ScoreBig: New Ticket Marketplace

There are always new secondary ticket market places trying to grab a slice of the market, because it’s a huge market. ScoreBig.com is one of those places.

 

It’s run a little like Priceline’s name your own price feature in that you pick a pricing category and then select how much you’re willing to pay. You enter your info and click submit, and the site lets you know if your price is accepted, or if you need to adjust your selections. Simple and easy really.

 

I purchased two tickets to the Saturday Mets game in May featuring the David Wright Canvas Print giveaway and the process was painless. I picked the 4-star section and when my bid was rejected I dropped down to the 3-star section and had success. At each level there is a seating map with the sections represented so you know roughly what type of seats you’re bidding on.

 

My seats ended up being about 20% off face and I suspect I could’ve gotten them for less; the site actually tossed me an additional savings after I successfully had an offer accepted. My advice would be to check the sections against the face value price on mets.com/tickets and make an educated bid.

 

Some quick facts:

  • You are guaranteed to save on each and every ticket on ScoreBig.com

  • Tickets for sports, concerts, theater, Broadway, family shows, and attractions

  • No fees – free delivery

  • Choose Your Seating Area – all seats ordered together will be next to each other

  • Tell us what you want to pay – you have all the control, it’s thrilling!

  • Get an instant answer – you find out right away if your offer has been accepted

 

Fix The Out Of Town Scoreboard

I’ve been complaining about the out of town scoreboard at Citi Field since 2009, and it’s about time I wrote out my complains in full pictorial glory.

 

Mainly that 0 outs in an inning comes after 2 outs in that inning. Here’s the scoreboard suggesting the Phillies are up with 2 outs in the top of the 6th inning.

Top 6, 2 outs.

If you’re like me you spend a lot of time tracking the other games. I love that, unlike Shea Stadium, we can track the games by out. As it turns out the next Phillies batter made an out and the inning was over. As all baseball fans know the Rangers would now bat in the bottom of the 6th.

bottom 6Now wait just a second. Why are the Phillies up again? There are no outs and the light indicates it’s the top of the inning. If I hadn’t just been watching it, I’d assume that game was in the top half, which we know is not true because a minute ago there were two outs.

 

A couple of minutes later the inning flips and the Rangers come to bat.

bottom of the 6thThis is what it should’ve displayed to begin with. We went from Top six two outs, to Top six no outs, to bottom six no outs. That doesn’t make sense. Flipping the inning marker should be a step in the end of an inning process. Some places do ‘Mid-6’ but Citi Field has no way to portray this, and it’s redundant. If there are no outs and no runners, it makes the first batter has yet to resolve. We don’t know to know whether he’s actually batting yet or not, the out of town scoreboard only needs to show us the result.

 

It seems like a simple fix to my techie mind, but it’s been lingering for more than five seasons and I can’t  be the only one to have noticed.

 

Another thing that I noticed last year was that if there were multiple interleague games, they didn’t all show up. You’ll notice the scoreboard only has room for American and National League with eight games a piece. Every once in a while there are three interleague games with six intraleague games and if all three interleague games are either in the NL or AL, that makes nine games for eight slots and one gets lost, despite the extra room on the other side.

Citi Field’s Beer Selection

photo by CeetarThe Mets, and Aramark, did a great job adding to the selection of craft beers available at Citi Field for the 2014 season. You can check out the Citi Field Beer List for a simple list of what’s available.

 

The main new focus is the two Empire State Craft stands. One is behind home plate in the Promenade Food Court to the left of the clubhouse shop where I believe a cocktail stand used to be.

photo  by Ceetar

This one has four taps, although one is Bud Light, and nine craft bottles from New York breweries. You can check out a chart of the nine new ones here. On tap as of the first home stand was Bronx Pale Ale, Sixpoint Sweet Action, and Blue Point Toasted Lager. (You’ll note the sign is wrong and the cashiers, at the moment, don’t really have a clue. Make sure you get what you ordered)

 

The second Empire State Craft stand is next to Keith’s Grill on the field level out in left field behind section 132. This one doesn’t have taps, but they have the nine New York beers.

 

The existing three craft stands are still open carrying Sixpoint Sweet Action and Crisp, Brooklyn Lager and East India Pale Ale, (and Brooklyn Summer?), the new Goose Island 312 Urban Pale Ale and the other usuals, plus four taps. These are located on the field left in the corners by the foul poles, and on the Promenade Food Court to the right of the clubhouse shop.

 

You can also get Blue Point Toasted Lager at Catch of the Day and the Sixpoint and Brooklyn offerings at the Pat LaFrieda stand in the Promenade Food Court.

 

Overall, this is a very good selection. I enjoyed everything I’ve had so far, particularly the tap of the Bronx Pale Ale. I’m not going to say it’s perfect, or that it’s anywhere close to the best in the majors, (I still miss the specific Brooklyn beers that paired with the center field food stands. They even make bottles of Shackmeister Ale now) but it’s a very very good beer list and a great step up from last year.

 

 

Goose Island Craft Beer Stand

photo by Ceetar

Every year it feels like there’s a new Anheuser Busch-InBev gimmick. One year it was those cups that fill from the bottom. This year it’s a Goose Island booth, that I would wager a guess is in just about every Major League Ballpark.  This stand is in Right Field to the left of the Taste of the City place under the Pepsi Porch.

 

My initial thought was “ooh, will they have some of Goose Island’s other offerings?” which was silly. No. They have the same beers they have in the rest of the park, Goose Island Honkers Ale and Goose Island IPA on tap. I didn’t ask, but the menu on the stand only lists one beer price $12 souvenir cup.

Citi Field Gets A Yellow Card

I noticed this after the top of the 9th inning. Clearly they’re directing..something, but what? Security guys on the field? Cameras? Something else?

photo by Ceetar

They also had a blue card and a red card. I’m sure it’s a standard Red/Yellow/Green-Stop/wait/Go type system, though I don’t know what the  blue is for.

photo by Ceetar

 

Another Opening Day Arrives

It feels the Mets are a more serious team this year. Serious doesn’t create wins, but I’m still excited about the start of this season, like every other season.

 

For a couple of days we can put aside season projections, depth arguments, and roster assignments in favor of actually watching baseball games and just enjoying the break of a curveball, the crack of the bat and the diving run savings abilities of Juan Lagares.

 

It’s a time for celebration, no matter where you’re watching the game. Whether it’s at home, or on the radio, or sneakily tracking it while at work. For me, I’ll be at Citi Field taking pictures of beer selection, new displays, and baseball players playing baseball. It’ll be a great time.


Where are you watching?

New Beers At Citi Field

Yesterday the Mets released some of the new beers that will be available at Citi Field this year, and tweeted this picture.

 

These are nine beers from New York breweries of various quality, and luckily, various styles. They’ll be available at two Empire State Beer Stands; one on the field level near section 132 and the LF exit, and one in the Promenade food court. First, let me talk about what I like about this.

 

Nine new beers is great, provided this is in addition to and not a replacement to beers that were already present like Sixpoint Bengali Tiger and Sweet Action. I’ve had some of these and enjoyed them, and am excited to try others. I’m glad to finally see a dark beer, even if a black IPA isn’t quite a porter or stout, as well as some very drinkable IPAs. I love that there is a Kölsch in the mix because it’s a great summer style for drinking in hot weather. These nine beers added to the list will definitely make it so I actually have to consider what beer to get at Citi Field.

 

It’s not perfect though. I’m not thrilled with the Anheuser Busch-InBev connection to baseball in all stadiums and how they dominate the market, but their ownership of Goose Island now Blue Point Brewing Company is a great way to get those quality beers to my glass. I really like Toxic Sludge and the already present Toasted Lager. Ommegang is brewed in Cooperstown, making it a brewery that really should be a staple at every ballpark. I won’t go into the contract brewing debate here, which for now encompasses Queens Brewery and Original Sin, but it is something to think about.

 

My concern is what is, and what might be, missing. I’ll be sad if Sixpoint was displaced as Bengali Tiger is better than any of these beers, and the announced location of the Empire Beer Stand is also the location of last year’s Craft Beer Dugout where Sixpoint was served. The list is also missing a couple of notable New York breweries, though I”m sure there are business reasons for some of it. It’s not easy to negotiate things like this and I admittedly have no idea what goes into it. The decision to stick to bottles and cans bothers me a little, because there are some great breweries that are draft only. Singlecut Beersmiths, brewed in Astoria, is one of those although they’ve recently started canning. As is Greenpoint Brewing Company. There’s also Ithaca Brewing Company, Saranac Brewing Company and many more.

 

I’m not going to stop campaigning for a true stout or porter, and I’d like to add Saison as a style that’d be perfect for a baseball park. Still, I’m quite excited to get to Opening Day on Monday and explore and try some of these new beers. Below is a table compiled via BeerGraphs’ leaderboards detailing the nine new beers and their Beer Above Replacement values. None of these are world beaters by any stretch, but their is some quality there.

Brewery Beer Style BAR
Southern Tier Brewing Company IPA American IPA 2.075
Brewery Ommegang Ommegang Witte Witbier 3.258
The Bronx Brewery Bronx Pale Ale American Pale Ale 1.806
Blue Point Brewing Company Toxic Sludge Black IPA / Cascadian Dark Ale -0.232
Original Sin Original Sin Hard Cider Cider -0.364
Blue Point Brewing Company White IPA American IPA -1.088
Captain Lawrence Brewing Company Captain’s Kölsch Kölsch 1.138
Queens Brewery Lager American Amber / Red Lager -0.320
Coney Island Brewing Company Seas the Day Imperial / Double Pilsner

Fun Day At The Queens Baseball Convention

It was a good day and it looked like everyone was having fun, so kudos to Media Goon and Shannon of MetsPolice , and Darren of The7Line for putting it together, and I’m glad I could help out.

 

It’s always fun to be able to chat about baseball in the middle of winter. There were autograph signings, mascots, panels with bloggers and Mets execs, great walk-off wins with Mark Simon who writes some great stuff for ESPN New York, an a host of other things. Trivia games, dunk tanks, and podcasts galore.

 

Here’s some pictures.

Continue reading “Fun Day At The Queens Baseball Convention”

Exciting Beer News For Citi Field in 2014

photo by CeetarI’ve been lazy in posting about..well, about much of anything lately, but there have been some interesting developments on the Mets front regarding beer, and the beer available to us in 2014 when we go to a Mets game.

 

First off, about two months ago I had a chance to ask the Mets new VP Lou DePaoli, the one involved with tickets, marketing, and sponsorships, a question.  I asked him about beer events like Oktoberfest, and about craft beer in general. The response was very enlightening.

 

He didn’t expect to see anything much more in depth than what we saw at Oktoberfest last year. Events, for better or worse, are not likely to become all out affairs. No 30 beer tastings type events, at least not by the Mets. An independent could probably organize it as a group outing fairly easily. That segued into a response about the beer in general, and DePaoli’s response suggested he understands what craft beer is all about. He also dropped a “Big Beer” reference too about the selection and availability, which only adds fuel to the fire about AB InBev doing sneaky things to push craft beer out.

 

However, the good news is DePaoli also referenced something he did in other cities before this, such as Pittsburgh, called beer passports. The funny thing is the way it’s described in Pittsburgh is precisely what he seemed to imply we wouldn’t be getting with Oktoberfest type events.

“BEER SAMPLING of great local craft beers for 90 minutes in Club 3000 starting when the gates open (5:35 p.m.) and concluding at the start of the game”

So yeah, that’d be great. The Pirates featured at least Tröegs, a great local brewery, and Bells, a great brewery in general, at one of their events, and something similar at Citi Field would be awesome. Another year mentions Erie Brewing, Flying Dog, Church Beer Works, Victory, Tröegs and East End. They’ve been doing this since at least 2009, and frequently they’d have beer passport nights several times a season. The Mets already have a relationship with Sixpoint, Blue Point, and Brooklyn breweries inside Citi Field, so expanding this shouldn’t be hard. They also have an Ommegang brew inside the Delta Club. Ommegang, which is brewed in Cooperstown, is a brewery that should be inside all 30 stadiums almost by MLB rule.

 

But wait, there’s more! Shane Byrnes, who works for Blue Point Brewery, tweeted this:

 


Well, that sounds promising.  Also a subtle dig at other stadiums, which I appreciate as well.  I’m excited to see what we’ve got this year, both on the field and in the beer cooler.

 

I’ve been writing a bunch about beer over at BeerGraphs, and you should definitely check it out.

 

Mets Oktoberfest Recap

photo by CeetarOktoberfest at Citi Field was basically exactly how I expected it. Better than nothing, but nothing special.

 

The line to get in was really long. You could only pick up tickets at the ticket booths outside the Bullpen Gate and it took us about 20 minutes to do this. We received two vouchers each for beer, and a voucher for our Mets boot, to retrieve on the way out. No glass inside Citi Field. The lines for beer were particularly long, mainly because they sold tickets to more people than should probably stay in the Bullpen Plaza. There was very little in the way of entertainment, just one DJ with a German music playlist. None of the food options were any different than anything you can get in the main area of the park, in fact I don’t even recall what the three or four items for sale were.

 

And of course, the beer. Ideal would’ve been a handful or two of local seasonal options, with perhaps a tasting glass so you could try many of them. Even just two or three local craft options would’ve been special. Worst case was that they’d simply provide the generic Bud Light and Coors Light options that they provide to groups that buy Party City seats. The Mets went with the barely acceptable option; they provided Oktoberfest beers from Anheuser Busch InBev owned breweries Becks and Spaten. This isn’t horrible; after all, Spaten is a storied brewery and one of the six that’s poured in Munich, but because it’s owned by AB InBev, it’s the easiest possible option they could’ve provided. You also had the option of St. Pauli’s Girl and Bud Light.

 

I ordered my two beers at once because there was little reason to wait on the line again, and we ended up just heading into the park. The area was open from 5:30 until first pitch, but there was really no reason to stay.

 

The Mets boot was a nice touch, it’s glass and says Oktoberfest at Citi Field and all, but it’s very cheaply made and one of ours was actually chipped. It’s so obvious that it’s just two simple pieces of glass fused together, and the top of the boot isn’t even rounded like a glass for drinking. It’d probably make a nice vase though.

Das Boot!

I like the idea of Oktoberfest at Citi Field, but I don’t know that I’d make a special excuse to come out again next year if there aren’t any real changes.