The New York
Mets
I am a die-hard New York Mets fan and have been since I was a
child. It was my Father, Great Aunt and Uncle (former New York Giants fans)
who started bringing me to Shea Stadium to see the Mets and started
my love affair with the team. Please see my tribute to
Shea Stadium.
Times change and it's time to start a tribute to our new home,
Citi Field. Here's where you can see my new
Citi Field tribute.
In the spirit of David Letterman's Top Ten list, here's my Citi
Field top 3:
#3 March 29, 2009 - The stadium opener: St. John's vs.
Georgetown
#2 April 3, 2009 - The 1st Mets game: an exhibition game vs. the
Boston Red Sox.
#1 April 13, 2009 - The 1st Opening Day game: Mets vs. the San
Diego Padres.
My top ten in-person Shea Stadium moments:
#10 October 3, 1999 - The Mets beat the Pirates, 2 to 1, in the
tenth inning on a wild pitch to force a one game play-off with the
Reds for the Wild Card.
#9 August 20, 1998: Seeing Mark McGwire hit #50 & 51 en route to
70. I'm still waiting to see Piazza's moon shot land.
#8 August 4, 1991: Setting foot on the turf on Banner Day.
#7 May 5, 1984: Catching my first baseball at a Major League
Baseball game. It was pitched by Ed Lynch and fouled off by Jerry
Mumphrey.
#6 Tie
August 25, 1999: Completing a day-night doubleheader, seeing
the Phillies beat the Padres 15 to 1 in the afternoon at Veteran's
Stadium in Philadelphia and the Mets best the Astros 4 to 0 at Shea
that same night (not really a Mets "moment" but it was "cool").
July 13, 2008: Return of the day/night multi-city doubleheader.
This time seeing Met killer Pat Burrell hit a 3-run homerun in the
bottom of the 8th to lead the Phillies to a 6-3 win over the
Diamondbacks at Citizen's Bank Park. The Mets completed the
doubleheader defeating the Rockies 7-0 on a brilliant pitching
performance by Mike Pelfrey.
#5 2000 NLDS Game 3 - Benny Agbayani's game winning homerun in
the 13th vs. the Giants.
#4 2000 NLDS Game 4 - Bobby Jones' one-hitter to clinch the
series.
#3 May 13, 2000 - Celebrating my 40th birthday with a bus load of
my friends and the Mets.
#2 July 3, 1986 Fireworks Night: Darryl Strawberry (2-run shot)
and Ray Knight (solo) hit back-to-back homeruns in the bottom of the
10th inning to win the game 6 to 5. Then the real fireworks started.
and # 1:1999 NLCS Game 5 - Robin Ventura's Grand Slam Single in
the 15th inning vs. the Braves.
My worst moment? September 11, 1987, with the crowd chanting "Na
Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na..." and one out away from a victory, Willie
McGee's game tying hit and Terry Pendleton's 2 run shot off of Roger
McDowell, dashed the Mets play-off hopes. Then again ,it could be
October 12, 2006 watching Yadier Molina hit the homerun that over
shadowed Endy Chavez's great catch and end the Mets season.
My most bittersweet moment? Another Tie.
In 2000, returning home from vacation
in California (saw the Mets in LA and San Diego) found a message on
our answering machine notifying us that our family was selected as a
finalist in the Most Amazing Mets' fan contest. Problem was that we
had returned after the deadline for returning the call. However with
an impassioned call explaining our circumstances, we were allowed to
remain in contention. It was fun. We had a screen test at the
stadium, went to a game, but alas did not win. The experience alone
was worth it. Since we only received two free tickets, and it was a
family affair, I purchased two additional ones and the Mets were
nice enough to keep all four tickets together. The only problem was
that we weren't seated next to the other finalists and therefore,
weren't included in the group photo. Wouldn't you know it, that
photo ended up in the NLCS and World Series programs. We missed an
opportunity to be connected with Mets history.
The closing ceremony following the devastating last game of the
2008 season, the last in Shea Stadium history. I still can't write
much about it.
Finally, rather than a single moment, the several visits watching
the deconstruction of Shea. As we long time Mets fans say, Shea may
have been a dump, but it was OUR dump.