First Citi Field Game of the Year

Last year in Detroit, I met a baseball fan from England named Rich.  Like me, he's been working on getting to all the stadiums.  We were supposed to be at the same game in Cincinnati later that week, but I never made it.  He emailed me a while back to let me know he'd be on this side of the Atlantic in late April and early May.  He went to games in Miami, Tampa, and Atlanta before making his way to New York.  He finished his trip in Boston and then Toronto.  So we we met at Citi Field for the Mets and Nationals on April 30.  Rich was also going the following night, but I was in Florida.

I took the train from Manhasset and I got a later one than I had planned, but I made it there shortly before the first pitch.  I didn't do any walking around the stadium though.  I would have liked to since it was my first game of the year there.  I think there are some new things, like a grilled cheese stand from Chef Josh Capon of Bar Rescue fame.  I should have other opportunities.

As for the game, it was Stephen Strasburg against Jason deGrom.  Rich is a Met fan and apparently they haven't done well with him in attendance.  I'm not a Met fan, but they have done well with me in attendance the last ten years.  According to my MLB Ballpark app, they were 14-5 going into this game with me in attendance going back to 2005 (there's a chance I might have missed a game or two as I was going back and entering all the games I've been to since 2005).  Things looked good for Rich early on.  The Mets scored two in the second and led 2-0 going to the fourth.  But then the Nationals scored three in the fourth, two in the sixth, and three in the ninth.  Their 2-6 hitters of Yunel Escobar, Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, and Wilson Ramos combined for 10 hits in 23 at bats and had all eight RBIs.

It was pretty cold, but I was well-bundled.  The crowd was only 21,689.  But I had a good time.  I bought the tickets, so Rich bought the beers at the bar in the Promenade Club, which was right behind our seats.  I remember getting Summer Ale there early in the season last year so I was hoping for that again, but they didn't have it.  I had two different beers.  I don't really remember which ones they were.

It was a small crowd to begin with, but it cleared out late in the game.

Rich got to see the Mets win the next night.  I've been to Citi Field for 15 games now since it opened in 2009.  I only went to one game each of the last two years.  I went to four back in 2012.  I will be there for at least one Dodger game, but possibly more.  They have four games against the Mets in July.

I only had a hot dog at the game.  So on my way home I stopped at Little Vincent's and had a slice with cold cheese in honor of my friend Vin.  I'll explain that and my trip to Florida in my next post.

"Cold cheese is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -Benjamin Franklin