From South Jersey to North Jersey for a noon Communion, to Philadelphia for the finale of the Mets-Phillies series, and back home for a few hours sleep before work. We had a long Sunday. Here are the details:
5:24 a.m. - I wake. I want to get up and go for a walk, but I had promised Christine I wouldn't. I roll over and accidentally kick her. It's not going to be a good day.
5:57 - I wake up again, relieved because I didn't think I'd fall back asleep. My mind doesn't properly compute the time and I think it's 7, not 6. Back to bed for another hour.
6:57 - I finally wake up for real. Do my morning sit-ups. Christine wakes up. We have bagels, pack up in case we don't have time to come home and change, and are out the door at 10:04.
11:37 - We arrive at the church; mass starts at noon.
12:15 p.m. - Christine remembers why we worship at the church of baseball. Services drag more than a Red Sox-Yankees game.
12:29 - During the part of mass where we're supposed to pray for specific dead or sick people, I pray for Adam Eaton. Immediately, I realize I should have prayed for Jimmy Rollins.
1:13 - Church ends. Picture-taking ends at 1:35, and we arrive at the restaurant 15 minutes later after getting some bad directions.
4:00 - We leave the party so we can stop at home to get changed before the game.
4:47 - While listening to the Yankees game, the announcers mention Alex Rodriguez's injury - another victim of the
2007 MVP jinx. And we don't even know yet that J-Roll was DL'd.
5:57 - We get home, change and are out the door at 6:18. Three minutes later, Christine says we're going to switch our ballpark seats because of
last week's beer incident. We park at 6:44.
7:01 - Inside the stadium, a squirrel runs in front of us and under a sausage stand. We've never seen a squirrel in Citizens Bank Park before. Three minutes later, while buying a scorecard, I notice they sell Red Sox yearbooks. I buy one to match the 2005 championship edition.
7:58 - Mets fans boo a Richie Ashburn tribute; I don't think even Yankee fans are that classless. Minutes later, they refrain from booing during a moment of silence for John Marzano.
8:15 - Drunk guy from last week feigns an apology; turns out he dropped something again (his ticket) and needs me to get it from under my seat.
8:26 - Chase Utley homers, giving hope that we may actually see a win.
8:46 - Big cheer when they display the score from the 76ers surprise comeback win against the Pistons. (I don't understand why they don't post running scores in the park when baseball games coincide with playoff hockey and basketball.)
8:50 - Mets fans do the Jose soccer chant for Jose Reyes; Phillies fans tauntingly sing it back after he flies out.
9:25 - Kyle Kendrick appears on the big board wishing a happy birthday to all.
9:45 - Utley homers again, giving the Phillies a 4-0 lead, which seems like it may be enough.
9:53 - Mets fans do the Jose chant again; Phils fans can only boo in response after he triples.
9:55 - A cute little kid who spent the game looking through a pack of baseball cards taps me on the shoulder. "Are you a Mets fan?" he asks. "No," I reply to his satisfaction.
10:00 - The prayer didn't work. Eaton is removed without retiring a batter in the sixth. Game is tied by inning's end.
10:13 - We don't know J-Roll or Chris Snelling was DL'd before the game. We add to the chorus of "Who?" when T.J. Bohn is announced as a pinch hitter.
10:37 - Pedro Feliz hits a pinch-hit homer, seconds after Christine cringes that he's in the game. She apologizes.
10:47 - Charlie Manuel does his usual move of pinch-running So Taguchi for Pat Burrell in the 7th inning. Only problem, he waits a whole at-bat before making the move. It's like he's teasing us that he may actually leave Burrell in.
10:59 - So Taguchi misplays a single into a double for Raul Casanova. And Burrell would have botched it worse, how?
11:23 - After a little scare, Brad Lidge ends the game with a great (lucky) play by Eric Bruntlett. The ump hesitates, almost teasing the crowd before calling Carlos Beltran out. Guy in my row starts yelling at me that Bruntlett's the MVP. The play is the Web gem of the night, we later learn.
12:57 - In bed and lights out.
Random notes from the stands: Eaton led off the bottom of the 3rd with a walk. Werth grounded into a fielder's choice that could have been a double play if not for Eaton's hard slide into second. It didn't lead to any runs, but it was good, hard base running by a pitcher. ... Ryan Howard actually made some nice plays in the field. ... A kid in front of us had a sign - the back said "Mets suck," but we never got to see the front. He also wore a mask and gloves to look like a skeleton. He kept putting them on and off all night. We called him Skeletor. ... It was painfully cold and windy again.
Day's stats:-235 miles driven
-5 hours in the car
-1.5 hours in church
-4 hours in the ballpark
-2 wins, 1 each from Red Sox and Phillies
-2 tired SoxandPhils contributors
If you were in a coma and missed the Phillies-Mets rivalry in 2007, tonight's game was a pretty good replica.
