For the second year in a row, we here at the Mets Police are proud to announce that we will be supporting the Movember movement which seeks to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer research.
Why not join, or support, them?
Meet the Mets Bloggers
Saturday night I met up with fellow bloggers from Metspolice.com, ontheblack.com and readtheapple.com for friendly Mets conversation, and beer. I’ve officially come in as the laziest despite technically being the longest running blog of the four, as they’ve all put up recap posts already and I’m just messing around on Twitter. So go read their recaps, which include what I believe is my video blog premier. (Which made it up much faster than my SNY/Beer Money premier, which was filmed eight months ago and hasn’t aired yet.) Guest starring in the recaps is the infamous and hilarious Eli From Brooklyn.
You Will Go To Citi Field on Sunday
The Mets Hall of Fame game is Sunday. Before the game they’re having a ceremony and inducting Frank Cashen, Dwight Gooden, Davey Johnson, and Darryl Strawberry into the Mets Hall of Fame. There are still tickets available. There are still TOO MANY tickets available. Shannon over at Mets Police has been all over this, and rightfully so. It’s one thing if the mid-level seats that are priced above what’s affordable for many people don’t sell out. It’s quite another if the Promenade section doesn’t.
The lack of Mets history in Citi Field was one of the biggest complaints about the place last year. More so than even Pelfrey letting Jody Gerut hit the first home run in the place. Even if you only go to a few games this year, this should be near the top of the list of options. It’s honoring one of our greatest teams. Great players who we enjoyed rooting for for many years and the leaders who helped get them there. True Mets. It doesn’t matter what they did off the field or later in their careers in lesser leagues. They did something for Mets fans that can never be erased, and to miss out on that for petty reasons like inflation, personal feelings about current players or administrators, or the organization or park not being precisely how you like it is just sad. It’s one thing if it doesn’t fit into your schedule, your personal finances, or you’re flat out busy that day, but it’s quite another to make a specific effort NOT to go. If you’re going to stop celebrating the best parts of the Mets history, what are you going to celebrate?
Opening Day 2010
Today was Opening Day at Citi Field. A day filled with optimism. (Unless you’re one of the fans booing Oliver Perez, the Mets trainers, Luis Castillo or Jerry Manuel) The day lived up to the hype and the Mets won as they usually do on Opening Day. I met with a surprising amount of other bloggers and the Blue Cap Army to tour the Mets Hall of Fame and Museum which was a lot of fun. Hopefully I’ll see a bunch more of them this season. (My next game is Friday.)
The important stuff:
Johan pitched great. He wasn’t exactly lights out, but he was excellent and held the Marlins to 1 run in 6 innings. The bullpen pitched excellently. It was just Nieve and K-Rod this time, but still good way to start. David Wright got his first home run in his first at-bat, and it was just amazing. Wright’s poised to have an amazing MVP caliber player, and getting that first home run out of the way so that no one can start doubting him was a great jolt to the Mets fans. It said, “This season is going to be good. We’re not going to fall on old clichés and you’re not going to be able to use the phrase ‘here we go again.’” Bay and Barajas both had big hits, to help break the ice so to speak. More importantly, the Mets were aggressive. They played an aggressive game, made the Marlins have to make plays (they didn’t), and played hard. There was even a suicide squeeze attempt which was great to see. So even though I think he’s still the worst manager the Mets have ever had, I do offer kudos to Jerry Manuel for calling that play. Suicide squeezes and terror on the basepaths is a much better way to try to steal runs than sacrifice bunting.
Now some pictures of things I noticed at Citi Field today. There are a lot of changes, and plenty of them are fairly mundane, but still changes. I took 400 pictures and a couple of videos, and there was so much good stuff that I’ll never be able to get to it all. The full gallery is here. More pictures at The Real Dirty Mets Blog.
The moved Home Run Apple. Great change. Great location. Looks amazing there. Could become a meeting point, although it’s just a wee bit crowded there.
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Heading Out to Citi Field This Season
As usual, I’ll be heading out to Citi Field more than a couple of times this season. I’ve currently committed to four games, as you can see in the ‘upcoming games’ box on the sidebar.
I try to get to Opening Day any chance I can. I wasn’t able to secure or afford second hand tickets to the Opener last year, but this year with demand a little down and it not being a new stadium, I was able to get tickets. I’ll be in the Promenade Box, and Opening Day can’t come soon enough. I always remember the early April games, and walking into Shea Stadium, and remembering how much I missed being there, and how much I felt I belonged. I suspect this season will be no different, and I already have a bunch of things planned. If you’re also going to be there, you should check out Mets Police’s Blue Cap Army. All you have to do is show up wearing a blue Mets cap. Easy!
Opening Day has a lot of hoopla to get out of the way, and it’s more about the return of baseball games that count, so I like to get to another game early on to devote solely to the Mets. Friday April 9th will be that game. I’m going alone, will probably spend most of the game on my feet wandering around to different parts of the stadium and enjoying the different vantage points. I’ll probably buy a scorecard and keep score, and have my camera and take a billion pictures.
Pyrotechnics night is July 5th. I was frequently at Shea for Fireworks night, and I was lamenting it’s disappearance once Citi Field’s construction starting taking up the parking lot, so I’m glad it’s back in some fashion. I have no idea how they’re going to do it, and what the difference between pyrotechnics and fireworks is, but I’m sure it’ll be fun.
The Hall of Fame ceremony game is August 1st. Something that has been somewhat lacking in the last couple of years is a true celebration of long time Mets greats, and properly honoring them. This day will rectify that, and it should be a game that sells out. After all, there has been tons of screaming and yelling about Citi Field not having enough Mets history in it. If you’re one of those people, you pretty much have to be there. It would look really bad if Mets fans were clamoring for Mets history but don’t sell out a game celebrating it. This isn’t about the team this year, this is about being a Mets fan. As of right now, not even the cheapest section is sold out.