Father’s Day With The Mets – Hometown View

There are really not all that many benefits to getting older but indirectly I got one yesterday and it had to do with Father’s Day.

When you are a young father the gifts you receive are either the hand-made variety or ones that are really purchased by your wife. However there does become a time when your kids are old enough that on Father’s Day the gifts comes from them and with a 26-year old son and 20-year old daughter I have certainly arrived at that point.

There were many fathers among the 40,000 at CitiField Sunday for the Mets-Reds game but not too many that had better accommodations. My son Brandon had arranged for me, my brother and his 5-year old son to enjoy the game with him in the SNY Luxury Suite which simply is about as good as it gets. Never mind the food and drink which was plentiful, the TV’s, private bathroom, great service and of course seat location. It was all spectacular but secondary to knowing that Brandon has gotten to a point in his life where I’m relying on him to get things and not the other way around. The best I can do is secure good seats for the BlueClaws…not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The only downside to yesterday in addition to the Mets losing was once again I was denied the chance to see Todd Frazier play as Reds manager Dusty Baker gave him the day off. Last year we traveled to Philadelphia after he was called up by the Reds, only to find out as we were driving that he had been sent right down to the minors. While we were disappointed that the former Toms River South and Rutgers standout did not play we managed to catch up with him after the game outside the Cincinnati clubhouse. It’s been a magical couple of months for the 26-year old Frazier who is among the leading rookies in the National League.

His chance to become a regular player came when 3rd baseman Scott Rolen was injured but the 8-time Gold Glove winner comes off the disabled list today and moves back into the starting lineup. However it appears Todd will now move into the outfield and get some action there as well so it does not appear that the minor leagues are in his immediate future.

Among those at the game yesterday were Todd’s parents Charlie & Joan and older brother Charlie along with Fred Hill, his former coach at Rutgers. His high school coach Ken Frank and his family were at the game Saturday.