What's Under That Coat??

Here's a recap of the weekend:

The Mets were in town this weekend to play the Nats at RFK. We were there on our own on Friday night and then with Debbie and Eric on Saturday and Sunday. The seats were wonderful. To give you an idea, our worst seats of the weekend were Friday night where we sat in the lower bowl, about 15 rows back from the first base bag.

On Friday I came direct from work so I was able to see batting practice. I sat down with a pretzel and a beer to enjoy the late afternoon. That view brought me to a thought: Why do adults cram in with the kids seeking player autographs? I mean the kids don't know any better that the players are very unlikely to come over and sign more then one or two these days. But the adults do no better and I wonder how many of them actually care about the autograph or are just looking to sell it on e-bay later that night.

This brings me to balls tossed to the crowd by players leaving the field. Over the weekend I saw too many occurrences of a player tossing the ball to a kid (a very nice gesture for which the kids' smiles outshine the sun) and an adult sitting nearby sticks up his arm (almost always a male, although I did see a woman do this on Sunday) and takes the ball. These fans should be tossed out immediately and their season tickets (if applicable) should be revoked with the ball club donating the seats for the rest of the year to kids charities.

Saturday we did a little tailgating with the new car. We threw the grill and some chairs in the back, picked up Debbie and Eric and hit the road. On the menu: Chili-Lime Burgers, Chicken Sausages, Potato Salad, Pickles, chips, and fresh salsa (thanks to Jenna for the tomatoes). Our seats were 3 rows back of the Mets on-deck circle. I do have to note that Mike DeFelice threw another ball our way (he tossed us one 2 years ago). The problem was he threw it right to Eric (there were no kids around). So to recap, in a sea of Met fans, he threw the ball to a Yankee fan. Go Figure!

The best part (other then, as the girls put it, "David Wright's butt") was seeing Rickey Henderson. Rickey says that Rickey looks good. Rickey also likes to stretch in the First Base Coaches Box just in case they need Rickey as a pinch runner. Rickey likes to stay loose in case Rickey needs to run. Rickey, Rickey, Rickey.




Sunday we were on the other side of the field, 2 rows back of the third base bag. The seats were obviously great and the fact that the Mets swept the series even better. But what really got me thinking was the presence of McGruff the Crime Dog on the field during the pre-game ceremonies. I think the concept/character of McGruff is a great idea, especially for kids who learn valuable safety tips in an easy to understand way. The part that bothers me is the choice for costuming the crime-fighting dog. I never noticed it until yesterday, but, here's a dog walking around with nothing but a raincoat on (picture is not actually from our game but you get the idea). Any idea on whats under his raincoat? I don't want to think about it in light of all the work he does with kids, but perhaps somebody might have wanted to leave a top button opened with the look of a white shirt and black tie or something similar. I'm not saying he IS a flasher, but he COULD BE a flasher and that is disturbing. He could also be a Moper (exposing yourself to a blind person), but that's a Revenge of the Nerds thing.