Mets vs. Phillies, May 7, 2009

Another Mets vs. Phillies game, this time from Section 512:

The Section 512 seats were much better than the Section 538 seats we had, which you can see, about where the Chicago-Houston score is posted:

I’ll tell you what, there’s a huge difference between the advertisements from last year at Shea and this year at Citi Field. Last year at Shea, you had Delta, Sharp, Chevy and Verizon:

Then State Farm and of course the infamous AIG:

This year, on the food media day before the stadium opened, on March 31, 2009, there was a sort of blank slate — not sure if they didn’t put the signs up yet or if (hrm!) they didn’t know who would buy signage:

So now that the stadium is up and running, note that AIG is notably absent, and in its place, an expanded “freecreditreport.com” presence:

They’re the ones with that ad with the garage band in the basement; still not sure what the catch is, and why this is a profitable enterprise.

As for the newcomers, there’s Bob’s Furniture:

spongetech.com (what is that exactly?) and superpages.com:

The old sell-your-gold thing:

Titan Motors:

And the Arpielle Equipment Co.:

In short, the Citi Field ads look a lot like what you’d see at a minor league game.

Arpielle Equipment Co. also sponsors the Mets’ version of the ubiquitous [blank] vs. [blank] race, that computer-generated doodad where digitalized items “race” each other and the results are randomly generated. I think it’s supposed to elicit a crowd response, but I don’t feel at all bad not rooting for a computer program. At Yankee Stadium last year (haven’t been there this year yet) the B, D and 4 trains “raced” each other to the stadium. The Phillies do a similar thing with SEPTA and its joke of a subway system. At Army football games at West Point, they race tanks. Spectators at other ballparks seem to enjoy the eternal ketchup-mustard-relish match. But the Arpielle [blank] vs. [blank] at Citi Field is just inexplicable — it’s a fork lift against a light tower. I’m not even kidding:

I guess that stimulus money is good for something . . .

Mets vs. Phillies, Section 538, Citi Field, May 6, 2009

We saw our first game at Citi Field, the Mets vs. Phillies.

First off, Citi Field is cool. And I say this as someone who appreciated Shea Stadium and feels that too much of our 1960s architecture is being decimated and that one day we will all regret callously tearing it down. But you can’t argue with the amenities and the general atmosphere of the new stadium. The food is much, much better, as is the beer ($7.50 for Danny Meyer craft brews definitely beats overpriced Budweiser — and believe me, I drink more than my fair share of Budweiser when I’m not watching baseball). And for the most part, the Mets’ home has been updated in a way that lends itself to the ballpark experience. Good for them. You step off the 7 train and walk into this fantastic new stadium that isn’t a dump. That’s cool.

That said, the view from the upper rows of Section 538 is, well, crap. That big out-of-town scoreboard in left field must be wonderful to consult, but when you climb up to your seat and see a fancy high-definition screen on the back side of it, it’s a pretty good indication that your view is obstructed; Citi Field features amenities, but they wouldn’t include some amenities unless they had to:

Keep in mind, these are not considered “obstructed view” seats — the face value of these tickets is $19. Which is fine, whatever, but it’s strange that a new stadium — any new stadium — has obstructed-view seats. We can kill a terrorist in Waziristan from a drone piloted by a person in Tampa but HOK can’t figure out how to make the upper rows of Section 538 not feel utterly claustrophobic? That disappoints! Another beef: our Section 538 tickets were the “best available” when we got them. So where was everyone? There were so many empty seats around the stadium that the Mets skipped the “Guess the Attendance” feature. (By the way, I see Mike Lupica already found a way to fetishize and Terkelize Section 538.) But at least it’s not New Yankee Stadium, because that place sounds insane.

OK, and speaking of New Yankee Stadium — and its absurdly ridiculous prices for the best seats — the Mets don’t seem to be doing much better. I know the weather was funky and it’s early in the season, but, jeez, it’s the Phillies — you’d think this would be a hot ticket. But check out the difference between the field level section behind the dugout and the field level section behind the on-deck circle:

So being that this was a Mets-Phillies game, we expected heated emotions, though we didn’t see much of it until the walk — the long walk — down one of Citi Field’s long stairwells (no ramps?) where Mets fans commenced with the customary “Ass-Hole” tomahawk chop at hapless Phillies partisans:

Yeah, yeah, of course “Philly Sucks!” But let’s just recap for a second: Sure, Johan Santana pitched really well, but then so did Chan Ho Park, who gave up only one hit through six innings. Chan Ho Park. Chan. Ho. Park. And the one run the Mets did score was off a terrible throwing error on what should have been just a single. You’re chuffed? I don’t know that I would be. What’s more, you’re still in third place.

And I can’t wait for more games at Citi Field.

Pertinent Link: New York Mets vs. Philadelphia Phillies, Citi Field, Section 538, May 6, 2009.

Phillies vs. Rays . . .

. . . just not during the World Series. This was the first of what will be several games we’ll attend this season, an exhibition game just before opening day. Chuffed from their World Series win, the Phillies Team Shop was selling unsubtle “Two Years Running” shirts that depicted Mr. Met chasing the Phanatic:

Pat Burrell, who left the team on a high note after becoming a free agent at the end of the 2008 season, spent his entire career with the Phillies suffering the abuse of Philly fans notoriously unforgiving about underperforming, overpaid players. He signed with the Rays in the off-season. He led off the game with a home run:

The fans there gave him a standing ovation — and they weren’t even being facetious! Then again, it was an exhibition game.

See also: It’s Not Just Pat Burrell’s Charles Atlas Physique That Intrigues Me . . .