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October 02, 2004
Wrapping the Season Part One
This has been an unusual Mets season as a spectator. People from all walks of life have been offering me tickets throughout the season and in most cases, they were offered on such short notice, I could rarely take advantage of them. I was flattered that enough people knew I was a fan to think of me when they couldn’t use their own tickets and disappointed when I could avail myself of them.
With the season winding down, though, I took one person up on his offer. Former Federal League owner Mike Wach is currently head of sales at WFAN and insisted on giving me tickets whenever I wanted. Rather than take advantage of his generosity, I waited and finally asked for the final game of the season. He happily came through and we were treated to lovely field level seats behind the visiting dugout.
As we prepared for the fun, a week prior to the game, the phone rang. Our friends Pattie and Jerry Mucha had won the MSG Skybox at the Church’s silent auction and were inviting us to join their extended family…on October 1. So suddenly, we were seeing two of the last three games that the Montreal Expos would play. The Muchas had sisters, bothers, in-laws and parents stuff the room along with their daughter Allie, who is a college freshman. We were the final two and it was a festive time.
The room came with a pre-ordered set of food as part of the deal so we arrived to hot dogs, crudités, fruit, nuts, peanuts, Cracker Jack, beer, wine and soda. Around the fourth inning, a pizza arrived. By the seventh, a platter of cookies and brownies. By the eighth, a Carvel cake turned up. We were all the way out in right field but the view was lovely. In sky boxes there are three rows of five seats and I wound up with a first row seat so I could use the ledge as a desk for keeping score. Half the people weren’t Mets fans and wound up spending most of the game in the lounge area enjoying the food and the company. Pattie, Allie, Deb and I were among the diehards who barely missed a pitch. Things started off well when the Mets scored two in the first but fairly quickly, the Expos tied it. Between innings, the scoreboard had tons of Expos trivia to share as well as updates on the key games of the night. When I saw the clock pass 9, I called Kate and let the girls catch up.
And Mr. Met stopped by. It seems he visits all the suites and Pattie, Allie, and others were giddy with joy and posed for pictures and shared high fives. A lovely touch to an otherwise poor game.
We were pleased to see Todd Zeile start and bat clean up, since after all, he’s retiring. He’s such a pro, a steadying influence in the clubhouse and a guy who knows how to do his job without showboating. He got another hit and an RBI, pushing his totals up a bit. He’ll never be a Hall of Famer, but the game will be a bit poorer without him next year.
Most of the national sports headlines were devoted to Houston taking the Wild Card and how the first round playoffs will match up.
Unnoticed, even by most here in NY, was the closing curtain to the Montreal Expos franchise. They opened at Shea Stadium in 1969 and it was fitting they closed their career here, too. It was a day of endings as the Art Howe era unceremoniously closed, John Franco made an appearance that is certain to be his final pro game and, as expected, Todd Zeile retired.
It made for a marvelous day at the ballpark. The sun was shining and warm, reaching no more than 70. Our gift seats were terrific and it was a well-played, fun game. Prior to the start, there were some presentations made from the team to Zeile as well as video tribute. Zeile, by his choice, caught, ending his career as he started it. He was behind the plate for seven innings, calling a good game for Tom Glavine, who needed a win to finish the year on a psychological up note. At the plate, Zeile made the fans remember him. His third and final at bat for the game, and for his career, was a terrific three-run homer that earned him a curtain call. When his time at bat game in the eighth, he came out, waved his bat to the fans in appreciation and then was replaced with a pinch hitter. After all, how do you top that homer?
The top of the eighth also had the future give way to the past as Heath Bell, a pitcher the Mets are counting on next season, left after two outs, allowing Howe to bring in Franco. And he was thrilled to be there, to take the mound and warm up to “Johnny B Goode.” He gave up a hit, which proved to be the final hit the Expos would record as a team, and then got the next batter to pop straight up, allowing Zeile to put it away.
We enjoyed the game and the 8-1 score, immensely. There were promotional t-shirts given away as we entered. An odd cross promotion from the WB network with adult sizes promoting Smallville and kids sizes pushing the new Batman animated series. Each also sported the Mets logo so it was a team specific event. Hot dogs and drinks were $2 each so we let Robbie indulge. He’s hit another growth spurt and the body needed fuel. The tally for nine innings: four hot dogs, slice of pizza, peanuts, Cracker Jack, French fries and two soft drinks. Between the stadium and our car he bought a pretzel just in case. Amazing.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at October 2, 2004 06:29 PM
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Comments
Frankly, I'm just saddened at the way that the Expos have been forced to make their exit from Canada. It's almost as if the league shutdown a decade ago just completely deflated them as a team. I know that the circumstances that led to this were considerably more complex than that, yes. But it still stinks.
Posted by: Dwight Williams at October 7, 2004 08:00 AM