Tuesday, September 19, 2006

tonight’s the night

I need to write about the game - or at least the experience of being at the game - but it is late and we didn’t leave Shea until 11.

After the game - and we were some of those fans who stood there for a long time, watching the post game celebration on the Diamondvision - we realized that the merchandise stands were open, so we stood on line at one and then the other, not wanting to leave without Those Shirts.  Suddenly I overheard, “The Mets are back out on the field, they’re letting fans in on the field level” and TBF finished paying for our shirts and we ran for it.

We couldn’t get anywhere near the cameras or the Mets dugout, but we still saw plenty - David Wright with a bottle of champagne in one hand and a cigar in the other, shaking hands with every cop and security guy on the field. A very drunk Oliver Perez. Reyes hugging everyone in sight. Shawn Green running around the infield with his kids. Floyd getting a chant of “one more year” from the crowd. And Paul Lo Duca running over to the hose behind the pitcher’s mound, and with an evil grin turning it on and heading for the fans on both sides, and then heading for the players - before the groundskeeper disconnected the hose to loud boos.

The cheers were still echoing into Flushing, rising above the glow of the stadium lights behind us, as we made the long trek back to the car.

View all the photos here.

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