It was the final game at Shea Stadium. I don't usually follow baseball -- and I missed the Yankee Stadium ceremony -- but for some reason I remembered that yesterday would probably be the Mets' last game at Shea. I've never gone to a baseball game, but New Yorkers have always had a strange (unnatural?) attachment to its teams and their stadia, so I decided to watch the final game. First I had to local it on my cable station, then had to find the HiDef cable station. So I only popped in at the 8th inning.
The game ended disappointingly, but soon afterwards the ceremonies began. The announcer mentioned the many players who could not be present that day. But then they began calling out the old Mets. And I do mean old. I was shocked to see how much our boys of summer had aged. When a very elderly man came out I thought, oh, no, that can't be Ed Kranepool, and it was, I wondered how he got to be so old! Willie Mays was escorted onto the field with an aide at his side.
But then -- the kid they called "The Franchise," because he was the Mets' biggest asset in his heyday -- Tom Seaver came out to thunderous applause. And, oh, my, Mike Piazza, looking amazing (how did he get out of New York? he belongs here!) came out to even louder applause. And part of the reason had to be, his METS' SHIRT WAS TAILORED!!! Not for nothing do I watch makeover shows. His shirt was tailored for his body.
Finally, heartbreakingly, Tom took to the pitcher's mound, and Mike took the catcher's place, and Seaver pitched one last ball to Piazza. They embraced, and slowly left the field together. They came to the fence, and each took one side, and then, closing the gates for the last time, Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza were....
the last out.
