Friday night, Squawker Lisa and I made our first trip out to Citi Field this year, along with our friend David, and we caught a glimpse into a bright future for the Mets. A dominant pitcher, productive sluggers and an energized ballpark. While it was great to see Ike Davis and Luca Duda homer twice each, particularly when two of those homers came off of Stephen Strasburg, the main reason to cheer was Matt Harvey. The Mets’ history revolves around ace pitchers, and the Mets appear to have another one.
I grew up planning my trips to the ballpark around when Tom Seaver was pitching. Then it was Dwight Gooden. Last year, I went to the last home game of the year to see R.A. Dickey win his 20th. But at the start of 2013, the only pitcher I thought about planning to see was Dickey returning to New York as a Blue Jay and pitching at Yankee Stadium. Now it’s time to start seeing when Harvey pitches next.
The Nationals are the team picked by many to go the World Series. The other two pitching matchups this weekend are Gio Gonzalez vs. Jeremy Hefner and Jordan Zimmermann vs. Dillon Gee. Anything can happen and I hope for the best, but, well, at least today is Bark in the Park and tomorrow is Ron Darling Bobblehead Day.
But the Nationals’ top pitcher, the one expected to lead his team to domination of the Mets’ division for the next decade, couldn’t dominate the Mets last night, while the Mets’ top pitcher showed that when he’s on the mound, a so-so Met team can compete with anyone.
Last night, fans also got to cheer the announcement of the capture of the second Boston Marathon bombing suspect. I appreciated the playing of Boston-themed music before each inning. Even Lisa approved, though when “Sweet Caroline” was played in the ninth, she drew the line at joining me in singing along.
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