It was getting towards the end of the 2015 regular season. The New York Mets were competing for the National League East title and my dad, a Mets fan, was excited because his team was finally better than the New York Yankees. My mom and I didn't want to hear it, but I guess I was a little happy for him.
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| Our left field seats |
So, with about a month left in the season, I looked to see what games we could potentially go to. The only one that would work with both of our schedules was the October 3 game against the Washington Nationals. Yes, I would be seeing the Nationals for a second time this year. It definitely won't be the last.
Getting to Citi Field was horrible. Unlike my mom, my dad loves driving in the city. We haven't lived in New York since 1991, but somehow my dad still knows his way around more than he does where we currently live. I don't get it. Anyway, there was just so much traffic. I'm not sure what is worse, LA or New York traffic.
We finally got to the stadium and it was freezing. The wind was whipping through the parking lot and at our seats in the outfield. I was prepared, but an extra hot chocolate definitely helped.
This was the second game of a day-night double header. As a result, the Nationals trotted out their second string squad. With Wilson Ramos or Yunel Escobar being the biggest names in the starting lineup, you'd think they would have a hard time winning the game. The Mets didn't put out their best lineup either, but they had some better hitters.
Actually, quite the opposite happened. The Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer pitched a no hitter.
Remember what I said in the Dodgers game about jinxing no-hitters? This time, though, it didn't make a difference. We were all talking about it. I could see other fans glancing at the scoreboard as they murmured about the possible feat. He missed the perfect game by one base runner, reached on error. He struck out 17 on 109 pitches. Just amazing.
The Mets starter, Matt Harvey, wasn't bad either. One run allowed on four hits and struck out 11 in six innings.
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| The view from my second visit to Citi Field |
As far as the stadium goes, which is what this whole blog is about, it was nice. The outfield concourse was nice as I was able to see the game while waiting for food. If you're walking behind home plate, the field is blocked, as I saw when I visited Citi Field the following April for my dad's birthday.
The only downside to visiting Citi Field is that there is nothing around the stadium to do. It's surrounded by parking lots. There's a train, highway and side streets. There are no real restaurants or landmarks to visit while waiting for the gates to open. If you plan on making a day out of this, I'd park in the city and take the train to and from the stadium.
Similar to what I said about Yankee Stadium, Citi Field is big. There are four levels of seating, but it doesn't look like any section hinders your view of the field. It just proves that the East Coast loves their baseball, 41,000 people were in attendance for this game. Just the fact that I saw Scherzer's second no hitter of the season made this a special event.
Citi Field is nice. The home run apple is still in center field and there are some nice tributes to the Mets legacy around the stadium, but once you sit down, it just doesn't seem that special. Maybe that's why I jokingly call it "Shitty Field."
