MM's Day at the Ballpark: Mets vs. Reds, 7/27/11

Being from the Midwest, there's only a few times each year the Mets are close enough to see in person. So when I saw they were coming to Cincinnati, just three hours southeast of my home in West Lafayette, Indiana, Dad and I jumped at the chance to see them. We bought tickets to tonight's game and tomorrow's day game. And let me tell you something: it's gonna be hard to beat the time I had today at Great American Ball Park.

When I got to Cincinnati this afternoon, I read that sometime while I was on I-74, Carlos Beltran had been traded to the Giants. I knew it was coming and I was glad it was the Giants, but it was disappointing that we came just short of missing his last game. "Missed it by *that* much!" Turns out, this was the low point of the day: the rest of it was Amazin'.

I got there right when the ballpark opened and went down to the Mets' dugout. As Jose Reyes went out to take infield, I flashed him the spotlight. He flashed it right back. It was awesome.

Later on, Le Grande Orange Jr., Justin Turner, came out to sign autographs for fans, including yours truly. Dad even got a few pictures (see below).

Later on, something even more Amazin': who should be sitting right next to the Met fans in the row behind us? None other than Daniel Murphy's grandmother. They were spreading the word around until it got to the guy just behind us, who wasn't very much surprised...cause it was Murph's father. I even shook his hand. They were there to see their boy play major league baseball; so how does Daniel respond? Oh, just his first career 4-hit game, a couple doubles, an RBI, no biggie. The Murphy family should be given season tickets, maybe he'll do that every day.

But at the end of the day, the best part was just interacting with all the other Mets fans at Great American Ball Park. Yes, there were actually quite a few. Perhaps one of the best-kept secrets in the bigs: you have more fun watching your team on the road than at home. You see a Met fan in New York, it's ordinary. You see a Met fan in Cincinnati, it's like, "Hey! Go Mets!" It was like we were all in our own fraternity, united by the orange and blue of our team.

I even ran into someone I never expected to: not just another Met fan, not just another Met blogger, but an actual, genuine Met blogger from Indiana. Lee Harmon is his name, and you can find his blog at theAmazingSheaStadiumAutographProject.blogspot.com (long name...he knows).

It was an Amazin' day and an Amazin' game to see. Overall, the best time I've ever had at a baseball game. I won't forget this any time soon. Thanks team, thanks fans in Cincy. Good night, good luck, and Let's Go Mets.

MM

Here's a few pictures from the day:

On the way to the ballgame

Justin Turner signs my baseball

He even posed for a picture. Thanks, Justin!

SNY's own Kevin Burkhardt

Flexible Mr. Reyes

Could someone please explain the Dora backpack? Earlier this season I saw Dale Thayer with it, now Pedro Beato's got it. Is it some kind of bullpen tradition?

Hi Gary & Keith! Did you see my sign?

Simply No FYner! (The 8's for you, Mr. Carter)

Marvelous Mike Pelfrey, en route to his complete game

Big Dude's home run trot

Just a double, no biggie.

A Like-Minded Fan

Dee Snyder wannabees

Pelf finishes what he started

Aww, what a cute couple.

An Amazin' end to an Amazin' Day