New York Mets
We travel to Flushing, New York, for a quick trip to the New York Hall of Science before our day game with the New York Mets, where we see one of the greatest pitchers of our generation put in his final performance for the team.
Our next game was a Sunday afternoon affair with the New York Mets, who were hosting the Washington Nationals at City Field in Flushing, a neighborhood in northern Queens. We decided to squeeze in a little sightseeing on the way by visiting the New York Hall of Science.
A former pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair, the Hall of Science now contains more than 450 interactive exhibits related to science and technology, as well as a mini golf course just outside the front door.
We wandered through some interesting displays but, to be honest, the Hall is geared more toward kids. We were soon on our way to the ballpark.
The Ballgame
Citi Field opened in 2009 at a cost of about $900 million. It replaced Shea Stadium, which I had visited in 1988 on my first trip to New York, and which Dad had seen in 1992 on his 42-day tour of every ballpark in Major league Baseball.
We stopped by the front entrance to see the original Shea Stadium Home Run Apple, which rose from its container each time a Mets batter hit a homer. It has been replaced by a new apple at Citi Field.
Just inside the front gates, we entered the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, a 19,000-square-foot space with doors to the team shop and Mets Hall of Fame, plus escalators to multiple levels of the ballpark. It includes a nine-foot sculpture of Robinson's retired number 42, as well as photos and and quotes commemorating his life.
We went into the team store, which is never as interesting in a Major League ballpark — with one dominant logo treatment in various colors — as it is at a Minor League ballpark, with various alternate identities celebrating local food and culture.
Right next to the team store is the Mets Hall of Fame and Museum, which showcases artifacts and memories from Mets history, including the franchise’s 1969 and 1986 World Series trophies, plaques of Hall-of-Fame members, and the original headpiece for mascot Mr. Met.
We took the front escalators up to the Excelsior Level. I dropped Dad off at our seats high above the third-base line and began a loop tour of Citi Field.
The Mets began play in 1962 at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, during the fourth iteration of the stadium. Earlier versions hosted the original New York Metropolitans from 1880 to 1885, the New York Giants from 1883 to 1957, and the New York Yankees from 1913 through 1922. The Mets moved to Shea in 1964 but remained a hapless, bottom-dwelling team until the Miracle Mets of 1969, who beat the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles to win the franchise’s first World Series.
Their only other title came in 1986, when the likes of Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter, Lenny Dykstra, and Keith Hernandez put up 108 wins, beat the Houston Astros in the National League Championship Series, and went on to overcome the Boston Red Sox in a legendary seven-game battle to win the World Series.
I continued along the concourse to the outfield, crossing the “Shea Bridge,” a link to the former ballpark. New York is home to more than 2,000 bridges, and one features prominently in the Mets logo. This bridge is designed to resemble Hell Gate Bridge, a railroad bridge that crosses the East River from Queens to Manhattan.
Back behind the scoreboard, the Mets mascots posed with fans. In the 1960s, Mr. and Mrs. Met (then known as Lady Met) appeared with “little Mets” children, but those kids are clearly old enough to live their own lives by now.
Nearby, kids took their turn at the plate, hitting Wiffle balls off a tee on a miniature field and rubber balls lobbed to them in a batting cage.
In center field, I was able to get a brief look at the new Home Run Apple, which is 16 1/2 feet tall and 18 feet wide, with a shell that weighs 4,800 pounds and an internal frame weighing 9,000 pounds. An usher granted me about eight seconds to take a photo before shooing me away.
Justin Verlander
On to the game! Both the Mets and Nationals were playing below .500 on the season, inhabiting the bottom two places in the National League East standings. So there wouldn’t be much at stake on the field. But the baseball gods smiled upon us by lining up the Mets starting rotation so that we would see 40-year-old Justin Verlander, a three-time Cy Young Award winner and 10-time All-Star.
The veteran right-hander started a bit rocky, giving up singles to Washington’s J.J. Abrams and Jeimer Candelario. The Nationals then executed a double steal, with the throw from Mets catcher Omar Narvaez getting past second baseman Danny Mendick, allowing Candelario to trot home to lead the scoring.
In the bottom half, the Mets cobbled together a walk, fielder’s choice, and a single off Nationals starter Trevor Williams, tying the score 1-1.
I left Dad to find us some lunch. Like most modern Major League ballparks, Citi Field has a wealth of food options, many of which go beyond the norm: a spicy fried chicken sando, hot pastrami on rye, brisket, pulled pork, cheesesteaks, steak sandwiches, rib eye, porchetta sandwiches, lobster rolls, risotto balls, and more.
However, with the game now underway, I didn’t want to stray too far from our seats and settled for a sausage with grilled peppers and onions. It was plenty good — a treat on any other day — but I had missed an opportunity to try something unique.
The score remained tied until the bottom of the third when the Mets took control of the game. Shortstop Francisco Lindor led off with a double to center field, and right fielder Jeff McNeil followed with a triple. A sacrifice fly from first baseman Pete Alonso made the score 3-1 New York.
But the Mets weren’t done yet. Designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach slapped a single to right to get things going again. Left fielder Mark Canha walked, and Bret Baty — whose bobblehead we had collected the night before with the Brooklyn Cyclones — added a single to load the bases. Another sacrifice fly brought home Vogelbach, and the Mets led it 4-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, Lindor hit a high fly ball to right field that bounced on top of and over the wall, putting the Mets ahead 5-1. I took a walk down to the lower level to get some different views of the game.
Verlander had stayed out of trouble after the first inning. In the top of the 6th, he gave up a one-out single to Nationals DH Joey Meneses and was pulled from the game. Verlander had given up just the one earned run while scattering five hits, recording five strikeouts, and lowering his ERA to an impressive 3.15. As he walked off the field toward the Mets dugout, the crowd rose in unison to give Verlander a standing ovation. The ace tipped his hat in appreciation.
The moment had much more meaning than a good pitching performance in a mid-season game between two struggling teams. The home crowd knew that with the trade deadline approaching, this was very possibly the final time they would see Verlander in a Mets uniform. Indeed, just two days later, New York traded him to the Houston Astros, where Verlander had won the Cy Young the year before.
Washington managed a run in the top of the seventh on an error by Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo and a single by shortstop Ildemaro Vargas. But the Nationals never mounted a serious threat against the three relievers who followed Verlander.
Mets closer Brooks Raley came on in the ninth and shut the door on the Nationals, getting all three outs via strikeout. The Mets won it 5-2 — the 250th career win for Justin Verlander.
