Chapter 80.7: President-Elect Obama

All right! You don't have to be a math whiz to see the blue ink on the wall. With Ohio now declared for Sen. Barack Obama, Pennsylvania unsurprisingly going Democratic, and Florida looking ready to go Democratic too, it's time to stick a fork in Sen. John McCain's campaign. It's done.

There's a party in Grant Park in Chicago, and I think there will be celebration throughout much of the United States. Barack Obama is on the verge of history!

President-Elect Obama will have a lot of work ahead of him, and there remains much to learn about the House and Senate races as the night goes on, but short of an unspeakable catastrophe, he has accomplished what many African-Americans never thought possible in their lifetimes.

This may sound silly to some, but I'm proud of America. We're still a nation with deep racial divisions, but at least it can be said now that we have elected a black man president. There's never been a black prime minister of England or a black president of France. Don't even think about Germany in this equation. I don't know for certain, but I'd be shocked if there's been an Aboriginal PM of Australia.

This truly is history. I'm proud to have witnessed it and to be part of this historic vote.

Chapter 79.6: Shea Goodbye, Unless...

Today, the last regularly scheduled game at Shea Stadium is taking place. In fact, it has begun. I was fortunate enough to get a call just before I left work Thursday night with a free ticket to the Mets game against the Cubs. Pedro Martinez vs. Rich Harden. Game number 159 in the season.

And at many times during the rainy night, I feared they would lose. Indeed, the Mets never led until they won. It will probably be my last night at Shea.

I'll miss it; it was home of my favorite team. I have many memories: my first baseball game, watching Nolan Ryan almost throw a no-hitter against them, riding the #7 train to meet up to watch the Mets play the Cardinals when Mark McGwire his his 400th homer, feeling the entire stadium shake during the final game of the 2000 NLCS, using a ticket from a friend who died on 9/11 to attend one of the first games after that terrible day, running onto the field during the 1983 Simon & Garfunkel concert, watching Billy Joel at the final concert at Shea. There are so many more.

And there could be at least one more night, because the Mets and Brewers are tied for the wild card, courtesy of a three-hit shutout by Johan Santana yesterday and a Cubs win over the Brewers. If the Mets and Brewers both win or both lose today, then they play each other Monday night at Shea.

But after today's game, there'll be a celebrtion of Shea. Even if the Mets end up not going to the playoffs, I wouldn't miss the celebration. The stadium may be ugly and noisy and stinky, but it's been home.

Thanks, Shea. Citi Field won't be quite the same.

Chapter 78.2: Old Friends

I've had a lot on my mind recently. Family. Past. Future. Money. Lack. Vacations. Staycations. Children (which kind of incorporates all the previous thoughts).

It's been hard to sit down and write about things like that on a blog, especially since I don't intend to bare my soul for the world to see here. I probably say too much already.

I'm meeting up with an old friend after work...today. It's been a couple years since I've met up with him. Basically, I want to catch up. Acknowledge my history. Hopefully laugh. But there are many old friends with whom I should do the same thing. It's difficult to restart one's past. You never know if it'll build momentum — and sometimes it was better off left in neutral.

But I try to be hopeful. We are nothing without history.

Chapter 72.8: Long Live Signman!

In this era of throwback baseball stadiums, with their entertainment areas, swimming pools, and oh yeah baseball, one aspect that hasn't quite been retrofitted is the sense of continuity. Owners have tried, of course. They've incorporated elements of previous eras -- the little hill in deep center at the Astros park and the cut line from home to the pitchers' mound in Arizona, for instance -- but they come off as affectations. What really makes continuity and atmosphere in a stadium are the fans.

As a longtime Met fan, I still have many memories of the Signman (Karl Ehrhardt)who seemed to attend almost every game at Shea when I was growing up in the late '70s, when the team stank so bad fans almost needed masks. Only a kid could love a staff that included Craig Swan, Pat Zachary, and Nino Espinosa. The Signman was unique. You knew you were watching a Mets game (on WOR, Channel 9) when the camera showed him hoisting some clever commentary about a play or a player. Perhaps the most famous were associated with the '73 team that was in last place in September and went on to win the division with an 81-win season. "Ya Gotta Believe!" Tug McGraw exclaimed, and the Signman, in late September and early October, would reply "We Believe!"

The signman died this past week. He was 83. I for one have missed him. According to a 2006 article, the Signman had caught the message of the team's new ownership in the early '80s and stopped coming to Shea, where the stink of the late '70s teams lingered. Like Tom Seaver before him, Signman was no longer wanted by anyone but the fans.

I wish Signman had had a chance to move with the Mets into the new Citi Field, which is expected to open in about 13 months. I think there's reason to believe the Wilpons would have invited him. He'd been brought back before -- in 2002 to help celebrate the team's fortieth anniversary -- and I hope they do something to commemorate him this year.

The Wilpons designed the new stadium in the image of the old Ebbets Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played. They seem to have some sense of history. If they know their fans, they'll recognize the late Ehrhardt's passing somehow this year. And if they hope to populate Citi Field with more than simply three million fans -- if they want to retain the best aspects of Mets history in the new home -- then they'll honor Signman in the new stadium. It's the right thing to do.