Last night, I trekked to the local double A baseball stadium to watch the Binghamton Mets take on the Connecticut Defenders.  In the past, we have seen a number of now big league players come through Binghamton – both as new professionals working their way up and as seasoned pros on rehab.  The later was the case last night.

Orlando Hernandez was making the start for Binghamton.  The stadium posted a new record attendance – official attendance being 7,412.  That is pretty good considering the stadium has a capacity of 6,012 according to Wikipedia.

Unfortunately for those who didn’t show up for the massive amount of pregame festivities – it was St Patrick’s Day in July, they may have missed El Duque’s start.  The seats were not full as the Mets took the field for the top of the first inning.  They did look mostly full by the end of the first inning.  Too bad for those who filled in their spaces at the bottom of the first as Hernandez only pitched one inning. 

Prior to the game, there were many ceremonial first pitches.  One of these included a representative from Dig Safely NY, who brought his mascot with him.