A TerMET Art Field Trip to Shea Stadium

Man cannot love on bread and Don Siegel movies alone. That is why last night R.E.S. and I braved the elements and the 7 train, and paid homage to one of the titans of New York sports.


Baseball's opening day was Sunday the 2nd. The Mets first game was Monday the 3rd. But an injury-plagued spring bumped Pedro from an anticipated opening day start to Thursday. So today was Pedro Opening Day, a holiday I will now celebrate every year in whatever fashion Mr. Martinez dictates.

Thursday night's game — an ideal "value" level night, meaning our upper deck seats were just five dollars — was the rubber game of the Mets first series of 2006, against division rivals the Washington Nationals. Even if you happened to miss the signs, even if you were excited to see new Mets like Carlos Delgado or Paul Lo Duca, there was no doubting who everyone was there to see.


Not shockingly, Martinez, in just his third start of the year, was not sharp, but the game was never boring. Struggling with his command, Martinez plunked four Nationals, including the dangerous Jose Guillen twice. After his second beaning, Guillen pointed his bat at Martinez and marched towards the mound, prompting both benches and bullpens to clear. It was awesome.


The game had a little bit of everything: homeruns from Delgado and Carlos Beltran (silencing his critics in a most satisfying fashion); at-the-dish heroics from Cliff Floyd, Xavier Nady, and even Martinez, helping his own cause with a 1 out RBI single past a drawn in infield; a stand-up triple from Jose Reyes; and even a dominant relief performance from submariner Chad Bradford, who dazzled the Nats with physics defying 80mph fastball and a 65mph change.

Still, there were some downsides. April in the upper deck at Shea can be a bitterly cold proposition, as R.E.S. quickly learned.


Nevertheless, the sacrifices were worth such a glorious 10-5 victory. The Metropolitans looked very good, at the cusp of a new era. It was sunset as we approached Shea, but from our vantage point, it looked a bit like a new dawn.