As a San Francisco Giants fan living in the NY area, I only get one chance to see my GMen each year when they come to town to play the Mets, and I picked last night, 7/8, as my game for this year. My wife and I spring for box fields seats as she calls it the one thing I do for myself each year. Who am I to argue with her? Last year was the first time that my wife and weren’t rained out for our game and also one in which the Giants actually won. Last night was a bit muggy, 80ish night, but perfect for a game.
I was excited that our new up and coming ace, Tim Linsecum was pitching last night. Rarely do we ever get to see an “Ace” pitch for the Giants or someone who is 10-1. In my years going to Giants games, I’ve seen a wide array of pitchers including Jason Schmidt, Russ Ortiz, Shawn Estes, Kirk Rueter, and Matt Cain, but I was very excited. And hopeful for a lights out win.
One thing that was noticeably absent this year compared to all my recent games was the near deafening “Boos” that accompanied Barry Bonds trips to the plate. I can’t say I miss the heckling from Mets fans about our “Steroid junkie outfielder” or the constant questions about the ever expanding size of Barry’s head. Personally, I reveled in the fact that everyone booed him so much. I was glad we had that type of player that riled people up. Most times it was a bit overkill though as Barry never hit a home run in any game I attended at Shea and only ever scored runs when he was walked (which he did quite a bit). But no boos for Barry this time around, though.
So back to last night’s game. While things looked promising for us in the top of the first, Linsecum surrendered a hit, a walk and a three run homer to Carlos Beltran in the bottom of the first to put us in a 3-0 hole. And the Mets never looked back. And Tim never look al that 100% sharp, despite consistently hitting 93 on his fastball and mixing in some nice change-ups and some nasty curve balls. Carlos Delgado also knocked one out off Tim, and relievers Steve Trachsner and Kevin Correia both allowed runs to score to put us in a 7-0 hole. The GMen managed just 3 paltry hits and zippo on the runs against Pelfry who walked away with the win. The high energy offense of old with guys like Kent, Bonds, and even Alou are long gone now.
My thoughts on seeing what is likely the last Mets/Giants game at Shea are simple. Shea is an OK ballpark and I won’t really miss it. Having been to Wrigley and also Angels Stadium in Anaheim back in May, I’m excited for my first game next year at Citi Field. Hopefully we won’t have to pay too much more for our good seats next year.
