Sports

Mets Amazin’ Day

Katie February 6, 2025 No Comments

Saturday January 25th we made the trek to Citi Field for Amazin’ Day.  We had gone to the fan fest they had in 2020 and decided to check it out again.  When tickets went on sale there was absolutely no information available about what all would be happening, but it still sold out pretty quickly.  We had 12:30pm entry tickets and arrived to the parking lot around 11:30.  The line seemed pretty long to get in to the rotunda, so we decided we’d line up pretty early to make sure we didn’t spend too much time waiting to be let in.  We were told by staff we could go in an ADA entrance and could wait inside until 12:30 and out of the cold which was nice.  While we were waiting, the screens inside were showing some information about what was happening, including the topics of some of the panels that would be happening so I found one that I thought David Wright would be at and we added it to our agenda for the day.

Our first stop was the Mets Mini Museum and Press Conference Photo – in the press conference room they had some memorabilia together for the concerts at citi field, some player jerseys, Grimace’s glove (it was hilarious how many people were so excited over it, including us!) and a nice little display of some of the post season artifacts – not having watched most of the game, just following box scores it was cool to see all of that up close.  They also had a couple of photo ops set up where you could sit with cut outs of Steve Cohen, David Stearns and Juan Soto as well as stand at the podium leading your own press conference.

Then we tried to figure out how to line up for the autographs, but no one told us we had passed the line as we were looking for the end.  So we had to go all the way back.  The hallway did not have enough room for the traffic and it was a total mess.  When we finally got back to the end, someone tried to cut in between us and then made it seem like I was the problem when I kept knocking into them with my walker.  I mean, maybe it’s because you’re taking up the free space I have to maneuver? Just a thought… once we finally got to the room, there were 4 lines that you were randomly placed into depending on which line was shortest when you got to the front of the line for placement.  Each room had 2-4 players.  We saw Daryl Strawberry walk by when we were waiting so we knew he was in one of the rooms but they were being very secretive and making sure the curtains were closed so you couldn’t see who you were going to get.  We ended up getting to meet Nelson Figueroa and Sean Manaea.

We then made our way up to the Piazza 31 Club for some of the panels.  Gary Cohen was interviewing Steve Cohen, David Stearns and  Carlos Mendoza and we caught the tail end of that.  Next up was the 2015 World Series panel with David Wright, Matt Harvey and Jon Niese.  After realizing that was probably the closest to David I was going to get, we went to the K Corner for the legends photo op, knowing that David was going to be on another panel in another hour or so.

The line for the legends photo op was through the bar in the restaurant.  When we could see who was doing the photos, it was Robin Ventura.  As we got closer, I saw Terry Collins enter the room and they ended up switching places.  Robin went to sit at a table to sign autographs along with Benny Agbayani and Edgardo Alfonso.  So we were able to get autographs from the 3 of them and then a photo that was instantly printed with Terry.  There also was supposed to be a spot to enter to win a chance to see the Mets in San Francisco but we didn’t end up finding that.

After spending most of our time waiting in lines, we decided we’d make our way to the store to see the Warehouse sale and head home.  The only other thing we had wanted to do was the baseball card but it was on the other side of the stadium.  Later I had found out the wait was 2+ hours and I’m not sure we had it in us to wait that much longer.  As the day went on and more and more people were coming in the lines just kept getting longer and longer and the hallways more and more packed.

The store had post season items for 80% off, almost everything else was 50% off and select items were $1, $5 or $10.  I got 2 patches, a pin and a yearbook for $7.  The store was very crowded so I didn’t get to shop like I normally would have, I maybe should have gotten a jersey at 50% off, but oh well.  At the time, I didn’t have a favorite as Pete being signed was in limbo, but as of writing this he is back!  (And when David Stearns was walking through the hallway chants of ‘SIGN PETE!’ were being yelled by all the fans at him, glad it worked out!)

Meet The Legends

Katie October 28, 2024 No Comments

Friday night I went to Mohegan Sun to meet 1986 Mets Legends: Doc Gooden, Darryl Strawberry and Keith Hernandez.  I had met Keith a couple of times before, but never Doc or Darryl.  I wasn’t entirely sure how it was going to work – the tickets said it would be a Q&A, but I got there early to case it out.  It was supposed to start at 8, but at around 7pm I saw the 3 guys walk into the sports bar and so I asked if I could get in early and was told that I could.  They were taking photos and everyone lined up seemed to have the same wristband I did, so I gave it a try.  I only spoke briefly to Darryl about our season tickets right by him when I was a kid.  They printed out the photos for us immediately (think ComicCon, but a smaller sized photo) and then said after everyone got photos the guys would be signing.  Since the event had limited information, I didn’t end up coming prepared with anything for them to sign and was being weird about getting my photo op signed.  At this point I had also lost my initial seat so I opted to skip the signing to make sure I had a decent seat for the Q&A.

Unfortunately starting at 8pm was the Q&A and starting at 8:08 was World Series Game #1.  It was pretty cool to watch the opening ceremonies with Doc, Darryl and Keith watching as well, but once the game got underway it became quite a distraction.  I think they allowed anyone in to watch the game – so there were groans and cheers going on the whole time the guys were talking – and Keith even commented that they should have done it before the game started.  There was one guy with his back to the Q&A yelling at the TV – ahh, my favorite kind of man, a drunk, obnoxious Yankees fan.

All 3 players had a lot of good stories to tell and advice for those who had kids who might want to be a major league player.  I was only 2 when they won the World Series so if these were stories they had told before, most of them were new to me.  I especially liked when Darryl said there was a guy he’d like to stuff in a trash can! And he bragged about how many pitchers he took off the scoreboard. Of course, Doc had to let it be known he was a good hitter as well and had 8 home runs.  They also all gave their thoughts on Pete Alonso coming back – they all seem to hope that he will be back but aren’t sure based on who his agent is.  Fingers crossed!

Overall it was a fun night, but I just wish I had stuck it out to stay until the end of the game to see the Yankees lose!

Battle of the Badges 3

Katie September 16, 2024 No Comments

Thursday I made the trek to Citi Field for the first time since 2020 to check out the Battle of the Badges, hosted by David Wright.  When it was announced, I curiously looked up where the ADA seats were and was pleasantly surprised that they were right on the field and all tickets were only $20.  When we arrived we found out we had access to the Delta club and free food, drinks, snacks, etc. Unfortunately, no ice cream.

When we got to our seats, David was near the 3rd base dugout doing promo.  He then did some on field stuff and ended up coming right through the door next to us to leave the field, unfortunately paying more attention to the people behind us so all I was able to get was a selfie of half my face and his back.

The game was a lot of fun though, not a lot of people and the crowd, seemingly made up of mostly NYPD and FDNY members and their families, were really rowdy and into the trash talking.  The FDNY scored first, NYPD later scored a run and for a while the game was tied, but then the FDNY ended up breaking things open and winning 5-1.

David spent some time in each of the dug outs during the game.

I hope that the event raised a lot of money for the FDNY Foundation and NYCPA Widows & Children’s Fund.  It was nice to honor NYs Bravest and Finest.

Mixtape Festival – Rock N Jock Softball

Katie August 23, 2012 No Comments

One of the VIP Mixtape Festival perks was a Rock N Jock softball game of NKOTB vs BSB.  This was the only VIP perk that I was sad I was missing out on, because I only bought GA tickets.  However, about a week before the festival they announced that tickets would be for sale for $10 at the event for non VIP ticket holders to also attend. I could not be happier – boybands and baseball, it doesn’t get much better than that!

For NKOTB – Jon did not play. He just hung out in the dugout.  I think this was because he hurt his leg last year on tour, he probably didn’t want to hurt it again!  For BSB – Nick didn’t play.  He was nowhere to be found.  It turned out he had a solo show in Toronto that night and that is why he was not there.

During warm ups there was a dog out on the field – Donnie’s dog, Lumpy. He was HILARIOUS and was running all over the place trying to get the ball! Howie was throwing and the dog would not leave him alone and wanted the ball he had in his hand. The guys kept throwing a ball far away so he would chase it and get out of their way haha

BSB won the toss up and decided that they wanted to bat first.  I believe it was Howie D who was up first, he hit the ball right to Jordan and after he caught it, Donnie ran over and then Joe joined them and they were all jumping up and down like they had just won the world series.  Howie ran over all annoyed and next thing you know – he is jumping around with them too.

After the first inning, it was BSB 4, NKOTB 3.  It seemed like they were trying to get things moved along and the next couple of innings were scoreless.  Donnie was playing around and took his shirt off to bat – ended up hitting the ball right to Brian, who was actually a really great ball player and Brian had no trouble catching it.  Donnie wasn’t too happy about that – but in his next at bat hit an inside the park homer which scored not only him, but 2 others too.

NKOTB ended up winning by a score of 9-4 after only 4 innings of play. (They had said they’d play 5, but I guess things were going a bit too slowly so they had to cut it short)

It was so much fun – but I really don’t know who decided to have it start at 10am when the show went until 11 each night of the festival and the VIPs had after parties after that!  If they decide to do it again next year (and it sounds like they might, the festival at least), I hope that they do it a bit later in the day!

Mets All Time Team

Katie June 20, 2012 No Comments

Sunday night as part of a belated Birthday Gift / Father’s Day gift for my Dad I took him to the 92nd St Y to see SNY preset the Mets All Time Team. (Or I guess he took me as he was the brave one to drive to the city!) We couldn’t find much information about it at all, but the write up on the website said that Tom Seaver and Keith Hernandez would be there, so I figured it would be worth it. Tom is my dad’s all time favorite Met and Keith is one of my favorites and I was hoping that David Wright might show up as well.

We got there too early for doors so we went outside to debate if we should grab a bite to eat first.  While debating, Cleon Jones showed up. (I could spot all the tinted window suburbans and my Dad could recognize the players, we made a good team.)  We also saw Jay Horowitz, the Mets head PR guy walk in as well as Howie Rose, one of the Mets radio announcers.

Then my Dad asked if we should go down a block and grab a slice of pizza, but I spotted Keith coming around the corner. He looked confused so we grabbed my camera and were ready to try and stop him for a photo, but he ended up going up the ramp and not the stairs near us.  Some other guy shouted out “Hey that guy we have the bobblehead of just walked in.”  We decided to hang around to see if anyone else would go in the front entrance but no one else did.

Shortly after 8 the program kicked off and we finally found out some more details of what would actually be going on.  There would be 4 “nominees” for each position and then the all-time player for that position would be chosen.  Some were obvious choices, some were harder but my Dad said ultimately he thinks that they picked the right one for each position. (Although Davey vs Gil for Manager is up for debate.)  The show airs on Thursday at 7pm on SNY so you can check out all the details. (I’ll post again if anything was cut out that I thought was important.)

Under the cut is the team chosen and some info on the Q&A after the taped portion

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The dumbest thing I’ve ever done (aka Hockey Fest ’11)

Katie February 20, 2011 No Comments

The Hanson Brothers

I have done a lot of dumb things. Especially if it is to see/meet one of the guys from a band or a TV show that I like.  However, I am pretty sure today was THE dumbest thing I have ever done. Really.

A couple weeks ago it was announced that David Henrie of Wizards of Waverly place would be playing in the Whalers/Bruins Alumni/Celebrity game at Hockey Fest. I LOVE David Henrie.  Actually, I don’t.  I love Justin Russo, which is David’s character on Wizards. If he was real, I would do whatever I could to marry him.  He is smart, good looking and most importantly, a Mets fan!

The Hanson Brothers

My friend Christine and I decided we had to go see him and possibly find him to meet him as well. (Plus, we also love the Whaler’s mascot, Pucky. He is so cute!) We didn’t have any tickets but this afternoon we decided… what the heck, we would try to get relatively cheap seats to make sure we were inside the venue and that way if there was any way to meet David, we would be able to figure it out once inside.

All the players after the game

This all seems normal enough, right?  Well, for any of you who don’t live in the north east – today was probably THE windiest day… ever!  My car said it was 33 degrees outside when I was driving up to Christine’s house – and when I got out of the car the wind practically sent me flying! Not to mention, it made everything a whole lot colder!

We bundled up, got in the car and headed to “The Rent” where the game was being held. Outside.

I recognized this celeb player from Desperate Housewives

And then.. they announced the team. And they said David’s name. But we never saw him? We could not find him on the ice or the bench the entire game. We don’t think he was there.  I have gone through all of my photos and I have found all the other celebrities on the lineup in the game or on the bench or leaving the ice. But NO David.  We were tweeting him a bit (but only a bit – WAY too cold to take our gloves off to tweet!) hoping he would let us know if he was even THERE… but nothing.

The Bruins team during player announcements

After the celebrity/alumni game, there was a CT Whale vs Providence Bruins game. However, once the sun went down the temperature dropped dramatically and we knew we would be frozen solid if we sat out there for another couple of hours. So we left.

Players leaving the ice after the first period

I really don’t know if we are EVER going to thaw out from this afternoon!!

The game ended in a 4-4 tie.  And The Hanson Brothers were there! No, not *my* Hanson.. but *the* Hanson Brothers.  I always remember back in 1997 Hanson used to have to specify that they were not the hockey brothers and whenever I searched for Hanson items on ebay The Hanson Brothers and SlapShot items would show up, so it was kind of funny to get to see them. Although, I am sure I would have enjoyed their antics more if my teeth were not chattering.

But there you have it – what has to be the dumbest thing I have ever done!

Jonas Brothers Road Dogs Game

Katie August 15, 2010 No Comments

At 10am Gates opened at New Britain Stadium for the Road Dogs vs the ESPN GOATS.  Goats stood for “Greatest Of All Time” but I guess there were jokes that it could mean “Go Out And Tank.”  We snagged some seats over the home dugout (goats) and waited.  BP was set to start at 11:15 and as far as we knew the game was going to start at 12.

While ESPN was taking BP, Jonas arrived.  They came in from the back of the field and waved – and weren’t even in their uniforms yet!  Then there were announcements that the first pitch would not be until 1:15! It was a looong morning.

The Road Dogs came out for BP and everyone was pretty much constantly screaming for one of the brothers.  ESPN was getting upset and asked that we cheer a little for them as well because they were the home team! haha

I tried to take photos of each of the members of the teams names on the scoreboard to get some sort of lineup.  I think I failed but I will post what I have anyway.

ESPN Goats
Pod Vader 2B
Mo Davenport C
Nate Ravitz RCF
Jason Gilbert LF
Greg Collie SS
Matthew Berry P
Marcellus Wiley 1B
Keith Lipscomb LCF
Michael Yam SS
Michelle Beadle C
Michael Greenberg

Road Dogs
Tallie Brinson
Kevin Jonas P
Phil Mcintyre SS
Nick Jonas 3B
Mike Meehan
Matt Petroff 2B
Eddie De La Garza 1B
Joe Jonas RCF
Demian Arriaga RF
Michael Sarner
Jared Rosenberg LF

Road Dogs took an early lead, scoring 2 runs in the top of the first.  They scored a 3rd run in the 3rd (I think) and I was getting very sunburned and even with sunscreen on it didn’t seem like it was helping, so I left after the 4th and went to the car for a nap. Not sure how much worse I would have ended up if I stayed out there another hour! (And if the game started at noon like scheduled, I’d have made it through the whole game)

Road Dogs ended up winning 3-0.  Kevin pitched a shut out!

Big Citi Crunch – Part of a World Record

Katie July 12, 2009 No Comments

Friday night, the New York Mets in partnership with Wise potato chips had the “Big City Crunch”, an effort to create the largest crunch ever and break a Guinness world record. Upon entering the stadium, game go-ers were given a bag of Wise potato chips. The chips had a sticker on them saying not to open them until the middle of the 2nd inning, when the attempt to break the record would be.

Apparently there was a “audible” crunch throughout the stadium, but I didn’t even hear the chip in my mouth crunch, to be quite honest. There were people from Guiness on hand to make sure the record was broken. Also on hand was the Wise Owl who helped Mr Met toss t-shirts to the crowd.

The record was broken with 39,203 fans participating in the crunch. I’ve been trying to find what the old record was, but without any luck. Was there even such a record?

Under the cut is the bag – made especially for the met game featuring Jose Reyes, who wasn’t even at the game to cheer us on (but did tell us when to crunch in a pre-recorded clip) as well as the seal warning us to wait to open the bag.