June 14, 1987.
Mets. Phillies.
We’re enjoying a beautiful afternoon in the right field stands when a crucial Hernandez error opens the door to a 5-run Phillies 9th – cost the Mets the game.
Our day – was ruined.
We’ve slowly been making our way around to all the Major League Baseball parks and when we heard the Mets were hosting Seinfeld night essentially recreating the infamous Mets/Phillies match up from one of our favorite Seinfeld episodes — AND the game coincided with the 30th anniversary of the original pilot (July 5, 1989) — we decided to make Citi Field our 2nd park of the summer.
The final episode aired before Jeff and I even met, but a mutual appreciation for Seinfeld humor has been a pillar of our relationship since the beginning. And we consider it our parental duty to expose Colt to such comedic and cultural brilliance. As far as Jeff Hood is concerned, all of NYC is a Seinfeld reference and that is nearly the only thing that could get him to spend a weekend there. (Years ago, we won a trip to New York through my office — to see a Yankees game no less — and we dragged our friends Ryan and Teresa up and down Manhattan forcing them to listen to Seinfeld references and inside jokes for 3 days. They’ve never recovered.)
So we headed to NYC and took the 7 train out to Queens, collected our Jerry Seinfeld bobblehead at the gate, said hello to Mr. Met, and anticipated the first pitch by the man himself.
Tell me you’ve seen a man having more fun than that! We loved it!
The game was peppered with Seinfeld trivia on the jumbotron and theme music from the show between plays. Sadly, Keith Hernandez didn’t make an appearance, but a few innings into the game we realized we were sitting in front of Jerry’s box!
It was a tight, low-scoring game, but the Mets let the Phillies tie it up in the 7th and the fans around us were getting FEISTY. We were potentially looking at extra innings.
BUT THEN.
The most poetic of all Seinfeld-esque moments during Seinfeld Night at the Mets/Phillies happened.
A crucial Hernandez error [a.k.a. terrible pitching] opens the door to a 5-run Phillies 9th – costing the Mets the game.
Our day – WAS MADE.
We tried to contain our excitement at such a serendipitous ending to Seinfeld Night, for fear ACTUAL Mets fans would not… find the humor in it. Go Mets!
Nice game, pretty boy.
So fun! All of the MLB parks is on my bucket list, too, and Citi is a great venue. Great pics of you and the family!