You can root for the Mets without being convinced of their doom
Good Place to Watch a Game
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| From 041609_Padres |
The energy of Citi Field was amazing. Even for this cold lackluster game in April. The game sucked. I thought we were finally going to get that blow out, getting three on Peavy early and I figured we’d chase him early and then beat up on the bullpen. It didn’t work out, and the fan down the line that interfered with the ball may have cost them the game. Continue reading “Game 3: Padres at Citi Field”
I’d have hoped the Mets would get off to a better start, but they had some bad breaks. Hopefully Pelfrey’s tendinitis isn’t a big deal. Once the weather warms up, and they shake off this spring rust, I’m expecting them to put together a nice little run.
Thursday I’m going to my first regular season game at Citi, since I couldn’t find even scalped tickets to the opener for less than $250. I’m going to go for batting practice, and roam around like crazy. I plan to check out views, and bounces, and try to catch a bp home run. Here’s a quick run down of some things I plan on doing. Feel free to comment/email me if you think of other things I should check out.
1.Views from all the seats I currently have tickets to.
2.Other views, last row behind the plate. Last sections in the promenade on both sides. View from the Left Field Landing under the Promenade. Many others.
3.See what type of ‘club access’ is available well before the game. Are all the clubs already locked down and checking tickets, or am I able to go inside and look at them?
4.Someone asked me about the veggie options at Citi Field. So I’m going to keep an eye out for that stuff. I know they have salads and such in the Worlds Fare Market. Veggie burgers?
5.If I’m feeling ambitious, maybe I’ll try to time how long it takes to get up from high in the promenade after an inning, walk down, go to the bathroom, and get a hot dog, and get back.
6.Shea always had ‘hidden’ food items, especially in the later years. Where were the knishes? You can get Killian’s and Blue Moon on the Mezz? Really? I’m going to keep an eye out for the odd kiosk that might be serving something less standard at Citi.
7.I really want to check out the standing room options from around the park. I know there are some amazing standing views up on the Promenade that are close, block no one’s view and block no one’s path.
8.How tight is security for the ‘roamers’. I’m planning on buying a cheap seat, but not sitting in it. Am I going to get harassed for grabbing a seat here and there during the game? Only on the field level? What about the Big Apple seats?
9.Of course I’m going to have a beer or two, to continue the Citi Field Beer Review. First will be the exclusive Brooklyn Sabroso Ale.
I’m looking forward to a fun six hour day at the ballpark.
A(nother) First Look at Citi Field from the St. Johns Game.
First it’s come a long way, and it was beautiful.
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| From Citifield |
I was getting butterflies driving towards it as I saw the first signs mentioning it, and as I looked for a spot. The parking lot (the main, Shea, General/Prepaid) that I parked in is still only partially done, so hopefully it’ll provide more exiting opportunities. I left at 2:30, but had I left a regular Mets game at the end with everyone else it might have been a mess.
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| From Citifield |
I got there at 11:35, and figured rather than go to LF and go right in, I’d wait at the Rotunda to enter there at 11:40. I’m glad I did. The Rotunda, and the area around it, are terrific. Even the dwindling pile of Shea is beautiful in it’s own way, and people were indeed taking pictures with it. I crossed into the building, and the Rotunda is amazing. Still plenty to be done, but still amazing. I was confronting with the urge to be 18 places at once and running all over. Seeing as that was impossible, we started with probably the most mundane, the team store.
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| From Citifield |
Team store’s a big step up from the one at Shea. And there are more of them too. There is also Alyssa Milano’s first female boutique shop in right field. I bought a Citi Field inaugural season shirt, and a shot glass, and moved on.
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| From Citifield |
The views are great from everywhere. Sure there are more cut off corners, and a handful of overhangs in the way in a couple of places, but they definitely tried to minimize those (except for the overhang, which even if you miss the plays at the wall in RF, is still pretty cool). I didn’t find a seat that I flat out said, “I wouldn’t want to sit here”. Top rows of the Outfield Promenade Reserve aren’t great, but they’re better than UR section 36 Row N, which is what they were going for.
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| From Citifield |
Another subject that’s important to me, Beer and food. While they retained some of the ‘generic’ staples like Nathans, preliminary reports suggest that at least the food will be served properly, hot and fresh. The concessions are quicker and more orderly, and hopefully they’re properly set up to be well stocked. The real story is the rest of the stuff. Prices are better than at Shea from what I could tell, and they have a billion more options. Much has been made about Blue Smoke and Shake Shack and Box Frites and tacos and catch of the day and on and on. I can’t wait to try them all, but Shake Shack was as good in the Citi as it is in the City.
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| From Citifield |
Beer. I can be a bit of a beer snob, and I rarely drank at Shea because it was a struggle to find anything worthwhile. (Although they did have Killians and Blue Moon last year) I wasn’t paying $8 for a crappy Bud. This year there are dozens of options, all over the place, and local ones. All the outfield concessions have specialty beers, that appear to have been designed exclusively for the venue. That the beer was actually designed with the food you’re eating with it in mind is thrilling to me. Shack Shack has their exclusive Shackmeister Ale, and Blue Smoke has it’s Blue Smoke Blend, all from Brooklyn Brewery. There was some Queens Ale at the Box Frites place which I can’t remember the name of, but I can find no indication of a beer with Queens in the title from Brooklyn Brewery, which lends to the idea that it’s exclusive to that location. It’s going to be hard for me to not try all four of these beers on Saturday against the Red Sox, I only have to remind myself that they aren’t going anywhere.
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| From Citifield |
I wandered all around and didn’t see everything. Much of every trip to the place for a while will be a new experience, which is great. New seats, new views. Every game is an adventure. I’ve got tickets to three regular season games already, and I’m sure I’ll be to at least two dozen more.
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| From Citifield |
The ping of the aluminum bat felt so wrong.
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| From Citifield |
Seeing the Mets on the out of town scoreboard was a unique experience, and pretty cool.
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| From Citifield |
There some glitches and errors. Many will be fixed I’m sure. Some escalators weren’t working right, some water still pooled in some areas. Some TVs weren’t hooked up. The smoke from the BBQ place can/did drift past the scoreboard (depending on the wind) so you can see it in the outfield. No big deal really.
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| From Citifield |
All you really need to know is that you need to get there at your first opportunity. You won’t be disappointed.
We arrived in Philly around noon, stopped at my friend’s condo, had some lunch, and then took the transit system, SEPTA, to the ballpark. We arrived in the top of the first, and it was weird that we were actually missing the Mets at bat. This was my first time seeing the Mets away from home, and they made me proud. The first game featured probably 30% Mets fans, so we weren’t alone. The night game was sold out for fireworks, so there were less Mets fans, but we still managed to get a “Jose, Jose” chant going for a bit before we were booed. Oddly, I only heard one “Let’s go Phillies” chant the entire day. I wasn’t hassled much either. Some girls teased us a little on the train, and we got cursed at a couple of times throughout the day, but nothing major. We were in our seats in time to see the Phillies complaining about El Duque, and could tell that he was getting angry at them. Six innings later, with the Mets out to a nice lead, he had his revenge.
The Mets bats surely woke up, in both games. The second game especially, where the Mets stranded tons of runners on base, some from some nice plays by Michael Bourn in right field. They got some hits, they got some home runs, they stole some bases, and they got some hits with runners in scoring position and two outs. The Mets have won seven of eight, put the Phillies six losses back, and are again on a roll.
The bullpen make it a little difficult in the first game, and then we hurried over to Chickie’s and Petes, which is a local sports bar. They have yummy crab fries
, which I, and apparently Metsradamus, highly recommend. We also had a tower of beer
, which is just like it sounds. It’s two and a half pitcher’s of beer in a tall tower with a tap on the bottom to serve yourself that sits on the table. We also had some wings, paid, and headed back to Citizen’s Bank Ballpark.
Back at the stadium I made sure to get a cheesesteak, and I had a Phillies hat full of chocolate ice cream, that I didn’t smash like the Fanatic smashed a Mets cap on the field during the game. The Mets loaded the bases in the first inning, but didn’t score. That was only the start though, Beltran blasted two runs, and the Mets chased Cole Hamels early. Not before he threw behind Reyes, leading to a wild pitch and a run. Reyes had an interesting day, he was angered by Hamels, and in the first game he was called out stealing second on what was clearly a bad call. He even stood around the base, still reluctant to actually leave the base that was rightfully his. Willie came out to argue briefly, but to no avail. Wagner was summoned after Maine gave up a double to start the 9th, even though it wasn’t a save. Wagner sadly allowed that run to score, but in a measure of revenge for his only blown save of the year, he struck out Pat Burrell to end the game.
David Wright says he will be upset of John Maine is not on the All-Star team. Only Brad Penny has more wins than him at 10, and he’s fourth in the league in ERA at 2.74. At what basically is his halfway point, he has 84 strikeouts in 102 innings. To compare, Cole Hamels has the same 9-4 record as Maine, with an ERA approaching four. To think that Maine was considered one of the Mets question marks before the season, is laughable.
I do enjoy the stadium down there, but I think it’s nothing that special. It’s a nice modern park, but nothing superb. The ball travels nicely there, and all the sight-lines are good. The Mets always hit well there, and they have much better food than at Shea. Still, when I go back to Shea later this month, I’m sure I’ll have that ‘It is good to be home’ feeling.