(Sunday Paper, Year VII, Issue 39)

Earlier this month Kathy told me that she was going to a work-related event at a Worcester Red Sox game, and she asked if I would like to join her.

That’s the Red Sox AAA team - I’ll explain more about that in a minute.

It was on Thursday night and there would need to be a dance pickup and although I wanted to check out the ballpark I figured I would do it another time with the whole family.

Then she told me they were playing the Mets’ AAA affiliate.

So on Thursday, she and I went to a minor league baseball game.

I enjoy minor league baseball.

Occasionally you’ll see a future star. Sometimes you’ll see a guy who’s supposed to be a star who doesn’t make it like he’s supposed to.

Often, with the family, it’s a more fan-friendly experience and way more economical than a major league game.

We’ve seen a few Lowell Spinners games as a family over the past few years - for a while that was the closest minor league team.

Then the Red Sox moved their AAA (that’s the level just below the majors) team from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to Worcester - just a half an hour away.

I’ve seen the Mets’ minor league affiliates three times now in person - some time between 2009 and 2012 I saw the Binghamton Mets play in Manchester, New Hampshire to check out a pitcher who was supposed to be something and never turned into anything.

Back in 2006 Kathy and I and a couple of friends drove down to Pawtucket and saw the Norfolk Tides play the PawSox, to get an up close look at future Mets star Lastings Milledge. (He, too, didn’t turn out to be a star.)

And then on Thursday night we saw the Syracuse Mets take on the WooSox.

The Mets’ top prospect, Francisco Álvarez, started behind the plate. One of my favorite Mets, Dominic Smith, who is rehabbing an ankle injury (but really being held in the minors because there’s no room right now at the majors, where he’s struggled this year) was the DH. Rehabbing pitcher Joey Lucchesi was the starter.

The Mets won, but it doesn’t matter. I’m sure minor league results matter to a lot of people, but I’m not necessarily going to minor league games for wins and losses. I like seeing the players, and in this case, checking out the ballpark.

Polar Park is very nice. With Kathy’s work event there was food and drink provided in a party area, so that was cool to experience. But there’s so much more to check out - I did one walking lap of the park and there are a ton of places to hang out and watch the game or grab a snack.

I’m looking forward to going back with the whole family.

They don’t even have to be playing the Mets.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

“The Beatles” - The Beatles
“Lodger” - David Bowie
“Nimrod” - Green Day
“A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” - Panic! At The Disco
The Bridges of Madison County
Girl, Interrupted
A Clockwork Orange
Bohemian Rhapsody

The White Album - as that Beatles album is more commonly known - probably falls into that “I can’t believe you haven’t listened to that one” category. And I’ve definitely been around when it was playing, I’ve definitely heard most of the songs…but I had never listened to it start to finish.

Notes

*To anyone wondering how the first weekend of watching the Jets in New York went: I don’t think it’ll be topped, to be honest. The Jets did a very un-Jets-like thing and won a game they trailed late - they scored two touchdowns in the final 1:20 of the game and won. It was crazy.

*A few wild stats that came out of last Sunday’s performance: It was the Jets’ first September win since 2018, it was the first time a team won when trailing by that much that late in about 2,000 NFL games…and when the Mets won later that day it was the first time the Mets and Jets won on the same day since October of 2015.

*Again, if future Sundays beat that one it’ll be a fun fall and winter.

*After that Sunday win the Mets spent most of the week winning…and Atlanta even lost a couple of games. So the Mets opened up a little bit of breathing room in the division. There’s a big weekend series shaping up in Atlanta next weekend, but the Mets’ magic number to win the division (and get a first round playoff bye) keeps shrinking.

*This is cool. As you may or may not know Matthew has been opening shows for Kathleen Edwards for the past couple of months. One time a long time ago, he asked if I knew Kathleen Edwards. I did - a radio station here that I listen to all the time played her a lot years ago. She had a hit titled Six O’Clock News. I also bought a CD of live performances through the radio station, and that song was on the CD. I dug up the CD the other day to make sure I remembered correctly that I owned it….and I found it. It dates back to 2003, and Track 14 is Kathleen Edwards.

But the reason I bring this all up is that last Sunday Matt didn’t open - he played in Kathleen’s band at a music festival in Philadelphia. And it was live streamed, so after the Mets game my parents and I popped that on. We missed a couple of songs, but we saw Matt playing guitar on Six O’Clock News, and that was a pretty cool full circle event.

*I told you it would be a hard Sunday to beat.

*Anyway, support my brother and his music. Here’s his website, where you can find out all you need to know.

*My social media links are below - thanks for checking them out. Or, if they brought you here, thanks for visiting!