recollections of the KID

I was living on borrowed time….literally……Uncle Sam had a signed contract that stated he owned my soul for a period of four years…..I was on delayed entry into the United States Navy when Opening Day April 9th 1985 rolled around..i was down to 60 days of freedom before I was scheduled to begin my stint at Great Lakes Boot Camp on June 10th……..I KNEW this would be my last opening Day at Big Shea for quite some time…….so I had to make it count……..we chartered a Bus as always and loaded up the 1/4 Kegs from Teddy the Greeks Deli….there wasn't a coffin cooler big enough to house the amount of BEER we planned to consume that day , and so multiple Kegs and Red Solo Cups were the order of the day…

..1984 had been a surprisingly good year for our beloved Metropolitans….90 plus wins and we hung in the race until Sept……this of course was the pre-wild card era , and we were expecting a summers long dogfight with the Cubs and Cardinals for NL East Supremacy. In Honesty though , there was only one topic of conversation and focus that day, and that was the debut of our prized offseason acquisition of Gary Carter…….i'd be lying if I said I was 100% behind the deal…..being the cynic that I am , I lamented the departure of Hubie Brooks and Mike Fitzgerald…and I was skeptical of the BIG STAR Carter ( I hated the Messier deal too, and the G-men giving up too much and passing on Big Ben to get Eli….but that's me…..p.s. I still don’t like the carmelo deal, so that bodes well for the Knicks)…….anywho…..the parking lot was abuzz with Gary Carter Chatter……..with visions of pennants dancing in our soon to be drunk heads…..it was a bitter cold day in the parking lot and there was less animosity amongst the fans since the Rangers were NOT playin the Islanders in the playoffs ( as opposed to the prior few opening days).

I don't recall too many particulars from the game until the 9th inning ended tied with the Cardinals…..we were sitting in the upper tier behind 3rd base ( about 30 guys) and since the beer vendors had stopped serving it was time to head to the warm and friendly confines of the Bus…..where iced cold Budweiser and the timeless Bob Murphy awaited us….how great it was going to be to hear Murphs call of a dramatic extra inning win on opening day………we walked all the way down the left field line before entering the rotunda and taking the ramps down to street level…..as was par for the course since day one of Big Shea…the ganglike Chants of LETS GO METS echoed throughout……what a happy bunch of knuckleheads this breed of Met Fanatics were and still are…..i stepped off the blue and orange conga line to use the men's room….and when I came out I was with 2 good friends ( Tom Daly and Dano Woods)………we started back towards the ramps when Dales walked out to the field level and saw there were 2 outs in the top of the tenth……."Wanna Hang and watch the Mets get up ? I think carter is due up in the 10th" Daly asked and thankfully the cold wind must have subsided long enough for us to agree…….we walked to the front row of the Lodge, just above the auxiliary scoreboard in left and literally right next to the Foul Pole……we waited anxiously as the hated Neil Allen took his warm-up tosses to begin the 10th and rose to our feet with those who still remained when Gary Carter strode to the plate………Allen hung a curveball ( I think) and Gary connected….we watched it sail right past us and touchdown safely in the bullpen near the Circus like tent in the picnic area and I can honestly say I had Chills up and down my spine…….30k folks jumpin up and down like a pack of cheerleaders...the spark had been lit……belief had been restored…..you knew right then and there that THIS Guy was meant to play on Broadway…..and the Mets were now complete…..by now we all know the rest of story, the newspapers will chronicle the big hit against the Stros…and the "single" that started the rally in game 6…we all know how Gary died way too young , but that his legacy will live forever…….but for me, when I heard he was on his death bed , I thought of the beginning….his debut with the Mets….and I Thank God I was lucky enough to see it in person.....it was one of those memories that i will take to the GRAVE.