This year the Las Vegas 51's have been taken over as the AAA affiliate of the New York Mets. They play at Cashman Field just north of downtown. So of course we were excited! George and I got Dad a season ticket package for his birthday. We got him a 10-game pack with 2 plaza seats. So at least one of us could go to each game with Dad. I've gone to a few others on my own as well. I think we should go to as many as possible. The Mets only have a 2-year player development deal with the 51's so it's possible that they can go elsewhere after that. But until then we have them. Tomorrow's Mets. Or even today's. Several players have been up to the big club already this year. Omar Quintanilla, Zack Wheeler, Carlos Torres and Juan Lagares to name a few. And some have come the other direction.
Right now Ike Davis is with the 51's, trying to get his swing back. He's struggled so terribly that the Mets sent him down to regain his confidence. I've been to see him play twice. Dad and I went last Sunday to see the game, but Ike was having a day off. We saw him coaching 1st base for that game. He probably won't be down here too much longer. But in the meantime, both Josh Satin and Zach Lutz have been up with the Mets. Lucas Duda has gone onto the DL so Andrew Brown is also currently up with the team. I had a chance to meet Andrew and chat with him at the Season Ticket holders' bar-b-que just before he was called up. Andrew was called up 3 days later, and on the 4th day he hit a home run to tie the game for the Mets. So it's a pretty cool thing to get to know our 51's and then see them succeed with the big club. In years past, we'd always go to a game or two each season. But we didn't care as much since they belonged to Toronto, and before that, the Dodgers. Now they are Mets, it's a whole different experience.
Sitting at the game on Sunday, me and Dad were talking about our early experiences with baseball. Dad was a Dodgers/Giants fan before the teams moved to the west coast. When the Mets were born in 1962, Dad had a new team. And so it's been in our family ever since. I went to my first game in 1983, 30 years ago now. I had the thought that I've been watching baseball as long as David Wright has been alive. Wow. It really makes you feel old. Especially with Zack Wheeler's debut, as the first Met who was actually born in the 1990's.
But this game endures. Generation after generation. No matter what other sports or games or other amusements may come along. Our national pastime is forever. When I think of the hours I've spent watching, the occasional highs and many lows of being a Mets fan, I can't think of anything I'd have rather been doing. Just being able to go to a game, see the green of the grass, the precise chalk lines, the pitcher's mound, and the dirt around the bases. Anything can happen there. Men can run out there and become heroes. And I just have to watch.
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