#skywatch Friday -- The Long Island Ducks Dine on Bluefish

Yes, that's how the evening ended.

We are baseball fans.  Drew and I have been rooting for the Mets since 1969.  We joke about how we tried to raise our children right, but they succumbed to peer pressure and became Yankees fans.  (Honestly, though, I don't hate the Yankees.  My mom grew up in the Bronx, in the shadow of Yankee Stadium.  My parents' first date, my dad took her to the stadium to see DiMaggio play.  If my Brooklyn-born, Ebbets-Field-is-holy-ground, Dodgers-loving father could go to Yankee Stadium, the Yanks can't be all bad...)

But the cost of a visit to holy ground...er, Citi Field...I don't feel like selling my first-born child to afford a ticket to a baseball game.

Enter the Long Island Ducks.

The Ducks play in the Atlantic League.  It's an independent professional league, made up of 8 teams in two divisions.  Bud Harrelson, who played shortstop for the '69 Mets, is a part owner of the Ducks.

For roughly the cost of a movie, you can get some fresh air and see a baseball game.  We usually see at least 7 games, we like to see the Ducks play each of the other teams in the league at least once.  We try to choose games with a giveaway, like a t-shirt or a backpack, or we'll pick a night where there's a fireworks display after the game.

We like to sit in the upper deck, behind home plate, because it gives us access to the Duck Club, a restaurant with table service, a decent menu and a full bar.

Our first game of the season was June 10, when the Ducks hosted the Bridgeport Bluefish.

The Port Jefferson Ferry advertises at all the Ducks games.  The ferry travels between Port Jefferson, Long Island and Bridgeport, Connecticut.  So I guess you could say we saw part of the "ferry series".

Here's the view from our seats:

Yeah, that's a lot of children on the field.  You put kids on the field to perform the national anthem, their parents have to buy tickets to the game...

The park has about a 6,000 seat capacity.  You can see just how small the ballpark is:

The Bluefish:

Our Ducks take the field:

Batter up:

Our mascot, Quackerjack:

Because it was fireworks night, we got a short burst of red fireworks during the singing of The Star Spangled Banner ("and the rockets' red glare..."), and each time a Ducks player hit a home run. (There were two that night.)

The Ducks won, of course.  And then it was time for the fireworks:

#skywatchfriday