Mets Madness

Every year, my daughter and I purchase some awesome tickets to go see the Mets play the Giants.  We don't really follow the Mets.  Well, a little bit we do.  I guess.  Usually in the form of watching a smattering of games here and there and hoping that the Mets don't pull a massive choke job. 

But the fact is that we are A's fans and not Giants fan.  It is also a fact that it's fun as hell to watch games at AT&T Park in San Francisco. As a matter of fact, it is mad crazy fun to watch games (especially if you're cheering the visiting team) from the awesome seats we spend a small fortune for.

We began our pilgrimage exactly one week ago today, Thursday, July 15th at 10:30.  An early start was a must for several reasons...not the least of which was the 100 degree plus weather which makes road trips a little less fun.

We had to be at John's house by 1:30 p.m. to pick up the tickets.  It's amazing that Redwood City is so bloody hot even though it is sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Bay on the east.  Of course it is a wide swatch of land, but I am never fully prepared for the hotness. 

Grabbed the tickets and made our way back to South San Francisco.  After a confusing and aggravating stop at Target, we checked in at our little "hotel" by the airport.  Wanted to stay in the City, but rooms were hard to come by and more expensive than usual for some reason.  This'll do.  We cleaned up and rested a bit from the heat...then headed to S.F. proper. 

After a quick stop at my sister's work to pick up her wallet for her, we headed out to Union Square for some walking and shopping.  Then lunch at the Burger Bar in Macy's.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY!  I am not kidding.  We were waiting for our food and I noticed this gentleman in a chef's apron walk by. Hmmm, that looks like Hubert Keller (owner of the Burger Bar and renowned French chef for the non-foodies).

Chef Keller is on the right

 My daughter promptly told me it couldn't be him.  Why would he be at Burger Bar in Macy's when he has other, more prestigious restaurants to oversee? 

He walked by again, erasing any doubt in my mind!  Yay!  I asked our waitress if Chef Keller was indeed in the restaurant.  She said he was and kindly offered to bring him over for a chat!  I felt a little sick at the thought.  What if I was all fan-girly and tongue-tied??  What if I couldn't understand his French accent and said something foolish??  So I politely declined but sent my compliments. Dammit!!!  Next time, I will be more self assured and prepared and will not pass up such a golden opportunity.

Here is the view from our table, up 6 stories overlooking Union Square:

Such a glorious day and the people watching is always supreme.  Even from on high. 

After shopping and lunch, we headed over to AT&T.   Normally we like to get to games early for batting practice.  The A's have kind of made BP irrelevant, which is sad.  It's a big part of the experience IMO, and you get up close and personal with the players which really adds to one's fandom.

However, because of our adventures and need for shopping, we didn't make it to the game until about 6:30.  Our seats, as previously mentioned, were prime and we quickly settled in.

The starting pitchers were Tim Lincecum for the Gnats

and R.A. Dickey (a knuckleballer) for the Mets.

Our seats are right behind the visiting dugout, four rows up.  Yum.  Perfect for player watching during warmups...

And action shots during the game.

I like Ike

It was a good game, although the Mets lost 1-0.  Lincecum was dealing and he seemed to be all over the basepaths too, although I don't know how accurate that is. 

Seriously, his hair is as long as mine

Being my usual camera-stalker, I have about 50 pictures from just this game.  Obviously, I ain't postin them all here. But if you'd like to see the entire album for this game clicky clicky.