(Sunday Paper, Year VIII, Issue 15)

As you read this the great Mets experiment (ExperiMets?) of 2023 is underway.

Depending on the time of day I’m either on my way to or at Citi Field (or on the way home, I guess) for my first of many Sunday baseball games.

There was a bit of a scare this week - after a 3-1 start, the Mets dropped three in a row in Milwaukee.

And for a little while I worried, “Oh my goodness what if the Mets are terrible this year.”

I wondered if I had made a mistake.

But I’m here to tell you it would be hard for me to regret buying these tickets this year.

Let me be clear: I am 100% counting on a deep playoff run for the Mets this year.

It’s what I do. Even though they’ve done nothing but let me down for almost 40 years, I am all-in every year.

But I’ve also always wanted to have free reign to go to Mets games whenever I wanted. That’s not exactly what I’ve done this year, but it’s kind of close.

And here’s the thing - I love going to baseball games.

The ballpark is a place I’ve always felt at home. Any ballpark.

In the years I’ve lived in the Boston area I’m sure I’ve been to Fenway Park as much as I’ve ever been to Shea Stadium.

In any city I go to I love getting a sense of where the ballpark is located, and of course, if it’s baseball season, going to a game.

I worried when the Mets opened Citi Field about what if I didn’t like it as much as I liked these other beautiful new ballparks all around the major leagues?

But luckily it’s one of the best I’ve been to.

I’ve had this thought ever since I was a little kid and I go to a place I really like. I think, “I could live here.”

Whenever I’m in a ballpark I think about moving in. Needless to say Citi Field would be some luxury living.

So even if the Mets are not as good as I want them to be this year, I’m still going to a bunch of games at Citi Field, which is pretty great in and of itself.

And each game I’ll get to spend some time with some of my favorite people.

So that’s not at all a bad thing.

And today is the beginning of that experience.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

Have you been watching the new season of Ted Lasso? I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m happy to report that this season is living up to the high expectations I set for it. But the one thing I didn’t mention when I was re-watching the first two seasons by myself is that this show is appointment viewing for me and Kathy together. Which is nice, because that just doesn’t happen anymore.

I mentioned this in the past, but there have been very few shows in recent years that we watch together. How I Met Your Mother is the last long series I remember the two of us making time to watch together without the kids. So every Wednesday evening we have about an hour carved out to watch a show we both enjoy. And I enjoy that.

Notes

*One of the fun things about the season’s first trip to the ballpark is seeing all the new things that have been added. This year that’s the massive scoreboard in center field - it hasn’t looked all that much larger on TV but everyone in person raves about how big it is. And - not new, but new to me, since I haven’t been to Citi Field since once in 2021 (in July) - I have yet to see the Tom Seaver statue they put in front of the ballpark.

*Running Update: There is none, really. I’ve been resting my legs - and especially my feet - these past few weeks. There’s plenty of time to build that mileage back up before the training gets serious for the Chicago Marathon (which, Kevin pointed out to me yesterday, is now six months away). I need to build back up to about 8 miles by early June…which really isn’t all that far away anymore. It’s quite exciting.

*I’ll have more things to say soon about the New York Times Games app and my performance therein…but one thing I keep forgetting to note here is that I don’t think I’m very good at Wordle. Lost for the second time in two weeks the other day.

*I’m excited to fill you in on the first trip to the ballpark. I have something else to write about next week, but expect the first trip recap in a couple of weeks. Among the aspects I’m excited about: getting to the game in a new way that I’ve never tried before.

*There’s a chance I posted about that on social media before I write about it here - you can keep tabs on all that at the social media links below. Thanks for following along!