A Night in Queens

The bad news: the season is over for the Mets. The good news: I’ll get more than two hours sleep now that it’s all over.

As they did in all four of their victories the resilient Kansas City Royals claimed their first World Series championship in 30 years with a 7-2, 12-inning victory in game five which for the second straight night (morning) left most at CitiField in total dejection and depression. I know because I was one of them Saturday.

Yes I can cross one off my “bucket list” after experiencing my first World Series game over the weekend and it all likelihood it will be my last as well. Part of that is due to the fact that despite the Mets somewhat promising future there is no guarantee they’ll make it back to the series anytime soon. The Mets are not the Yankees where trips to the Fall Classic are part of your October calendar on an annual basis. This was only the third time in 30 years they had made it.

However the reason I can make a statement like I’ll never watch another World Series game in person is based more on logistics then the fact I’m 59 years old.
There is simply no easy way to go to a game at CitiField with 45,000 other people in attendance when you’re traveling from Ocean County. That is if you’re among the regular people who don’t travel by limousine and are not in some VIP club section. Let me give you my experience from Saturday.

So I drove to Hoboken to meet up with my kids Brandon and Alex and after watching the second half of the Penn State football game we took the PATH to New York City. There were no seats and the train was packed with young adults dressed for Halloween, many of whom didn’t even need costumes to look freaky.

At Penn Station we met up with Brandon’s friend Anthony and along with what seemed like thousands of others packed into an LIRR train like sardines headed to CitiField. Then it was more “pressing of the flesh” getting into the stadium and our seats and during the game you had to wait in line for the concession stand and the restrooms. It was much worse leaving and anyone with claustrophobia by this point would have gone down for the count. On the PATH back to Hoboken I was being squeezed by a couple dressed as monkeys who were right next to Captain America who kept giving me funny looks.

On the drive home I stopped for a terrible cup of coffee and near Red Bank came within a foot of hitting a deer. I still don’t know how I missed it before arriving home at 3am. Hey I’m not complaining and experiencing a World Series game with my children was very special. Next time though I’ll probably stay home.