Opening Day 2006: LET'S GO!
Hell of a day yesterday, what follows below is a chronicle of a day in the life of one very happy Mets fan. Our story begins early Monday morning...
3:45 a.m.: I can't sleep at all. The combination of the excitement for Opening Day and the fact that I slept until 4 p.m. on Sunday were the two
causes. I threw on HBO on Demand and put on Major League. I figured
that was as strong a karma move as I could play
8:30 a.m.: Fresh off three terrible hours of sleep, two trips to vivid.com, and a few late night stops to the office, Sippy Sr. came in for what
was a bittersweet wakeup call.
The best day of the year was finally here.
9:10 a.m.: Me, Cousin, AFOMG, and Steamin' Mikey Lehman met up at Andy's Deli, The official deli of Y2k. We picked up some sandwiches, chips, 40's, gave some love to the morning deli guy, and of course the NY Post. God bless her.
9:50 a.m.: We catch our first sight of the greatest place in the world. Sure people knock it as a dump, but Shea is Shea and if you're a Mets fan you love it.
As Little Mikey said, "It's going to be sad to see it go." That's a theme we can take up another time but suffice it to say that I kind of like that Shea is a shit hole.
10:15 a.m.: We find our spot in the Shea Parking Lot. As Cousin says, "There is not a person in the world who is a Mets fan that I wouldn't be friends with."
Shit is the truth. Seeing Mets fans at Shea really just puts a smile on a good man's face. There was an exciement in the parking lot that I haven't seen since, sadly, 2002, the 1000 run Mets... Unfortunately that didn't work.
10:16 a.m.: Cousin follows his love for Mets fans statement with: "In additiion, there isn't a Yankee fan in the world that I wouldn't fight."
Good thing for us my cousin can really mash.
12:15 p.m.: After a couple of solid hours with our parking lot brethren, we decide it's time to make our move. By now Goat and Beeg had come to meet us. We wanted to make it into the stadium for introductions. By the way. It's fucking freezing.
12:30 p.m.: Having separated from AFOMG, Mikey, and Beeg, we get to our seats, Mezz reserve, I was buying them. I usually make it out to Shea about 30 times a year, and real truth is, I don't care where I sit. But these seats were great.
It was me, Cousin, and Goat, and about 9 of cousin's Jersey crew. Mets chants were mixed heavily with cheers for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Jersey is Jersey and it's not a bad place.
1:00 p.m.: Goose Bumps. I love few things the way I love being there for player introductions and it was nice hearing the friendly greets of the Shea faithful. The reception that Pedro got was great. The guy is true energy.
But there wasn't a better feeling in sports like the moment after Carlos Delgado was introduced. There was an electricity at Shea that I've felt twice in my life; the 10 run 8th and Robin's grand slam single.
The crowd waited in anticipation, the 5 seconds felt like 5 years.
"The third baseman, number 5... DAAAVid Wright!"
There was an eruption unlike few I've ever seen. I've been there for every Opening Day since 1996 and no player has come close to the love that the kid got. Not even the Monster.
For the first time in 17 years, I had confidence in the Mets. It was a really weird feeling.
3:00 p.m.: Tommy the Spy looked like he did the entire second half of '05. He would get into jams and work his way out. I don't really remember any Nat really making solid contact against him all day.
D Wright just went ding dong.
Carlos Beltran was as unclutch as Joakim Noah is heinous looking and the crowd was really letting him hear about it.
The Mets weren't playing the best baseball, they had 3 very bad plays:
1. Xavier Nady not tagging on the Reyes line drive to left, although in fairness line drives are harder to tag successfully on than lazy fly balls.
2. Beltran's failure to bring in the guy from third with 1 out.
3. Anderson Hernandez going to 1st instead of 2nd when the Nationals baserunner stopped to try and prevent the double play.
Yet we were up 3-1. We were winning a game with pitching even though nothing looked really solid.
THE SIGN OF A GOOD TEAM.
As all Mets fan were thinking, this is exactly how we scripted it. Take a lead into the late innings and go to the pen.
Heilman, Sanchez and Wagner and I can get out of the fucking cold.
3:05 p.m.: I made my rounds at Shea. T Kid, Sacco and Little Mac. Nick the Voice and his crew. Jimmy Thumbs and his crew.
As I've said many times before, the Mets are a lot of who I am, as are my friends, and seeing so many of them at the park made me one happy Sip.
I was literally grinning cheek to cheek the whole day. Sorry to get sentimental, even Happy Willish, but this really is my favorite day.
3:15 p.m.: Aaron Heilman, the guy we thought was lights out, was anything but. He got hit and he got hit hard.
He got saved by a bad call at home, when Paul Lo Duca bobbled the tag on Soriano.
The Hulk called me from LA right away to tell me that it was a bad one. Much love, Big Fella.
But in spite of it all, when all was said done and Heilman had left the game, he had done his job. He got us to the biggest little guy in the game with the lead intact.
3:55 p.m.: ENTER SANDMAN
It kills me that Mo Rivera comes out to this song. This was the self-chosen warm up music for my 13 year old camp basketball team. That was 1995.
So to Mike and the Mad Dog and all the freaks from the Fan, that song is not Mariano's it is Sippy Momo's.
And Billy, if you're reading this, you have my blessing to come out to it.
Either way, I got chills. I'm a big sucker for those songs that make you want to lift or fight or compete. It's the meathead in me you might say.
BW breezes through the first two hitters. Shea is unbelievable and I am silent.
3:59 p.m.: Shea is going nuts as Billy Wagner works through the ninth. The crowd is rocking and my cousin's insanely drunken friend keeps slapping my shoulders. I can't move. I've been alive 23 years and I have never had a closer that CLOSES games.
4:02 p.m.: LETS GO!!!
Despite God pissing on us with his lovely 42 degrees and Brick, Opening Day was perfect.
Had most of the crew there. To the ones who couldn't be there, Nails and KFC especially, you were missed but definitely not forgotten.
As I've said, the Mets won this game without playing that well. Reyes and the Carlos' were 0 for 70 and Heilman was by no means sharp.
But there were a ton of huge bright spots.
Among them was Xavier Nady. If this guy goes for 15 and 70 out of the seven spot then
we are in great shape.
Tommy the Spy looked like he was in a Braves uniform again.
And most importantly, Shea was an awesome place to be. To all the people we met in the parking lot or in my section or the Soda guy who was peddling "Lukewarm Pepsi," it's truly a pleasure to share this team with you.
A lot of people looked at me like I was crazy for flying in from California to go to this game.
Every time they asked I told them, "It's my hobby. The Mets are what I do."
I'm not as optimistic as most of you guys are but that doesn't matter. We have about 5000 hours of baseball ahead of us over the next 6 months, and if for whatever reason we are here for some additional ones, you guys know where I can be.
Not like I got much else going for me.
Let's have a great season guys.
Vaya con dios,
Sippy Momo
3:45 a.m.: I can't sleep at all. The combination of the excitement for Opening Day and the fact that I slept until 4 p.m. on Sunday were the two
causes. I threw on HBO on Demand and put on Major League. I figured
that was as strong a karma move as I could play
8:30 a.m.: Fresh off three terrible hours of sleep, two trips to vivid.com, and a few late night stops to the office, Sippy Sr. came in for what
was a bittersweet wakeup call.
The best day of the year was finally here.
9:10 a.m.: Me, Cousin, AFOMG, and Steamin' Mikey Lehman met up at Andy's Deli, The official deli of Y2k. We picked up some sandwiches, chips, 40's, gave some love to the morning deli guy, and of course the NY Post. God bless her.
9:50 a.m.: We catch our first sight of the greatest place in the world. Sure people knock it as a dump, but Shea is Shea and if you're a Mets fan you love it.
As Little Mikey said, "It's going to be sad to see it go." That's a theme we can take up another time but suffice it to say that I kind of like that Shea is a shit hole.
10:15 a.m.: We find our spot in the Shea Parking Lot. As Cousin says, "There is not a person in the world who is a Mets fan that I wouldn't be friends with."
Shit is the truth. Seeing Mets fans at Shea really just puts a smile on a good man's face. There was an exciement in the parking lot that I haven't seen since, sadly, 2002, the 1000 run Mets... Unfortunately that didn't work.
10:16 a.m.: Cousin follows his love for Mets fans statement with: "In additiion, there isn't a Yankee fan in the world that I wouldn't fight."
Good thing for us my cousin can really mash.
12:15 p.m.: After a couple of solid hours with our parking lot brethren, we decide it's time to make our move. By now Goat and Beeg had come to meet us. We wanted to make it into the stadium for introductions. By the way. It's fucking freezing.
12:30 p.m.: Having separated from AFOMG, Mikey, and Beeg, we get to our seats, Mezz reserve, I was buying them. I usually make it out to Shea about 30 times a year, and real truth is, I don't care where I sit. But these seats were great.
It was me, Cousin, and Goat, and about 9 of cousin's Jersey crew. Mets chants were mixed heavily with cheers for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Jersey is Jersey and it's not a bad place.
1:00 p.m.: Goose Bumps. I love few things the way I love being there for player introductions and it was nice hearing the friendly greets of the Shea faithful. The reception that Pedro got was great. The guy is true energy.
But there wasn't a better feeling in sports like the moment after Carlos Delgado was introduced. There was an electricity at Shea that I've felt twice in my life; the 10 run 8th and Robin's grand slam single.
The crowd waited in anticipation, the 5 seconds felt like 5 years.
"The third baseman, number 5... DAAAVid Wright!"
There was an eruption unlike few I've ever seen. I've been there for every Opening Day since 1996 and no player has come close to the love that the kid got. Not even the Monster.
For the first time in 17 years, I had confidence in the Mets. It was a really weird feeling.
3:00 p.m.: Tommy the Spy looked like he did the entire second half of '05. He would get into jams and work his way out. I don't really remember any Nat really making solid contact against him all day.
D Wright just went ding dong.
Carlos Beltran was as unclutch as Joakim Noah is heinous looking and the crowd was really letting him hear about it.
The Mets weren't playing the best baseball, they had 3 very bad plays:
1. Xavier Nady not tagging on the Reyes line drive to left, although in fairness line drives are harder to tag successfully on than lazy fly balls.
2. Beltran's failure to bring in the guy from third with 1 out.
3. Anderson Hernandez going to 1st instead of 2nd when the Nationals baserunner stopped to try and prevent the double play.
Yet we were up 3-1. We were winning a game with pitching even though nothing looked really solid.
THE SIGN OF A GOOD TEAM.
As all Mets fan were thinking, this is exactly how we scripted it. Take a lead into the late innings and go to the pen.
Heilman, Sanchez and Wagner and I can get out of the fucking cold.
3:05 p.m.: I made my rounds at Shea. T Kid, Sacco and Little Mac. Nick the Voice and his crew. Jimmy Thumbs and his crew.
As I've said many times before, the Mets are a lot of who I am, as are my friends, and seeing so many of them at the park made me one happy Sip.
I was literally grinning cheek to cheek the whole day. Sorry to get sentimental, even Happy Willish, but this really is my favorite day.
3:15 p.m.: Aaron Heilman, the guy we thought was lights out, was anything but. He got hit and he got hit hard.
He got saved by a bad call at home, when Paul Lo Duca bobbled the tag on Soriano.
The Hulk called me from LA right away to tell me that it was a bad one. Much love, Big Fella.
But in spite of it all, when all was said done and Heilman had left the game, he had done his job. He got us to the biggest little guy in the game with the lead intact.
3:55 p.m.: ENTER SANDMAN
It kills me that Mo Rivera comes out to this song. This was the self-chosen warm up music for my 13 year old camp basketball team. That was 1995.
So to Mike and the Mad Dog and all the freaks from the Fan, that song is not Mariano's it is Sippy Momo's.
And Billy, if you're reading this, you have my blessing to come out to it.
Either way, I got chills. I'm a big sucker for those songs that make you want to lift or fight or compete. It's the meathead in me you might say.
BW breezes through the first two hitters. Shea is unbelievable and I am silent.
3:59 p.m.: Shea is going nuts as Billy Wagner works through the ninth. The crowd is rocking and my cousin's insanely drunken friend keeps slapping my shoulders. I can't move. I've been alive 23 years and I have never had a closer that CLOSES games.
4:02 p.m.: LETS GO!!!
Despite God pissing on us with his lovely 42 degrees and Brick, Opening Day was perfect.
Had most of the crew there. To the ones who couldn't be there, Nails and KFC especially, you were missed but definitely not forgotten.
As I've said, the Mets won this game without playing that well. Reyes and the Carlos' were 0 for 70 and Heilman was by no means sharp.
But there were a ton of huge bright spots.
Among them was Xavier Nady. If this guy goes for 15 and 70 out of the seven spot then
we are in great shape.
Tommy the Spy looked like he was in a Braves uniform again.
And most importantly, Shea was an awesome place to be. To all the people we met in the parking lot or in my section or the Soda guy who was peddling "Lukewarm Pepsi," it's truly a pleasure to share this team with you.
A lot of people looked at me like I was crazy for flying in from California to go to this game.
Every time they asked I told them, "It's my hobby. The Mets are what I do."
I'm not as optimistic as most of you guys are but that doesn't matter. We have about 5000 hours of baseball ahead of us over the next 6 months, and if for whatever reason we are here for some additional ones, you guys know where I can be.
Not like I got much else going for me.
Let's have a great season guys.
Vaya con dios,
Sippy Momo
posted by Sippy Momo at 9:07 AM
6 Comments:
little mikey? i'm bigger than you.
The 1995 cedar 13U team came out to "Wherever I May Roam" not "Enter Sandman" although both were tracks on Metallica's seminal self titled album.
Will be at the RFK on Tuesday to ruin the Nats home opener. Was living and dying wiht every pitch from palm beach. salt, as you might say. Haven't had as much fun reading the Washington Post since the Wellington Mara game.
Not sure who this Mr. annonymus is, must be a wildwood kid. But youre definitely wrong. The 15's may have come out to wherever I may roam but we definitely came out to Enter Sandman. So again, Billy, its cool to use it.
My Court!
Glad you liked the seats cousin. Next time your in town ill make sure we get out to shea!
To Mark Feinsand:
I just finished reading one of your articles on www.yankees.com, and I have to admit that I’m not sure what kind of booing Mets fans did on opening day towards Billy Wagner. In fact, having been there myself and having a reasonable ability to recall FACTS from the REAL WORLD, I’m pretty sure you just made that entire situation up. Pathetic, bro: really pathetic. The crowd went wild for Wags and roared louder when he sprinted in than at any other part of the game. Why you’d feel the need to fabricate a report about fans booing, let alone write this completely mundane, pointless, and played-out article is beyond me. The Yankees are the most storied tradition in all sports, WHY ARE YOU WRITING ABOUT BILLY WAGNER’S ENTRY SONG? Try a REAL CAREER in journalism, jackass! Furthermore, I think fatty Mike Francessa made your article’s sadly lone point about two billion times yesterday. My point is: write about baseball (not about Metallica), and try not to blatantly make stuff up to bolster your nonsensical articles! Bad luck with your career and I hope you have an unpleasant April!
Sincerely,
Jared
PS I am referring to this piece of junk with your tag on the byline (if you couldn’t tell which piece of junk was in question): http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060404&content_id=1384072&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy
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