Raising a Mets Fan
In life, we tend to get attached to and attribute meaning to bizarre things. Today, that was my car.
Now, I hated that car. From day one, it was a nightmare. I sank more money into it than I care to admit. Driving into bad neighborhoods time and again, it was constantly dinged and scratched. Tires blown. Dents in the car. Really, I hated it.
Even if I found the best Paintless Dent Repair in San Antonio (or wherever I happened to be at the time of the car needing repairs), it didn’t do much to lessen my annoyance with the car, except for the timely repairs, which I’m obviously thankful for.
But you know what I didn’t hate? All the great things I did with the car.
What started out as a car I purchased to commute to and from work became the family car.
It was the car I drive with my wife to Pre-Cana. The day after our wedding, my wife and I drove home for the first time.
I drove that car with my then infant son to and from doctors appointments. That includes when I had to take him for emergency room visits, and one day his surgery.
We took that car to take him for his first day of school, his first Mets game, his ice skating classes, soccer practice, and on family vacations. We drove that car to places where we would share some of our favorite memories as a family. We drove that car everywhere.
Every so often, he liked to get in the front seat and pretend to drive just like his daddy:
I didn’t realize it at first, but there were hints of all those moments scattered throughout the car. I realized this as I cleaned it out today so I could trade it in for the new family car. In some ways, it felt like a moment right out of The Wonder Years.
As we cleaned out the car, there were remnants of these events. Just like we had done a thousand times, we listened to the Mets game on the radio.
You couldn’t pick a more appropriate starter than Rafael Montero. First terrible, but now you see him in a whole new light.
This is because Montero has been a much better pitcher of late. We saw it again from him today. He cruised through five innings allowing just the one run.
It was the sixth he got into trouble. Like his last start, he put his bullpen into a tough situation handing them a bases loaded one out situation. Unlike AJ Ramos, Paul Sewald, who hadn’t pitched in eight days due to some physical issues, allowed all the inherited runners to score.
Fortunately, it didn’t matter much because the Mets offense exploded against Mark Leiter.
Most of the damage came in a six run fourth inning. Even with him not hitting lead-off, Brandon Nimmo got it all started with a single. Four hits, including a Juan Lagares double and Gavin Cecchini RBI single, and an error later the Mets were up 9-0, and the Phillies brought in Kevin Siegrist.
After Siegrist issued a couple of walks, Nimmo capped off the inning with an RBI single. That single gave the Mets a then 10-0 lead.
It proved to be an insurmountable lead. That was true even for the hurt Sewald and Hansel Robles, who had another adventurous outing.
It was the Robles outing that had me sitting in my car just a little longer. I sat in my car a little longer like I had done several times in the past. Except this time was the last time in this car.
As Ramos got Rhys Hoskins to fly out to end the game, I had the last memory in that car. It was a rather small one, but a memory nevertheless.
It’s now time for a new car with new family memories. This will be the car I take my next son home from the hospital in. It’ll be the car I take to drive him to his first Mets game. Hopefully, it will be the car I drive to see the Mets in their next World Series.
Game Notes: Kevin Plawecki was 2-4 with two runs and a stolen base.
When we found out my wife was expecting with our second child, we wanted to do something fun with our son, sorry older son, for him to find out if he was going to have a little brother or a little sister. We debated doing a cake or balloons, but ultimately with the recent fad of gender reveal golf balls and baseballs, we decided to go that route with him.
The issue is those things are unnecessarily expensive. On Amazon, they range from $15 – $30. On Etsy, the price range all over the place, and even for those options that seem cheap, they cease to be as such when you consider the hidden shipping costs. Reading review of these items, the balls are flimsy, and as we’ve seen on YouTube, you are setting yourself up for a wasted moment. The last thing we wanted was to buy an overpriced baseball, have our son swing and miss, and then miss our opportunity to do something fun with him. To that end, we decided to attempt to make our own gender reveal baseball.
The baseball part is quite easy. First, we went to Party City, and for $1.00, we purchased one of those globes they sell you to fill with their penny candy. I recommend the clear globe because it is easier to paint. For the pain, we went to Michaels and purchased acrylic paint for less than a buck. We also splurged for a small paint brush for under a buck. Just like that, we had our own baseball for less than $3.00.
After painting the baseball and setting it to dry overnight, my wife drew seams on the baseball using a red Sharpie. Really, any magic marker would do the trick. What was tricky was what to put in the ball.
If you Google it, you can find a number of ways to make your own holi powder. For us, we mixed food coloring with one cup of water. We then mixed that with three cups of flour. You need to use your hands for this to help prevent clumps from forming. It’s a tedious process. After you are done, put it on a couple of baking sheets in the oven at 200 degrees. Do not go above that because you risk burning it and turning it brown.
If you don’t want to do that, you can purchase it somewhere on the Internet or pick up the powder or confetti from somewhere.
Once you put it in there, you have a cheaper option and one that is not going to simply explode just by hitting the ground. Still, with the impact of a baseball bat, the ball will easily come apart, and the powder will spray all over the place revealing the baby’s gender.
IT’S A BOY!
My three year got a hold of my laptop when I stepped out of the room, and here’s his thoughts on the Mets:
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I’m sure many will say this is the best thing ever published on this blog. I tend to agree.
With my son heading in for surgery yesterday, I unabashedly asked for people to say a prayer for him:
My little buddy is going in for surgery this afternoon. If you have time today, please say a little prayer for him. Thank you.
— Mets Daddy (@MetsDaddy2013) July 14, 2017
The response was overwhelming, and l tried to reach out to all those who reached out. If I missed it, I apologize. It was a mixture of exhaustion and sheer volume of the responses. If I did not thank you personally, please accept this as my genuine personal thanks.
I can happily report the surgery was successful, and there will be a quick and speedy recovery.
As you can see, he’s happy and healthy.
Again from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your prayers. They worked.
This past week my Dad turned 70 years old. It is because of him that my brother and I have been lifelong Mets fans. For that, I’m not sure to thank him or to curse him. All joking aside, some of my fondest memories with my Dad have involved baseball.
There were the Mets games through the years. We were there for Robin Ventura‘s Grand Slam single. We saw Todd Pratt‘s homer ending the 1999 NLDS. We were there a year later as Bobby Jones propelled the Mets to the 2000 NLCS. There was the last game at Shea Stadium, and the first game at Citi Field.
We saw Matt Harvey come so close to pitching a no-hitter against the White Sox. We loved see Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero have their first ever start at Citi Field in the 2013 Future’s Game. Our favorite moment at a Mets game hands down was Game 3 of the 2015 World Series.
But it was more than the Mets games. There were the catches he used to have with my brother and I in the backyard. There was him throwing pitches to help try me to become a catcher. There were the times, he would throw batting practice to my brother and I.
When it came time to give him a gift, my family wanted to give him more than a present. We wanted to give him a memory that would at least rival the fond memories we had of him. With us not having 499 friends to invite to a Mets game, or the money to purchase those tickets, that left us with the Brooklyn Cyclones.
Brooklyn in and of itself was fitting. It was the place he would commute over an hour each way in order for him to support our family, to put my brother and I through school.
After speaking with the Cyclones, Joe Senis specifically, we were able to arrange for my father to throw out the first pitch before Saturday’s Cyclones game. Not just that, but at my Dad’s request, they allowed his grandson to take the mound with him (and throw out a pitch of his own):
Personally, I think they both did a great job:
Also, great job by Kurt Horne catching both of those pitches and for taking a brief moment to shake my Dad’s and my son’s hands. It was also great Edgardo Alfonzo, one of my Dad’s favorite Mets, gave us his autograph.
That’s not all the Cyclones did for us. They also sent the mascot up to where we were sitting for some family photos . . .
and they put on a great postgame fireworks show:
It was a classy move from a classy group of people. They gave my Dad and his family a memory we will forever cherish, and we are forever grateful to the team.
Like many dads this weekend, I spent part of my weekend going to see Cars 3. Like many people who have seen the movie, there was one overriding notion that came across – this, and not Cars 2, is the sequel the original movie deserved.
If you have seen the promos, and you got the opportunity to visit the Cars 3 Nationwide Tour, you have an idea of the plot. Lightning McQueen is trying to figure out how to compete with the next generation of racers. He is trying to end his career on his own terms rather than being pushed out similar to how Doc Hudson had his own career end.
To make it succinct, if you liked the original movie, you are going to like this movie. You could argue this move was better than the original. For what it’s worth, my son seemed to like this one better.
With the G rating, you know it is pretty safe to see the movie, but then again Finding Nemo had the mother dying in the opening scene, and that movie still received the same G rating. To that end, if you are a parent who are concerned about bringing your child to the movie, don’t be.
Even though Doc has passed, they don’t show his death on the screen. Now, Doc is one of the central characters and focuses of the movie, and the characters speak about missing him, but no one speaks about the manner of his death.
Overall, the most upsetting part of this movie was the scene where Lightning McQueen crashed. The Figure 8 race is a bit scary for the kids, but it nothing that leaves them covering their eyes and shuddering.
As a parent in the movie theater, it is an entertaining movie. If you are stuck at the phase where you are stuck watching a lot of kid movies and shows (like Paw Patrol), this movie is Casablanca.
Now, there are a number of positive messages. Seeing Lightning McQueen train and train does teach kids the importance of working hard to get the things you want, and how you should never give up. Seeing the story arc of Cruz Ramirez does instill the importance of believing in yourself. The Smokey story does instill the importance of listening to your elders as they still have many things to teach you.
With Jackson Storm being better than everyone and being a jerk, it does show the kids how to deal with similar situations. Want to be better than someone? Work hard and get better than them. They insult you? Don’t let them get to you. In between all of that, it had all the humor you could expect from a Pixar.
In the end, I was happy I took my son to the movie. It didnt’ disappoint. In fact, it was better than I expected. Having seen it a large part of me hopes we get to see a Cars 4.
Note: We did not see the movie in 3-D as we didn’t want to deal with making sure our son had his glasses on throughout the entire movie.
There is no better reminder of all of your bad habits than having a child. If you have a son, they watch you and want to do all the things you do. Unfortunately, that includes your bad habits. Check that, that especially includes your bad habits.
I was reminded of that again the other day:
My son wanted a blue car like his daddy, and because grandparents do what they do, he was given this instead of a matchbox car. After he got in the car, I was soon very uncomfortable.
No, it wasn’t because of the size of the gift. It wasn’t for safety reasons. Between the fact these are impossible to flip over, the low rate of speed, and bike helmets, that wasn’t the issue. The real issue was what my son did once he got in the car.
Almost everyday, I have to derive through bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way to preschool. This means I have to deal with idiots of every kind who won’t drive for a number of reasons:
- On their cellphone
- Completely zoned out and not paying attention
- Doing their makeup in the car
- Eating breakfast
- Talking to everyone in the car
- Turning the knobs on the radio like it’s one of the ones with the dials
- Singing and dancing
- Letting everyone in whether or not people actually want to get in even if it means stopping dead in traffic to let it happen
- Somehow I have to get two or three lanes over in the span of 3 feet and I’m just realizing it now so I’m stopped
- Just not in a hurry to get anywhere
- And one of my favorites: the person who takes a cat nap at every red light.
With my child in the car, I make sure not to use profanity or insults, and if anyone of the aforementioned people get angry with me, I certainly don’t engage. To that extent, I thought having a child made me a better man.
That was until my son got in the car, and his very first reaction was to slam the horn repeatedly and scream, “DRIVE YOUR CAR! GET OFF THE ROAD!”
By the way, that’s when you get the knowing look from your wife. You don’t even have to turn around to see it. It’s there. You don’t even have to have the conversation about it either. It happens instantaneously and telepathically.
And yet, you will talk about it. You will both laugh that he did it and reinforce to one another how he watches everything. The end result is I’m seemingly calmer in the car without any slamming of the horn.
One added benefit – I’ve found flashing your lights certainly pisses people off more than slamming your horn. I wish I knew this sooner. To that end, I can once again say I’m once again better for having a son.
Originally, I was supposed to be watching this game with my brother, but with him being rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery on Friday, those plans were nixed. By the way, Happy Birthday to him. His gift was being discharged from the hospital. It is a good thing he was going through the discharge process because I’m not sure even his painkillers would have been sufficient to dull the pain of watching that game.
Before you could blink, it was 5-0. It would have been worse but Michael Conforto nailed Danny Espinosa at home plate. Believe it or not, it got worse from there. Mike Trout and Jefry Marte would hit back-to-back homers off Tommy Milone to make it 8-0. At that point, Milone was done for the day.
To put is succinctly, Milone was absolutely terrible. He threw 43 pitches with only 27 of them being strikes. When he did throw a strike, it was hit hard. Overall he pitched just 1.1 innings allowing eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits and two walks. As bad as that was, Rafael Montero came into the game.
Bringing in Montero was the right move because it’s already 8-0, and you don’t want to rip through an already tired bullpen. However, Montero is really just a white flag. When he comes into the game, it really means “Game Over.” It was a gorgeous day, and I have a three year old. I decided to go out and have a fun day away from the team. There was no sense watching anymore.
And really, it is getting to the point where you don’t want to watch the Mets on Sundays anymore. Since winning their first Sunday game of the season, the Mets have lost five straight Sunday games. Overall, they are getting out-scored 65-24 in Sunday games. The losses have been a mixture of disheartening losses and blowouts. They have made you feel worse about series losses, and they have overshadowed series victories. It makes me happy that the Mets no longer offer the Sunday Plan because I otherwise would have been at the game watching that mess again.
Sure, in turning the game off, I missed the Mets making a game of it with the Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce homers. I also missed the continued struggles of Hansel Robles. Instead, I got to ride on a train and drink soda from an animal sippy cup. I also got to see a sea lion up close.
With that, I at least had a fun Sunday, which is something I would not have had if I continued to watch that Mets game.
Because my son loves the movie Cars, we took my son to the Cars 3 Tour last weekend. Despite it initially being listed as being at Citi Field, the tour was moved to The Shops at Atlas Park. It was a good thing my wife decided to check the information the night before because we were all set to go to Citi Field. Part of the reason for that was the Mets ticket office confirmed for me that it was going to take place in the Citi Field parking lot despite the Mets being home. I digress.
When things of this nature happen, the obvious question that arises was whether it was worth it or not. Based upon the fun my son, it was certainly worth it. What was great about it was the event was completely free. There were no hidden costs anywhere. When you get there, there are no fees for anything. Also, there was no merchandise for sale. Basically, you are able to get in and get out without paying for anything except parking. To that end, it is a cheap day out with your child. Those days are few and far between.
Now, the one thing it will cost you is time. There are lines everywhere. Some locations have fast passes for entry available (for free), but those are limited. By this point, they have been snatched up. Another consideration is they get you entry only. You have to wait in line for the various events they have inside. Keep in mind, those lines move quickly.
The first stop was Alamo where you got to do “Street Art.” Essentially, it is a large piece of paper where your child can use colored pencils and markers to color.
They change the sheets throughout the day so if your child is upset they didn’t get to color in Lightning McQueen or another part of the picture, you can always circle back. Once you are done, Alamo will give your child a pack of colored pencils.
After that, there is a section where they have the Cars toys and toy sets. Your child can launch the different cars, and they can watch as the different cars “race.”
From there, you begin getting into more sponsored tents with different activities. These other tents provide a game and a photo opportunity as an avenue to get your information. The first was Coppertone who had something set up where your child can actually change a tire:
At that stop, they give you Coppertone coupons, and they also allow you to take a family photo. Once you input your information, the items will be texted and/or emailed to you immediately.
The next stop is the Crest sponsored tent. There you can take a photo with a Cars background, and then your child gets to spin the wheel. The prizes there are toothpaste, a toothbrush, or Cars tattoos.
After that, you get to do the things you really came there to do. First is a stop where you can build your own Cars’ car. It is a piece of paper that you can cut out and fold into a car shape. Your character choices are Lightning McQueen, who your child knew already, Cruz Ramirez, or Jackson Storm. Trust me, your children will know and want Cruz before the day is over. If your child doesn’t want a character, you can opt for a blank color he can color himself. Considering it is an open air facility, you have the opportunity to go back multiple times and get them all. Either that, or you can ask nicely. The staff there was kind and courteous.
After building their own car, your child gets to watch a part of the movie. For those that visit these locations, they get to see a brief clip describing the making of the movie followed by a small clip of the movie. The long is long, but it is worth it. It is a 16 minute clip, and they get a good amount of people into the small theater. Typically, you are going to wait a half hour to an hour to watch it.
Finally, you get to see what you came there to see. They have Lightning McQueen, Cruz Ramirez, and Jackson Storm there for your children to see.
Note, it is to see only. You are not allowed to touch. They remind you of this constantly. While you cannot touch them, you are allowed to take a picture with each of the cars. They will only permit you to use one camera per group. Some of your photos may not come out as well as you would want because your child may be upset they cannot touch the cars. This is a good time to remind you that you can go through multiple times.
If you are lucky, the second time through your child will be in a better mood (if they were upset in the first place). Trust me, there were a lot of upset kids they could not touch the cars. Whether you go through once or twice, don’t worry, they take a lot of pictures with each car. If someone blinks, there will be another photo where they aren’t.
Overall, it took about an hour once your are inside, and it was a great day out with the family. It got my child excited to watch Cars 3. It also led to him asking for the new cars. Don’t worry, there is a massive display of all the Cars 3 merchandise at Toys R Us.
By the way, your kid will know what is available even without a trip to Toys R Us. On the way out, you receive a poster will all the cars available for sale. On the bright side, you also get a $5 coupon to see the movie at Regal Cinemas.
If you are interested and live in the tri-state area, this could be your last chance to see it. The Cars will be at the Cherry Hill Mall on Saturday, May 13th from 10 AM – 4 PM and Sunday, May 14th from 11 AM – 4 PM.