First Mets Game

After 4 years of brain washing my daughter and 18 months of doing the exact same to my son, I finally took my kids to see their first Mets game this past Sunday. For baseball-junkie dads, this is one of those milestone moments that you look forward to and for me, the day did not disappoint. It was truly special. Here’s how it unfolded.

You have to understand, for those of you who do not have kids, there is a lot of preparation involved in taking them anywhere, let alone going to a ball game. This adds a whole new level of stress to your planning. Diapers? Check. Wipes? Check. Extra set of clothes (vomiting may occur)? Check. Goldfish (crackers)? Check. What about the stroller? You definitely don’t want to lug your kids all over especially when your back is already shot from lifting them up. Does Citi Field allow strollers? Not sure. Unable to find a “general information” number at Citi Field, I call the ticket line and got someone to tell me that ‘yes’ I can bring a stroller. How ‘bout a double-wide? Remember, my son is 18 months old, and while my daughter is certainly very capable of walking at 4 years of age, I know her well enough to know that at some point she’ll ask my wife or I to carry her so we definitely need the double-wide. ‘Yes, you can bring the double-wide.’ Perfect! Stress level reduced somewhat.

So we head to Citi Field from NJ, as a very clutch (I’m talking Keith Hernandez clutch!) DVD, Baby Einstein, occupies my son so he doesn’t get car sick. We found that one out on our trip to Flushing for Opening Day when we were dropping the kids off at Grammie’s Puked all over himself and the car seat. Awesome! Anyway, we begin to see the new park on the horizon as we make our way on the Grand Central and my daughter starts to get excited. She tells us she’s going to see David Wright (her favorite), Mr. Met, Jerry, Jose and Carlos and Carlos. (Remember, 4 years of brain-washing, she knows them all). I disappoint her when I tell her Jose and the Carloses are still hurt. She asks why they’re hurt and I tell her not even the team doctors know why. She didn’t understand why the doctors didn’t know why.

We arrive at Citi Field, drop $18 bucks for parking, pick up the kids’ first program, (photo op) and we stroll on over to the Jackie Robinson Rotunda entrance. Here, the stress level starts to increase because I’m thinking that we have to get the kids out of the double-wide and fold it up so we can pass through the turnstiles. Not an easy task when you consider my wife and I are also carrying backpacks containing the key ingredients; diapers, wipes, food, clothes. I wheeled the kids as close as I could and a security person came over and opened the big gate for us to walk through so we didn’t have to wait on the line. We also did not have to walk through the turnstiles as someone else came immediately over and scanned our tickets. Fantastic! That was a huge relief. But now what? Walk up the stairs or take the escalator? Both options would require some “heavy lifting.” But, once again, Citi Field staff saved the day as a lady came over and asked us if we would like to take the elevator. Bam! Absolutely! So she guided us over and we were up on the field level in no time. You could not have scripted our entrance any better. Stress level greatly reduced, all due to the personnel at Citi Field.

Before the start of the game, we walk to the Fan Fest area beyond center field in hopes of catching a glimpse of Mr. Met. Sure enough, there he is posing for pictures. My daughter is very excited as she wants to give him a hug. My son has no idea what’s going on but the look on his face says he’s having a blast. Unfortunately, the line is too long and Mr. Met has to head to the field for the start of the game. No worries, as we head over to the apple, which my daughter loves. (All kids do by the way). It is fantastic to see the legendary apple up close. The same apple that popped up on Todd Pratt’s series ending bomb in ’99, Dykstra’s walk off in Game 3 ’86 NLCS and of course Piazza’s memorable moon shot against the Braves after 9/11.

While we were near the apple, my son decided to walk over by the bullpen and stood up on the table to get a look inside. No doubt he was heckling the Reds (see pic above). ‘Atta boy. (Remember, 18 months of brain washing).

After, we headed to our seats which were perfectly located. Field level, down the right field line, 29^th row, two rows from the concourse. With kids, you know you’re going to have to get up and down a lot throughout the game; bathroom, food, diaper change, so the fact that we were right there made our lives so much easier. Plus, a supervisor allowed us to park our double-wide in the handicap section. The game started and sure enough, David Wright smacks an RBI double to deep center, appropriately giving my kids their first RBI and extra base hit in person. Throughout the game, my kids were great. My son couldn’t stop smiling and clapping. He had a great time, even shaking people’s hands introducing himself. He knew he was in good company so he was fitting right in. My daughter got all kinds of food; hot dog, pretzel, ice cream, but finished none of them which was perfectly fine with her brother as he gladly took the leftovers. We had to leave in the 6^th inning because we had to go to a birthday party.

Unfortunately, we missed “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” which my kids love, and we never did reconnect with Mr. Met. And of course, in typical Mets fashion, they hit back-to-back home runs in the 7^th (after going like a hundred games without one) so my daughter never did get to see the new apple pop up as she was hoping for but no matter, we still had an extraordinary day.

Truth be told, this was one of the more memorable days in my life. To experience that first game with my kids, was truly priceless and I will remember it always. And while our beloved NY Mets break our hearts year after year, I know I made the right decision in raising my kids as Met Lifers. The looks on their faces reminded me of the excitement I felt when I first started going to Met games more than 30 years ago. After all the Yadier Molina’s, Mike Scocia’s, John Franco’s, Armando Benitez’s, and September choke jobs, I wouldn’t trade it for the world…or all those Yankee championships for that matter.

Now let’s get our guys back and make a run in the second half!

Special thanks goes to two key people (L&L) who scored us the free tickets. I cannot thank you enough. And special props goes to the staff at Citi Field. Citi Field has been criticized at times, and rightfully so, for its lack of Mets history on display, (not to mention those silly white tarps over the bullpen – can someone please remove those eyesores?), They were absolutely fantastic in making our day as easy and as enjoyable as possible.

My First Mets Game

The following commentary is straight from the mouth of a future Mets Lifer who attended his first Mets game ever on Thursday afternoon. This is such a great narrative of baseball games through the eyes of children. He saw a fantastic game, but the best part is to him it didn't matter if the Mets won or lost. He enjoyed the game because of the atmosphere, the snacks, and the fact that he was there with his dad and grandpa.

My name is Matthew Siroty and today (Thursday, 8/7/08) I went to my first Mets game. I went with my dad and grandpa. I wore my David Wright Mets t-shirt with number 5 on the back. I was excited to go and even missed a day of gymnastics camp to go. We took two trains to get to Shea Stadium and the Long Island railroad was very nice.

When we got there I saw two stadiums, Citi Field and Shea Stadium. There were a lot of people and a lot of kids, probably because it was Sesame Street Day and camps came. I gave my Sesame Street coloring book that they gave me to my little brother Michael. I love him and he does whatever I do. He is my only brother but was too little to get to go the game. He wouldn't totally like it because he is only 3.

We got our tickets and they were right behind home plate and I could see the players really close. I thought Shea Stadium was smaller than it really was. I saw Ernie and David Cook. He was the winner of American Idol.

The best part of the game was all of the food I had. I started with pretzels that my mom packed, then a hot pretzel, then Sierra Mist, a hot dog, french fries and then a water. I also had my first peanuts and tried to throw them in my dad's mouth. My favorite part was throwing the shells on the ground. I waited until the bottom of the fourth inning to have my ice cream. When we went to get my ice cream, I got to take my picture with Mr. Met. That was cool.

I watched a little of the game, but most of the time I played brickbreaker on my dad's phone. It was also pretty hot outside. The Mets were winning 3-2 in the ninth inning and we thought they were going to win. I was getting a little bored because the Mets kept changing pitchers. And when the Padres tied the score I thought we were going to have extra inings and we wouldn't be able to go home.

But then in the bottom of the ninth, my favorite player David Wright hit a walk-off homer and the Mets won the game. I didn't see the home run because I was playing brickbreaker and the crowd scared me because they were cheering so loudly.

My dad picked me up so I could see David Wright run the bases and then the Mets were so excited they jumped on David Wright when he got to home plate. I will always remember my favorite player hitting the winning home run. When we were leaving, a man told me I was wearing the right shirt. That was fun. I'm glad I got to see Shea Stadium before they tear it down. I loved my first baseball game!