Firsts

Though it wasn't the first home run hit by a professional baseball player at Citi Field, and wasn't even the first home run of the night, the home run that will stick in Mets fan's memories-- that will stick in my memory-- is David Wright's first home run by a Met in the new stadium. This is partially because it was the first time that the new home run apple rose for a Mets homer (it looks too new; I miss the paper-mache look of the old apple already), but mostly because David Wright is so much the icon for the team already, it was almost preordained that he'd hit that shot. It was a Daryl Strawberry-ish swing that dug that ball out and sent it out of the park, which seemed fitting for a night in which Tom Seaver threw out the first ball to Mike Piazza.

A good night for memories in many ways, but with the loss, it wasn't as good as it could have been. On the bright side, this means I have a real chance of being there for the first win at Citi Field on Wednesday night, and it's hard to be sorry about that.

Opening Night at Citi Field

Game 7: Padres 6, Mets 5
3-4 for the season

It was opening night at Citi Field, and not unlike Citigroup's performance in the last year, the Mets failed to deliver. Pelfrey was wild, and while he settled down after an inning when that was a problem in Cincinnati, he didn't so much settle down tonight. Really, though, it was the lack of hitting that hurt the home team tonight, combined with an unfortunate balk from Pedro Feliciano, the only survivor of last year's Mets bullpen. The hitting hasn't been there to back up the pitching so far, and the pitching hasn't been as good as it can be. Never the less, I can't get too upset about the results of the first seven games of the season; those teams that are hot in April are rarely hot in September.

It must have been disappointing for the fans at the Field tonight, but from where I sat (I didn't see any of the game until the 5th inning), it was sort of like watching the Mets lose away from home, though they were wearing the home whites tonight. That ballpark, no matter how blue and orange, just doesn't feel like home yet. I'm sure that many of the fans that were there tonight felt the same way; for a good portion of the game, the seats were pretty empty, while the lines at the food stands and other attractions were long.

Alexis and I are going to the next game, on Wednesday night, and I have to admit that I'm feeling strange about it; on the one hand, I want to sit and enjoy the sublime pleasure of a baseball game in a stadium built for baseball, but on the other, I want to explore everything the new stadium has to offer. I think the answer might be to get there ridiculously early, walk around the place to get a sense of direction, perhaps sample some of the amazing food options available to me, see the view from all the public areas of the Field. I expect it will be both exciting and disorienting; happily, that's a combination I've learned to live with quite well in the last half-year.

Mazal tov to the Santanas!!

Johan isn't in Queens tonight for the opening of Citi Field, but for good reason; he's in Miami with his wife, who delivered a son today. Felicidades a su hijo nuevo, los Santanas!

Is LIRR ridership really that dumb?

On the schedules page for the Long Island Railroad, the following box appears:




Really?! A Mets fan who has trouble figuring that out probably shouldn't be allowed out of the house, much less on the train.

Were you nervous?

Game 2: Mets 9, Reds 7
2-0 for the season

One of my favorite things about baseball is that one day, you'll have a 2-1 game with great fielding and in which the bullpen is nearly perfect and the next, you'll have a 9-7 nail-biter complete with terrible fielding all around (though more for the Reds than for the Mets, as is reflected in the final score), the bullpen giving up three runs, and Frankie Rodriguez loading the bases before getting the last out. The rules are always the same in baseball, but the outcomes are not as predictable as statistics suggest they might be; that's why every game is its own pleasure to watch.

I was working during the opening game, which ran over its assigned bloc of time for DVR recorders, robbing me of the chance to see JJ Putz and KRod in their first innings as Mets-- so I was particularly looking forward to their innings last night. It was cold and dry in Cinci during the game, making the ball hard to grip, and that showed; all of the pitchers struggled with control throughout the game. Pelfrey couldn't find the strike zone in the first inning, Putz allowed a run in the 8th to bring the lead down to two runs, and Rodriguez allowed three base runners in the 9th.

Interestingly, I never felt all that nervous, even in the 9th. Particularly in the 9th, because KRod's confidence is so strong it seeps through the television screen and into the living room. Call it the confidence of a burglar, or just call it balls of steel; the man never looked nervous, never seemed to consider that he'd give it up, oozed confidence even with a man on each of the bases behind him. I followed his lead, and was rewarded.

Today is Oliver Perez's first game, and it looks as though it's going to be a sunny, warm-ish day in southern Ohio for the afternoon game. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Ollie having his stuff when he takes the mound.

A nearly perfect day

Game 1: Mets 2, Reds 1
1-0 for the season

Did you know that the Mets have, by far, the best opening day record in baseball? They've won nearly 70% of their opening days. Not that this matters in any way, but it's the kind of fun fact that gets bandied around all over the place during the first game of the season.

It was an awful day in Cincinnati; rain, cold, wind, looked like snow-- but it was a good game. The Mets stranded more runners than I'll ever be comfortable with, but Johan threw 99 pitches and held the Reds to one run on three hits, and then it was time for the bullpen. The bullpen, which is responsible for so many blown leads last year I stopped counting at the All-Star break. But it's a new bullpen this year, one that is completely capable of holding a one-run lead for 3 and 1/3 innings, which they did.

Also, the at-bat that produced Daniel Murphy's first hit and home-run of the season? Poetry. Nine pitches, and the kid just wasn't going to hit it fare until he got his pitch. He reminded me of Keith Hernandez up there; at the plate with a plan. I'm really looking forward to watching Murphy develop over this year.

And when it was all over, the Yankee's humiliation in Baltimore was only just beginning. April has arrived, and I'm feeling fortified.

Other sports are games. Baseball is love.

There was a major league baseball game in Philadelphia today, played between the Phillies and the Atlanta Braves. I found myself up against a strange set of feelings; there was baseball being played for real, but I didn't want either team to win. Never the less, by the time I got home, Alexis and I wanted nothing more than to watch the remaining innings of the game.

We're both exhausted, not sleeping well, and probably should have been in bed by the time the 8th inning rolled around. But there was nothing in the world either of us wanted to do more than watch that game. I have strongly negative feelings about both the teams on the field tonight, but watching them there, playing their game, their love-- that was magical. And in the end, it's easy to look at the result of tonight's game this way: we're a half a game up on the Phillies going into tomorrow's game. It's more a loss for Philadelphia than it is a win for Atlanta in mine eyes.

There was some super-fine pitching going on there, too, even if I do hate Derek Lowe.

Joss Wheedon, Mets Fan

This week's Dollhouse (the new show from the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) included a couple of overt shout-outs to the '86 Mets and to the team in general. Joss has been a hero of mine for 10 years now, but this? It's too much.

Me too, Jerry. Me too.

"I'm excited," Manuel said. "We're healthy. We're looking forward to it. We can't wait to get going."

--on the beginning of the season... tomorrow!

Sheffield.

As a baseball sage said today, who would you rather have off the bench, Gary Sheffield or Marlon Anderson? He can platoon with Delgado at first and in both of the corners of the outfield. He's a righty. You don't want 30 more homers this year?

In those terms, and in terms of the money, this is the wisest choice that Omar has made this year.

Of course, he makes me nervous. But I think that if Sheff doesn't produce, he'll be cut. I'm feeling good about this move.

go read this now

Maybe when I've been blogging about the Mets for years, I'll be able to be as eloquent as Greg at Faith and Fear. Maybe. In the meantime, he's captured how I feel so well in this post that I'm just going to read it again instead of try to explain how I feel today.

Well, beat the drum, and hold the phone...

I'm so ready for baseball season it's become a little embarrassing; the preoccupation is so great that I found myself wearing one of my favorite Mets long-sleeve t's today, with chinos. I'm not the only one living in my apartment who feels this way; Alexis found herself watching Mets Classic games on SNY today, in lieu of the last spring training game (it was untelevised), just to tide herself over until the season begins on Monday.

Though we didn't land tickets to either of this weekend's exhibition games at Citi Field against the Red Sox, Alexis and I will still be at Willets Point this weekend. We're going on Sunday for Workout Day, when the guys will be on the field and the rest of us will be wandering the new stadium.

It's hard to believe, but my team is sleeping in their regular-season beds tonight, having flown up from Florida tonight in advance of the games at Citi this weekend. Though these are exhibition games, there is an air of excitement surrounding the first games that major-leaguers will play in the new ballpark, and I can't help but feel its breeze.

...the sun came out today
we're born again
there's new grass on the field...

merch

Growing up, I didn't wear much Mets merchandise. This is likely because my dad, the most committed Mets fan I knew growing up, only ever wore the Mets shoe laces I got him for Christmas one year.

When I lived in Los Angeles and went to Mets games in Chavez Ravine, I felt the need to wear something that designated me as a Mets fan in exile. This was almost a decade ago (wow), before the t-shirts specifically designed for women were anything but pink and icky, so I ended up with an ill-fitting men's t-shirt that just said METS across the chest. I still wear that shirt to sleep sometimes. I also bought a Mets cap before going to Israel for the first time, and am still sad that I seem to have lost it in one of my moves since.

As I've spent more time as a fan not living with my dad and with folks who do wear Mets merchandise, I've developed my own feelings about how I dress when I go to games. And I like the t-shirts and sweatshirt and hat that I have. The options for women have expanded, and there are a couple of brands that design t-shirts and outerwear that I really like. Plus, I have some orange t-shirts, which when combined with jeans are Mets colors, too.

But whoever designed the bikini took a big step over the line of taste.

the Sports Illustrated curse

It's bad enough that SI has tagged the New York Mets as the team to win the World Series this year. But then to put CC Sabathia, in all his pin-stripped glory, on the cover?! That's just sadistic.

baseball in Brooklyn

Here's a fun thought experiment that occurred to me while walking to the train today:

How would your loyalties be divided if National League baseball came back to Brooklyn?

I am too young to have my own memories of the Brooklyn Dodgers, but I was raised by Dodger fans, and so I feel a certain inherited longing for Ebbets Field. There is certainly a part of me that would feel a strong pull to root for an MLB team in Brooklyn, particularly now that I live here in the borough of our familial and baseball ancestors.

Never the less, I've been a Mets fan all my life. I think my friend Joe put it perfectly when he said, "I mean, they'd totally be my second favorite team..." Mine, too. Right after the Mets.