Mets - Pirates Game

The Experience

We were on a mission to do "tourist things". We saw that there was a Mets game at Shea Stadium and one of Kathleen's relatives was performing in a pre-game show, so we decided to go. I am not a big baseball fan. In fact, the last game I attended was perhaps 10 years ago at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium (this was back in the day before the stadium owners whored-out their names for marketing purposes). These photos are what we saw.

All things in Manhattan begin with a subway ride. We went from lower Tribeca to Queens. Normally, this is at least an hour ride. We were lucky and got the express on both legs of the trip, so the transit time was about 25 minutes. This put us at the stadium way, way early. So, to kill the time, we decided to do some "people watching".

It has been awhile since I have been in a ball park. I was taken by the abundance of marketing messages. The one that struck me the most here is the Banco Popular sign. This is a Puerto Rican bank advertising in Queens.

Here some of the other early arrivers review the team's line up.

Kathleen reviews a beer. Yes, I am naive, but I have never seen beer in a can shaped like a bottle. The good news is that it is easy to hold, is less prone to spilling and looks cool. The bad news is that it likely cost much more than a paper cup, you have to recycle, and most importantly, since Aluminum conducts heat well, your beer gets warm faster. That is assuming, of course, that you are not chugging.

This fellow is thinking hard about something. I wonder what?

This group of early arrivers are generally representitive of the demographics at the game.

All passages from the seating to the food are narrow and are sometimes occluded.

Finally, after more people watching than I really wanted, the real reason that we were at the game came on. This is the Sachem Marching Band. Taylor is Kathleen's nephew and is the second from the bottom, left row with the 4 drum set.

Another view of the band with the grounds crew raking the field.

Kathleen's sister-in-law Nancy. Nancy is Taylor's mother.

All Baseball games in America start with the national anthem. This gal had a great voice, but sadly I did not get her name. Here, she sings to the crowd.

On the "...bombs bursting in air" segment of the anthem, the crew set off a bomb. Complete with burning debris on the field.

Yes, we were in the nose-bleed seats. The roof of the level above us precluded any viewing of the planned fireworks after the game.

Two fisted drinking. Baseball is not very exciting, so the stadium owners attempt to placate their patrons with food of all kinds and liquor.

The game is progress as the Mets get their asses handed to them on a platter

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Pirates pitcher delivers. This shot, like all shots in this set, were taken with my Canon 1Ds Mark 2 camera. This is a 16mp camera with a 24-105mm zoom lens. The shot above was taken from our seats at 105mm, then cropped to "actual pixels'. The color rendition is via a Photoshop plug-in Alienskin "Exposure" that provides an emulation of Fuji Velvia film. This shot is a crop of the same view as the previous photo, but a second later.

This is about 1/2 way into the game, the handwriting is on the wall for the Mets.

Oh, yes. The stands were packed with nearly ever seat filled.

We stopped by to visit the family on the way out. From L to R: Jamie-Lee, Nancy and Kathleen.

As it begins, so shall it end. Back to the subway. The trip home was on the local for both legs, so it took more than an hour. But, the cars are air conditioned so it was no big deal.