Team No. 32 Is Fast Approaching

Well, after two blowout losses to the division rival Phillies and a frustrating walkoff loss to Cincinnati Monday night, the hottest-team-in-baseball Mets are suddenly on a three-game losing streak despite getting a shockingly good outing from Oliver Perez.

There's the team I know and love.

Obviously, there isn't much sense in getting worked up one way or the other at this point in the season, and while those close wins bite you in the ass sometimes, but as it stands on May 4, 14-12 and 1/2 game out of first place isn't the worst place to be considering the team is still without its All-Star center fielder. Throw in the doomsday prognostications most had for the team this season and April treated the Mets fairly well, particularly if you acknowledge that the offense is yet to realize its potential.

It'd be awfully nice if May went even better, if for no other reason than that Team No. 32 -- let's call it the Mike Hampton game, in more ways than one -- is officially on the docket and coming this very month. That lucky squad? The Atlanta Braves. I will be making my first trip to Atlanta that involves me leaving the airport and seeing the house or horrors that plagued my Octobers in the late 1990s. I'll be attending the game with my college roommate, Sam, my friend Isabel and my friend Kyle, who some of you might remember as the reason for my lone visit to Lambeau Field.

I'm very much looking forward to the trip, first of all for the obvious reason: it's a baseball game. I'm also excited to see a new place, see some friends and, time permitting, find out what coca cola tastes like in Zimbabwe since the natives can't.
Often I plan these trips months in advance, but the reality doesn't seem clear until I finally have the tickets in my hands, which, after this weekend, I do. As I've said before, I always get excited when the teams have stubs with interesting art work that isn't necessarily the same mass produced backing you'll get from any ticketmaster outlet. Well, the Braves have some very nice artwork of Chipper Jones making a diving stop on their tickets. Given that he was the bane of my existence in his prime, it only seems appropriate. What's more interesting however, is that the tickets are huge. Like really oversized for typical season ticket holder tickets, which I'm assuming these are.

Aside from the notable obstacle of finding a way to keep the stub from being damaged until I get it back home to my shoe box, I like it. It may be the only thing about the Braves I like at this point aside from the price. Speaking of which, we're sitting in the 22nd row on the first-base side of the field level in section 123.

For $15!

I'd never want to live anywhere but New York, but it never ceases to excite me when I travel only to find that I can afford fantastic seats for a fraction of the price. Still, even this is astounding. I sat in comparable seats a year ago in Seattle for $50, which I thought was a deal. This is a whole different level. Hopefully I don't wind up spending too much money as a result of thinking I'm way ahead of the game.

Either way, the next stadium is 13 days away, and I'm excited. Get ready ATL. I'm coming.