Those are your 2019 New York Mets lined up there in between us. Hopefully the dawn of a special season.

(Sunday Paper, Year IV, Issue 13)

Happy Baseball Season to you.

It’s been a very busy stretch of time and it’s still only March 31, so it doesn’t quite feel real to me that it is baseball season, but here we are.

And the start of baseball season is something I’ve been looking forward to ever since my friends peer pressured me into taking my daughter to Opening Day in Washington, D.C.

It’s the best peer pressure I’ve ever experienced.

And we just had the best day on Thursday, so I’m going to tell you about it.

Here’s the quick background of the decision: Remember back in February I posted that picture of myself with all my upcoming comedy dates because it was a particularly busy time and I realized that those dates took us right to Opening Day? (Here’s the post where I posted the image. Scroll down a bit.) Well, when I realized the Mets opened in Washington, I texted my friend Dave (who lives in DC) and asked him if we should go. I was half-joking. When he said sure and immediately found tickets I turned full-serious. Then my friends Kevin and Justin chimed in, and the three of them convinced me to take my oldest daughter. (Immediately after I agreed I should take my oldest, they started campaigning for my middle daughter too, but seeing as to how I am not made of money I quashed that possibility.)

Also helping the cause was the fact that Kathy had a bunch of JetBlue points and we basically flew for free. I was willing to drive but when that possibility came up it was….better.

I won’t go into every little detail but we flew out early Thursday morning and returned late Thursday night. (8:20 am and 8:50 pm were our flights.) At the airport in the morning we were wearing our Mets sweatshirts (traveled light - no jackets were necessary) and we saw another friendly Mets fan. And then there was this fun exchange - we sat down next to what looked to be a father and son all dressed up wearing suits, also flying to DC. The dad smiled and said, “Are you guys going to the game? That’s so cool!” And he was right. But I didn’t know how to respond. Because all I could think of was “Are you guys going to court? Or the politics game?” But I didn’t say that because that was dumb. So I just nodded and said something like, “It is cool.”

I won a lot of points with a lot of people because I took my daughter to Opening Day. But it’s entirely to Kevin and Dave and Justin’s credit that I did - I would have gone by myself. But it sounds so much better to say “I’m taking my daughter to Opening Day in Washington” than “I’m leaving my family flat for the day to go to Opening Day in Washington.” (Although had I traveled alone that sentence would have included some kind of comedy activity as well.)

And I’m so glad she came - it was the best day. We hung out by the Mets dugout and watched batting practice (Brandon Nimmo gave us a head nod hello, which was probably because I said “Let’s Go Mets” and he appreciated it, but I like to think he remembered us from my birthday game), were in our seats to watch the player introductions and the Opening Day festivities, and then wandered the ballpark for a bit but were in our seats for the 2 runs the Mets scored, and for the last couple of innings of the 2-0 win.

It was just such a good day and I’ll admit I got a little emotional a couple of times because it was really special.

When I told my dad I was pulling my daughter from school for the day (Kathy gets a lot of credit for going along with this crazy idea too) he said, “That’s great. That’s not something my dad would have ever done.”

“But,” I told my dad, “it’s definitely something my dad would have done.”

Writing

*While I was at the ballpark I got an e-mail with a writing assignment, which was fortuitous because I’ve been having some possibly terminal car trouble and there are going to possibly be some car expenditures happening soon, so any extra work for me is good. Work has been super busy lately and I really wonder how I made it through the first couple of years of freelancing. And I realize it’s not all that remarkable how busy I am now….it is really remarkable how little work I was doing then.

Comedy

*Finished out the week with a long ride to Lewiston, Maine for Maine Event Comedy’s Bricks & Bridges Comedy Festival, and I was in a really fun show at Bear Bones Beer. The Festival was to show off to the people of Lewiston-Auburn the comedy options in the area, and I was happy to be a part of it and do my part. It was a fun time.

This Saturday I’ll be hosting a show at Sofa Cafe, with proceeds going to Voices Against Violence. it’s a special show and Sofa is a great venue and I think it’ll be a great time. You can get tickets and more information about the show here.

And of course, April 13th is the second Saturday of the month so Comedy Night at Exhibit ‘A’ is back. This one’s a good one - I’d love to see you there. Tickets for that show are at this link.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

*There are a few items that, once I spot them on a menu, I have a hard time continuing a search for anything else because I’m immediately sold. It used to be shrimp was a slam-dunk for me. More recently it has been avocado….and almost always it’s eggplant. The other day I was pretty set on getting an eggplant parm sub - a reliable go-to. But then I saw an eggplant panini on the menu and that’s something that I just can’t pass up. And it was delicious. I like eggplant perm-style, but I also love a good grilled eggplant. It reminded me of wraps I used to get at Cafe Podima in Beacon Hill back in my Channel 7 days. So, long story short - I recommend the eggplant panini from Sudbury Pizza if you’re in the area.

Notes

*Man, Reagan Airport is super-close to where the action is in Washington, D.C. I had only been there, I’m pretty sure, for a layover on my way back from North Carolina last year, so I saw the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument through the window over the runway but I didn’t really think about where it was all situated. It was very cool flying in over Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon, and super-easy to get to Nationals Park.

*I think it’s important to note, because you might not know this: I don’t hate the Washington Nationals, unusual for a division rival. When Stephen Strasburg made his debut I was all in on them because it was so exciting, and I was very disappointed when he was shut down for the playoffs. And whenever I go to Nationals Park (unofficial count, I’d say I’ve been to 5 games there now, 4 against the Mets) everyone has been super-nice. And on Thursday I (well, my daughter, I suppose) was given a ‘prize pack’ when we were hanging out at the park waiting for the gates to open - which was a Nationals drawstring bag that had a fidget spinner, t-shirt, and bobblehead in it. And the bobblehead turned out to be autographed! What a day.

*(I know. A proud Mets fan shouldn’t have been walking around Nationals Park with a Nats drawstring backpack…but I am a weak man when I am offered free baseball stuff. Also, it was a bigger, better drawstring bag than the one I brought.)

*It’s that time when I remind you that you can follow me on Twitter here and Like my Facebook page here.

*Quick update on a couple of the 2019 challenges:

No cribbage, but I did see the Paper Store is selling a New England Patriots cribbage board, which is weird that all of a sudden after never seeing a cribbage board in any store ever I would see one now. It’s like when my phone hears my conversation and gives me an ad for something I was talking about…except this happened in real life.

And I have been running a little. I did about 40 minutes on Saturday, since it was so nice out. My biggest obstacle in this training is definitely just going to be that I don’t love running. I start and I just spend the whole time thinking, “I kind of want to stop this.” So we’ll see how that goes for four-plus hours or whatever it turns out to be for a marathon.

I also forgot that I was thinking about yoga. I should get on that.

*How’s the office? Pretty good, thanks for asking. Moving some of my stadium model collectibles into the shelf space, so taking care of the important stuff, you know?

*My mom sent me some pictures Thursday night after the opener of me and my daughter at Nationals Park back in 2008. That was the year Nationals Park opened and Kathy and I decided we’d check it out, picking up my parents in New York on the way down. She was pregnant at the time with our second daughter and it was one of, I’m going to say, four games (in four different ballparks, now that I think of it) my oldest daughter attended before her sisters came along.

*What four ballparks? Thanks for asking: She came to Cleveland and Cincinnati with us back in 2007, and in addition to Nationals Park in 2008 the three of us saw one last game at Shea Stadium together that year before they tore the old place down.

*Boy it sure is great to have baseball back. It’s supposed to be rainy here this afternoon, but sunny in Washington where the Mets are. So I’m hoping to just lay around and watch baseball this afternoon…and I can’t wait.