On Tuesday Night, I finally became a man. Although three Mets made the trip to San Diego for the All Star Game, none of them played. More importantly, I didn’t care.
Gone are the days when I screamed in anger walking on the Atlantic City Boardwalk with a transistor radio (anyone under 30 should google ‘transistor radio’) as a 12 year old in 1975 when Tom Seaver gave up a game tying Homerun to Carl Yastrzemski. The anger turned to joy when Jon Matlack pitched two scoreless innings at the end to nail the Co-MVP award with Bill Madlock.
Gone are the days I stayed up late just to see lone Met representative John Stearns enter the game as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning as I did in 1977.
Gone are the days that I was glued to a television as I was in 1979 at Monticello Racetrack (I was on vacation at the Catskills with my parents). It was sure worth it seeing Lee Mazzilli hitting a home run following it up with a bases loaded walk against Ron Guidry no less.
Gone are the days I was as excited as a kid in the candy store seeing Dwight Gooden and Jacob deGrom strike out the side in 1984 and 2015 or David Wright homering in 2006.
As I approach my 53rd Birthday I have finally come to the realization that there are more important things then seeing my favorite team represented in the All Star game…like preparing for a second half of meaningful Baseball!
Yes I have finally become a man!
