Harry & Meghan -- you cheered for the wrong team!!

 

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Update:  Harry apologizes for wearing a Dodgers hat.

https://x.com/RoyalReporter/status/1986559511294058997

 If you know me, you know I am a vociferous baseball fan.   I got baseball from my mom, who had a box seat at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, until 1957, when the Dodgers played their last game in Brooklyn before moving to Los Angeles. 

I was nearly four when the LA Dodgers played their first game on the West Coast.  My mother never forgave the Dodgers for their move across the country.  That same year, the New York Giants also moved to the West Coast, to San Francisco, leaving the New York Metropolitan area with one team:  the New York Yankees.

My mom hated the Yankees, and her dad loved them.  They would have significant disagreements about their teams, usually in German.   My mom missed her team, but there was no way—no way at all—she would ever root for the Yuckies.   

I believe my first words were YANKEES  SUCK!  

On October 17, 1960, I was six years old when Major League Baseball announced a new National League Team, the New York Mets,  would begin playing in New York City in 1962.   The team's official home would be a new stadium in Queens, which was named Shea Stadium.   However, the first two seasons were played at the Polo Grounds, formerly the home of the NY Giants.

The Mets' two colors were Orange and Blue, taking one color from each of the two former teams.  Orange for the Giants and Dodger Blue.  The team's first home game was on April 13, 1962.  My mom was an original season ticket holder.  She got two tickets —one for me or my dad (not a big fan of baseball), or for friends.  I went with her on Opening Day.  Every Opening Day.   My mom was honest when she wrote the note to my teacher as to why I was absent.  She did not lie, saying I was sick.  Mom made it clear that Opening Day was an important event in our diaries.  

I grew up as a Mets fan.  The first years were awful, but in 1969 and 1986, the Mets won the World Series.  Mom died in 1979, and I turned the ticket into one seat, which my dad, long divorced from my mom, paid for.   I moved to Virginia in 1989, when I accepted the position of News Librarian with CNN in Washington. D.C. bureau.  

Friends asked how I could move to a place where there was no baseball.  I responded: Well, we get tickets to the Baltimore Orioles, and I get WOR on Cable so I can still watch the Mets.    Trust me: not the same thing, though

Nearly 3 years later, I met my future husband, Bill Koenig, in church.  He was a baseball writer.  Perfect!!!!  Our first date was on April 3, 1992, the exhibition game between the Os and the Mets.  

For one week each year, I would join Bill at Spring Training in Florida.  That week, he planned his Mets and Orioles reports and dropped me off at the Adult Day Care Center (Busch Gardens in Tampa) when he had other teams to report on. He had a 13 Game Sunday plan at Camden Yards, and on those 13 Sundays, he sat in the Press Box, and I sat in the seat. 

In the early 90s, several groups were trying to convince MLB to bring a team back to D.C. Bill and I supported this VERY MUCH!   On March 9, 1995, at the Breakers in Palm Beach,  MLB announced two expansion teams: Tampa Bay (Florida) and Arizona.  Bill snuck me into the meeting where this was announced—and before the meeting, we had breakfast in the Florentine Room at the Breakers.

La di Da

Bill noted that it was now unlikely that DC would get a baseball team.  I pouted.  Bill died four years later, and I kept his 13 Sunday game series.  The Orioles, I thought, would remain my "home team,"  although I still loved the Mets.  

Fast forward to September 29, 2004.  MLB was going to make a BIG announcement at Olympic Stadium in Montreal that the Expos were moving to D.C. A press conference at the City Museum, just a few blocks from where I worked, was held in the afternoon.   I asked my boss if I could take a late lunch.  She knew where I was going.  I went to that press conference and came back with a balloon in my hand and a smile from ear to ear.  Thirty-three years earlier, the Washington Senators moved to Texas to become the Texas Rangers.  

[This was the second Senators franchise.  The original Senators, who won the World Series in 1924 and were the hapless team in the musical Damn Yankees, played their last season in D.C. in 1960, relocating to Minnesota as the Twins.   In 1961,  an expansion team, also named the Washington Senators,  was established, remaining in the Nation's Capital for a decade.  

The Washington Nationals just ended their 20th season.  The last few years have been rocky, but I can't wait until next year.  Of course, we won the World Series in 2019.  A team with a losing record is better than NO BASEBALL AT ALL.

  I do not like pouting, which brings me to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sitting in the front row last night at Dodger Stadium. They had prime seats in the YaaMava Dugout Club. Meghan's Instagram account includes a video of her and Harry walking through the club, taking time to look at one of the exhibitions, and partaking of baseball food.

During the regular season, the average seat cost is between $450 and $1,000.  A bit pricier for the World Seats, with a pair of seats selling for $34,000-$40,000.  

https://ladodgers-premium.com/dugout-club

Harry and Meghan disappointed me.  They are local celebs, so it's no surprise that someone invited them to a very posh area of a baseball stadium. 

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 It is not the front row seats that bother me.  They were cheering for the wrong team!

Yes, Meghan grew up in Southern California.  However, she is married to a British prince, the younger son of King Charles III.  Yes, they cannot use their HRHs, and are not working royals, BUT BUT BUT, they are still members of the British Royal Family.   Canada is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

They should have been wearing Toronto Blue Jays caps because Harry's dad is also the King of Canada.  I am cheering for the Blue Jays, not just because I hate the Dodgers, but also because if the team wins the World Series, they won't have to accept an invitation from the White House. Prime Minister Mark Carney will be able to offer a terrific spread, and the King will probably issue a lovely statement, congratulating the team, which had back-to-back wins in 1992 and 1993.

Harry, the next time you chat with your dad, the conversation might be AWKWARD!!!

While filming Suits in Toronto, Meghan was photographed several times wearing a Blue Jays cap.  Unfortunately, no Getty photos are available to use.  

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 In June 2010, Prince Harry threw the first pitch at Citi Field, where the Mets were playing the Minnesota Twins.  Harry, you looked absolutely adorable in that Mets cap.   Nineteen years earlier, Harry's grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, joined President George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore to see the Orioles lose to the Oakland Athletics.  I was there covering the game for a British magazine.

https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/when-the-late-queen-elizabeth-ii-went-to-an-orioles-game/

The Queen did not don an Orioles cap, nor did she throw out the first pitch.  She may have sampled a hot dog, however.

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Three years after Harry was at Citi Field, he was again at a baseball game, this time in Harlem, where he tried to bat.

 Meghan and Harry received a few parting gifts when they attended an MLB game in London between the Boston Red Sox and the New York team that plays in the American League.   

@James Elfers

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 On February 26, 1914, Harry's great-great-grandpa, King George V, attended his first baseball game at Stamford Bridge.  According to one attendee, it was “the greatest event that America has ever shown England.”

 He was present for another game in June 1918 between players representing the US Army and the US Navy.  

https://www.si.com/mlb/mlb-london-series-1914-england-king-george

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 Whenever Harry and Charles meet again, they can certainly talk about baseball, as his father attended a Washington Senators game at RFK Stadium in 1970.  He was joined by President Nixon's elder daughter, Tricia.   Some years later, Charles was presented with a baseball during a visit to Georgetown University.

In October 2015, the "Queen and Prince Philip" attended a division series game between the Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers.

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 Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, Major League Baseball paid tribute to her during games,

Meghan and Harry do not know how to cheer at a baseball game.  Most people who sit in the front row at a posh club are there because they have money, or because their friends have money and have shared their seats.  They enjoy the complimentary wine, beer, and food, but sit with their hands folded.  The real fans rarely get to sit in the clubs because we cannot afford it.   I have had several opportunities to get a seat in the Terra Club, in front of home plate.  

People in the front row sit with their hands folded, with minimal animation.  

I dance and cheer... and I get on the Diamond at least every other game!  I make sure everyone knows I love my Nats.

Dear Harry and Meghan, the next time you go to a baseball game, invite me, and I will teach you the moves and cheers, and we will enjoy the game as true fans! 

A NPR photographer snapped me praying during game 5 of the divisional series vs the Dodgers. A friend spotted the photo on the local NPR's website, and I was able to get a copy

I was in the front row of the Terra Club for a Watch Party, as Game 5 was in Los Angeles. The Terra Club was made available for season plan holders. Free seat, free food, free beer or wine. We won and went on to the National League Championships, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in 4 Games. And then won the World Series in Game 7 in Houston!!

A friend saw me on TV and texted me the images

Last May, I was invited to a party in the Terra Club, and I got to sit in the front row. I danced around, cheered, took pictures, of course, and when Jacob Young, our centerfielder, came up to bat, he saw me dancing and smiled. I guess he doesn’t see a lot of dancing in the front row at the Terra Club.

Dan Kolko interviewing Jacob Young @Marlene Eilers Koenig

There are approximately 151 days until Opening Day 2026.