Fan Report: Celebrating the Fourth in Style

This evening's fan report comes to us from loyal reader and great commenter Jay of thewaywarddream.com.

I can't think of a better way to spend the Fourth of July than at a ballgame in the nation's birthplace... so that's exactly what we did. With my Mets fan brother Kevin in tow, we braved the traffic and other Mets fans to show up for batting practice, he in his David Wright jersey and me in my Chase Utley threads.  The festivities started early when another Mets fan struck up a conversation with Kevin in line, regaling each other with fond memories of Metropolitans lore while I was forced to stifle about a thousand yawns.

We got in, got steaks and some Vitamin Y (where the vendor laughed and said "well, one of you is going home happy").  We were wondering what the score would be, and how many home runs there would be: we eventually agreed that with Santana on the mound, a Mets win seemed in order.

I made sure to point out the 2007 pennant as much as possible... everything from pointing out the time on the clock to the fireworks that occasionally went off near the Holiday Inn.

We went up to our seats in the second level in the outfield on the right field side.  Before the game, they had a nice tribute to the Armed Forces (my brother is active Army on leave and got honored when they asked all members to stand) and had members of each branch march the flags of all fifty states out along the infield. 

Honoring our Armed Service men and women.

I really liked the alternate hats the Phils were rocking, and hoped they'd be luckier than the blue caps they wore in 1993.  The MLB logos along each side of the field had a flag background inside the logo instead of the solid red-and-blue they normally use, which I thought was a nice touch.  Out in the outfield along Ashburn Alley, there was a flag comprised of red, white and blue Phillies caps.  All in all it was pretty tastefully done for a celebration I thought.

The game started, and I noticed the Jose chant that was so prevalent in April from the Mets fans in attendance was more or less non-existant (during his second at-bat someone tried to start it a section over and I booed him so loudly he told me he was going to kick my ass, which was awesome).  Mets fans in general didn't seem to be nearly as loud as they were when they were in first place.  As for Mr. Happ, I was just hoping for something like four runs in five innings. He looked really good early, but got tangled in the fifth as Chad Durbin had to be summoned to put out the fire.  In his defense, Happ looked like he was getting squeezed pretty hard, especially in the fifth where he had two two-strike pitches that looked like they should have gotten him out of the inning on strikeouts.

I really didn't think the Phils could come back playing small ball, and that they would have to hit a home run or two to get back into it. Down 2-0, that seemed a pretty big order with Santana hurling very effectively, but they battled back and put together singles by Werth, Utley, Howard and Burrell to tie it.  The place seemed ready to explode at this point, but we couldn't push another run across, and it remained 2-2.

There was a real sense of tension, especially in the late innings. It was a sense that anything could happen in either direction, although for the first year since I can remember, I heard not one single question about the Phils bullpen being able to hold the score down. Not one.

The ninth inning came to pass, and Lidge came on.  Surprisingly, this was my sixth game this year and just the first time I've seen Lidge pitch, and he wasted no time in dismissing the Mets in order. Santana was pulled for Sanchez in the bottom of the ninth while having only thrown 95 pitches. For how well Santana was going, it seemed like a questionable decision, although Sanchez was brilliant in getting Howard and Burrell to strike out.  It seemed like both sluggers were trying to end it in one swing, which was not conducive in dealing with Sanchez's change-up.  But Feliz hit that ball into the left field corner and we got to our feet, and up came Shane Vic (who, due to a decision by Cholly was batting seventh) who's been just crazy clutch for the Phils lately.  Sure enough, he lashed that single to right and the place just exploded. 

Everyone loves a walkoff!

Kevin sat next to me with his head in his hands.  I'd say I felt sorry for him, but I'd be lying. 

Eventually we made our way out of the park.  Walking through Ashburn Alley to the left field gate, a girl walking past us in a Phils T punched Kevin on the shoulder and said something to the affect of "yeah the Mets lost, they suck!" and I thought he was going to drop her right then and there.  Thankfully, we made it out of the park without further incident, but we'll be back on Sunday to see Killer K bring death to the worms in the infield, and hopefully gain more ground on the Mets.

A couple notes:

- I love Cholly's decision to juggle the lineup and split the lefties up.  That decision came up just enormous in the ninth when Victorino was able to come up in that big situation.
- Also, the decision to use Lidge in a tie game in the ninth had to have been a no-brainer.  Why not put your best out there and see what
happens?  It worked beautifully.
- Also about Lidge: please, can we pass the hat and pay to get him a decent introduction?  I love "Soldiers" as the music but can we get more than just that stupid "Lights Out" graphic that flashes above the video board?  The intro Wags had when he was here was years better and he was a louse, and we can't get Lidge (who by all accounts is awesome all the way around) even something decent?  Maybe a bit of play on the video board?  I don't ask for much, really, but the man deserves this.
- I had to laugh when I saw the Marlins lost a nine-run lead in Colorado and lost the game 18-17.  I'll take a 3.5 game lead any day of the week.

Comments

[Mike]

Nice write-up. The "Lights Out" graphic is delightfully corny in an '80's sort of way, but give the man a highlight reel like they did with Myers last year.