Yesterday, I went to Citi Field for the first time since September 29, 2018 when I went to David Wright’s final game.
I went because my adult son asked me – fulfilling all the dreams of dragging the little boy version of him to Mets games so some day we could do this as adults.
I had a good time and enjoyed it. It made me want to watch more baseball (My consumption is up 400% this year from watching one game (161) last year to watching three and attending one). It made me want to drop the $70 on MLB The Show (they took ’24 off Game Pass and want $70 for it, same as the new one).
I can’t say the Mets aren’t trying to entertain people. The scoreboard is non-stop gimmicks and there seem to be like 19 people working on the in-game entertainment segments (all sponsored by sponsors I can’t name, sorry Steve.)
The Queens Crew is as dumb as I expected – although yesterday, they had kids doing it, which is much more palatable.
Speaking of kids, I really like this thing where the player photos are drawings. This one of the Met Who Has Most Disgraced The Uniform, Franciso Lindor, is great because look at the right hand. The genius child snuck in a thumbs down. Heh heh heh. Well done kid.
Here’s the crowd. The Mets might be overstating how popular the team is. Or maybe the weather forecast wasn’t great. It was surprisingly “warm” and I was quite comfortable.
I also noticed that fans are wearing blue and orange, thanks to 2012’s Treaty of Flushing, now broken by the Cohens. Since it took a decade for color sanity to make it back to the fanbase, expect the Cohen Era Ugly jerseys to continue to circulate well into the 2030s. Shame.
Gonna be honest, I was underwhelmed by the Seaver Statue. I don’t know what I was expecting…maybe I thought it was bigger? But I’m very glad it exists.
Let’s talk about this. The Mets last week social-media-bragged about their attention to detail. The Mets definitely do not pay attention to detail. Look ow faded these numbers are. How is this possible Steve? If nothing else, it makes the ballpark look rundown. That’s not a premium environment for your advertisers.
A wider shot so you can see the other numbers which are not sunbleached.
I thought I took a photo of the Pennant Banners, but I don’t seem to have it. Anyway, why are the Mets double dipping the 2000 season? You won a pennant, you don’t need to talk about the Wild Card. 2000 has its own pennant (fine) but 2000 also appears on the We Have No Pride Wild Card pennant which should be removed.
Citi Field is one big commerce center. Every square inch of the park is now covered with advertising, and you can’t go more than six inches before there is a stand trying to sell you something. I got angry when I passed the site of the former museum, and then passed the plaques which are now just sitting in the hallway. This is another Major Cohen-era regression. It’s not like there isn’t a big store on the field level. I wish they’d put that back as it was one of the best features of the park.
I didn’t do a loop or head out to T-Shirt land or The Bridge or any of that.
Most importantly, I spend ZERO DOLLARS. When Lindor is gone, we can talk. Until then, the Mets have built their brand around a guy who told the fans to hose off, so hose off I shall. At least I have Soto to root for until Pete co-opts him with vulgarity.
Overall, a very positive review., the Mets won, and I got to boo Lindor in person. A good day. LGM.
