Phillies 4 Mets 1 - Citi Field - Queens, NY

Before the World Series started and Chase Utley pwned CC Sabathia on Wednesday night there were some other memorable moments for the Philadelphia Phillies in New York City. 
They were in New Yankee Stadium in May.
They also brought some excitement to Citi Field.

Instead of embarrassing the Mets again, Wednesday night the Phillies visit the Bronx to continue the defense of their 2008 World Series victory.  Pics of Me in Front of Stuff visited Philadelphia to join in the celebration!  In case you missed it, it was kind of a big deal.

Before the Phillies could reach the playoffs and defend their title as World Phucking Champions they had to recapture the NL East Division title.  In 2007 and 2008 the Fightin' Phils battled the New York Metropolitans until the end of the season when the Phils did whatever it took to win and the Mets folded like an oragami master.  In 2008, Pics of Me in Front of Stuff visited the dump known as Shea Stadium for the last series between the NL East rivals.  Thank God they tore that place down.  The Phillies lost the game but they took 2 out of 3 in the series.  In case you have not heard the Phillies also went onto win the World Series.  In hopes of recapturing the magic, the night before the above triple play, a rag-tag team of Phillies' fans and a token Mets' fan visited the newly opened Citi Field for an enchanted evening of baseball

....and a lot of beer.

Like many great adventures, this one started with free hot dogs.  I doubt that pig would look so happy if he knew we were on our way inside to consume some of his friends that had been processed into tube form.  In case you have not heard of it before, Rudy's, a bar generously described as a dive on 9th Ave near 44th Street, serves free hot dogs to go along with their cheap beer.  The 6 of us, the 5 gentlemen pictured and CP behind the camera, started off the hot, humid summer day with some cold, cheap beer and some lukewarm hot dogs.  Fortunately, as a former employee at a hot dog factory, I know it is as safe to eat hot dogs uncooked as it is to eat them cooked.  Hot dogs are heated in the factory and are essentially ring bologna with a little less sugar.  In addition alcohol helps kill bacteria and given the amount of beer that was consumed it is unlikely any bacteria could possibly have survived in our stomachs.  Beer was essentially our Purel.  Rudy's home brews, Rudy's Red and Rudy's Blond, could be marketed as antibacterial elixirs...  Aside from the beer and hot dogs, there is also a hilarious story involving the Mets fan, the bearded young man in the picture above, and his personal space being invaded by a drunken middle-aged British woman.  She was willing to surrender to him ala Cornwallis  at Yorktown or maybe Corn-holis at Porntown.  Despite her willingness, the Mets fan was less than interested and the awkwardness pervaded and it included a British accent. 
High-larious!
Following our successful outing at Rudy's, the 6 of us hopped on the 7 train to Queens.  Little did we know we would accompany the wife of Mets right-fielder Jeff Francouer to the game. 

Aren't they a cute couple?

Through an excellent observation, CP noticed Mrs. Francoeur had a fancy ID badge attached to her purse.  Via some minor camera manipulation, she was able to photograph said badge for closer examination.  Caitlin Francoeur was riding the 7 train with what appeared to be her in-laws.  The elder Mrs. Francouer even laughed at one of my jokes.
Me: I had a friend in high school who once wore a t-shirt that said 'In case of rapture you can have this t-shirt.'
Jeff Francoeur's Mom: Ha Ha Ha
Taken completely out of context you may assume I went to high school full of Christian fundamentalists.  Maybe I did.  You may also have noticed that was not really my joke or really a joke at all, but it still happened.

We eventually arrived at Citi Field in Queens to meet the Mets and watch the Phillies beat the Mets.  The Metropolitans new home is certainly an upgrade over Shea Stadium which I am certain I have described as a dump more than once.  Twice actually.  Since the naming rights were partially paid for by TARP, it better be a nice stadium.  Our tax dollars got sunk into the damn thing, ours and Bernie Madoff's money.  I am glad my taxes only went into the stadium and not into improving the baseball team.  There are two obvious reasons.  The first is the fact that they are the Mets.  Seriously, aside from buying tickets, food, and beer at a game in which the Phillies are visiting I want no part in helping to finance that organization.  The second is that even if I did not hate the Mets, the Mets were awful this season. They were not quite Washington Nationals bad or Texas State Armadillos bad, but not far behind them in awfulness level.  The Mets did not have early 1990s Kath Ireland going for them either.

While early 1990s Kathy is quite a hottie, I still would not give up this guy to get her.

We did actually watch a baseball game in Citi Field.  J.A. Happ, 2009 NL Rookie of the Year, pitched 7 innings and gave up 1 run.  Chase Utley however countered with a 2-run home run into the right field seats in Citi Field.  If my facebook friends were paying attention they would know I christened that location Chase's Place due to Utley's propensity for hitting home runs there this season.   My Bartner called the right field seats in Yankee Stadium Chase's Place after he took CC Sabathia there twice in Game 1 of the World Series.  Too soon?  Either way Pedro Feliz and Chooch each added an RBI to get the final score and Brad Lidge even nailed down the save.  Despite the 11 blown saves everyone mentions, Lidge did manage to wrap up 31 save situations and this just happened to be one.
The obnoxious and victorious Phillies fan in me left Citi Field singing High Hopes. 

We miss you, Harry.
After all the singing and the yelling, thanks to the Phillies win and a whole lot of beer everybody had a good time at the game. Even the Mets fan.

 If you stay tuned, you may hear about singing and dancing part of the evening.  Also, maybe another story from Hawaii.