Tremendous showing tonight. This was the first time I've seen the team in person this year - missed the games in Philly because of exams and the Yankees series was a washout. They looked excited during batting practice where Uggla and Abercrombie hit a few shots, not to mention a few hit into the left field seats by Ross. Girardi came over and was a popular target for autographs - as expected - as did a few others.

 

Dontrelle did not have his best stuff tonight, but pitched well enough to win considering the offensive output behind (and from) him. Nady (the Mets got him in a steal for Mike Cameron) really owned him and both Reyes and Woodward hit the ball hard off of him. However, when it mattered he reached back and got through some jams. The bullpen has really come around since the start of the year. Messenger has turned out to be a gem - he came in and shut the Mets down in a tough situation in the 8th.

 

I can't comment too much on the team offensively because they did face Jose "DFA" Lima. After the game was well in hand, Oliver retired ten straight and Henry Owens making his MLB debut threw some heat and got them 1-2-3 (although Hanley did line out to left). Hopefully the Fish will take advantage of two rookies tomorrow.

 

The one thing I observed tonight is how Mets fans have basically morphed into an animal similar to their spoiled cousins across the city in the Bronx. Overpaid (as ticket prices show) and cocky, they know next to nothing about other teams in the league. And boy do they get frustrated, upset that they were losing to a "minor league team" and wanting Oliver to peg Willis for his HR. I'm sure others get the same comments on the road like "there are really Marlins fans" and "there are more people here tonight than you draw all season," but that fuels my passion for our team. There were a few of us up in the Mezzanine (ugly green seats) - just look for the people who were standing when D-Train hit that shot.

 

No pictures, sorry, but I'll try to get to tomorrow's double dip (and TiVo the Germany-Portugal game) but will skip Sunday's game for the World Cup final. There are 648 regular season games for every soccer game that big.

kool. thanks for the report. how was the atmosphere at Shea? was it a nice play to watch a game?

I've been to plenty of games there over the years (more there than anywhere else). The place fills up, which is nice but a lot of seats are really far from the field and the place is falling apart. They're building a new stadium ready to be open in 2009 right in the parking lot. It's twice as old as Dolphin Stadium and it's really showing its age.

 

If you do decide to go to a game, try to sit as close to home plate as you can. Outfield seats are pretty bad and I find it better to sit up high, but near the plate than in the loge outfield. Plus I think you can get really cheap seats for the last row in the upper deck (overheard somebody saying $5, could be wrong) and then just move down someplace better. They also zone price their games - the current series is "Gold," one of the most expensive of the year. Only opening day and the Yankees' series were platinum. I'm not sure if the Marlins do this, but it's probably a good idea.

wilks,

 

I shot you over a PM.

 

Quakers represent.

I disagree with Yankees fans comment...the diahards are not like that, they are students of the game. I think you're thinking of Sox fans (who btw scream YANKEES SUCK when Zimmer was thrown to the ground by Pedro...saw that on TBDSSP's top 50 outragous sports moments)...Yankees=decent, Sox=bad...and of course, when you have a large fan base, you're gonna get the crappy fans, but those are not true fans of these teams.

 

I plan on going in September to the game up there, we shall see, but when I was there for the Braves game it sold out.

 

Have fun today and take picutres and GO FISH!