A night of miscalculations: @ Citi Field, 4/26/17

Both for the Mets and for me personally, tonight was indeed a night for miscalculations and--at best--glancing misses.  First, there's the obvious: Mets starter Robert Gsellman nearly got through five innings, at least in the sense that he made it numerous pitches into the fifth.  However, he ended up exiting with no outs, and his three scoreless innings hardly made up for the five-run first inning that he oversaw.  All in all, it was a trying night for Gsellman and the Mets, as well as--of course--Mets fans.  

On this night, I had the opportunity to witness the action, or lack thereof, firsthand.  The jeers and taunts that were slung toward the mound from the section I was sitting in were alone sufficient to make me feel for Gsellman.  After all, he wasn't trying to be ineffective.  Unfortunately, on a night when the Mets actually scored a couple of runs off Braves ace Julio Teheran and knocked him out of the game just shy of seven innings, they weren't able to celebrate this minor achievement.  Being down 5-0 before you come to the plate will have that effect...

Meanwhile, my own motivations for attending this mid-work-week game are, as a Mets fan, shameful to admit.  I bought my ticket yesterday in a much closer section than I usually frequent... based on the probable Atlanta Braves starter!

Now, before you click away and delete my blog from your bookmarks, I should clarify: former Met and current Brave R.A. Dickey was the probable up until about twenty-four hours ago.  He is my all-time favorite baseball player: I've watched as many games as I could since he first started as a Met (including subscribing to the MLB app this season so I can watch him pitching for the Braves), and I've read his biography as well as watched Knuckleball!, a documentary in which he plays a significant role.  Since I only attended one game a year previous to last year, I missed him entirely as a Met.  Since he became a Blue Jay, I've had my eye on games he pitched against the Yankees but never quite managed it.  Finally, he signed with the Braves instead of retiring: I have one last chance to witness him at work first hand.  

To cut to the chase and tie this all together, I'll share that I bought a ticket Tuesday morning after much consideration, including gauging the weather for this Wednesday game.  What I failed to take into account was the weather on Tuesday night: a rainout pushed the probables forward, rendering my ticket somewhat disappointing and pushing Dickey into the Thursday afternoon game (for those of us at work this week, it might as well not exist as a live event). 

Still, I've never seen Robert Gsellman pitch, and I've never seen Michael Conforto in person or witnessed Jay Bruce swinging a hot bat or playing first base (he went 0 for 5 when I saw him last September).  After my disappointment at learning I wouldn't be seeing Dickey take the mound passed, my true love of Mets baseball kicked in: this could be worthwhile fun after all!

Several minutes into the game, camped out several rows behind the home dugout, I winced as the sequence went something like this: walk, single, walk, single, single, Mets error, bases-clearing double, and still only one out.  Before long, there were two more Mets errors, and in the fourth, Neil Walker cracked a long fly ball out to right field with the bases loaded and no outs... that dropped into the outfielder's glove, forcing the Mets to settle for a sacrifice fly followed by two consecutive outs to end the inning.

Tonight was truly a night of miscalculations and near misses, and they couldn't have come at a worse time.  Still, there is something special about being up so close to the game of baseball, especially in such a beautiful stadium as Citi Field.  I got to commiserate with a fellow Mets fan I met sitting in the stands, I enjoyed a stroll out across Shea Bridge, and I visited the Mets Hall of Fame and Museum for the first time in a long time.  It was a deeply disappointing game and not at all what I expected, but I got to eat a ballpark hot dog, sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," and see Bruce get on base four times. And that's not nothing.

Oh, and I did get to watch Dickey out in center field while his teammates took batting practice.  The only throwing I saw him do was when he tossed a stray ball into the stands for nearby fans, but there are many games to come this year... and still a chance.  With Noah Syndergaard on the mound for the Mets tomorrow, the same can be said for the Amazin's!