Starting around 3 pm today, I will be live blogging my experience in Citi Field, from picking up my press pass, to going on the field, to sitting in the Pepsi Porch, to wandering the new ballpark, exploring the concession area, and, of course, watching the game on the field.
To follow along, read my Twitter feed below, which will occasionally include a link to a photo or video:
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RIP Harry Kalas
I know we are all Mets fans here, but credit where credit is due, guy was a treat and fun to listen to.
One of the few announcers worth listening to in the game today.
Never had the pleasure of listening to him call a game, but all of those old timers seem to have a special place in the hearts of their teams fans. Same way Met fans feel about Kiner and Murphy.
yeah he was such a philthies homer and very boring to listen to.. but hey Gary, Ron/Keith are homers too, but they are more exciting..
but anyway RIP Kalas
we are really lucky to have guys like Howie and Gary who, if you think about it are the ultimate homers… we have two guys that grew up die-hards for the team they now broadcast….
and remember… phillies games may be boring to you when they arent playing the mets, just like mets games would be boring to philly fans
…last month of the season exempt.
Actually, despite their lifelong loyalties, Gary and Howie tend to make a real effort to call it straight. Keith is more of a guy who always takes the batter's perspective – when he isn't more distracted by food, wine, or lollipops. Ronnie is a down-to-earth intellectual. We are very lucky to have them all. Sadly, Wayne Hagin is a hack. All that said, it is too bad about Kalas, who had a great voice and did a good job in his NFL Films work, even if he was a tad unprofessional and a homer calling Phillies games.
No they don't. They have become as homerish as any announcers.
That is so untrue. Do you have to endure some of the announcers on Extra Innings or MLB.tv? The Fish, Nats and AZ announcers are truly putrid. Gary (and Howie) take great, and appropriate, pride in playing it straight. If a Met hits a HR, a Nats announcer says, "Oh, geez, that hurt" Gary says, "it's outta here!" Sorry you lost your beloved Harry Kalas though. Since you're a Phillie phan, I am sure you are having a tough day.
I have to agree, gipper. Gary is not anywhere near over the top, even though he's clearly a Met fan. He's fair. He also remembers more about baseball than I've probably forgot.
Ronnie's analysis is spot on. There is a reason he won two Emmys already (or is it more).
And Keith…well he's just Keith. The personality of the booth – lol. But he still gives credit where credit is due, no matter which team is up.
im with you..never really heard the guy i dont think but nonetheless RIP
As I said in the previous thread….RIP Harry Kalas, Inside the NFL won't be the same without you.
i have had mlb.tv for the past two seasons… long story short.. up until this year you only got the home team's tv broadcast. Nevertheless, the first few times I had to listen to Kalas, I was annoyed and didn't like him much (neither did Phillies fans apparently when he first came over all those years ago) probably because i hate the Phillies, but he grew on me and you realize that guys that actually KNOW the game of baseball are few and far between. Try listening to the Marlins or Rays broadcasters, or Nationals, I find myself correcting them half the time..
Kalas was one of the greats, and deserves to be mentioned, like udontmesswjohan said, in the same conversations with the Bob Murphys, Lindsey Nelsons and the Vin Scullys of the world. Men who took true pride in their work and you could hear their passion for the game of baseball over the airwaves.
In case anyone hasn't caught the news, Phillies long time Phillies play-by-play announcer Harry Calas died today at about 1:20 p.m. He had collapsed around 12:30 p.m. today. You can go to phiily dot com to read more. As much as we've come to hate the Phillies the last couple of years, Harry Calas was a true class act with an incredible voice. Even as a Mets fan living in Philadelphia, Harry and the late Richiie Ashburn were a joy to listen to as they called a game.
R.I.P. Harry.
Beyond the Phillies – this guy is the voice of NFL Films. I can't imagine watching classivc NFL footage and not hearing his voice.
He took some digs at the Mets during the celebration last year which were out of character, but as an old guy getting caught up in the moment, it was not hard to overlook…much easier than with the players.
Class act and a true voice of at least 2 games…farewell.
Also mentioned it in the previous thread, RIP Harry. As much as it killed me watching them win it all last year, I am actually joyed that Harry was able to watch his team go out on top. A legend lost today. Matt, even though we hate the Phillies, shouldn't a post go up in remembrance?
There definitely should have been a post about Kalas.
btw Matt wear the Mets shirt.. the metsblog one looks geeky in all honesty
well nevermind im 2 hours late on that one LOL
Man, I wish I could be out there tailgating in the lot right now.
me too dude, stuck in Arizona at ASU right now watching a video on the Homestead Act….
Can't wait for the summer so I can finallllllllly get into Citi.
Hah at least you're in Arizona man. I'm over in Bloomington, Indiana at IU. It's been cold and raining for the past 2 weeks straight now.
edit: sorry about the language
LOL, you do realize you can edit your post?
How?
You have to be registered and logged in to edit/delete posts
not registered, sorry
I hope the Mets win tonight
The new format's not so bad. Only problem I really have with it is that sometimes the amount of pages bugs out, and jumps from 2 to 6, back to 2. And I had to register for a new account, and lost the old one that I've used on this site since 2005…..but I guess it was time to make a change from "pedro4545" anyway.
Agreed. I like the fact the site offers a rating system based on relevance to the topic. And anyone can use these words without a hyphen: Bass, Class, etc.
Matt, what became of the old stadium? I know it's completely torn down, but is the parking lot up and running?
Hey Matt can you see Fatcessa? I am sure you can't miss him his head is blocking the sun
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHelllloooooooooooooooooooooo everybody! How are you todayyyyyyyy?
This giant blow hard is at Citifield to give his unbiased opinion of the evening…
anderson hernandez looks like he's never played a day at second base…
Matt,
Where does he intend to start Sheff? LF or RF?
Starting Sheffield with a fly ball pitcher on the hill? I understand it's opening night for Citi Field but baseball is baseball and the smart move is to go with Reed if you want to give the bench guys some work — then Sheff with Maine.
umm Pelfrey is a sinkerballer????
Ummm…Sheff isn't starting until Wednesday.
Twitter is gay and so are twitter feeds.
What does that have to do with the post? Sure Matt is posting Twitter feeds, it's as close to the game we will get.
I just wanted to wish my Mets good luck 2nite.
I have not been able to post since Saturday it seems I been accidentally banned under my old alias of Mr_North_Jersey and M@TT hasn't figured out how to un-ban me yet.
Even now Ive had to hide my ip just to post this.
To Dirty,Brock,TRS, Ive enjoyed reading your comments and miss not being able to interact. =(
Now b4 i go let me get a few items off my chest.
1.) All those that kill Murphy for making a fielding mistake you should be ashamed.
2.) It's Opening Night support your team and cheer them on. Tonight if someone near you boos you cheer twice as hard.
3.) If you hate intense debate (I do) email M@TT and let him know. Maybe he will see the light
4.) If you are at game I expect you to have a sore throat from screaming Lets Go Mets all night long
5.)L-E-T-S G-O- M-E-T-S L-E-T-S G-O- M-E-T-S L-E-T-S G-O- M-E-T-S!!!
Well, that's not very nice, is it? So certain IP's have problems? And yeah, I've already emailed Matt but not just to complain about the new format but to bullet the problems. That way, if he's going to stick with it, hopefully, they'll get fixed.
Wish I was going to the opener but I'll be watching every minute here from home.
As always – LGM !!
Well when your banned its not your name only but your public IP also gets banned so im forced to either go to some1 else home and comment from there or create a fake ip. which is a pain in da a$$ but i am able to comment.
Well good thing you're astute enough to create a fake ip. Not sure I would be able to do that so hope that doesn't happen to me.
Good luck, Mr. Noth!.
#1. I agree. Give the kid a chance. He's obviously still green. And, quite frankly, it could have happened to anyone. IMO.
#2. Yes. Support the team. I would go as far as to say save the boo calls. Cheer each player. No matter how poor he performed. Cheer for Ollie and Slappy. Give them a chance. If there is no improvement then proceed. But until then, refrain.
And yes! LET'S GO METS! Enjoy the game folks!
yea the blame has to go to Johan there. he cant allow routine fly balls especially with men on base…
Watching Nats and Phillies game….The Nats commercials star the Mets…One about how Willie Harris owns the Mets…Another is about how they are big part of the Mets September collapses….Its true but such pathetic marketing…considering Met fans are big reason they have sell outs…
Looks like Daily News Live on SNY at 5pm here is broadcasting from Citi Field.
Big crowd there already.
those flagpoles look mighty empty.
Is there a lot of people there now?
Looks like Im the only one here. But guys that Citi Field looks beautiful. Only wish the wall was blue. The Jackie Robinson Rotunda was inspiring, but I would have liked if they had a NY baseball History rotunda. You start with Jackie Robinson, then you go to Willie Mays. Then you go to the 1962 team& Casey Stengel. Then you get shea. Then Seaver&Hodges&the 1969 team. Then Tug McGraw&the 73 team. Then Doc, Straw, Carter, Mex&the 86 team. Then the Ventura&the 99 team. Then Piazza&the 2000 team. Then youhave wright,reyes, beltran, delgado&06 team. Lastly you have K-Rod&Johan&citi field. Its a bit long, but It would be such a nice tribute to Mets fans
nice idea but what has K-Rod done to deserve that honor.
That would have been an excellent idea.
You miss the point, or are not old enough to get the point. The Mets were formed to fill the void left in New York by the Dodgers and Giants. They took the blue of their uniforms from the Dodgers, an the gold NY on their caps from the Giants. Jackie Robinson never played for the Mets; Willie Mays did. Why not a Willie Mays Rotunda? The Mets never played in Brooklyn, but they did play at the Polo Grounds, where Willie made his name. Jackie Robinson, no offense, has zero history or connection with the Mets. Willie Mays does. As for the current group, how about letting them actually win something before memorializing them.
Wheelhouse guys interviewing Sheffeild right now. He's saying all the right things, I'll give him that. Sounds like a true professional and team player to me.
Said he knows his role on this team, knows where he's at in his career and he's can come in and spell a an outfielder or two when they need it. Doesn't sound like to me like he's going to have a problem not playing every day.
Interview was interesting.
I hope he becomes a nice weapon off the bench
I'm with you.
idk Marlon Anderson's bat and defense was a real asset for us…
LOL – Stop…….
i wonder why they took the turf out where the apple is at citi. it looked really dumb but now it looks even worse..so boring. maybe it the turf was bad for the batters eye.
Mark Fidrych also died today. And in typical fashion he dies in a bizarre manner — he was working underneath a truck that collapsed on him. He was 54.
So weird, MLB Network aired his game against the Yankees in 1976 just this weekend.
That is horrible news!
He was a breath of fresh air to baseball for years.
Sorry to ask, but what time do the pregame ceremonies start on SNY?
PHILLIES PITCHING SUCKSSSSSS!
soooo we have Ryan Church playing great defense and absolutely crushing the ball and we are gonna sit him for a washed up defensive liability in a hard to play right field. EVERY GAME COUNTS! DON'T DO THIS PLEASE. what? oh. ollie's pitching wednesday night. ok then start the reserves.
seriously tho if we fck with Church after maybe getting him back to his pre head injury state of being arguably the best rf IN THE GAME for the first few months last season then they are crazy.
phils fan here eavesdropping on you guys. thx for the kind words on harry the k. enjoy the first game at the new park.
You're welcome. Too bad the classless Cerrone couldn't have a post about it. Its guys like him that force people to hate New York.
What is wrong with you?????
You should have stopped after 'you're welcome'. This is about Matt or this site, it's about a loss to the Phillies Nation and baseball overall.
What is wrong with you?????
You should have stopped after 'you're welcome'. This is not about Matt or this site, it's about a loss to the Phillies Nation and baseball overall.
Matt can barely get game recaps up. Doubtful he can get something up on this.
Matt is at the game. But there are other fellow bloggers. I'm surprised one of them didn't put a post up about him.
Thoughts and prayers are with his family. R.I.P, Harry.
LETS GO METS! Live game log, keithisms and aflac here!
Ok whoever is playing the music at Citi needs to go He is BAD
great pitch by Seaver, he can get the ball over the plate better than Ollie… even at age 64
I just watched Seaver throw out the first pitch to Piazza. No offense to Piazza, who I like, but what possible connection does he have to Tom Seaver? Why didn't they bring out Jerry Grote? Grote was a World Champion; Piazza never was. The Mets too often lose track of their own history. The new park? Great. I went to my first game at Shea in 1968, and shed no tears at its passing. But let's put Mets history in perspective. Seaver? Champion. Grote? Champion. Mike "I'm Not Gay" Piazza? Footnote.
youre a clown.
First of all, "you're" has an apostrophe in it, so I may be a clown, but you apparently are illiterate. Moving on, why am I a clown? Make an argument and back it up with fact, not brain farts.
What
s with your gay comment. You obviously are a very bigoted jerk. What's the problem Piazza turn you down bigot
wow wtf …. looks like a hitters park on that one…
Shea was my field of dreams. I was not just a fan of the Mets, I was part of the stadium. She was my home. I walked on her turf, stood on her scoreboard, and sat where ever I wanted. I talked to players and not for autographs, just to talk. I have been in the locker room, the bull pen, and the secret tunnels. I found thehole in the fence behind the bull pen that would allow me and my sister run the field in the off season. Rolls of sod ready to put down for football begging for me to take some shea grass home. I have my baseballs and my many memories of the player I came close to. My house is gone.
I guess you never had to use the potty there. If you did you wouldn't be waxing poetic.
i have a good idea, let's sit the guy who hasn't struck out yet for the next game.
everytime pelf throws that sinker inside to RH hitters they foul it off or he misses way inside. i think hes throwing it TOO low or too in.
Murphy, how the hell can you swing at that?
Is anyone there? Is it freezing?
Mexican pitchers own us.
lol
This team makes me sick 3-0 ALREADY !!!!!! Can't even enjoy this
this is REALLY frustrating…….
Aww man I dont want to lose this game…
Maybe just maybe if I hope real hard maybe they can score at least 1 run here
Niether have I, but damn he had a voice. Have you ever heard him narrarate for the NFL or to a lessor extent Cambell's Soup Commercials featuring NFL players? RIP.
HOORAY
It was my hoping maybe I hope for like 5 runs next time
Too bad about Kalas – the guy had a great voice, and was amazing doing the NFL Films voice-overs for their DVDs and for Inside the NFL. Requiescat in Pace.
Wow. Somebody actually voted me a thumbs down for saying something nice about a recently deceased guy? That's classy.
How low does Schneiders's average have to dip to til we see some relief, horrible…
too many K's for David to start the year, at least hes somehow put up a good avg/obp.. great to see Castillo get that RBI double he really needed that at home.. hopefully the bats wake up soon against this guy Silva. And, IMO at least, that was really dumb for Jose to try for 2nd.. if hes doing that with 2 outs then its OK but to a leadoff an inning its being a bit greedy
and last but not least – at least the cat wasn't black! hopefully thats a good omen….
Amazing listening to the feed between innings and hearing them discuss how to intro Kalas and the "Bird". Classy.
why is my mlb.tv spazzing out right now… is anyone else having a problem with this?
I told my wife during the pre-game show that the Mets will lose this game 12-4.
Not because I hate Pelf, or the manager, or the team, it's just these are the Mets and that's the way they roll.
They sure do know how to ruin a party.
Bummer,
Number one, tom seaver does anyone give a damn about your vineyards
Number two, feliciano still sucks
we lose 2 game in a row due 2 missed cathes in the outfield, hello 4th place
Stockton – Yeah, the Phillies pitching sucks, but at least they can win at the end of games. I'd rather be them, having a backbone at the end of games, than us, who feel like a guaranteed loss, because of our inability to hit with RISP or function defensively late in games. Just look at how many come from behind games they've won already, even though their SP have given up like 32 ER in 32 IP. They do have a big problem. But you know what the first 7 games of both of us have told us, if it becomes a trend? It's neither of our year.
i dont know who to blame, on the bullpen, on church, or on pelfrey for not getting the pitcher out
Even though I love how Citi Field looks, that only consumes like 5% of my attention in this game. Who cares? lol It's a stadium. We all know we'll grow to love it. I'm more focused on seeing how this team performs and have been disappointed. As for Citi, I don't like how the dimensions are set up. If it's a pitcher's park, with the big fences and far HR distances, it doesn't mean sense for the OF's, especially Murphy, to cover that much ground.
What a Joke this team is. We are only 7 games into the seaons and it seems like more of the same old same. The first batter hits a HR in our new park and we take the loss in our new park, this is what we have to look foward to? One big let down after another. When we loose on the last game of the season to some team playing 400 baseball we can look back at this game and say this is the reason. we have to stop playing GIVE BACk with these teams and start to crush them. WE NEED TO MAKE A STATEMENT. WIN, WIN, WIN. Come out strong does not mean 3-4, lets go mets !!
just a couple days ago you all were raving about how this team doesn't fold late in a game and about how awesome the pen is. Now you all have already turned on your team. TRAITORS ALL
Gotta love 2 more of Don Omars mistakes closing out thie 1st game
in our new park,and quietly at that.
i know its very early but these gms do count.
Yes I also know San Diego is now 6-2 but this is a bad baseball team.
they've got 100 loses written all over them.
These games mean as much in April as September.
Sad,Sad,Bad,Bad.
Good thing we had most of our team play in the WBC,
they really look ready. 1-4 in our last five, way to go!
Good thing Omar the Great was so sure about our
corner OFers and despite tons of options did nothing
to improve this situation.
look no further than the no blue and orange in the stadium, the astrocious rip off prices, the hilariously awful pizza patch and stupid black hats just to sell more merchandise and the mediocre teams fielded 9 years out of 10, the Wilpons don't care about us Mets fans one bit. Collapse after collapse and and expect more of the same. This team doesn't have what it takes to win a World Series and next year's team won't either.
Not to mention not wearing our pinstripes first game new stadium.
This despite the fact that the greatest Pitcher and Position Player
in our history wore theirs to throw out the 1st Pitch. Bad Karma!
The Wilpons have no clue on how to run a franchise. They don't care about the history and tradition of the Mets they care about getting rich. Baseball is not a game for the fans anymore, it's a business for the rich to get richer.
derek lowe should have been pitching tonight. And give me one good reason why orlando hudson was hitting for the cycle tonight for the dodgers and not the mets? give me one good reason…
Because his name isn't Luis Castillo/
Because we couldnt get rid of Louis Castillo. Its very simple actually. We tried to get rid of Castillo all offseason to make room for Hudson, or Eckstein or some other…any, other…..second baseman. If you were actually paying attention all offseason, you'd probably know this.
secondly, Derek Lowe is overpaid. Yes, he may be better this year then Pelf and Perez…but hes going to be 40 something by the time his contract ends. Braves overpaid with a huge contract mostly to keep him away from the Mets.
Honestly, if this is the attitude you have…id rather you trade in your blue and orange for some navy and white hats, and get the f out.