Opinion: My Day in Citizen’s Bank Park
…on Saturday, April 19, SNY.tv’s Ted Berg and i, along with our video producer, Jason, hit the road for Philadelphia to check out the Mets and Phillies in Citizen’s Bank Park…
…video from our day in Philadelphia, complete with the Pat and Geno’s Cheesesteak Challenge, will hopefully be online towards the end of the week…
…the plan was for people to meet up in Lot N starting at 12 noon, and by the time we arrived, more than a few hundred Mets fans had already set up shop…it was pretty impressive…some people had buses, another crew had a camper, though most were small cars packed with food and drinks and Wiffle Ball, which i was happy to play…i did not make a fool of myself, as i feared, hitting and throwing a few pitches…however, i did tweak my hamstring a bit…seriously, i hurt my hammy, and my arm was sore the next day…which is a new and pathetic low for me…
…it’s always great to meet people who read this site…i know i have said it before, but when i am able to put the ‘page view statistic’ to a face, it’s always nice…it makes the whole experience of writing this blog more personal, and i like that…also, for the first time, i saw some 
one wearing a MetsBlog t-shirt in person, which was very exciting…thanks, Mike, for the support…
…speaking of t-shirts, a large group of Mets fans had t-shirts printed with a picture of Pedro Martinez on the front and the words, “Philly Sucks” printed below it…on the back, pedro’s quote about fighting the Phillies was in bold, with all of the fans names and nicknames in small print featured at the bottom…nice work…
…speaking of fans, Phillies fans are some seriously angry people…i get the sense they are looking for a fight…which is disappointing…i mean, you guys won the division last year, act like it…also interesting, unlike Shea Stadium, i didn’t see one family in the house – and it was a Saturday afternoon…instead, it was wall-to-wall college kids, which is fine by me…but, for a sport that is concerned about building a future fan base, it was a bit alarming…and frankly, given the language and violence and general hatred in the stands, if i was a father, i’m not sure i would bring my kid to that building either…something tells me Billy Wagner would agree, based on his recent comments in the Daily News…actually, Bob Klapisch put it best in a 
column for the Bergen Record, in which he said that Phillies fans reached a new low on Saturday when booing Jose Reyes for not being injured…savages…in all fairness, there were plenty of Phillies fans who were polite, but, as in most cases, the rowdy few spoil it for the many…
…on the other hand, they have some pretty attractive female fans…i mean, when i thought ‘Phillies fan,’ i imagined a drunk, angry guy looking to kick my ass, i didn’t think cute, brunette girl in white shorts…so, this was a pleasant surprise…in other words, good for Chase Ultley, who has one helluva fan club…
…i was also able to meet Mike Nichols and Brandon Eddy, both of whom contribute to MetsBlog…i’m glad they could make it to the stadium, and if i didn’t say it on Saturday, guys, thank you for all of your hard work on MetsBlog…it’s always appreciated…
…me, ted, jason, mike, Zoe Rice, Coop, the Brooklyn Met Fan, SNK, dykstraw and others spent the second-half of the game watching from behind home plate in general admission…it’s a nice view, and 
though it’s standing-room only, i like the experience and look forward to having this sort of set up in Citi Field…i pace, and like to move around, especially when i’m nervous, so, for a baseball game, this is the ideal location for me…
…all in all, it was a fun trip, and though i feared for my life during the entire day, i hope to do this again later in the summer – maybe over July 4…
To view MetsBlog’s photos from Saturday, click here.
To read Zoe Rice’s notes from the afternoon in Philadelphia, and to see her pictures, which include me playing Wiffle Ball, pre-injury, click here; and to read Coop’s take on the day, also with pictures, click here; and to read Crazy Met Girl’s notes, and see pics, click here.
