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Tribute to Banner Day

I missed Banner Day, but every thing I saw about the event sounded amazing.   Check out posts from Mets Police and Faith and Fear in Flushing for the specifics.

 

I have no idea why they originally stopped having Banner Day but you could tell that people were excited to have it back.  300 or more banners were made.  All the announcers were talking it about it at different points throughout the day and the promotion got coverage in the papers the next day too.  What’s better than a promotion that not only gets covered but has the fans doing the actual promotion?

 

The fans did not embarrass either.  There weren’t a score of “Sell the Team!” banners or “So and so sucks!” proclamations.  I sense there was a certain reluctance to bring it back by the Mets assuming that Banner Day’s day had come and gone, and I admit I thought that might be the case as well.  The world today provides so many possible outlets for fans, that it wouldn’t have surprised me to learn that the desire to scribble some logos onto a bed sheet and parade around with it had been left in the previous millennium.  I was wrong.  The excitement I saw on Twitter and recapped by my fellow bloggers proves to me that Banner Day is the perfect promotion for Mets fandom. The winning banner was of an event and time period after Banner Day ended and the creators of the banner were what I call New Age Mets Fans.  Some common trait has been passed down from Mets fan to Mets fan that instills within us the desire to talk about and parade our favorite players and moments.

 

Optimism was present in many of the banners.  One of my favorites read, “The Mets are going all the way, Duda, Duda!” which I thought was clever and that I think I’m going to co-opt occasionally this year.   There were tributes to announcers, and players of the recent past as well as the distant past.  Current players got some love too, including a mock-up of a newspaper cover featuring R.A. Dickey’s exploits.

 

I wonder if the Mets were impressed by the enthusiasm and fun that went on that Sunday afternoon.   It did seem like they were enjoying the banners as well, so many they truly will bring this back as a yearly tradition.  It’s a fan-friendly event that really resonates with Mets fans and is the perfect event that was born of a fan movement way back at the Polo Grounds and not in a corporate meeting room somewhere.  It would be cool if it could be done while fans are already in the park.  There are rumors of scheduled doubleheaders being added to the schedule for 2013 to help facilitate the interleague everyday format, so perhaps they could again do it between games one Sunday afternoon.  Either way, I know I’m going to make a point to be there for it next year.

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Appreciating the Fans, 1986, and Explosions at Citi Field

Pyrotechnics Night at Citi Field Friday was a bummer because the Mets lost, but everything else was pretty nice.

I’ll start with the 1986 stuff, because this is the 25th anniversary and while the Mets aren’t having a single day, they’ve been sprinkling in cool stuff all season long.  They’ve done this one before, but they did some trivia stuff between innings where they had the players come out to award the prize.  Of course, that made everything else pretty easy.  When Rusty Staub appeared in the list, even if you didn’t know the answer to the question you knew it had to be him since he was there at the park.

Continue reading “Appreciating the Fans, 1986, and Explosions at Citi Field”

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New Mets Ticket Specials

Way back before Citi Field’s construction, and a playoff berth, prompted a surge in attendence at the Mets home ballpark they often offered ticket deals via Wendy’s, or LIRR, or the always popular “Bring a Pepsi Can, sit in the picnic area” deal.

Well, with dwindling demand this year the Mets have again started in on some of these promotions. 

You may have noticed an increased presense by Pepsi this year, particularly Pepsi MAX.  Pepsi is really pushing their diet soda this year, and being a big sponsor of the Mets it’s particularly evident at Citi Field.  Last Wednesday they were giving away samples before the game next to a giant inflated Pepsi MAX bottle and a pitch speed tent they had set up. 

On Friday they had huge bins of free Pepsi MAX cans to give away to Mets fans as they exited the park.

They also have a ticket special;  Pepsi MAX Mondays. 

“In partnership with Pepsi, you can now maximize your outing at Citi Field with Pepsi MAX Mondays. Starting at $80 you can get 4 Monday game tickets in the Pepsi Porch and 4 Pepsi Fountain Sodas.”

 

They’ve got the BJs Club-House sections, specially priced at $10 for kids and $20 for adults.

McFadden’s always has special happy hour packages than include tickets.

And McDonalds has a deal where if you donate $1 to the Ronald McDonald House you can get select tickets 50% off to value games in May and June.  Tickets will cost anywhere from $14 to $48 after the discount.  Plus the donation and normal ticketing fees of course.

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Mr. Mets Landing and Pyrotechnics

The Mets announced this weekend that they will have Pyrotechnics night again this year.  They also announced that they renamed the last two sections of the Left Field Landing seats to Mr. Mets Landing, and will be discounting them.

Mr. Met’s Landing is a new, specially priced area of the ballpark.

Sections 338 and 339 in Citi Field’s Left Field Landing are priced at $10 for kids 12 and under and $20 for adults ($20 and $30 respectively for four Marquee game dates)

Mr. Met will visit both sections during every home Mets game.

I sat in the future Mr. Mets Landing section late last year.  That post has some pictures, and I’ll share some here as well.  What I was most shocked about was how much I actually enjoyed the seats.  I’d previously been under the assumption that the Landing may have been the worse section in the ballpark due to the overhang above you making it tough to see the scoreboard, and the Landing itself blocking you from seeing the left fielder.  This is still probably the case if you’re beyond rows 5-6 or so, but otherwise I think Mr. Mets Landing will end up being pretty popular.  You get a view of the game from nearly dead center, which is similar to the view you get on the TV cameras at home.  You get the view from behind the pitcher as he throws his pitch, as opposed to watching from behind the batter.  You’re more a part of the team on the field than the team at the plate, and I think this is one of the best things Citi Field has going for it that we didn’t get to experience at Shea Stadium.

I was at the inaugural Pyrotechnics night last year, and I had a good time.  I was initially skeptical; Fireworks night had been my favorite promotion growing up and I was sad to see it go.  I turned out to be pleasantly surprised; given the name change I did not expect fireworks, but the Pyrotechnic display that we did get was pretty good.  Not that there weren’t issues with it, but it was new and exciting and I had fun.  I’m planning to go again this year.

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I’d Buy This: R.A. Dickey Jersey

Dickey is awesome. He’s such a fun player to root for.   He’s a  smart guy, he truly cares and appreciates the game.  He’s finally finding success after a middling career.  So why aren’t the Mets promoting more gear with his name on it?  Even without the puns?  Sure, you can customize stuff online, but that’s not the same as being able to walk into the Mets shop and buy a variety of Dickey jerseys and gear.  The Mets also don’t get the same profits due to revenue sharing if it’s personalized and bought online compared to in their shops.  This niche does get filled, but it’s filled via third party retailers like the7line.com.
The same could be said for Pagan.  This team needs to get better at embracing fan favorites, even if they’re not the best players on the team or signed to long term contracts.  Joe Smith came up and had a good April and fans were excited.  I’m sure some would’ve bought a shirt. Pedro Feliciano was a reliever, but he was a very good one and he’d been here long enough that maybe some fans would’ve wanted to honor that.

Have some fun with it. Make a promotion out of it.  Declare it Dickey day.  It would be similar to the foam fingers the Mets made that said “Make Wright #1” as part of an All-Star campaign.  It’s quirky and a bit silly, but it’s also fun and harmless attention.  Give out halos, or free Angel Pagan t-shirts, and have an “Angels in the outfield” promotion.

Addendum:  Modells had a huge online sale a couple of weeks ago. (Mets Police, via Media Goon, notes a sale on jerseys today) So I purchased items you won’t find at Citi Field.  I got myself a Pagan jersey (The new cream alternate from last year), and a blue Dickey name and number shirt.  Also, an “I Like Ike” shirt, because..well you know.   In addition to this I bought two shirts for my wife.
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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.