On Thursday June 1, I made my annual visit to Citi Field to see the Mets take on the Phillies. It was a perfect afternoon to watch Mets’ ace Max Scherzer hold the Phillies to two runs in his seven innings of work and the Mets come from behind for a 4-2 win. Mark Canha delighted the faithful with a 4th inning two run homer although I was disappointed that he changed his “walk up” music. Last year it was M.I.A’s Paper Planes and most unique for a ballplayer. But he continues his offbeat selection this year with 1985’s Tarzan Boy by Baltimora. Both are a far cry from anything Jane Jarvis played on the Thomas organ at Shea Stadium.
The game marked my 57th consecutive year of seeing a Mets home game. I discount 2020 when no fans were allowed to attend games due to Covid. In all those 57 seasons, I never caught a foul ball. Now if I caught one I’d probably give it to a young fan, assuming he or she wasn’t wearing a Yankees cap. But on this day, I scored something better; I got a picture with Mr. Met! While dining on a cheeseburger in the
Piazza Club, in walked baseball’s most famous mascot. He was working the room with the Mrs. and strolled over to our table. After our photo op, he went about his business and got ready for the game.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a traditionalist when it comes to the game I love. I don’t like the DH, interleague games, half the teams qualifying for the post season or players standing at home plate watching what they think is a home run only for it to turn into a single because the ball bounced off the wall and they were “stylin” and didn’t run. Things like that. But sign me up for the pitch clock that was introduced this season. Over the years, games have extended longer and longer, mostly because pitchers take their time to deliver a pitch and, even worse, hitters consistently stepping out of the
batter box between pitches, adjusting their caps, re-velcroing their batting gloves and protective equipment then slowly returning for the next pitch only to repeat the same routine at infinitum. These bad habits contributed to lengthening games while adding zero to game action. Well, no longer. Pitchers must deliver a pitch within 15 seconds; 20 seconds with runners on base. Hitters must be in the batter’s box with no less than 8 seconds on the clock. Failure to comply results in a ball for the pitcher or a strike to the batter. As a result, game times have returned to lengths I remember from the 1970s. Our game was a crisp 2 hours and 32 minutes. Hallelujah! While the iphone folks might not like it (check your phone and you may miss two pitches), this traditionalist fully endorses this corrective action.
Yes, it was a pretty good day.
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