Baseball Byways: Roberto's 2024 Baseball Diary

Melvin and I took only one trip together this year, riding the 1 train from the former Little Syria to Kingsbridge, passing through all but the two southernmost stations and the terminus in the Bronx, 36 total. Quite a change from years past but honestly reflective of current circumstances.

the "West Side IRT local" for those of a certain age or semantic inclination

We met again shortly after Los Angeles won their second World Series in five years but for more on that — meeting up, not the Dodgers — you will need to scroll way down to the end.

A Historic Start

The 2024 baseball season began for me at Citi Field on April Fools Day, when the Mets were shut-out by the Detroit Tigers, 5-0. The next two games were rained-out and the Mets then lost the first half of the make-up doubleheader, thereby tying their record for the third worst start to a season.

via @AnthonyDiComo

Brooklyn Cyclones 3, Asheville Tourists 7

Desperate for fans — the official attendance at the April 10 game was 915 — the Cyclones (NYM) let me sit in the sixth row, looking down the third base line, for eight bucks. In his first start of the year, "two-way" player Nolan McLean kept the Tourists (HOU) off the board, giving up three hits and a walk while striking out two in 3.1 innings. I left at the stretch with the visitors ahead, six-zip, to see the United States premiere of Grace (Ilya Povolotsky, 2022).

actress Maria Lukyanova in Grace

McLean did not play the following day but DH'd in the final three games of the series, going 3 for 11 (two home runs and a double) with seven strikeouts. In other words, hits for average and for power when he makes contact. (McLean was assigned to Double-A Binghamton on May 20 and finished the season with an OPS of .712 in 143 PA and a 1.26 WHIP over 25 combined starts, for a 4-10 record.)

Let It Bleed

I amassed six vouchers for 2024 Mets games by donating plasma and participating in a medical study (PSA, not DRE). I used one voucher to see the Tigers on April 1 and two more for early contests against the Cubs and the Phillies.

image via @Mets (not me ,,, either of them)

The May 2 match-up against Chicago went 11 innings with an ailing Francisco Lindor — he had received intravenous fluids that morning — coming off the bench to hit two doubles, including a come from behind, walk-off grounder in the 7-6 victory. Right fielder Starling Marte also contributed to the late-innings excitement, throwing out runners at home in both the 10th and 11th.

Twelve days later, Aaron Nola threw a complete game, four-hit shutout (4-0) for Philadelphia. One-quarter of the way through the season, the Phillies had the best record in baseball (30-13, .698) and the Mets were three games under .500 and trailed the division leaders by 10 games.

Back-to-Back-to-Back

Day games, that is, May 21-23. My short trip to Pennsylvania, which I wrote about at length, had two goals: to see Mets prospects playing at Double- and Triple-A and to visit a bunch of sites on Atlas Obscura.

"Double Branched Gongs," Harry Bertoia (1970-71)

Sometimes, when looking for a feature on Atlas Obscura, one will stumble upon something unexpected. "Double Branched Gongs," one of Harry Bertoia's Sonambient sculptures, is displayed outside of the Allentown Art Museum, which is across the street from The Baum School of Art, home to one of Leonardo's Horse sculptures, the reason I parked and stretched my legs.

For the Birds

While my apartment was being renovated, I moved in with a friend. (Kevin of the Quaker State Double Double-Header and a 2013 tour of the Red Sox Nation; Lowell, Boston and Pawtucket.) A sort of fare thee well to our cohabitation was a trip to the Mid-Hudson Valley.

Although Geese hail from our hometown of Brooklyn, we drove to Tubby's in Kingston so we could see the band as headliners in a space not much larger than my uninhabitable living room. I thought a lot of the blues and country inflection, a huge part of their appeal for me, was lost in the live mix but if the band hits it big, we can say we saw them when.

odd band promo photo

We spent the next day at the Storm King Art Center, particularly enjoying this summer's temporary exhibition, Arlene Shechet: Girl Group, and in the evening saw the Aberdeen Ironbirds (BAL) at the Hudson Valley Renegades (NYY). We left in a huff after my car was publicly shamed as the dirtiest in the parking lot. Actually, we hit the road after the fifth inning, when Hudson Valley took a nine run lead. The final score was 11-1.

I saw the Ironbirds again six days later, when they shut out the Cyclones, 4-0. I doubt it is anything other than a curiosity but excluding the pitchers, eight of the Orioles' farmhands were in both games but only the catcher took the field at the same position.

South Atlantic Round Robin

they do this to stay warm, I learned
image credit: OK_Knee1216 via r/Birdsfacingforward

Not quite a month later, I saw the Cyclones get shut out again, 5-0, this time by the Renegades. I was joined by Chris, who traveled with Melvin and me in 2014 to Frederick and rain-drenched Baltimore, then in 2015 to rain-drenched Los Angeles, the Tijuana Toros and opening day at Petco Park. Coney Island on June 1 was sunny and dry.

Purely by chance, I had by then seen three South Atlantic League teams — the Cyclones, Renegades and Ironbirds — each play the other two clubs. As already set forth, Brooklyn was shut out twice, Hudson Valley won both contests, and Aberdeen went .500. (At the end of the first half of the season, however, they had comparable records, so these six games weren't indicators.)

"The New York Game"

The book title suggests that there is something uniquely New York about baseball and to some extent, there is, but the paired histories are often correlational. With roughly 125 years to get through in 475 pages, the pace is frequently brisk. Sentences are ladened with multiple facts. Paragraphs read like bullet points, sans dingbats. Topics that are the subject of whole books are covered in a short chapter.

image courtesy of Penguin Random House

I read half, then needed to return the loaner to the library. With the full intention of finishing the book, I repeatedly put myself back on the "hold list" but whenever my name percolated to the top, I withdrew the volume, then read not another word. I eventually admitted to myself that I wasn't that invested.

Seasonal Changes

Not astronomical or meteorological changes, but something sorta like that. As currently configured, the Major League Baseball season breaks down into four shorter sessions. The first month features the exhibition games known as "spring training," which provide teams with insights about their rosters. Over the next three months, the 30 squads learn (or confirm) if they are going to be buyers, sellers or bystanders at the trade deadline; July 30, 5:00 pm. August and September are spent competing for a postseason seed, which by virtue of the expanded wild card format requires (more or less) merely a winning record. The final month is the postseason, now a debased tournament where a .500 team might win it all.

On the day after the trade deadline, I saw the Mets — suddenly, or was it seemingly, wild card contenders — try to sweep the Minnesota Twins, who were also in the wild card hunt.

biological twins (I overheard their mother say) rocking capital-T Twins gear during an 8-3 rout of the Mets

The Minnesoters sent eight men to the plate in the third, five of them scored, and starter Luis Severino hit the showers. (Yes, this is the same Luis Severino who would, despite a 1.6 WAR in 2024, sign a $67M, three-year contract with the ~~Oakland~~ West Sacramento Athletics during the offseason. Nice work if you can get it.)

Another of the seasonal changes was an abundance of American League teams in my calendar, the result of my preference for day games combined with restrictions on my blood donation vouchers. A couple of weeks after the Twins, I saw the A's. Still unresolved was if the Mets were contenders or pretenders and so it was not reassuring for them to lose 6-7 to the worst team in baseball (29-93, .283). Between the Minnesota and Oakland games, I tapped a vein again and added four more vouchers to my inventory.

Then, further change: winning! ... and doing so in dramatic fashion! With the August 21 game against the Baltimore Orioles knotted up at three apiece, Jesse Winkler hit a highly-hyphenated lead-off, pinch-hit, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth. Almost but not forgotten was Sean Manaea's nine strikeouts and no walks over seven innings. (Following his arguably best season, Manaea declined the qualifying offer but inked a three-year deal with the Mets worth $75M.)

infectious smiles

Diverging for a moment from the Mets and American League action, I saw the Jersey Shore BlueClaws host the Hudson Valley Renegades on August 27. The Phillies' High-A affiliate was three games behind the division leading Renegades (NYY) with one final, six-game series between them. Four wins would put the Crabs in first place.

The BlueClaws led for most of the first game in the series but almost coughed it up in the ninth. The visitors converted two singles and a double into a couple of runs and a two-run error made it a one-run game. The BlueClaws held on, 6-5, and won again the next night, but the teams split the series. (Hudson Valley went on to become the South Atlantic League champions, besting first Greensboro and then Bowling Green.)

Back in New York, more American League competition, more winning, With David Bragdon, yet another fellow traveler, I saw the Mets beat the Red Sox, 7-2, but the final score doesn't convey the tension through the first seven innings. The Mets led by just one run but then plated four, including a Pete Alonso dinger with two outs. The 'can't and won't lose' vibe grew in intensity.

Mets owner Steve Cohen, a hugely rich guy, is also an art collector. (He owns the only copy of Christian Marclay's The Clock in private hands.) Three of the Mets' 2024 promotions were artist tie-ins and as Bragdon and I entered the Robinson Rotunda at Citi Field, we received caps based on art by Sarah Sze.

the promotional item —

... and "Things Caused to Happen (Oculus)" from "Sarah Sue: Timelapse" at the Guggenheim Museum, upon which the embroidery is based

I am a big fan of Sze and was disappointed that the cap wasn't something I would wear with pride. On the other hand, the promotion presented the opportunity to chat with John P. Stern, president of the Storm King Art Center, which in 2021 exhibited Fifth Season and added Fallen Sky to the permanent collection.

Chris and I reunited for our annual Yankees-Red Sox match-up in the Bronx. For much of the season it didn't seem like Boston, whom Chris favors, would be playing meaningful games in September and we almost skipped the outing this year. Then the Sox surged and we bought tickets, only for it to be a mirage — they lost 5-2 on September 15 and 12 games later finished third, 13 games out. That was it for me and the American League this year.

Count 'em on Both Hands, Twice

On their way to a 10-0 shut out of the Nationals, the Mets scored nine in the fourth and never looked back. Brandon Nimmo led off with a walk, Alonso singled, Tyrone Taylor doubled and Mark Vientos singled. Francisco Alvarez struck out but Harrison Bader walked and Luisangel Acuña and Jose Iglesias both singled before the starting pitcher, DJ Herz, was relieved of his duties. Marte singled and Nimmo homered before Alonso and Taylor whiffed to end the inning. An, "I was there" moment.

the excitement at the September 18 game was dramatized by the new stadium lighting system

The Mets plated 10 again the following night, although the Phillies put up more of a phight, scoring six. The Mets had taken on an aura of destiny and it was exciting to be at Citi Field to see some of it in person.

What Postseason?

After dramatically rebounding from a terrible first half, you might think I would be all-in for the postseason, but other interests and obligations held precedence. I took a long weekend in South Jersey, the highlight of which was amateur drag racing on the beach.

the near lane takes the lead

The following weekend, I took a longer trip to Montreal for a family wedding and sightseeing.

Trois disques, Alexander Calder (1967)

Upon my return, I squeezed in as much of "Forbidden Rooms: The Films of Guy Maddin" as I could, even breaking my 'rule' against seeing more than one movie in a day, before —

The Heart of the World (6:08), 2000

... OHNY Weekend, for me an annual must-see. This year, nine tours with friends or on my own over three days. I have already put a hold in my calendar for October 17-19, 2025.

from the Elizabeth Channel, the Port Newark Container Terminal

Celebration of Life

After three weeks in constant motion, there was one more trip to be made: Melvin, Watson and I joined numerous other people to remember the man known here as Haldeman. A no more embracing portrait of a human could be painted than the eulogies (if that is even the word) we heard.

Watson, Melvin and I were unfamiliar with the Grillswith but were introduced

My former wife flew in (unannounced) just for the day. Red would have been there too but was flying to Cambodia on Monday. Lots of different emotions were felt. Watson told me that I owe her one; I hope she tells me more.

Wither Melvin?

A couple of early-season games notwithstanding, my 2024 baseball diary begins and ends with Melvin, even if we didn't see a single game together this year. That's how it is with dear friends. It's not my place to speak for him, and so I won't, but he did share photos from —