Charles Petzold

The Mets lost last night, so they won't be playing in the World Series. We tuned in to see the tail-end of the game.

I'm not a baseball fan, but I have a kind of weird genetic affinity with the Mets. One of my mother's many cousins is Rod Kanehl, who played on the original Mets.

We went to a couple games in that era at the Polo Grounds, and sat with cousin Rod's family near the dugout, but it was a long time ago (I was 9 during the Mets' first season) and the only thing I remember clearly is being warned not to put our fingers through the chain-link guard in front of us because a foul ball could fly up and smash our fingers.