5:30 am – The alarm gently awakens one of us.

5:33 am – I attempt to gently awaken my son.

5:34 am – I squeeze my son’s nose and remind him that he wanted to wake up this early.

5:45 am – We depart for the field and allow the ladies to sleep later. Spoiler: they don’t fall back asleep. We don’t understand the word “quiet”.

6:01 am – We are at the field and ready to stalk the Mets players as they disembark from their overpriced automobiles and walk into the locker room.  We are the only ones in the parking lot. Our dedication cannot be questioned.

We are eventually joined by other stalkers fans. Apparently we aren’t the only ones who value a scribbled name on a ball.

We have a small amount of success with nabbing a few autographs of players and eventually make our way into the formal practice … close to four hours later.

My lower back stings.

My feet burn.

I’m drenched in sweat.

All from nothing more than standing still.

Fun.

We watch the players reunite on the field as this is the Mets first full squad workout. The boys of spring, summer and fall are back.

New faces, like Todd Frazier, waste no time assimilating themselves into the team.

Every team is undefeated. Every player is in the best shape of their lives. No one has been cut. No dreams have been squashed. For a few days at least, it is nothing but smiles.

The day commences with stretching or dancing or some bizarre mash-up of both.

I wonder if I can still do this. Nope. Just tried. Hurts like hell. I hate 45 years old.

Dads and sons. I could watch Asdrubal Cabrera and his son all day.

Bad ass is defined as stretching/hopping and not spilling your sunflower seeds.

Long toss for pitchers can’t be missed. It’s a work of art IMHO. Color me mesmerized.

Have I mentioned my love of baseball and warmth and sun and the colors blue and orange?

This is a staff meeting I’d like to attend.

Happy faces in a happy place.

This is Anthony Swarzak. He was signed by the Mets this off season. What you wouldn’t know if you didn’t attend spring training, is just how friendly and kind and cool this young cat is.

My son with P.J. Conlon who was a late round draft pick in 2015 and is defying the odds as a pitcher since he doesn’t throw harder than 90 mph. We’re all big fans.

My son has been dying to get a signature from pitcher Steven Matz. It finally happened. Here he is stretching out a ball, just hoping.

And then success.

Another new Met this year, Adrian Gonzalez, patiently signing after demanding all kids were to go first. I like him.

When autograph hunting, it can be a blur as to who is signing where.

And then the crowds clear, and your chance to jump in arrives.

Even after a ridiculously early morning and a three hour practice, we still hit up the parking lot and beg for more face time. This is new Mets manager Mickey Callaway.

After a lot of sitting around and hoping and waiting and pacing, you get this and it makes it all worth it.

Let’s do this again tomorrow.