As I mentioned yesterday, I took a trip to the South Bronx to watch the Highlanders-Indians game which was my first visit to the new Highlander Stadium, so I’d figure I’d give you  some of my observations of the ball park.

It’s big, very big much bigger than Citi Field and because of that you are much further away from the field than at Citi.

As soon as you head down the stairs of the 4 train you know you’re at HIGHLANDER STADIUM because the Highlander brand just suffocates you. Maybe suffocates is too strong or maybe as a Mets fan I wish Citi Field was as Mets-centric as Highlander Stadium. Hell, even the hot dog stand is named Highlander hot dogs. Every single inch of the place is decorated in Highlander colors and there is no mention of the old Baltimore Orioles , who became the Highlanders and then the Yankees. No its’ Yankees, Yankees and more Yankees.

They sell t-shirts for just about every member of the team and of course all the retired stars. I was very, very tempted to buy a MARTIN 1 t-shirt as I always admired Bill Martin and his style of managing. His off the field way left a lot to be desired for sure but as a manager Martin was as good if not better than anyone who ever ran a baseball team.

For me to get to Highlander Stadium is a breeze. I took the 10:30 AM ferry out of Staten Island, then walked up to Bowling Green to get the 4 train and I was in front of the ball park by 11:45. It takes me that long to get from my house to the Gowanus /BQE merge going to Citi Field.

There are no ushers at Highlander Stadium. There are security people and the Highlanders post a number you can text to report a problem in your section. I sat in Section 420B yesterday and while everything was fine there was this one young lady who kept getting up looking for friends of hers and blocked the view of some fans. One of the blocked fans must have texted the number given as a security guard with ear piece came to the section and went right to the row where this gal was and asked if everything was ok here. Pretty impressive.

The Stadium itself (it’s not a ballpark it’s a STADIUM) has no charm. As you walk in the concourse level is just like entering a high end shopping mall. There are many, many workers who hold up signs “How May I Help You” and whatever you’re looking for at the Stadium they can tell you where it is. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen at Citi Field.     

The food choices were ok I guess, there wasn’t a concession that I said I have to have that. The garlic fires looked enticing but the smell of the garlic was so overpowering I passed. There was a Boar’s Head deli which I guess is very good but I can have a Boar’s Head deli sandwich any time I want. Johnny Rocket’s? There’s one in the SI Mall. Brother Jimmy’s BBQ? I have that before NY Rangers games. Hard Rock Café? If there was ever an organization that was the antithesis of Rock n Roll it’s the Highlanders   So I settled for my favorite sausage and peppers hero.

As for the fans, I guess because it was a Sunday there were a lot of families mostly from NJ, Rockland and Orange County and beyond. Listening to some of the conversations, many were of the casual fan variety but the fan of the day had to be the woman in back of me decked out in here Rivera jersey, cap who cheered and cheered for Jeter and A-Rod who upon seeing a man walking down from the upper rows of the section with a Highlander jersey with the number 5 on it asked her the guy who was with her, “Who’s number 5” to make it worse the guy who was with her didn’t know. My son who was with me just stared ahead watching the action, shaking his head back and forth. That was the best part of the day.

Citi Field has a lot of warts, most of them brought on by ownership but the atmosphere at Citi is much better and more of a festive block party, hanging out in the back yard BALLPARK whereas Highlander STADIUM is a massive high rise apartment building  where no one knows your name and they like it that way.

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As most of you know, I have a strong dislike for the rent a cops at Citi Field ( and at MSG as well) as it seems in order to get a job as an usher, concessioner or security person you must have a lack of social skills and the inability to use common sense.   It seems last night at Citi Field, which could have been Tumble Weed Field as the crowd seemed to be “by invitation only” with all the empty seats that were shown coast to coast and to all the ships at sea, the powers that be, have had enough of the “Don’t Trade Reyes” crowd as we see here from this dispatch from Darren Meenan of The 7 Line who brought his “Don’t Trade Reyes sign with him on Sunday just as he did on Friday. On Friday the Mets were cool with the rally but it seems on Sunday night the retreated back to the same old management and Meenan and his sign were tossed from the ball park.

Think about that for a moment, the Mets are hemorrhaging in red ink, they are the laughing stock of baseball, and they are sitting on tens of thousands of unsold tickets, so you would think the last thing this organization needs is any more unwanted bad publicity but they are getting it now with the treatment of Meenan last night. 

Was I there when this incident occurred? No but I know from firsthand experience how the Green Jackets operate and quite frankly they haven’t changed since the days at Shea. They do have some fear in them though as I saw a fan try to slip a few bucks to one usher to get a seat in the Field Level and the usher nearly shit himself telling the fan ”no, no we can’t do that anymore, they’re watching us” Well, it’s about time.

I hope the Mets hear about what the staff did to Meenan last night and invite him back to Citi Field for free and with a limo ride door to door. The credibility that this team has with its fan base is at a low I haven’t seen since the mid to late 70’s. It’s time to retrain the staff at Citi Field in a crash course in customer relations or the only sign the Mets will have to worry about will be the For Sale sign outside the ballpark .

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When I was first notified of this event I thought it was stupid. Why? Because it’s pretty obvious that Mets fans don’t want Reyes going anywhere and I don’t think Sandy Alderson wants him to go anywhere and no matter how much you stomp your feet and scream that won’t put funds in the in Mets empty coffers.

But my view of this event has changed and I now feel this is a great time an opportunity for Mets fans to show the new minority owner that Reyes (and David Wright) needs to be A Met 4 Life.  Frankly I would love to protest the keeping of Reyes by having a mass walkout of Citi Field during the bottom of the 5th inning of a game, just to show the Skill Sets and Minority Einhorn, what the ball park will look like next year without our beloved shortstop.

I know I’m putting too much faith in Minority Einhorn to stepped up and kick some Wilpon ass but I have to believe the Stealth Bomber GM (Sandy Alderson) will have a big say in this as well.  Alderson chucked Ollie Perez and Luis Castillo not only because they sucked but he felt negative fan sentiment was so strong, it was the right thing to do. Now with that same Mets fan passion in a positive way, Alderson seems to have gotten the message that he needs to be as creative as possible in keeping Reyes a Met. If he doesn’t then the message will be sent to the Mets fan base, WE DON”T WANT YOU EITHER!

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Last night I was fortunate enough to be a part of the fastest hour of radio ever on The Kult of Mets Personalities with the crew of Kiner’s Korner and Mike Silva of NY Baseball Digest. We spoke of our late friend Dana Brand, and then we got into our thoughts on the soon to be minority owner, David Einhorn.

To me Einhorn missed his mark yesterday to get Mets fans behind him, all he had to do was say he was investing not only $200mil to bail the organization out but he’s also throwing in an additional $45 mil for the sole purpose of buying out Jason Bay’s contract and as for Jose Reyes, “Jose, have your people call my people”.

Born in Jersey and raised in Milwaukee and a neighbor to the Selig’s this is no co-winky-dink that he was brought in as a minority owner of the Mets. Plus he’s not paying $200 mil for a good parking spot and a cushioned ball park seat; he’s here to fix what’s broken and to take over the whole operation.

As we discussed on the podcast last night, Einhorn made his money taking over companies that were swimming in red ink and making them solvent again. The Skill Sets have proven that running the Mets and investing money is way beyond their “Skill Sets” level.

Listening to Boomer and Carton this morning, Carton was his buffoon self mocking Einhorn on his voice and not being very tall, one thing Carton forgot is Einhorn is as ruthless as any organized crime capo or any so called “Gangsta” . I worked on Wall St for a few years and the only business that is close to it in ruthlessness and taking people down and not giving a shit is the drug trade.  As we’ve seen over that the past few years, Wall Street guys like Einhorn just don’t give a fuck on whom they have to step over to win. If Einhorn has to jack up Freddy and Uncle Saul and smack the shit out of Jeffey to make the Mets profitable for him to takeover when (not if it’s when) the Skill Sets have to sell, he doesn’t want to buy a loser.

Einhorn has said he will be in the background and not heard from. I remember a ship builder from Cleveland saying that nearly 40 years ago in the Bronx. That $200 mil Einhorn is putting down is no gift, it’s a down payment.

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After reading Jeffery Tobin’s piece in the New Yorker, which by the way was the best article  I’ve ever read on Freddy Skill Sets and Uncle Saul Katz and how they’ve went from a couple of shmucks from Bensonhurst to being a couple of schmucks from a gated community in Nassau County , it hit every emotion I have about being a Mets fan.

I laughed at Freddy gushing over his “Ebbets Field” and not having the smarts to realize that the majority of Mets fans hate the design and the Brooklyn Dodger influence of the ball park.  I was angered by his quotes about his best players. David Wright, whether you or Fred think he is not a superstar, has done more for this franchise on a positive level since he came up than anyone in the whole Mets organization. A few years back, Keith Hernandez mentioned on SNY that David needs to learn to say know to all the appearances he was making to promote the team as it just adds to the wear and tear of the season and is not worth it when rest is needed to stay fresh for the season. But Wright’ make up is he can’t say no to a sick child in a hospital, or to a military vet in a VA hospital or a school where he can have a positive influence on kids. This past winter, I attended the Mets Christmas party that was held for some inner city kids. It was one of those unbelievably cold winter days and here was Wright taking off his Santa Claus suit to come over to talk to myself and the other Mets bloggers in attendance. As cold as it was outside, Wright was dripping with sweat as that Santa Suit was stifling hot and he wore it until every kid came up to him to receive a Christmas gift . When I greeted Wright with a handshake I said to him “Is there anything you don’t do around here” and he replied “this isn’t work, this is fun, just to see the kid’s smile makes it worth it” We then began asking a few question and the one response  and image that stuck with me was that of a sweaty, tired David Wright leaning on a wall talking about his accomplishments as a Met saying “all I have to my name as a Met is NL East title and that’s not enough”

So when Freddy Skill Sets says about Wright, “He’s a really good kid, A very good player, not a superstar” I find that totally offensive. Last season I wrote that I felt Wright should approach the Skill Sets and demand a trade. I felt he needed to go to a better baseball environment where smart baseball people were in charge and rich owners just sat back and mined their own business. I pictured Wright on the Cardinals, Red Sox or Giants teams that are on solid ground and excelling as not the main cog in the engine but one of the pistons. So I guess that means I think like Freddy, that Wright is a very good player not a superstar, well on the Mets he’s a superstar because he has never, ever embarrassed this franchise and everything he does on and off the field is to promote the Mets in a positive light, which is an a near impossible task. No one in ownership has ever done iota of good for this franchise than Wright has done and for Freddy Skill Sets to disrespect Wright like he did in this article is totally classless.  

Do you know how much money and how many years Jose Reyes wants in his next contract? No you don’t and neither do I and neither does anyone else. Reyes has said that he wants to remain a Met for his whole career, during a media gathering at Cit Field right before spring training.  Reyes has made Long Island his permanent home. He has moved his parents from the Dominican Republic here to live with him, his wife and his kids. Jose Reyes loves being a Met and loves being a New Yorker, so where does Freddy get this idea that Reyes is looking for a “Carl Crawford contract”? Reyes is not getting a 7 year deal from the Mets or anyone else. The highest I can see for Jose is 5/$100mil but now with the diss from Freddy, I’m sure Reyes will look for the best deal he can get. Freddy’s big mouth might have just cost the Mets a hometown discount.

Carlos Beltran had to battle through a gauntlet of assholes to get his knee operated on and then rehabs his ass off to get back on the field to earn his paycheck. A lot of players after getting dicked around by management over a medical procedure would take their sweet time and come back when they thought it was best for them and not the team.  The thought never came into Carlos Beltran’s mind. He has not only worked his ass off to get back on the field, he’s changed position (unlike a certain diva shortstop in the Bronx who refuses to move off a position he hasn’t play well at in about three years) and has been giving the team a solid bat and adjusting to his new position flawlessly and has helped both his replacements, Angel Pagan and Jason Pridie with instructions on how to play the tough centerfield of Citi Field and for all this, he hears Freddy Skill Set say what a dick he was to sign him. Enjoy Carlos Beltran for the next month he is as good as gone from the Mets.

Just when you think there was no more earth for Freddy to scorch I’m sure his statement about his “shitty team” and that’s how “lousy clubs play” has gone over well with the ticket sales department and the public relations group.

From spending some time with the people behind the scenes at City Field these statements are an out and out punch in the gut to those folks who work hard and try and try and try to make this team relevant, to the point that people would actually spend money to come out to Citi Field.  Is Fred this delusional that he thinks he can call his team “lousy and shitty” and have these folks spin it positively? How does a ticket rep for the Mets call a prospective season ticket purchaser today and convince them to but Mets tickets? How does the P.R. staff come up with an ad campaign to get you to come out to Citi Field to see the Mets?  Freddy and Saul can spew old man stupidity all day and night, I’ll still go out to Citi Field this summer to watch the team, I’m sure Freddy and Saul laugh about a schmuck like me and that’s cool ,they can laugh now but I’ll be laughing later when Irv Picard beats their dumb ass in court and they have to sell the team and I’ll still being coming to Citi Field and rooting for my favorite baseball team and Freddy and Saul will be looking for that two-family house in Bensonhurst so Freddy can live upstairs and Saul down the basement. Just like old times.

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Quite the evening at Citi Field last night. This post may start to ramble for a while so if you want to stay for the full ride I suggest you make a trip to the rest room, grab some coffee and get a comfortable chair.

Last night was another installment of Mets Bloggers Gone Wild at Citi Field.  In this episode, which by the way, SNY is making a huge mistake not taping our blogger outings at Citi Field. The reaction of me and my fellow bloggers in arms when we gain access to areas of the ball park we never thought in a million years we’d enter is priceless.  I know for myself I feel like a 5 year old again and I’m at some old relatives home and my mother grabbing me by my arm imploring me to not to touch anything and mind my manners.  

At the last bloggers gathering, we were invited to listen to Terry Collins pre-game press conference and we were given access to be on the field during batting practice. As the main streamers sat in the Mets dugout, Shannon Forde, the Director of Media Relations (and all around sweetheart who sets up these events) told our group we could sit in the dugout as well. What? Say that again? So into the Mets dugout we went.  As hard as I tried to stay out of people’s way, I felt an arm on my shoulder and voice saying “excuse me” the arm belonged to Daniel Murphy, the shoulder was mine. I apologized for being in the way (“Oh sorry Daniel”) and Murph patted my back and said “not a problem”. So just when you think that was a best day ever, you have a day like yesterday.

My day at Citi Field started off with the bad news about David Wright and his stress fracture in his back. I arrived a bit earlier than expected and as I waited to get my credential, Shannon saw me and invited me to sit in on the Wright press conference. I told you she’s a sweetheart.  As Wright spoke about the MRI and then revealed he had a stress fracture in his back from the play in April involving Carlos Lee, I wanted to yell out “oh shit” and kick the chair in front of me but I had to remember that in these situations I can’t be a fanboy. It was interesting watching the media taking notes and asking questions nice and calm, while all Mets fans receiving this news were freaking out.    

As I waited for the rest of the blogger-ratzi to arrive, Caryn Rose, Kerel Cooper, Mike Silva, Matthew Artus, Rob Castellano and Ceetar,  I sat near Jay Horowitz who was on his phone spreading the word that Wright was going for a second opinion on his back and relaying the successful surgeries of pitchers Chris Young and Jenry Mejia . As Horowitz got off the phone, he let out a sigh and looked over at me with a smile and said hello. I almost did one of those look over the shoulders and then point at myself as to say “you talking to me” and with a “hiya Jay, busy day eh”? he replied shaking his head “that’s for sure”

When the other bloggers arrived, we were set to start out tour of the new food products available at Citi Field and of the clubs in the ballpark.

I’ve been a critic of some of the food stands and the emphasis that is put on what to eat at the ballpark, but after meeting Scott Kleckner, Resident District Manager, Sports & Entertainment for Aramark, I have to switch my position. The enthusiasm that Kleckner has for the food concessions and clubs reminds me of how Terry Collins talks about his team.  I still would rather sit in the stands at a ball game on a warm summer night with a hot dog and drink and from talking to Kelckner, he not only understands folks like me, he respects that fan mindset and wants you to be able to go to any concession stand and get the best hot dog and drink that you could possibly have.  He puts his degree in Hospitality and Management to excellent use. Kleckner is proud of the quality of the food and the amenities of the clubs at Citi Field, and he should be.

Kleckner and his staff brought us around to different concessions to try some of the new food items available at Citi Field. We first went to Catch of the Day stand to sample Popcorn Shrimp and Shrimp Po’Boy ‘s.  I’m not a big seafood eater but I loved the Popcorn Shrimp. The shrimp had a nice breading and wasn’t overly greasy (that was the one thing with the fried food we tried it never had a greasy taste) from there we moved to Keith’s Grill to sample the Mex Burger. This burger was put together by Keith Hernandez and consists of a Brooklyn Burger, cheddar and jack cheese, bacon, guacamole, chipotle aioli and jalapenos. That’s a spicy burger. I’m not much for spicy food so I favor the Gold Glove burger myself, which has cheese ,bacon lettuce, tomato, ketchup on one side of the roll and mustard on the other   . My one problem with Keith’s Grill is they make the burgers one at time which is great but they need to add another Keith’s Grill somewhere else in the ball park. During the last home stand, my wife waited 30 minutes on the line to get four burgers; on her behalf I field a protest with Mr. Kleckner.

We then went over to Cascarino’s Pizza.  This is my least favorite concession, the pizza is good (we sampled the thin Sicilian with fresh mozzarella) but I just have a tough time paying over 6 bucks for a slice.  We also tried a new fried chicken sandwich at Blue Smoke which was good but a little too much on the mayo but then again any mayo is too much for me. I hate mayonnaise.

We then went to what I feel is the best new concession to taste the Hot Pastrami. WOW!!! The meat is hand carved nice and thin and very tender and seasoned to perfection. The pastrami may move ahead of the turkey and mozzarella at Mama’s of Corona as my food at choice at Citi Field.

After stuffing ourselves at the concessions we moved on to the clubs. As I say I’m not one for the stadium clubs but again I loved Scott Kleckner’s enthusiasm and passion for the product the staff puts out.  Kleckner raved about the eggplant parmigiana hero in the Delta 360 Club. It was outstanding. The eggplant was just how I like it, sliced thin, seasoned and breaded nicely and not tough or stringy or mushy, and the tomato sauce had nice flavor not acidy, the roll was nice and crusty as well. You were right Scott that is a hell of a sandwich.

After all that noshing, we were set to watch the game. Shannon then informed us that we, the bloggers could sit in the press box. Yes you read that right, we, the bloggers were invited to sit in the Citi Field press box during a real live Major League game. Talk about an awkward feeling. It’s nowhere near Jackie Robinson breaking the color line I know, but never in my wildest imagination did I think I would go from a non-pants wearing , basement dwelling lunatic ranting about his favorite baseball team to having a seat in not just a Major League press box but the Citi Field press box.  We all handled ourselves correctly, no cheering in the press box and when we spoke to each other it was in hushed tones as people were working. We got a few stares but the box wasn’t very crowded. The best part for me were all the stat sheet  handouts they have, it reminded me of when Sal “Red Light” Messina did color on  NY Ranger games on radio, he’d always slip me the media notes for the game, class all the way was Red Light.

So the state of baseball reporting survived an invasion of Mets bloggers sitting in their Ivory Tower. The bedrock of Manhattan didn’t shift, the Atlantic Ocean didn’t erupt and flood Coney Island and Jay Horowitz didn’t suffer a nervous breakdown. Now if one of the beat writers would have come over and put his arm around us, like Pee Wee Reese did to Robinson, the night would have been complete.

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A tip of the BLUE Mets cap to The Mets Police for this pic of the offensive Seinfled cap

Observations from a busy weekend, and a happy belated Mother’s Day to all the mommies out there:

I went to the Mets-Dodgers games Saturday night as we live a in a time where you can go on your computer in the afternoon and buy and download tickets to a ball game that night in the comfort of your own home. I wish the atmosphere at the ball park could be as blissful as purchasing the tickets.

The Mets gave out caps on Saturday sponsored by Seinfeld, now I am a great fan of Jerry Seinfeld, but those caps that were given out were an embarrassment.  My wife told to stop complaining as what were you expecting for free, a New Era cap? No, not at all but they could have spent an extra dollar to make the cap something I’d wear instead of a one that felt and looked like it was made from scrap paper. Then to top it off it was BLACK. Maybe if they went with blue I wouldn’t have been this upset but really that cap was a piece of shit.

We sat in the Pepsi Porch which is my favorite spot of Citi Field but on Saturday, I felt like I was watching the game on the corner of 42 St and Broadway, people getting up during play and then trying to get to seat 17 by going through the first 16 seats of the row in the middle of an inning. I wouldn’t bitch so much if it was once or twice but this went on all game long.  The Mets need to do what the Garden and Prudential Center enforce, keep ushers near the section entrances and hold people up until an at bat is done then let them get back to their seats. And another thing, is it so hard to know where you’re sitting? How many times do you see some clueless asshole holding four beers standing on the steps of the section with a stupid look on his or her face not knowing where they sit? All you have to do is remember three things Section, Row, and seat.  How do these people function in everyday life?

I tried the Keith Burger on Saturday night and I wasn’t impressed at all, in fact in my opinion the only food that’s any good at Citi Field is Mama’s of Corona, Blue Smoke, or Sausage and Peppers hero, the rest of the food, even the highly vaunted Shake Shack, is overrated.

If there is anyone of the Highlander persuasion reading this site (Michael maybe you can explain this phenomenon that I’m about to address and please remember you are excluded from the group I’m about to call out) can you explain why Highlander fans come to Citi Field dressed like they are going to a Highlanders game and root for the Mets opponent of the day? Do you know what kind of dick heads you people are? I can’t even get angry at these morons; I’m just stunned by their stupidity. I go to Highlander Stadium but I never wear my “colors” when I go (unless it’s Mets-Highlanders) I always wear my “civvies” and I just sit and enjoy the game and the company as I couldn’t give two shits if the Highlanders win or lose the game. It’s not like it just of few of these simpletons that come to Mets games, there’s so many that we Mets fans look at each other with that puzzled “what the fuck”? look when they stroll around our park.

Just to closeout my Highlander fan rant, last week Highlander fans were ready to run Derek Jeter out of town. If it were up to Highlander fans, “El Capitan” would be lucky to get a paving stone in Monument Park forget a deserving tribute to his career.  Fans felt that Jeter was done, finished, a detriment to the team. Fuck those 3,000 hits and 5 World Series rings and that first ballot Hall of Fame sitting with his name on it, Jeter has to go. But wait, yesterday he went 4 for 6 with 2 HR’s and 3 RBI, so now he’s back in the pantheon of Highlanders, that is until he goes 0 for his next 15 at bats, then he’s back to a bum.

The more I watch Dillon Gee pitch, the more impressed I am with him.  Gee was called on in an emergency as Chris Young is on the DL with shoulder trouble and what made his start impressive in my eyes was the way he worked out of tough situations. Gee looks on the mound like a guy who knows exactly what he wants to do and tries to translate what’s in his head to his arm and more times than not he succeeds. He may not be an Ace but Gee will be around the big leagues a long time as long as he stays healthy.

Give Sandy Alderson credit for honesty when he says, “After Dillon Gee, there isn’t much left” as far as pitchers to called up to step into the rotation if need be. Just the fact that Pat Misch was recalled made that statement real. Really Pat Misch ? I’m sick of seeing him and Willie Harris as well and while I’m at it throw in Chin-lu Hu too. How in good conscious can Terry Collins send Hu up to pinch hit? I’d use R.A. Dickey or Big Pelf as a PH’er before Hu.

Keith Hernandez shocked me a bit yesterday when he said during David Wright’s at bat in the 9^th inning against Vicente Padillia that Wright’s bat speed looked like a guy late in his career who can’t get around on a fastball. Hernandez was shocked that Wright could not get around on Padilia’s fastball as he was the tying run at the plate. Wright has been bad at the plate so far this season but with RISP he’s been horrendous. It’s time for Terry Collins to drop Wright in the batting order and I guess the only thing stopping that move is Jason Bay not hitting. I’d like to see Collins us a lineup of:

Reyes

Murph

Beltran

Ike/Bay (depending on if it’s a LHP or RHP

Ike/Bay

Wright

Pridie

Thole

Pitcher

On days that Paulino catchers place him 7^th and Pridie 8^th. Hey it’s couldn’t hurt this lineup needs a shakeup.

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I think that’s the proper word to describe yesterday’s Mets home opener. The weather turned from not bad to uncomfortable rather quickly.  I know there have been reports of empty seats and there were pockets of them through the ball park but you have to understand that Citi Field was built for those who like to stroll and for those who like to remain inside.  I’m sure all the ritzy clubs were filled with sissy fans and folks at the game that could not care less that the Mets went 0 for 10 with RISP. Then there is the Shea Bridge, which has become the meeting spot for fans to meet with friends at the game. Yesterday I met up with Ed “Rusty Jr.” Marcus, Kerel Cooper, Taryn Cooper, Ed Leyro and Shannon for a pre game summit that should have been covered by SNY. That’s what SNY is missing, a Meet the Press type show with Mets bloggers in a round table setting. I bet it would beat any show on the network in ratings.

Citi Field is starting to grow on me.  There were a few issues.  I went to get a hot dog on the Concourse to enjoy while watching batting practice. The concession stand is one of the self service ones that reminds me of a rest stop on the NJ Turnpike. I get my hot dog, pay for it and then head over to the toppings island. There is a  woman stationed there who puts the onions and sauerkraut on for you. I can not believe this is the woman’s sole function. I mean, how much do you pay a person to be a condiments distributor? Is there special training needed to execute this task? Next time I have a bar-b-que at my house, I think I’m going to offer the job of condiment distributor to one of my kids,  next time I go to Citi Field I’ll ask the woman how much she makes so I know where to start my salary negotiations. By the way, by the time I put on the mustard and the fine condiment lady lathered my hot dog in onions, the frankfurter was cold. UGH!

They have added a Hot Pastrami station on the Concourse where you can get a kinish as well. I never understood why the team never put a full deli concession in the Worlds Fare Market to go along with Mama’s of Corona. Suhi. YUCK!!!

Outside the Worlds Fare Market they have added an area that makes frozen daiquiris. The drinks look very refreshing and would be great on an 85 degree day but when it’s 45 and damp, I’ll pass.

The opening day ceremonies were very good,  except for the booing of Mike Pelfrey and Frankie Rodriquez, Pelfrey gave a little smile which was good and Rodriquez stood stone faced which was good too as he must have known what to expect. M ookie Wilson got a great ovation but then again if Tim Corcoran was introduced he’d get a round of applause as well since he has a ’86 World Series ring  for the 7 at bats he had in helping the cause that season. Anyone associated with the 1986 Mets is an immortal.

(Update: What a schmuck I am for forgetting to mention Ralph Kiner tossing out the first pitch. Ralphie was a picture of sartorial splendor in his fur collared over coat. When Mets toast master general Georgie Jessel, Howie Rose announced  him to the crowd, a roar went up throughout the ballpark. Kiner then doffed the overcoat like a boxer does his robe at the start of a prize fight and headed to a spot near home plate, assisted by his daughter and son in law. He then tossed the first pitch to Mookie Wilson, who ran out to give Kiner a big hug. I guess I’m a Mets romantic because I love moments like this)

The shocker of the day for me was Alex Cora getting cheers and applause when he was introduced as a Nats bench warmer. So Mets fans boo Big Pelf and cheer Cora. Mets fans are fucked up.

So on to the game. Right away you could see R.A. Dickey was in distress after a 1-2-3 first inning. I thought it was the cold weather that was causing his grip on the knuckle ball to cause him problems, it wasn’t until after the game I found out about his split finger nail but I’ll tell you this, when the temperature is in the mid-40’s and it’s damp sitting at a game of deep counts and a tone of walks is not fun.

Jose Reyes made a spectacular play to get an inning ending double play to avert a big inning by the Nats but at the plate he was woeful.  I’m sure Sandy Alderson has that 7^th inning AB etched into his mind. I can’t put all the blame on Reyes. Angel Pagan hasn’t hit and came up short in the 7^th as well and Ike Davis, who I adore, really needs to stop contesting every strike call by the umpires. He’s going to get a bad rep and one of these days either Douche Bag Joe West or Incompetent Angel Hernandez will behind the plate  and either stick it to him with a phony strike call or toss him  from the game for just glancing over his shoulder.

I know Willie Harris has been hitting and playing real well in LF but I’d much rather see Lucas Duda out there every day until Jason Bay comes back. If you’re not playing Duda every day, then why is he here?

If I were Jason Issringhausen I’d be on the phone this morning asking to be promoted or released. As bad as the bullpen has been the starting pitching has been as bad as well. Bad pitching and the inability to drive runners in with less than two outs is a recipe for disaster.

I just wonder when does Sandy Alderson’ patients run out.  I’m not saying he needs to do anything now but after a month if the team is floundering does he shake it up with a blockbuster deal or a release of players or demotions to the minors. I guess this is what happens when you freeze your ass off at an opening day stinker  it leads your mind to Armageddon.

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For those of you who are still interested, Mets single game tickets go on sale today at 10AM. When you click on the link you’ll see that opening day is still available. It wasn’t long ago that opening day was one of the toughest tickets of the season to obtain. You either had to be a season ticket holder, of a partial plan holder to get a first game ticket and regular price. I remember some seasons paying a premium price on the secondary market to make sure I was in the ball park for the season opener. This year I bought my opening day ticket on a special pre-sale but not to worry if you haven’t purchased yours yet there should be plenty for sale.They’ll be plenty of concourse space to stroll around the ballpark on April 8. Sad.  

Mets management has come up with a very good move in making sections 338 and 339 the Mr. Mets Landing. Ticket for kids under 12 years old are 10 bucks and for adults $20. That’s well worth it. Now if the organization would just understand they are not in a real strong position to have price tiering and how it is an absolute turn off to fans and the fact they really need to stop catering to the fat cats who could care less if the Mets win or lose as long as the Chablis and brie is flowing and price their tickets to a more middle class fan friendly level, it would be better for business. I see all these ads with the catchy slogans but I guess I missed the one that said all tickets 50 % off.

It’s very rare that I link to Phil Muschnick on this site but today(Thanks to Eagle for the link) he had a column that sums up what Citi Field, Highlander Stadium on eventually Madison Square Garden have become, a mall with sporting events going on.

No need to rehash my assessment of Citi Field as a food court with a baseball diamond but all the new stadiums in the area have become just that. There is no home field advantage anymore for any of the NYC teams, they play in gentrified playgrounds where the emphasis is on the cuisine and drink rather than the home run, touchdown or power play goal.

Another must read today is Larry Brooks column on the NY Rangers having no home ice advantage anymore at MSG. You need not be a hockey fan to read this article as it pertains to all the sports teams here in NYC. Back in the late 70’s and through the decade of the 1980’s if you were a visiting hockey team coming into MSG, you were intimidated by who was in stands more than who was on the ice.  I sat in the late lamented Section 432 of the Blue Seats back then and every game night at the Garden was intense. When the Islanders came in the building during the National Anthem all you could here were screams of POTVIN SUCKS and banners were unfurled from the seats in the obstructed section of the Blues proclaiming Mike Bossy’ enjoyment of anal sex. (thanks to Blutto for that correction how could I forget “Bossy takes it up the ass doo dah doo dah”) Today if you yell too loud in MSG you’re looked at as someone strange.

Shea was the same way. Ask the Cubs of 1969, the Astros and Red Sox of 1986. How many games did the Mets play at Shea that were either rain delayed or into extra innings or they were down double digits runs and all you could hear were the die hards screaming LET’S GO METS, LET’S GO METS. How many LET’S GO METS chants have you heard at Citi Field? Not many, Have you ever been to a game at Citi where  Johan  Santana, Big Pelf or Frankie Rodriguez had a two strike count  and two outs and you got up from your seat the clap and encourage that third strike because as fans that’s what we do, and be told to please sit down? I know you’re nodding your head because if it happened to me I know it has happened to you.

The Skill Sets made a deal with the devil catering to those they thought were kind of folks with deep pockets who would pay any price to sit in a suite or club seat at Citi Field but all they got was a pitch fork stuck in their ass.

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The New York Mets and the New York Blood Center will hold their annual Winter Blood Drive at Citi Field this Thursday January 6th from 10AM to 5PM

The blood drive will take place at the Caesars Club which you can acess through the Hodges VIP Entrance of the Ball Park. 

Fans donating blood will receive a voucher redeemable for one pair of tickets to a select Mets game in April 2011.  In addition, fans can show their voucher at the Mets Team Store at Citi Field to receive a 15% off regularly priced merchandise.  Season Ticket Holders who give blood can show their voucher and ID card to get 20% off regularly priced items.  The discount will only be honored Thursday, January 6.

Fans may park in Lot G on 126th Street between the Right Field Gate and Roosevelt Avenue.

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