BALL IS BACK! we start at CITIFIELD!

(a tribute to shea--we miss you old girl! http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_history/bat_sports/32109_3-29-1964_Shea%20Stadium%20night%20game-NY%20Mets%20and%20SF%20Giants-lg.jpg)

We went today to citi-field for the first time--mets and red sox exhibition game...very cool!!!

First, if you want to go, do the train if you can--the cluster that is parking there is simply 100 times worse than it used to be--if you can go REALLY early and tailgate you might have a chance--we got there closer to game time--and we literally drove around the park for 45 minutes before parking under an overpass and catching a shuttle bus that dropped us at the foot of the LIRR and we had to walk up and over...

The ebbetts field feeling is very evident in the outter construction--it really is a beautiful stadium--the jackie robinson pavillion is stunning...inside--some areas arent completed yet--and the exposed plywood and concrete are in stark contrast to a lot of fancy brick work...

One thing that you didnt feel when at shea that you DEFINITELY feel here is a sense of segregation--the stadium has been broken up into "clubs" and if you dont have your ticket (even into the last inning) you aint getting in to that section--lines were LONG just to get into the ceasers club seats we had--the seats were about the same size as previous--we sat in the 300 level, first row, third base side--and the view was excellent--and what we didnt get was the WIND--now, i know that it was windy there today--and trash whipped all over the field--but this place is like a sieve! walking through the first level just to get to the second level escalators (poor placement for people moving for sure--though, they do still have outside stairwells) there was simply no protection from the wind--it was like a wind tunnel and you were supposedly inside!

since it was a blow out we walked down to the lower level to try and move closer to the field--the security guards were STILL checking tickets to go down in the 9th inning--so the moving around we used to do at shea is a thing of the past...

all in all, its a quirky park--the outfield warning track is almost a zig zag of overhangs and curves--they sure are going to have to get used to playing balls off those crazy walls...

i cant say i didnt like it--but the buildup was really hard to meet...the franks are still the same--and thats a good thing Will post up some pictures when i get the chance...

now on to fenway for mondays opening day!

playoff time again!

Had so much fun last year analyzing the playoffs with you folks--lets do it again...

gotta say, i am very impresssed with the chicago white sox at this moment--they are the FIRST EVER team to make it into the playoffs having won their last 3 games against three different teams! awesome--considering there was absolutely NO time for advanced scouting and formulating a player profile and how to pitch to these guys--they show a lot of heart and a lot of old fashioned hustle--strap it on and go play--i commend them...

now, they are going to face the tampa bay DEVIL RAYS (i have to say it that way, i hate that they changed their name!) who havent had a single true MVP candidate (if longoria had played all year he might have had a shot) no significant stand outs, but they played as a fired up TEAM and kept consistently winning--their downside ofcourse is a complete lack of playoff experience....while they are well rested now going into this playoff, Chicago is coming off being
FIRED up winning the division--wonder how it will play out--

Red Sox take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim--going to try and keep everything unbiased here-lol--The angels did beat the soxs a lot this season, but if you look at the WHEN of those loses--some significant injury or clubhouse upheaval was occcurring during those series...first it was the flu, which had Youk and Variteck on their backs--then it was right in the middle of the manny fiasco....now they are stronger--still have some issues with lowell, drew and beckett...but the rest of the team, including jason bay, jed lowery and alex cora have stepped it up a notch to fill in where needed--even The Mayor Casey has an amazing batting average and can play first well so Youk can sit at third...We have a great closer--but yes, they have an amazing closer...it will be interesting to see if past playoff history will have any bearing on this series...

What can i say about the cubs? The FIRST game we ever took our girls to was at wrigley field--so intense--they fell in love with baseball there and never stopped loving it--i will always have a soft spot for the cubs....While they lost a few coming into the end of the season and after they clinched, they still have amazing heart and i LOVE lou pinella and his energy...The dodgers do have joe torre going for them, and ofcourse manny, but does that combination translate into winning a series? We will see...

The phillies had an amazing season--chasing them the entire time following my poor mets, you can see they are a team poised to go far...Milwaukee brewers--this is probably gravy for them going to the playoffs--not even sure they thought they would have a shot...though ofcourse, i could be surprised, and others may have more information to shed light on this matchup as i really didnt follow that team...

so...whats everyone else thinking about? Obviously i am watching the american league games tonight--baseball RULES and this is my time of year!

you know whats interesting???

that tampa bay is in first place and still cant sell out the stadium...

that the mets are so hot, but even with a lead going into the ninth--its never safe...

that manny ramirez can have hustle for the dodgers and not for the sox...why is that after all the money they paid him?

that Direct TV extra innings can charge me to watch ANY GAME I WANT and today BOTH the red sox game and the tampa bay game was not available anywhere--even though i pay for NESN seperately and it was blocked...

some interesting things....seriously...:) you all wicked ROCK!

Last Visit to my very first baseball park...

Kids running the bases at Shea Stadium-Our last visit--Photos by Oystergirl

I was born in Brooklyn, and have long loved the stories the old guys told on the street about Ebbetts field--having a ball park in the middle of your neighborhood while growing up as a kid must have been wonderful! I have an Ebbetts field t=shirt that my poppi gave me, and also a Brooklyn Dodger cap that i proudly wear, even though i dont root for the Dodgers (booo Manny! lol) and i was born after they tore the field to oblivion and put up an apartment building in its place, that cast a shadow on the building a lived in as a child...so close and yet so far...

I have always LOVED baseball...anything baseball--but my very first game was at Shea Stadium when i was young...i dont remember the team, i dont remember the game, all i remember was going to this GIANT blue stadium and loving all the people there and the crowd and the ROAR when a ball went out of the park--and the hokey big apple popped up out of the giant top hat--it was magic...and it hooked me.

Years later, I found my American League love of baseball in the Red Sox, through my husband and love poppi, but the Mets were my first team--my National League Love--and believe me, we almost didnt marry in 1986 when my team WON...:)

Having been blessed to go to ALL the old ball parks in existence today--Wrigley, Yankee, Fenway and SHEA??? shea is THAT old? 1963 makes it OLD? wow...somewhere along the line people forgot about history--forgot about the FEEL of baseball--forgot that old can be a beautiful thing and instill a feeling of timelessness to the game...Fix it up instead of tearing it down i say...but that might just be ME...

And so, this past weekend, a group of us went to Shea Stadium for the very last time...It was quite moving to me--and i got to sit in the very seat that i had always wanted to sit in--when as a child i looked up to those upper reserved boxes and thought--that seat is so high--the one on the very end--almost like you were flying over the stadium like another jumbo jet taking off out of Laguardia...yep--884A...the LAST seat in the house...overlooking the visitors bullpen...and i was in heaven--and i remembered all the games i had seen there--and the time i saw the Rolling Stones there and had never SEEN so many people in my life, the whole stadium shook on its foundations...and i remembered how lucky my poppi was to get a ticket to a World Series Game there for the famous Subway Series...how much joy--and heartbreak that stadium had given me over the years--and in its demise--i feel somehow decreased...

The kids got to run the bases--and i got a tiny piece of the outfield grass and some of the dirt from the warning track--that i will have to share with my crazy lovely nutjob friend nor who is a rabid met fan...

Citipark looks cool--12,000 less seats--less cheap tickets for the regular guy--i am sure i will go--but it wont be the same as saying--hey, its nice out--lets go to shea and sit in the cheap seats...

Goodbye my giant blue friend--you will be missed....

You wicked rock! Oystergirl

Blue Oyster Cult In Danbury Sept. 6, 2008

Eric, Buck and Jon Micelli at the Taste of Danbury Festival-Photo by Oystergirl

Aaron-Guitar Tech Extraordinaire with a fever for more Cowbell!-Photo by Oystergirl

Kids Rockin out to Blue Oyster Cult, Danbury Ct. 9/6/08-Photo by Oystergirl

Eric, Richie, Donald, John Michelli and Rudy Sarzo-BOC Danbury-Photo by Oystergirl

Eric Bloom on Stun Guitar-Photo by Oystergirl

Richie Castellano Smokin the Keys-Photo by Oystergirl

Buck Dharma and the cheeseburger, Danbury, CT 9/6/08-Photo by Oystergirl

Finally got a chance to go through my photo's from the show on Sunday In Danbury, Ct. at the taste of Danbury festival...this was supposed to be a two day outside festival--but tropical storm hanna had other plans. We drove up through torrential downpours and had we known how bad the roads and flooding were gonna be, we might not have gone...

Got to the Ethan Allen Hotel in time to change for the show and grab a burger at the Mac-donalds drive thru-too wet to even go out in the rain! Tried to get to the venue, but the main road was flooded under a train trestle, and so, we just kind of winged it to the venue--Tuxedo Junction in downtown Danbury--I had been there before--nice venue--good sightlines and sound...Only about 100 folks showed up, but the show was still free. It was great to finally hear Jon Micelli on the drums, as Jules Radino was on paternity leave and Jon was off the road from his regular gig with Meatloaf. Dont have any pictures from that show...sorry!

Afterwards, had a few drinks at the bar with the boyz and then had fun reading palms for a wedding party that was also staying at the Ethan Allen--fun times--hope they enjoyed the beer i gave them after the bar closed! :)

Next day, and Hanna was completely gone--had a great time at the festival--amazing how many young kids were rocking out to blue oyster cult--especially dont fear the reaper--which has gained some notoriety from the saturday night live cowbell skit! Aaron even had to sign autographs as the cowbell dude!

Blue Oyster Cult is now off to Europe again for a tour to france, monaco and Italy--wish i could have gone--but i had a Mets game! Gotta set those priorities! :)

Hugs! You wicked ROCK! Oystergirl!

Sox tied for first!

Oystergirl at the Pesky Pole-Fenway Park Baby!

Ya baby Ya! What a game tonight at the Trop...don't know what was wrong with Kasmir, but he got shelled by the power bats of the Red Sox who hit 6 homers in the game--the most in a single game since 2003! My boy variteck hit a nice two run homer, along with Papi, Youuuk, Lowell, Bay-bay and Ellsbury! Manny who? lol....great game...lets keep it up boys! Sending you a big Oystergirl kiss!

Welcome one and all....

Buck Dharma-Northern Lights-Albany, NY-photo by Oystergirl

Hiya everyone! Sooo many people have been bugging me to start blogging about all my wonderfully fun times over the years--a lot of that time has been spent following the amazing Blue Oyster Cult, the amazing Mets and the Amazing Red Sox...I am an adventurer by nature and I absolutely adore a good time! In the coming weeks i will be putting up photos from my adventures, sharing other stuff and basically having a great time! On tap, photos from our last game at Shea Stadium with the Mets, where the kids got to run the bases...our last trip to Boston to see the Sox with my nephew AJ for his birthday/christmas present (his first game! ya! and they won!)...and our trip through tropical storm Hanna to see Blue Oyster Cult play in Danbury Ct, on sept. 6, 2008. Seriously--what a TRIP that trip was! got some great pictures and had a TON of fun!

so, come in and hang out and party--please comment if you feel the need or want to get in touch--i will also be putting up my link to twitter if i can figure it out!

hugs all--you wicked rock! alex