My Brief Brush With Fame at Citi Field

Last Friday, something happened at Citi Field that has never happened before. Never in the history of the Mets has this happened! And on that fateful night, it happened twice.

I was on the jumbotron[1].

Twice.

After literally hundreds of games - at Shea and at Citi Field (and numerous away parks and minor league games); on field level and in the Upper Deck; in street clothes, suits, and Mets gear; as a cute kid and as an adult; with hot girls and with unattractive dudes - I finally made it.

It just goes to show you that things happen when you least expect them.

For one thing, I gave up my partial season ticket plan last year when it turned out that the Mets were terrible and my idea of having nice seats in the upper deck behind home plate turned out to be a losing investment. If that weren't enough, despite being an enormous Mets fan[2], last Friday's game was actually my first game of the season.

But back to the story.

In addition to it being my first Met game of the year, I am pretty sure that I was being "that guy" at the game. I showed up late to the game, getting to my seats in the fourth inning. I had gotten hung up at work - an unfortunate side effect of being a grown up. I arrived at my seats in the middle of the inning (cardinal sin) with a bunch of beers. I didn't bring my scorecard to keep track of the game. I was being uncustomarily "bro-like." We were sitting in the Pepsi Porch, so the seats were real nice.

In between half-innings, either in the fifth or the sixth, the stadium did their patented "Boogie Cam." It's the second best "cam" of the game - miles behind the Kiss Cam and ahead of the lame Smile Cam. As the Boogie Cam splashed across the jumbotron, my friends and I noticed a very cute girl on the screen ... turns out, she was only five or six rows behind us. With the camera primed, we started to boogie.

We did not actually expect to get on the screen, but when we got back, we were in full BOOGIE FORM. It was amazing. In fact, at the moment I saw myself on the screen, I didn't know what to do. I stopped the boogie. I looked at the jumbotron, at my friends, and back at the jumbotron. What do you do in the one moment in which more people will be looking at you than any other in your life?

I pointed at my Mets jersey (an Alfonzo of course), and then pointed to the sky. I don't know why, but it felt appropriate. Let's go Mets.

The story does not end there, however[3]. After a few inning detour to the speed pitch and Shake Shack, we settled back into our seats for the eighth inning (told you, was really not being a good fan today). The Mets trailed 4-2 as R.A. Dickey gave up a pair of solo home runs in the seventh. They went meekly in the eighth, and it was on to the ninth, where the Braves did not extend their lead.

Sitting in our seats, my friends and I were still basking in the glory of our previous incident on the jumbotron. A few beers in, and heroes in our section, we were having a great time. Before the bottom of the ninth, Citi Field displayed one of those "noise meters." It started low, with "clap" or something, moved up through "scream" and "dance" and ended with something wild. I of course, went up through the stages like a good fan, dancing and yelling and stomping my feet to help hype the crowd.

That is when we got on the jumbotron a second time. Whether it was the good seats, or the Alfonzo jersey, or the frenzied dancing, or the camera man remembered us, there we were again. This time, however, we were not on the jumbotron as part of a boogie medley - this time we were on the screen for about ten seconds, imploring the crowd to get up and make some noise for the final inning.

It only took Alex Cora and Rod Barajas about seven pitches to snuff out the Mets chances of winning, but that second time up on the big screen was euphoric. And this time, I didn't simply point at the sky and hold a pose. This time, with people from the surrounding rows bounding around like crazy (some kid actually fell into our row trying to get in the shot) we had ten seconds of fame. Fist-pumping, jumping, hand-clapping goodness.

The Mets lost, and ultimately I did not get to see that much of the game, but wow. What an experience.

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[1] Is it even still called a jumbotron? Am I dating myself here?

[2] I do operate a Mets blog, of course.

[3] It was also my first time seeing a knuckleballer.

Beer Us

According to MetsBlog:

Yesterday, the Mets officially announced that McFadden’s will open a 13,000–square foot bar and restaurant at Citi Field, which will include a 200-foot island bar, outdoor patios and batting cages.

The website for the bar, Mcfaddenscitifield.com, doesn't provide much information. Their internet jukebox however seems to have fifty or so songs, sixty-five percent of which are from the eighties, for what it's worth. (Yes, "Your Love" is one of the songs.)

This seems about a year too late, no?

Here are some ideas I have for specials McFadden's can run for the upcoming season:

If Jeff Francoeur walks, free beer for the remainder of the game.

If Luis Castillo catches a routine pop-up and you do not make a snide remark, half-off on your next drink.

If Mike Pelfrey balks, free ski-ball for the next inning. (What do you mean they probably won't have a ski-ball machine?!)

If Keith Hernandez says something on the air that leads us to believe he had been at McFadden's earlier, Budweisers must be lined up from one end of the bar to the other immediately. With The Moody Blues on the jukebox.

If a Met throws a no-hitter...just kidding, that will never happen.

If Oliver Perez is the starting pitcher, free shots for everyone in the ballpark. For the entire game.

If a Met is injured, free drinks for the next 10 minutes. If you're wearing a cast on the body part the Met just hurt, 20 minutes.

The fourth inning is the beer inning.

I realize that most of these promotions would immediately run McFadden's out of business, but I never said I was a business person. And clearly, I never will be.

Jason Bay and Citi Field

Earlier this week, Jeff Pearlman of SI.com wrote an article claiming that Jason Bay would be a "big bust" in New York. In it, he compared the signing of Jason Bay to the Mets' 1982 acquisition of slugger George Foster - a trade which, in his opinion, was a huge bust. He points to certain facts to support that claim. They are both left fielders, they are both in their early 30's, and they are both well-known run producers being acquired to hit in the middle of their respective lineups.

Here, however, is where the article goes from insightful to silly. Pearlman claims that the Bay acquisition is doomed to become a bust like Foster's because, although both players were quality players, it did not address the strengths and weaknesses of the teams acquiring them. In Foster's case, Pearlman claims that "it was the club's rotten starting rotation and lowly middle infield that required the most attention." Foster's acquisition was a mix of public relations and improvements in areas that didn't need it.

Today, Pearlman suggests the acquisition of Bay is inappropriate because of the dimensions of Citi Field:

When New York's brain-dead powers-that-be decided that Citi Field should feature spacious outfield grass and power alleys from here to Hagåtña, they unintentionally dictated the type of team that GM Omar Manaya is required to assemble. Namely, the modern-day Mets must replicate the '85 Cardinals, who were constructed around speed and pitching; around doubles and triples into the gaps; around shutouts and 2-1 wins. In Flushing, the signature has to be run generation -- Jose Reyes leading off with a single, stealing second, stealing third, being brought home via a sac fly. The Mets need men who take lots of pitches and work deep into counts; who can hit to the opposite field and run like Miguel Dilone.

Although I agree with Pearlman that the Mets should be building around pitching and defense -- and that I think Jason Bay is going to be a big bust in Queens -- it is NOT because of the dimensions of Citi Field. Here are the facts:

*** The Mets hit the least home runs in the major leagues last year. It was not because of Citi Field. It is because they were NOT VERY GOOD.

*** Last season, Mets hitters hit 49 home runs at home... but hit only 46 away. In fact, their 748 OPS at home was higher than their 711 OPS when away.

*** To make matters worse, Mets pitchers also allowed more home runs at Citi Field than they did while away, 81-77.

*** As a whole, the Mets were out-homered last year 158 to 95.

*** According to ESPN, although Citi Field depressed run scoring last year, it was actually MORE FAVORABLE to home runs than the average MLB ballpark. It ranked 12th in friendliness to home runs, while ranking 22nd overall in runs.

I watch the games too, and it appears that Citi Field hurts home runs a little bit -- but there is a ton of empirical evidence which would incidate otherwise. If there is an effect on home runs (and there probably is) it is probably that it depresses home runs slightly. The important point is that the effect, if any, is slight.[1] It would be reckless to change your entire strategy for acquiring players because of speculation.

Matt Pignataro over at NY Baseball Digest takes issue with the Pearlman article as well, except that he takes issue with the idea that Bay will not perform well in Queens. He concludes:

To label Bay a bust at this point like Pearlman did is little unfair. I think he’s going to be a good fit on the field and off it. Bay’s a gamer, who just goes out there, plays the game, and gives what is asked of him. Jason Bay will not be a bust, he will earn every penny of that contract he just signed. I can guarantee that.

Well... we've covered Bay here extensively already.

He's supposedly a brutal fielder. He's going to be playing here for his age 32 to 36 seasons. Players with his skill set tend to decline poorly (see: Danny Tartabull or Ryan Klesko). He's making way too much money (see: Bobby Bonilla).

I would be extremely shocked if he earned his contract, and I'd be surprised if he even came close. There are plenty of reasons why Jason Bay is going to be a bust in Queens. Citi Field is not one of them.


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[1] To read a very thorough, perhaps definitive guide to Citi Field and it's probably current and future effect on home runs, head over to this interview over on Amazin Avenue with the guru behind Hittracker.com.