What Mets fans talk about when not talking about the actual games.
I figured I was next in line to show off some jerseys from my closet. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with those you may have already seen.
This was a custom I had done this season. I didn’t own a black and figure I needed one and my first memory of being at Shea Stadium was Benny Agbayani’s walk-off home run in the 2000 NLDS so I went with that. Fun Fact: That night was also my first memory of going to Bagel Oasis on the LIE.
9 Weeks Until Opening Day!
This week’s flashback: 2004
Monday April 12th vs. Atlanta (Home Opener – Game 7 of the regular season)
Mets 10, Atlanta 6
Opening Day Starter: Steve Trachsel
In 2004 the Mets slogan was Catch The Energy!, or at least it was according to this magnetic schedule given out on Opening Day. The Mets have had a lot of slogans over the years – “Catch the Energy!” is one I would have forgotten completely if I didn’t have this schedule as proof. As awful as the slogan was, the design of this calendar was even worse. Thankfully the season only covers parts of seven months–at least we weren’t being asked to display this calendar for a full year.
2004 was the second year of the Mets charging different amounts for tickets, depending on the matchup. In 2004 there were four price tiers – Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Value. Opening Day and the series against the Yankees were obvious “Gold” games, as well as fireworks night in July. Series against the Braves, Marlins and the Cubs qualified as well, for reasons that have escaped me over the past nine years.
In 2004 this magnetic schedule was only given out on Opening Day, and was sponsored by Delta. Other notable giveaways listed on the calendar were: Mr. Met Bobblehead, Mets Ice Cube Tray, Mets Paddleball Set, Jose Reyes Bobblehead (Reyes had made his debut the previous June and his stardom already earned him bobblehead honors), and a Shea Stadium replica (this was Shea Stadium’s 40th year and a commemorative patch was worn for the entire season).
Mike Piazza and Cliff Floyd missed the home opener after getting hurt the day before inMontreal, and rising star Jose Reyes was on the DL as well, with hamstring issues. But 53,666 Mets fans “caught the energy” of the Shea Stadium debuts of new Mets Kaz Matsui and Mike Cameron, who lead the Mets to a 10-6 victory over transplanted ex-Mets pitcher Mike Hampton and the Braves. The Mets actually staked Steve Trachsel to a 10-0 lead after five innings before Trachsel gave up a run in the 6th.
If you’re feeling down about the Mets 2013 outfield, remember the 2004 Opening Day outfield featured Cameron in center, flanked by Joe McEwing and Shane Spencer. Art “Light Up A Room” Howe’s Mets went 71-91 in 2004 and finished 4th in the NL East.
My ticket in Section 25 of the Loge level of Shea Stadium cost me $33. I had a “7 Pack” in 2004 but these seats were separate.
Ticket stub images after the jump
Continue reading “Mike V’s Countdown to Mets Opening Day – 2004 Flashback”
The following scans are from an April 1994 issue of Basball Digest, previewing the upcoming season. It’s looking bleak: The Mets are picked to be the worst team in the entire league. They ended up finishing in third in the division at 55-58. No one successfully picked the World Series winner, because there was none.
10 Weeks Until Mets Opening Day!
Mets Opening Day 1997 – Saturday April 12th vs. San Francisco Giants (rainout)
I am not sure if 1997 was the first year the Mets started handing out magnetic schedules on Opening Day, but it’s become an annual tradition. (With one exception, which I’ll save for another post.) In 1997 the magnetic schedule was shaped like home plate, and was sponsored by Kahn’s Hot Dogs. If you look closely, you’ll see that all of the season’s scheduled promotions for 1997 were printed on the magnet, and that the magnetic schedule was also handed out on Game 2. Taking a further look at the promotional calendar, you won’t find banner day, but you’ll see Jackie Robinson’s 50th Anniversary Weekend, scheduled over the 4th of July Weekend, International Week in mid-August, as well as Kahn’s Homer Hankie Day. I may actually have this…
This was before the SNY era, and the S’s on the calendar meant the games would be broadcast on Sportschannel, and there were about 50 games broadcast on “free TV,” including WWOR-TV UPN 9. Does the UPN stil exist?
In 1997 I had a Saturday game plan and got this ticket as part of the plan, as the Mets opened on the road, with a west coast trip, putting the home opener on a Saturday after they returned. I don’t think there was any discount associated with a ticket plan, so what astonishes me is that somehow this ticket for Section 10 of the Mezzanine had a face value of $7.00. Of course this was also before the era of variable pricing, and the season before the Mets had lost 91 games, but this price meant my 13 games cost me just $91 per seat – for 13 games!.
I don’t have any memory of this game, and that must be at least partially because the game didn’t happen. The Saturday game was rained out, making the Mets open on Sunday April 13th with a doubleheader. But I have the torn ticket stub so I must have gone to Shea Stadium and collected my calendar and sat in the rain awhile? Anyway, despite the low price and the weekend doubleheader opener, the Mets did not sell out the home opener in 1997.
This was Bobby Valentine’s first Opening Day as manager of the Mets, and they went on to improve to 88 wins for the year. I thought I was the only one who remembers this year as a really fun year, until Greg Price mentioned it as one of his favorite years in his excellent book, Faith and Fear in Flushing. I will see if I can scan that homer hankie at a later date, and I am pretty sure I have the pocket schedule around here somewhere as well.
In 1989 I had Mets Fever, as evident by this collection of Mets stuff I’d amassed and thought worth photographing together.
I remember being really annoyed when my mom insisted we throw away the Mets garbage can because it had rusted. I still remember this trash can listed all the players on the 1986 roster, the final scores of the NLCS and World Series, and any trash can I ever saw for sale afterwards was of the cheap plastic generic variety.
If you look closely you’ll see a set of RC Cola cans – one honoring the regular season accomplishments of the 1986 Mets, and the other honoring the World Series. I kept these intact, unopened, for almost 20 years, until they both leaked sometime around 2005, ruining them both with acidic syrup. In retrospect I should have drained them with a pinhole or something years earlier.
Another item of note is the “HOJO” pillow I made in HomeEc class.
Let’s all just ignore the “Poison” poster, OK?
