When I was born, I only had two grandparents, and I lost my grandfather when I was five. My son is lucky to have three grandparents: two grandmothers and one grandfather. 

The grandfather is my Dad. He’s the man that got me started on my Mets’ fandom. He brought me to my first game. Last year, he got tickets so he can bring his grandson to his first game. He got tickets again this year to bring him to another game. My Das gets a kick out of seeing his grandson, his namesake, cheering on the Mets. He’s amazed his grandson that never seems to stop running around can sit and follow a Mets game. 

He’s also more fun as a grandfather than a Dad at these games. When he took my brother and I, we brought our food, and we got one souvenir (that cost a certain amount). As a father now, I really understand why, but back then?  I just wanted a Mets jersey. That wouldn’t happen until I purchased one myself when I was 17. However, with his grandson, his opinion has changed:

Yup, my son has his own Mets jersey. What’s even better is my son is the IV, which meant my Dad had to do this: 

  
Yes, it’s personalized. It makes me happy because these are things my Dad and son can bond over. My son tells my Dad that Duda, Murphy, and Wright plays for the Mets. My Dad gets a kick out of it. 

Isn’t that supposed to be the grandfather-grandson relationship?  I only had a small taste of it, and I know I missed out on something. I’m glad my son and Dad are getting that experience. 

If you’re lucky enough to still have your grandparent, I hope you reached out to them today. I know I would’ve. My son saw his grandparents yesterday, and he FaceTimed with each one of them today (technology really is amazing). 

So to my parents and my mother-in-law, Happy Grandparents’ Day. Somewhere I know my Nana, who though Grandparents’ Day is a made-up holiday, is up there saying, “for God’s sake.”  

Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been consumed with baseball. While I’ve gotten older and my priorities have changed, I’m still consumed with baseball, specifically the Mets. The Mets off days drive me crazy because it means I have to find something to do. 

Tonight is one of those nights. Now, I have plenty of things to do in its place. I’m married to an amazing woman. I have a perfect little boy. Like every night, we’re going to have dinner. I’m going to play with my son. This involves a number of games and puzzles. It always involves me breaking out his baseball stuff. 

When he starts getting tired, it’s bath time.  After that, my son asks to watch the Mets. He gets next to me in the bed, looks over, and he crosses his legs exactly the way I have my legs crossed. It may not tell me if I’m doing a good job as a parent, but it lets me know that I’m making an impact. 

On Sunday, I had a dilemma. He wanted to watch baseball. The problem is the Mets had a day game. Fortunately, there was Sunday Night Baseball. It was good enough. There’s no Mets game tonight. Not that I would put it on, but there’s no Yankee game tonight. That limits me to the MLB Network.  I’m sure I’ll throw on the game they are televising. 

My issue is their choices tonight are terrible for the East Coast. It’s either Tigers-Royals or Rockies-Giants. The Royals have a 12 game lead in the AL Central and the Tigers are 10 games under .500. The Giants, like the Nationals, are 6.5 games back in the division. Like the Nationals, they have no real shot at the Wild Card. 

Personally, I’d like to see the Braves-Nationals game. It has an impact on the Mets and their divisional race. The other games don’t. In fact, the Royals game has no impact on anything. I realize the MLB Network exists for ratings. I’ve been to a game in San Francisco. They’re terrific fans, and I’m sure they’ll drive ratings. 

However, I can’t imagine the Rockies-Giants game will remotely register in New York, the largest media market in the world. There’s Giants and Jets preseason games. There’s the U.S. Open. The MLB Network punted probably presuming there will be no eyes in New York. 

I know my son and I won’t be watching.  That’s hard to accept because I’d love to have an important game to watch tonight. It’s just one night. My son and I will be tuning in tomorrow. 

I didn’t like Citi Field when it first opened. There were too many obstructed views. There were less seats. It was more expensive. I missed the ramps on the way out of a game. There was more Dodger than Met focus. Most importantly, the baseball was terrible. 

Most of this holds true except for the bad baseball. However, as a parent, I’ve come to appreciate and really like Citi Field. It’s the first place my son ever went to a game, and the ballpark is kid friendly. 

For starters, there’s the presence of Mr. Met. My son loves him. He had a Mr. Met mobile as an infant. There’s a Mr. Met fathead above his toddler bed. When my son saw him walking through the concourse, it was as if he saw Santa Claus. Mr. Met made a quick stop and gave my son a high five. My son was thrilled. As Mr. Met moved along, my son called for him to come back. 

Mr. Met couldn’t. He had pregame things. We were heading in the opposite direction. We were going to the Fan Fest area behind centerfield which is like a mini-amusement park. There’s an area to get photos with Mr. Met. There’s a dunk tank/speed pitch. There’s a place for video games where you get to play Homerun Derby with you favorite Met.  There are batting cages.  There is also a mini-ballfield. 

I’ll speak to each of these more in future posts. I will say the ballfield is my son’s favorite. It is a mini-Citi Field. Each kid gets to play each of the OF positions, gets a turn at bat, and weather permitting, run the bases. This is my son’s Disney Land. He hates the line. He loves the entertainment. He cries when it’s time to leave. 

We went to the Fan Fest area twice on Saturday. The first time was when we first got to the game. The second time was at the start of the second inning so we could see Mr. Met. The staff was helpful and friendly. They all seemed eager to give my son a Mr. Met sticker, which he loved. 

So, I want to thank the Mets for building Citi Field. While I miss Shea, I couldn’t have brought my son to four games before he turned two. There was nothing to do there. There’s so much at Citi Field. It was so great my wife even considered going to Sunday’s game.  Trust me when I tell you that’s no small feat. 

Overall, in part due to the ability to stop at the Fan Fest area, we had a great time at the game. We got to see six of the nine innings in our seats. My son danced with his mommy during the seventh inning stretch. As Section 132 will tell you, when the Mets rallied and the crowd came alive, my son was jumping up and down and cheering:

  
The Mets lost 3-1. It’s the only time I’ve ever been to a Mets game that I’ve enjoyed the loss. I enjoyed it because my son had a great time. He woke up the next morning and said, “Baseball, yay!” as soon as he woke up. 

He then helped pick out his clothes for the day:

  
He said to me, “Go Mets please daddy!”  I told him we couldn’t go, but we would go to another game. He replied with a half-hearted “okay.”  We then played baseball (the ball is in the bottom right of the photo). 

I haven’t been this excited to go to another Mets game since 2006, and it has nothing to do with the fun and success on the field. It’s because I see my son becoming a Mets and baseball fan. The Fan Fest area has played a part in this. I can finally see they got it right with Citi Field. 

Thank you Mets. You have helped create a new diehard fan.