hit as he beat the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals, 8-0 to become the first Mets' pitcher to finally throw a no-hitter.

Despite a blown call by third base umpire Adrian Johnson in the sixth inning, the no-hitter remained intact. In the seventh inning, Mets' outfielder Mike Baxter who's from nearby Whitestone, NY saved the day in his backyard as he reached out with his left arm to make a great catch before he ran into the wall. He managed to hold on to the ball. He wound up leaving the game with a shoulder injury though.

At 9:48PM, Santana got World Series MVP David Freese to swing at ball four to end the game which preserved his no-hitter with Yadier Molina left on deck. Santana finished the game allowing 5 walks and he struck out 8 while throwing 134 pitches to complete the game.

In unison, we all jumped for joy in stunned disbelief. Finally a Met pitcher has thrown a no-hitter.

It was the first no-hitter witnessed by many of the young fans who were amongst us.

It was my first National League no-hitter and my sixth overall that I've been fortunate enough to see.

Here's a list of the other ones I've seen.

1. May 14,1996 Dwight Gooden, a former Met, pitched a no-hitter for the Yankees as they beat the Seattle Mariners, 2-0 at Yankee Stadium. Gooden struck out 5 and he walked 6. Ironically he threw 134 pitches that was the same amount Johan Santana needed to secure his.

2. May 17, 1998 David Wells pitched a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins as the Yankees won, 4-0. Wells struck out 11 that day at Yankee Stadium.

3. July 18, 1999 David Cone, another former Met, pitched a perfect game on Yogi Berra Day at Yankee Stadium as the Yankees beat the Montreal Expos, 6-0. Cone fanned 10 batters in the process.

4. June 11, 2003 It took six pitchers to no-hit the Yankees as the Houston Astros accomplished the feat. Starter Roy Oswalt got hurt and he only lasted one inning. He was followed by Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner who all combined to not allow a hit as the Astros beat the Yankees, 8-0.

5. July 27, 2011 I saw my first no-hitter on the road in Cleveland at Progressive Field with Paul Derrick. The Angels' Ervin Santana allowed a run but not a hit as the Angels beat the Indians, 3-1. He walked one and struck out 10.

Stay tuned as the amazing weekend continued.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman