Perhaps, bringing mom to her first Mets game, gave the team good luck...after losing 6 straight...Anyway, my mom has no interest whatsoever in baseball, but we had an extra ticket that we did not want to waste and she was the person I wanted to go with us. She reluctantly came, but as I started to explain the general basics of baseball, it took me about 3 innings for her to understand that pop fly balls are outs and that the idea is for the opposing team to catch the ball without it ever touching the ground...Mind you, I did this all in Cantonese, which I'm not fluent in...not grammatically anyway. So not only did I translate what I thought to be the right terms, I taught her baseball in another language. Perhaps I did not thoroughly explain every type of play there is or about singles, doubles, triples, grand slams or balks...But I did get her to pay closer attention to how many players are on the field. I think from that point on, after explaining over and over about if the ball hits the ground and the guy doesn't catch it in the air, he can go to first base...mom saw how the caught balls causes the players to return to the dugout. She learned that Justin Turner's homer with no one on base causes a run. And that Dickey's bunt and his hard run to first base, was awesome because the Astros did didly squat to throw him out as they crash/collided... Mom witnessing these plays was really special to me because she came out with a strong assumption that baseball is no fun to watch and that not understanding the game, makes it boring. I must say, I agree...if you don't understand something, why stick around to watch.
In JHS, I felt this way. Baseball is boring and at that time I didn't care for the sport. I just thought that it was unfair that Yankee fans snuck to the parade in 1996? and the school excused their absences? Perhaps that was the start of my blood boiling, aka, my hatred for that team. Plus, kids at that age were mean to one particular Mets fan in school. The class was full of Yankees fans and at that time, I held my neutral stance. Perhaps that made me think of Yank fans as bullies and as mean people. I must say that I do recall a JHS summer when I turned on the tv to WPIX-11 and watched baseball. I believe that was my start to understanding baseball. No one taught me baseball, I taught myself baseball by watching games on tv. I know in 2000, I had already declared my allegiance to the Mets. My sisters and I were in agreement and we basically listed out reasons why the Yankees are pompous jerks that are overrated and their fans suck. Plus, I credit my dad's Mets umbrella as the start of it all. Hahha. Dad was never showed his support for any team...
Anyway, that is all I wanted to share today. A great win by RA Dickey 3-1, his 16th win this year and it's one of the memorable games that I've been to because mom came and it was Mike Piazza Bobblehead Day. No game can ever (or has yet) top my 19th birthday fireworks night at Shea...it was special, it was a surprise, though it was a loss...But I do value that game as being the best because I'll always remember it.
-Angela
