As I sat and wrote
this, the New York Mets were taking a bat to the Phillies in Philadelphia. They set franchise records for home runs (8)
and extra base hits (15) in a game. In
total 10 different players on both teams went deep, which has never been done
in the history of Major League Baseball.
The Mets won 16-7 in a game they once trailed 7-2. That was just the first game of the series.
They went on to bludgeon the hapless Phils with a four game sweep. And this all
came on the heels of another historic three game series against the Rockies in
Denver. This piece is an attempt at long
form writing, which is something I last did writing a paper back in the stone
ages. It covers those three days the
Mets spent in Colorado. Thanks for reading-Marvin
Friday, August 21,
2015
Each season my baseball team flies into Denver for a series
against the Rockies. Most years the Mets
come in to Denver in April, which means that the weather is almost certain to
be a factor. One year in 2013 a game was
snowed out and over a foot of snow had to be removed from the field for the
next day’s game. I was there that day
along with about 200 other die hards to watch the Mets loose in 30 degree
temps. This year the scheduling gods
were kind and set the three games for late August. And in spite of a thick haze courtesy of
fires burning all over the west the games went off as planned. Earlier in the month Colorado had been at
Citi Field in New York for a four game series.
The games had been hard fought, but the Mets had swept the Rockies
behind their stable of great young arms.
Now it was time to return the visit.
Coors Field sits on the edge of what used to be downtown
Denver. Lately the city has exploded
with new growth that has overtaken the park with a new upgraded train station,
office buildings and dozens of apartment buildings. What were once views of the mountains to the
west of the stadium now offer up scenes of modern apartment blocks and the din
of new construction. Coors Field has
become a destination for the young and hip to enjoy lazy summer evenings and
the local craft beer scene. The park is
not without its charms however. The
bullpens and center field batters eye are lush and green with Colorado trees,
plants and water features. A row of
purple seats marks the mile high point that gives Denver its street cred. The team has not fared well in recent years,
which has turned Coors into the main attraction. Or maybe it’s the new rooftop bar out in
right center?
I have a secret parking spot I always use when going
downtown. At least it used to be secret
until the city grew and a brewery opened nearby. It’s a narrow street just across the Platte
River from downtown proper and it’s free of parking meters. I went to the game on Friday night with my
father-in-law. It has been somewhat of a
tradition dating back to before I moved to Denver for us to go to one of the
Mets games each season. We spotted someone just getting in their car on our once secret parking street that
appeared full of weekend revelers. From
there it’s about a half mile walk across two bridges to the corner of 20th
and Blake Street.
Our seats were in the outfield bleachers and just a little
left of center. That vantage point
allows you good views toward home plate from the perspective of the pitcher. As well as a chance to interact with the
outfielders and possibly catch a home run ball.
Once, while sitting out there, a ball was hit high and deep toward us by former Rockies catcher Chris
Ianetta. As the ball shot in close the
guy sitting two rows in front of me calmly took off his hat and caught the ball
with it just as easily as if I had tossed it to him underhand. As it turns out we would have another close
encounter with a long ball later that evening.
By the time we found our seats the Mets were up 1-0. The Rocks
then counter in the bottom of the first with a solo home run of the bat of
Carlos Gonzalez. Pitching for the Rockies was their young hard
throwing Phenom, Jonathan Gray. In the
first series back in New York, Gray had dominated the Mets to the tune of one
hit allowed over six innings. But the
Mets had gotten the win once Colorado went to the bullpen which is historically
awful. Gray was opposed that night by
Bartolo Colon a 42 year, nearly 300 pound miracle. The fact that Colon has been so successful
at his age and size is nothing short of a wonder. One Rockies fan sitting near us commented
that he must be one of the greatest athletes of all time to still be in the
league. He could easily be Gray’s dad
and enjoying his retirement in New Jersey instead of still getting out big
league hitters.
The trouble really started for Mr. Gray in the second
inning. He loaded the base by clipping
Colon on the wrist. Curtis Granderson
singled in a run and that brought trade deadline acquisition Yoenis Cespedes to the plate. He promptly took Gray deep for a grand slam
and his night was over in the second inning.
By the time the inning was over the Mets were up 7-1. But the Rockies fought back with a run in the
third and two in the fourth. Cespedes
answered with another solo shot into the right field seats and the Mets were
comfortably ahead 8-4. But no lead is
seemingly safe in the thin air of Denver and the Rockies proved that with a
three run bomb by Nolan Arenado and a run scoring triple by catcher Nick
Hundley to tie the game and send Bartolo Colon to the showers. At that point neither of us could sit still
and my father-in-law's sugar addiction was gnawing at him. So we wandered around the park and ended up
chatting with a fellow Mets fan behind home plate. That is when Yoenis Cespedes took matters
into his own hands again with his third homer of the night, a two run shot to
retake the lead. Travis d’Arnaud and Michael
Conforto tacked on home runs of their own to expand the lead, and the Rockies
were cooked.
The one memorable moment of the night for us left center
fans was a solo shot off the bat of Rockies first baseman Ben Paulson. The ball landed four rows in front of us
almost hitting a woman before bouncing down under the seat in front of
her. There it was grabbed by a boy of
around four or five, who turned and threw the ball back over the wall onto
the field. Everyone in our section was
on their feet with a collective gasp, followed by cries of disbelief. The first thought was that he thought the
ball was hit by the Mets but soon it dawned on all of us that in his mind they
needed the ball to keep playing the game.
The ball lay there on the field until center fielder Cespedes picked it
up and threw it into the stands. It was grabbed out of the air by an older
gentlemen one section over who stuffed into his bag, put on his headphones and
went back to the game. Murmurs of
disappointment rippled through the crowd, which soon turned into cries of “give
it back, give it back” in his direction.
Soon the crowd was on its feet and shouting to penetrate the headphones,
with no success. The commotion however
elicited the response of a Coors Field employee who alerted the gentlemen that
the kid’s home run ball was in his backpack.
He handed it over to loud applause, and order was restored.
In the eighth, two Phillies fans wandered into our section
and I greeted them with challenge. What
were two guys wearing Philly gear doing at this game? Turned out they were a father-son team from
Morristown, New Jersey on their annual summer pilgrimage to a new ball
park. What followed was an extended love
fest about baseball, baseball parks, New Jersey, and Colorado tourist
destinations. I am sure the jealousy was
evident on my face as they recounted starting this tradition when the son was
five and grandpa was still alive. The
kid is now eighteen and they have hit around 20 of the 30 big league parks. It’s the kind of warm and fuzzy thing that
happens at baseball games, even between Mets and Phillies fans.
Cespedes finished his night with crazy numbers! He went 5-6 at the plate, hit 3 home runs,
had seven runs batted in, scored five runs, and stole a bag. Most guys would be happy to do what he did in
one week’s worth of game action.
The Final Score: Mets
14 - Rockies 9
Saturday, August 22,
2015
Saturday night’s game found me at home on my couch watching
game two on television. I knew better
than attempt to attend all three games of the series. The wife wanted to go to the Sunday afternoon
game, which didn’t draw much resistance from me since Mets ace Matt Harvey was
scheduled to take the hill. Plus I had a
drink in my hand and a pizza in the oven, and a wife who suddenly cares about
the Mets. Throughout our marriage the
Mets have shown flashes of promise but mostly it’s been hard work being a
fan. Usually by this time of year they
are hopelessly mired near the bottom of the division and our attention has
turned to football. This year has been
different. Football is still comfortably
in second place in our attention spans as the Mets occupy first place in the
National League East.
It is well known that the Mets TV broadcast crew is among
the best in baseball (no disrespect to Vin Scully). Gary Cohen does the play by
play and Mets legends Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling are the color guys. Gary is the steadying force, Ron brings level
headed analysis, and Keith shoots from the hip.
I think at least half the reason my wife has joined me for many
evenings of Met excitement has been the broadcasters. That and the stories they have woven this
year about big Bartolo Colon trying to run the bases, or Wilmer Flores crying
on the field when he thought he was traded.
Oh and me going crazy in my living room when the Mets take someone deep.
The game starts with a bang for both teams. New York opened the first inning with three
runs against Rockies starter Chris Rusin.
Three straight doubles got them on the board early. But much like the night before the Rocks
responded with a three run triple by Kyle Parker to even the score. The second inning again turned into a horror
movie for Colorado. Juan Uribe greeted
Rusin with a solo dinger and the Mets went on to bat around the entire order by
bludgeoning him with double after double.
By the time the inning was over they had scored seven runs and Keith was
crowing on TV about the “Metsies” taking Rusin’s lunch money. At that point my bleeding heart wife actually
said that she was starting to feel sorry for the Rockies and that she wanted to
go on a walk.
We went on a short walk in the cool of the neighborhood. Yes we did!
The rest of the game was uneventful beyond Gary and Keith
discussing walk up music, and my critique of trendy but in my opinion large,
ugly beards that have sprouted all over MLB.
Oh in case you’re wondering Keith liked Nick Hundley’s choice of “Heaven
Light Shine Down” by Collective Soul as the night’s best walk up song.
Final Score: Mets 14 -
Rockies 9 (the Metsies had never beaten a team by that score and ended up doing so two days in a row).
Sunday, August 23,
2015
Sunday dawned cool and hazy in northwest Denver. We lazed away that morning around the house
before heading to the secret spot. The
most important part of the day may have occurred in the car. That was when I asked my wife to define her
commitment and/or level of Mets fandom.
She danced around the issue saying vague things about enjoying the team
and watching games with me. I pressed
her but to no avail and the conversation ended when she said she didn’t want
the Mets to win the World Series this year because then next year would be
boring. Needless to say I have some work
left to do!
The other big news of the day was that much to the
disappointment of the Mets faithful, Matt Harvey had been given the day
off. Harvey missed all of last year
recovering from Tommy John Surgery and the Mets would like to make sure he is
not worn down by the time the playoffs come around. Instead, Manager Terry Collins was handing
the ball to Logan Verrett, a journeyman pitcher who has bounced around the
league over the last few years.
Saturday night at Coors was Star Wars night, and drew a huge
crowd considering how badly the Rockies suck.
The promotion staff was at it again on Sunday with Jorge De La Rosa
bobble heads for the first ten thousand fans.
I don’t know if we were early or if no one wanted one, but there were
still jiggling pitchers available when we showed up. I guess my nephews are going to have to fight
over that one.
Our seats for Sundays tilt were in the upper deck down the
right field line. We were seated next to
an older gay couple from Longmont who were easily engaged in quality baseball
discussion. Both were Rockies fans but
carried the weight of multiple disappointing seasons. Their pessimism is something a lifelong Mets
fan can quickly conger up.
The game began just as Saturdays game did with the Mets
jumping quickly on Rockies pitcher David Hale for a run in the first as my row
mates groaned. They followed that with
two more runs in the second, and two in the third with the help of multiple
wild pitches from Hale. Verrett, the fill
in pitcher, cruised through the first three innings and then faced Carlos
Gonzalez in the fourth. Gonzalez went
yard against him to give the Rockies fans something to cheer about. By then the sun began to wreak havoc on us
and most of our fellow fans on the right east side of the park. We joined most of the rest of the crowd in
the nose bleed seats up under the shade of the roof. Happily settled in the cool shade seemed to
be a theme on the field as well. The
game settled into a pitcher’s duel by Hale and Verrett as the players
apparently caught lazy Sunday syndrome.
We watched the game halfheartedly and had our own discussion
of walk up music. I said I felt like
all the good songs were already in use and would probably struggle to be
original. Eventually I settled on
“Today” by The Smashing Pumpkins. No
doubt my favorite Rockies song is “Your Love” by The Outfield, which is
employed by, you guessed it, outfielder Charlie Blackman. Singing the opening “Josie's on vacation far
away” at the top of your falsetto lungs along with thirty thousand other people
is pretty fun.
By the seventh we had wondered down to watch the Mets
bullpen guys loosen up and to meet my friend Dave, a fellow Mets fan. We spent a
half inning bemoaning not getting to see Harvey pitch and quelling rumors he had
started that I was the kid that threw the ball back on the field on Friday
night. Honestly no one besides Mets fans
were paying attention to the action on the field. "Lets Go Mets" chants began to rattle around
the park. I joined the faithful near
first base as reliever Hansel Robles put away the Rockies in the ninth. And I
was still mumbling the cheer and tapping it out on the bobble head
box as we headed on our way into the city.
Final Score: Mets 5 – Rockies 1
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