A/N: Because today is Opening Day of the 2015 Major League Baseball season; and there is no new episode of Castle tonight.
James Castle loved baseball. Mommy said it was in his DNA; he didn't know what that meant, but he was only five years old so there were a lot of things he didn't know about yet. But he knew he loved baseball; he loved to watch the games with Mommy and Daddy and Grandpa Jim. Grams didn't like it, but she'd watch it with him because she loved him. At least that's what Daddy told him.
He was very excited today, because he was going to today's Mets game with Grandpa. Daddy wasn't home because he was working at his book job. He was doing something Mommy called a "book tour"; Jamie didn't know what that was exactly, but he knew Daddy wrote books just like Dr. Seuss wrote books. Jamie wasn't allowed to read Daddy's books, but someday he would. So Grandpa asked Mommy if he could take Jamie to today's game, and Mommy said yes. And it would just be him and Grandpa; Hannah was going to go to Grams' school and Mommy was going to work. He couldn't wait!
He and Grandpa were dressed alike in their Mets jerseys and Mets hats. They rode the subway and that was noisy and fun. There were lots of people wearing Mets stuff like him and Grandpa. Someone asked Jamie how long he had been a Mets fan, and he said "My whole life," and everyone thought that was cute; but it was true. As they got closer to Citi Field, he got even more excited. The stadium looked so big! Grandpa told him to get up, and to hold his hand. They got off the subway and walked across the platform to go to the game.
Grandpa had the tickets for the two of them and he put them under the magic reader. They were allowed to go in, and Grandpa took his hand again and they went to their seats. Grandpa asked him if he was hungry and he said yes. So Grandpa said it was time for a hot dog, because the best time to eat a hot dog was at a baseball game. Grandpa even remembered that Jamie liked ketchup on his hot dog; he said that Mommy ate them like that when she was little. Jamie liked spending time with Grandpa; he always had great stories about Mommy. Like the time they went to a Mets game together and Mommy got excited when Gary Carter hit a home run. She got so excited she jumped up and spilled her soda all over Grandpa. She cried because she got Grandpa wet and she felt bad, but Grandpa was just happy the Mets won the game, and he didn't care. And Grandpa had lots of stories about the Mets. He was a Mets fan from the beginning, when the Mets were a bad team and lost a lot of games. He told Jamie how much fun it was when the Mets won the World Series in 1969 and 1986 and when Jamie was a baby. He promised Jamie that if the Mets got back to the World Series they would watch it together.
They had a lot of fun today. Jamie ate the hot dog, some popcorn, and even a little bit of ice cream. (Grandpa didn't want him to get sick so they shared the ice cream). Grandpa showed Jamie his scorecard, and told Jamie he would teach him how to write in the scorebook when he got older, like he taught Mommy. Jamie told him he could write the whole alphabet now, but Grandpa told him you had to write in a special way in a scorebook and showed him what he meant. The stuff Grandpa wrote didn't make sense to Jamie, but Grandpa said it would someday.
The game was really good, and the Mets beat the Nationals 4-2. Jamie was tired after spending the day in the sun, but that was okay. He could lean on Grandpa while they were on the subway, and he even closed his eyes for a little bit. When they got close to their stop, Grandpa made sure he was awake, and helped him walk because now that Jamie was five, he was too big for Grandpa to carry. They got home, and Mommy was there waiting with Hannah and Grams. When Mommy asked him if he had fun, he told her yes, he did. The Mets won, he ate a hot dog, and he was with Grandpa. It was a great day.