the mets.

its a well known fact that i dislike sports. i don't really understand them. and i can't participate in any of them. 

but i think of all sports, baseball is the least offensive. so in honor of the mets' new home, some baseball related memories:

when i was little, my brother ben seemed to always be watching a baseball game on tv. those games are so freaking long. and there seems to be one every single night of the week. as a six year old who loved pink dresses and barbies, i had no tolerance for this kind of crap. but i do remember sometimes sitting in the living room and half-watching the games with him, half-playing with carebears. and i remember that the rangers had a player named bobby valentine. i don't know what he did. or if he was any good. and frankly, i have resisted the urge to google his name and find out. but i do know that i was in love with his name. bobby. valentine. i wanted to marry him.

while mandy lived in nyc her sophomore year of college, she fell in love with the mets. she came back to texas obsessed. obsessed. even pop-pop knows just how much mandy loves the mets. i don't even want to know what he'll say when i tell him she's thinking of switching teams.

the last two years of college, i spent evenings at her apartment. a mets game on the tv or her computer. and i would fall asleep on the couch, reading a book. mandy sitting next to me. her entire body tense with excitement as she watched the game. those are some of my fondest memories of college.

during grad school, she dragged me to the games at shea stadium. i'm not a beer gal, but i do have to admit. i enjoy drinking at baseball games. and eating my weight in hot dogs. and yelling matsui at the top of my lungs. (i know matsui is no longer on the team. but he seems to be the only name i can remember when i am tipsy.)

and now that mandy has moved, i am left with momentos of her love. two mets caps on the shelf in my closet. the silk mets cape hanging by the door. and i think a blanket hidden away somewhere. but i would trade them all for another game with her at shea stadium. and hot dogs. lots of hot dogs. 

(me dancing in the mets cape.)