I told you yesterday I’d make sure they won..
More photos after the break. The game started an hour late but looked to almost finish at a normal time before Frankie got a hold of it.
Going to the Game to Make the Mets Win
Headed out to the game tonight alone. Which means I’ll be roaming around the park aimlessly watching the game from all over the place.
I’m thinking of hanging around the outfield tonight. Checking out the pitchers warming up, watching the game from the Shea Bridge, and maybe climb up to the Pepsi Porch for an inning or two.
The Mets really need to win tonight. They’ve had one bad week every month that keeps them from getting above .500. In May they got to .500 and then lost six of seven. They got back to .500 again last week in Atlanta, lost a crushing game and have now lost four of their last five. If they can minimize that damage and start the climb again now, they’ll hopefully be able to climb above .500 and keep going. Maybe Bay is going to start being Jason Bay again after a big game last night, and maybe Wright and Davis get good news this week and make their way back to the team. Otherwise this Mets season feels a lot like Sisyphus.
Celebrating Enemy Milestones
For some reason there is a lot of talk about how Mets fans should treat Derek Jeter’s 3000th hit on the off chance it happens at Citi Field. (I’ll be there Saturday, I doubt Jeter will) I’ll boo. I boo when opposing players get hits. They’re the enemy. I’m not a gentlemanly opposing player in the same ‘fraternity’ of baseball players. It’s more important to me to see my pitcher’s WHIP be slightly lower than it is to see Jeter get a hit.
Let’s get real here, this isn’t some historic achievement. He’s not setting a record, he’s not even climbing into the top 10. He’s looking to become the 28th player to reach 3000 hits, and just because he’s the first to do so as a Yankee doesn’t mean anything outside of the Yankees. He’s not some all-time legend. He’s not Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig, or the best player on his team. There is nothing inherently more special about Derek Jeter, or the Yankees. He’s one player of 750 and the Yankees are one team of 30.
Jeter doesn’t transcend the sport in any way. Not at his position, not as a hitter, not as a fielder, and not even as a clutch hitter (which is simply a matter of being there a lot, he doesn’t boast better numbers in clutch situations). His claim to fame is longevity and being a good player on a lot of good Yankee teams. I hate the Yankees, therefore Jeter collecting a personal, or franchise, milestone means nothing to me. Absolutely nothing.
Move Along, Nothing to See Here
I was going to rant and rave and vent and fume, but it looks like Jason Fry basically covered all the angles over there at Faith and Fear in Flushing so I’ll just throw in a little pointer here to there.
Ugh. After which we never, ever spoke of it again.
So let’s remind these American League teams that are coming to Citi Field why National League baseball is the way to go. Let’s laugh at their pitchers trying to hit, and laugh at the managers that may botch a double-switch. Let’s read all the Moneyball references made while the A’s are in town and watch the Mets play, and win, some baseball games at home. It’s been a long road trip, and a successful one, so let’s go out to the park and watch Jose Reyes be Amazin’.
A Breakdown of MLB Ticket Surcharges
Chris Jaffe of the Hardball Times has been breaking down the order charges associated with baseball tickets for some time. Yesterday he posted about some of the new numbers for this year. The Mets were roughly middle of the pack until Citi Field opens, but now as most of you are probably aware, there is a ticket fee and an order fee. This year they’ve added a fee to mail you the tickets, so the cheapest option is a $2.50 surcharge to print them yourself. All teams seem to do this, despite it basically costing them nothing to email you the tickets.
I poked around a little bit myself with what I could find in my email regarding ticket prices over the years. Jaffe has total costs listed back through 2007, but I found some from before that.
For the 2007 and 2008 Playoffs there was a $12 per ticket fee, but no order fee.
Jaffe lists the Mets price as $6.50 in 2007. I don’t doubt him, but the only receipt I have from that year is for the Yankees, and it’s $9.25. ($4.75 + $4.50)
In 2005 there appears to be no per ticket fee, or it was built into the price on the receipt, and there was a $3.00 order fee. The prices of the tickets appear $6 higher than the price of the same ticket in 2004, so I suspect that’s the order fee.
In 2004 the per ticket fee was $6.00 and there was a $2.50 order fee.
So lots of order fees and surcharges through the years. Luckily there are also ticket deals, and you still can get tickets at the ballpark without any fees at all.
Random Pictures from Friday’s Game
The game itself just sucked. Going from being the best game of the year to the worst in roughly a half hour due mainly to some poor defense and bad breaks and what had been the excellent pitching failing to get out the average offense of the Phillies. So, here’s some random pictures of my day at the ballpark.
Well, maybe every other game?
The Citi Field Beer List
This is late in coming, but just in time for the latest and longest homestand of the year. Here is a list of every beer available in Citi Field. I count 60 distinct beers right now, although I suspect I may have a mistake or two that you can certainly help me out with. Snap a picture or let me know if you see a beer somewhere that I have not properly cataloged here.
Obviously It’s sad that the Brooklyn Brewery drafts are no longer available at Citi Field, but recently Sixpoint brewery started canning their beers, and I can only hope those beers find their way to Citi Field in the near future.
Tip Your Hat, Get ‘Em In July
The Yankees won this round. Some lucky breaks, grounders that found holes and inopportune walks combined with a rather disappointing offensive performance all around gave the Yankees the series win. If I had to choose one culprit, it would be the offense. Still stunted from losing David, Davis and Pagan and from the continued struggles of Bay and Thole , they had opportunities that they just couldn’t capitalize on. So I’ll tip my hat to the Yankees here; for now they’re the better team as shown in head to head competition. As a reward I’ll refrain from making Yankees jokes for a week, which is roughly how long it takes A-Rod to get down the line these days. Oops, a week starting now.
The Mets lost their first series in a while, which was bound to happen. It sucks that it was the Yankees, but they’re likely a better team, were at home, and have the DH advantage as all AL teams do in these interleague games. The team is still playing pretty good baseball overall, 3-3 since Wright went on the DL, and is keeping themselves in games and in the playoff race. Ike Davis and Angel Pagan may return somewhat soon, and hopefully David Wright just behind them. Until then it’s up to these guys to keep battling, to keep playing good baseball and winning games where they can.
Upcoming is a couple of weeks of weak other-division opponents during the week, and tough divisional opponents on the weekends. The Mets luck out and should miss Roy Halladay next weekend, which is definitely a boon. The Mets need to avoid spiraling into a funk and continue to win more ballgames than they lose. This keeps them in a position to make a run at things as they get healthier, and also helps Sandy Alderson figure out which of his role players and bench guys he needs to keep on this team, and which can be sent away. Z24DR8WQXYQQ
Eating With Bloggers: A Citi Field Food Tour
Monday night I, and many of your other favorite bloggers, was invited out to Citi Field for a Mets game, and a pre-game tour of Mets concessions and clubs with Scott Kleckner, Resident District Manager, Sports & Entertainment for Aramark. It did not disappoint. We ate. A lot.
Obviously the Keith’s Burger that I wrote about earlier in the season was included. We learned that it’s doing very well, and will likely become a permanent fixture in the future much like the Pastrami sandwich (which we also sampled) was tested last year. I love that the Mets and Aramark are trying out new things and never satisfied with the status quo. At Shea the most exciting change you could look forward to was if they changed burger suppliers.
Here’s a shot of the bloggers enjoying a slice of Margherita style pizza at Cascarino’s.
Cascarino’s was chosen in part because it’s local. It’s right there on College Point Blvd and so local that if you could get pizza delivered to Citi Field, Cascarino’s is close enough to do so.
Speaking of local fare, I brought up the departed Brooklyn Brewery beers. Without getting anything explicitly confirmed, it was made pretty clear that Budweiser can exert a ton of pressure financially over what beers are available. It was also suggested that Brooklyn Brewery may not be gone forever. (besides the cans of lager that remain) Right now the only true local beer available to the masses is Blue Point Toasted Lager at Catch of the Day. There’s also a tap of Sixpoint Sweet Action (and some Ommegang. Honestly, given it’s Cooperstown affiliation, EVERY ballpark should have some of it) in the Delta Sky Club, but that’s obviously a limited access area.
Perhaps the best thing we ate all night: An eggplant parmigiana sandwich. It was delicious: perfectly breaded with tasty sauce and excellent bread. I highly recommend it if you have a chance to be in the Delta Sky Club, or if they end up offering it elsewhere.
We also sampled the new fried chicken sandwich from Blue Smoke, which was my second favorite taste of the day. I’m not a big seafood eater, so I passed on the Po’Boy and Flounder at Catch of the Day, but everyone else liked it. I did have a handful of popcorn shrimp, which were definitely tasty but I’ll second Rob Castellano of Amazin’ Avenue in wishing there was some dipping sauces with them. The final thing we tasted was a new appetizer in the Delta Sky Club. It was some hot dog bites, basically a small hot dog dipped in panko breading. It was good, but nothing to really write home about.
Check out some of these other write ups while you’re at it, and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter.
http://www.ontheblack.com/2011/05/17/video-diary-citi-field-food-beverage-operations/
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/5/17/2174894/citi-field-food-mets-eat
Mets Fans at Last Night’s Giants Game
At least, it felt like that didn’t it? The truth is there weren’t that many Giants fans at Citi Field, but the Mets fans had very little to cheer about. There were a lot of isolated groupings of Giants fans, and pretty much all of 302 in the Pepsi Porch was loud and cheering, as well as a group behind the visitor’s dugout. The few times the Mets fans did get some chants going when the game was still tied, the Giants fans were drowned out.
Initially we boo’d, or Lets Go Mets’d, over the Giants cheering, but by the end of the game a lot of people had left and we were cold and there just wasn’t anything to cheer for. Cowbell Man seemed awfully pitiful with very few people joining in.
The game was cold, it felt like April, or San Francisco. Even with the Giants and Tim Lincecum on the mound, it felt like a poor showing of fans. Mets Police did a little digging and found that a local bar sponsored a Giants Fan trip to Citi Field. If the Mets continue to flounder I imagine you can expect more of these types of events becoming affordable for groups.
I’m tired of Willie Harris. He hit two double play balls and failed to even get a sacrifice in a key spot. He’s quickly approaching Gary Matthews Jr levels and I hope he’s quickly off this team. I know some have soured on Jason Bay, but this game would’ve been a lot different if he’d been in the lineup. I don’t begrudge him the paternity leave, but the Mets missed him.
In all three games against the Cy Young award winners lately I felt like the Mets have done a good job, but really they failed to get the big hit when it matter. Key walks, singles and long AB to drive up pitch counts are nice and all, but if you don’t capitalize, it’s all for naught. I really miss Johan Santana. Get well soon Johan.
Still, Tim Lincecum is quite good. 
I do feel like the Mets will win the finale. I sense a seven inning Pelfrey performance in which he gives up merely two runs on a double after a walk and a hit. Izzy, K-Rod, game over. 5-2 Mets.