Back on April 3rd MetsmerizedOnline together with Seatcrew.com a brand new, online ticket marketplace had a “2012 METS SLOGAN CONTEST” where they would be giving away a Free Pair of Tickets to the Tuesday, April 10th game vs the Washington Nationals. There were some really good slogans to choose from so I was surprised when my slogan was chosen as the winning slogan. What was my slogan? It was “2012 Mets: Winning You Back One Game At A Time”.
The tickets arrived Monday, April 9th and I have to give the Mets credit for using a different Met for every Home game in 2012 in celebration of it’s 50th anniversary. The 5th home game of the season had of course #5 David Wright.
The plan was for my daughters to go at least I thought. Game day arrives and turns out my oldest daughter did a bait and switch so to speak and said I had to go and it was non-negotiable. My kids had gone to Shea a number of times with family but I had always wanted the 1st one to be with me. June 30, 2005 a 5-3 win vs the Phillies was my kid’s 1st (at least where they were old enough to remember) game. It was also the last Mets game I went to until now.
OK I have heard some of the complaints about Citi Field but let me just say that the complaints about not enough bathrooms I have no idea what they are talking about. Unless you want a bathroom next to your seat there was ample bathrooms and kept very clean I might add. I walked all around the Field & Promenade levels and this lack of bathrooms in my opinion is way overblown. Yes you do lose corners of the outfield depending where you sit in the outfield areas but speaking for myself I been to Shea and remember sitting where I can’t see the sky and scoreboard and what the crowd was reacting to that was being displayed on the screen. If seeing the corner Outfield nearest you is important my advice is to not sit there.
CitiField is beautiful, there is no better word I can use to describe it. Shea was home cause that is where the Mets played but as a ballpark it offered little. The Fan Bricks at Citi Field, the banners, The old Mets HR Apple, Shea Bridge, The Gate entrances iron work and the Casey Stengel Tom Seaver entrances with their images for me they were awesome. Yes they could do more and yes the rotunda (which I didn’t bother to go see) seems too much for a Mets ballpark but not enough to take away from how nice the park is overall in my opinion. What it’s missing is the need to create new Met memories for future fans to cherish the way those of us that had Shea cherished the memories it gave us.
As far as the game despite the final score my daughter and I had a ball. I could only smile as I watched her muster the energy to cheer the Mets on in what was by that time a very cold evening as Baxter stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 9th. I can proudly say that as far as passing on the torch of being a passionate Mets fan I have done my job in doing this with my children.
I want to thank Joe D, Metsmerizedonline and Seatcrew for making my daughter’s and I 1st trip to CitiField a great memory we both will carry with us for the rest of our lives.
13 comments
mrose
4/11/2012-3:24pm at 3:24 pm (UTC -4)
great writeup mr north… happy that you won, you deserve it and great to know another Met fan is among us!
kingman 26
4/11/2012-3:50pm at 3:50 pm (UTC -4)
Nice article and thanks for posting that pic!!
Paul Festa
4/11/2012-3:58pm at 3:58 pm (UTC -4)
Nothing like a ballgame with the kiddo. Very nice, Mr. NJ.
darknova306
4/11/2012-4:12pm at 4:12 pm (UTC -4)
Stories like this are great, and show exactly what baseball is all about. Get angry and riled up about roster moves and finances and poor play all you want, in the end there’s nothing better than spending a day at the ballpark with your kids/parents/friends.
Your slogan is awesome, by the way.
gategem
4/11/2012-4:14pm at 4:14 pm (UTC -4)
NJ, for raising your child to be a Mets fan you should be reported to CPS for child abuse!!!
Stickguy
4/11/2012-4:15pm at 4:15 pm (UTC -4)
I remember taking the kids when they were little. Have some great pictures. I remember my son sitting all hitched up on the rail at shea, when he wouldn’t take his eyes off the game.
my daughter, she was more likely to want to go get ice cream or something!
srt
4/11/2012-4:55pm at 4:55 pm (UTC -4)
Nice write-up on a day at the ball park.
Kudos to you for passing on your Mets fandom to the next generation.
Hazmet
4/11/2012-6:34pm at 6:34 pm (UTC -4)
Two thumbs up. Smiled reading every word. Thanks for sharing.
trs86
4/11/2012-7:04pm at 7:04 pm (UTC -4)
Nice… I plan on taking my 6 year old to watch the Mets play in Atlanta.
Stickguy
4/11/2012-8:48pm at 8:48 pm (UTC -4)
have you taught her to chant “chipper” yet?
TRS86
4/12/2012-8:48am at 8:48 am (UTC -4)
Larrrrrryyyyyyy!
SaltyGary
4/12/2012-9:08am at 9:08 am (UTC -4)
Thanks for sharing Mr. NJ sounds like you had a blast. And I saw the photo yesterday before it was taken down and that is definitely a framer.
Ceetar
4/12/2012-9:26am at 9:26 am (UTC -4)
I missed this yesterday, so let me get this straight, you didn’t enter _my_ seatcrew contest AND didn’t come say hello when we were there Tuesday?
kidding of course, glad you had a good time and enjoyed the park, even though it was freaking cold.
People complain about the bathrooms? Besides Randy’s urinal divider compaign? I’d never heard that. They do form lines during busy games, but nothing unreasonable.