2016 Mets Spring Training - Day 2 - The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Up at 5:45. We are not good with 4 of us sleeping in the same room. Another rough night of sleep.

In the car by 6:10. Why the hell are we doing this?

At the stadium by 6:20. Oh yeah, this is why.

Hot damn I love baseball.

While we were the first fans to arrive, a lot of the players were already there. Which means we have no choice but to get there even earlier tomorrow. Don’t challenge us.

Even though we witnessed so many players arriving, only one stopped over to sign for my son. And that was the “Big Sexy” himself, Bartolo Colon. He allegedly never signs for fans so we considered it a big win.

By the time the gate opened for practice, we had already been there for over three hours. The feet burned from all of the standing around but who’s complaining, this is a good time.

The players soon arrived on the field and began their stretching and warm-up routine and I focused solely on Matt Harvey, Jacob DeGrom and Steven Matz.

They literally laughed through the entire thing and gave it around 57% effort. Nice way to make a living if you can get it.

Like I said, a very serious atmosphere.

Once the 15 minute stretching ended, the players left the field and we all gave them a hero’s welcome.

We spent the next hour or so jumping from field to field watching the pitchers only as we all know they are the stars of this team. There were a lot of fist bumps and high fives and I’m pretty sure we’re now allowed to say “us” rather than the “Mets.”

Have I mentioned how much I love these pitchers?

As practice started to wind down around 11:15 or so (yes, you read that right, less than 2 hours of practice, my kids work harder in gym each day at school) we headed to the “autograph spot”.

Jacob DeGrom and Matt Harvey walked over to the relatively small crowd ready to sign.

And we got neither of them.

Jacob seems a bit shy and eager to run and Matt, well he makes sure the photo opp is there and then bolts. I find myself more and more down on Mr. Harvey each passing day. If David Wright can sign for 20 minutes or more at a time, so can you big shot. Trade him to the Yankees now and get it over with.

While my son was temporarily disappointed, he quickly had that smile back on his face when Yoenis Cespedes picked he and his sister out of the crowd and signed for them both. He is a good dude with the kids and I’ll never forget that. I was so excited that I forgot to snap a picture.

Soon after, Wilmer Flores stopped by and not only signed for a long time, but interacted with the fans in a fun way which reminded us all as to why he has become a fan favorite.

Yes, that is my son anxiously looking for the next ~~victim~~ signer. I will now remind him to appreciate the moment more.

Done.

But by far the “most patient and willing to sign for all” player was uber-prospect and former 1st round pick Michael Conforto.

He literally signed until no one was left. Beyond impressive.

And me thinks my wife has a crush on him. Jerk.

One last thing and a really killer one at that.

My daughter was picked to be interviewed by the Mets TV channel – SNY – where she will be featured with other kids throughout the year on the show “Kid’s Clubhouse”. What a natural she was. Comfortable in front of the camera like she had done it many times before.