Rained Out

Well, that was certainly frustrating.In order to enjoy our waning days with Robbie, we secured tickets to the Mets-Phillies game for today. We got up, prepped sandwiches and rain gear and headed out to Shea. The trip down was moist but not threatening and the radio reported the teams hoped to get this, their final meeting of the year, in before the serious thundershowers arrived.We zipped down from Connecticut in about an hour. Since we were early, we loitered a bit and noticed New Era had a truck set up and was taking digital photos of people, instantly printed onto mock baseball cards. For free. We got on line, of course. There was a nice 22-point display showing how they make baseball caps along with multiple flat screens showing two different World Series games from days gone by (1978’s Orioles-Pirates, for example). Deb demurred but Rob and I got our pictures taken and they didn’t turn out too bad at all.Clearing security, we entered the stadium, received seat cushions as the promotion du jour and proceeded to our seats. Turns out we were in the exact same section where we sat during the 2000 Mets-Braves playoff game, just Row K, not Row Z. The foul pole was blocking part of the view, but we’d adjust.The rain changed from misty to heavy and back again during the hour we sat and kibitzed in our seats. Clearly, the game wasn’t starting at 1:10 but they finally admitted to a rain delay at 1:14.As the delay dragged on, Robbie got antsy so he and I strolled the entire Mezzanine level, browsing at the gift shops, sharing a pretzel and killing time. A little while after we got back to our seats, I called members of the family, wasting more time and staying in touch with the world.Finally, around 2:10, I noticed they had cleared the scoreboard. Then I spied equipment being taken out of the Phillies’ dugout so I knew it was being canceled. Sure enough, minutes later, they announced the postponement. We can’t use the rain checks for tomorrow’s makeup game since Deb and I have work. Fortunately, they can be exchanged for nay game this season or next so we’ll try again in the spring.Deb and Robbie napped as I drove us home. Between the rain and the volume, it took twice as long to get back to Fairfield but we got home dry and safe.At least we have a whole day together, which was the point.