After watching the Yankees lose Thursday, the Squawkers completed their Camden Yards road trip with Friday night’s Met game. There were almost as many Met fans in attendance as there were Yankee fans the previous night. Some were posing for photos with Boog Powell, who was signing autographs in front of Boog’s BBQ. Others were wearing the floppy Orioles hats that were being given out that evening. The hats are reversible, orange side and white side, and the orange side matches the orange Met shirts some fans were wearing.
It was great to finally visit the ballpark that started the retro trend, and Camden Yards is a nice place, but I prefer Citi Field, especially the food. We were not overwhelmed by the beef sandwiches we had at Boog’s. The boardwalk fries were regular fries with self-serve Old Bay seasoning. I did enjoy my crab cake Friday night, as well as some local Heavy Seas beer. Lisa liked her grill dog and frozen margarita, which she was able to buy from a vendor in the stands.
We were sitting in the lower level with a mix of Met and Oriole fans. The most fervent Oriole fan was wearing, of all things, an Albert Belle shirt. The Orioles have a proud history, but aside from some Cal Ripken shirts, I only saw a couple of Jim Palmer shirts. No Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson or Boog. Met fans were wearing Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza and we even saw a Bud Harrelson.
It is still hard for me to get used to the idea that the Orioles’ manager is Juan Samuel, part of one of the worst trades in Met history. The Mets traded Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell to the Phillies almost exactly 21 years ago (June 18, 1989) for Samuel. What is it about players the Mets get in horrible trades ending up managers? First Jim Fregosi and now Samuel. Samuel is only interim, but now the Orioles are said to be interviewing Bobby Valentine.
As for the game, I was at first disappointed to be seeing R.A. Dickey again. I had seen him shut down the Phillies a couple of weeks ago and figured that his luck was bound to run out. Jon Niese was originally scheduled to pitch Friday night before he switched spots with Dickey, and Niese was almost unhittable Thursday night. Who knows, if Niese had pitched Friday night, maybe I would have gotten to see the elusive Met no-hitter.
But as it turned out, Dickey nearly completed another no-run performance, finally giving up a run with two outs in the seventh.
In the only other Met game Squawker Lisa has attended this season, Ike Davis hit his first major-league homer. Tonight, Chris Carter did the same. Jesus Feliciano will want to be in the lineup for Lisa’s next Met game.
Saturday night is Orioles/Ravens Rally Cap Night, and there was an announcement that the caps had not yet arrived, and if they didn’t make it by gametime, fans would get vouchers. This really is some franchise.
But they do have a nice ballpark, and now the Mets actually have a chance to win a series on the road.
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