A rainy road trip to Citi Field

I bought the four tickets to see our New York Mets play the Cincinnati Reds online two months ago, so my dear wife Karen, my great friend and bowling teammate Steve Vicik Jr. and his wife Kristen were sort of excited when our Saturday in June finally rolled around. Rain in the forecast for the…

Happiness Is

Why, yes, she is my daughter. How did you know? The party started with tailgating in the parking lot for the six of us: My dear wife Karen and I, Elisabeth and her boyfriend George Three, and his parents Susan and George Two. With Father’s Day the following day, the timing could not have been…

A suite night at the stadium

It was not a run-of-the-mill visit to the old ballpark the last time out to see the Syracuse Chiefs. My dear wife Karen had some big news for me with her text. Her co-worker and our friend Marlene invited her to the SMG suite for a Friday night International League game against the Indianapolis Indians.…

Sittin’ with Steve at Stella’s Diner

When my bowling league teammate Steve texted me earlier this week that he wanted to get together this morning to hand over his share of the loot to cement the trip to see our beloved New York Mets play the Cincinnati Reds next month at CitiField, I suggested Stella’s Diner for breakfast. I month has…

Why whine about the Mets’ loss to the Yankees when there’s so much wine?

The end of the line greeted me Friday morning as I planned my strategy for the that night’s game for my New York Mets. The Subway Series, the New York Yankees, the Four Train from CitiField in Flushing to the Bronx with a team-tying-record 11-game winning streak lied ahead with great promise. On my wide…

Throwback: Baseball please, with window cut pie for dinner and cold drafts after work

I spotted Bob the Mailman at the ballpark last weekend, and Tommy Hrim’s favorite expression this time of year screamed inside my head. “Baseball, please,” I said to the graying gent who had plopped down two rows in front of my dear wife Karen and I at NBT Bank Stadium, scorecard in hand to better…

Son of a gun, satisfaction is all relative with the Chiefs

As Saturday’s morning sun kissed us in the living room of our Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood, dancing through the two big windows to warm our weekend spirits, I offered the suggestion. Our first Syracuse Chiefs baseball game of the 2015 season, perhaps, my dear wife Karen? Great mind, yes, she’d…

I tip my hat to the new Mets pitcher

I have beefed before in these parts for my relative distaste for the new flat-brimmed baseball hat. Give me the curved crown and tradition, please and thank you. I realize that the bigger, flatter brim is the thing around the world, and is worn, well, everywhere you look. I see it taking up more and…

What’s a Big Apple sports fan not feeling so super to do?

Free Advice is a periodic feature in which I answer anonymous letters sent to markbialczak.com. Today’s reader asks for my opinion on Super Bowl Sunday. Mark, I know you had mentioned you once wrote about sports and you had once lived on Long Island. I too grew up on Long Island. I’ve hit a low…

At The Blog of Funny Names, I offer my first Mets manager, Casey Stengel

Over at The Blog of Funny Names, I wrote my monthly offering about the first man to manage the first sports team I ever fell in love with. That would be Charles Dillon “Casey” Stengel, a 71-year-old who cut a quite curious and funny figure for a 4-year-old figuring out the world. So my story…