Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I (Thea) received a financial windfall back in March, and decided to use the cash to go to a Phillies game. However, when we started to look for tickets at games that did not conflict with our schedule in May and June, we found that most of the games were sold out. Standing Room Only spots were $17.00, and I balked at the idea of standing for 3 hours. Fortunately, one of the staff members has a brother with 2 season tickets and he was looking to sell his seats for a few of the games. We were able to get seats at last Sunday's night game with the New York Mets.

We took the subway to the stadium and got there early so we could walk around the entire level and observe all the concession stands, memorabilia and all the bells and whistles this 5 year old stadium has. Our seats were on the fourth tier, but behind home plate so we had a good view of the batter and the giant tv screen. The people sitting around us were mostly young men and women, rabid fans but very courteous and willing to answer our questions as first time visitors to the stadium.

The Mets had a great pitcher for this game with a 90 mph fastball. The Phillies pitcher, Jamie Moyer, is old (46) for a major league player and his fastball was a mere 80 mph. However, he held his own. At the bottom of the fourth inning the score was Mets 5, Phillies 2. We were thinking it might be a rout for the home team. Then a few hits and walks later, the bases were loaded and the batter hit a grand slam. When a home run occurs, a giant neon Liberty Bell lights up, fireworks go up and the bell gongs. People were jumping up and down and high-fiving each others. More hits and another homer later, and the Phillies were up 11-5. That was pretty much the ballgame. We stayed until the end, took the subway home and got back around midnight.