As is tradition, the Mets opened on a Monday and have a Tuesday off day. I don't know what the players are doing today, but us fans have a day to bask in the afterglow of an Opening Day win. I thought I'd comment on a few more things my friends and I observed at the park yesterday.
The Parking Lot: First of all, $13.00 for parking! I know it goes up every year and I shouldn't really be surprised, but the parking lot itself hasn't changed, so why does the price go up? What a windfall of cash this parking racket must be. How can they really want people to take the train when they are making so much money on the parking. We always park in the lot across the street, under the train trestle, and this year was no different. Missing was the five-dollar-hats-and-shirt- guy. Did he retire? Get transplanted perhaps? I also was surprised to not see any ticket scalpers. Maybe there were really none to be had. Later we were told that the attendance was the largest in Mets Opening Day history. I wish the NL would go back to the good old days, and publish actual attendance, instead of just tickets sold. That made guessing the attendance a lot more fun, and just felt more honest.
Opening Day Ceremonies: The word of the day for the pre-game festivities was 'anticlimactic'. Now, I'm sure it's a real treat for the kids from Copaigue to do their marching band thing on the field of Shea Stadium, but as a fan, it is really boring. Could they at least play some familiar tunes? Having DHL deliver the balls to the mound was just shameful. But more disappointing was the singing of the national anthem by the cast of Walk The Line (is that really a show?) followed by an ultra lame 'pyrotechnics display' and a pathetic military flyover. We were promised jets, but these four planes arrived about three minutes late and moved slower than the Goodyear blimp. C'mon! Get the crowd fired up over here. Jesse Orosco also disappointed. I know his knees are bad but he could have at least thrown the glove up the air. Luckily, the team was better equipped to fire up the crowd. What a pair of ovations for Pedro and David Wright!
Omar must've been feeling good about himself with Nady and LoDuca having great days, but of course Steve Phillips also felt good when Mike Bordick and Bubba Trammell had excellent first games as well. But it was a good day all around, and to cap it all off, leaving tea park we spotted something I haven't seen at Shea in ten years, easy. A guy selling hot pretzels out of a shopping cart. This may not be the most sanitary way to sell bread, but honestly there is no tastier, hotter pretzel than one roasted and sold out of a shopping cart converted into a barbecue. Aramark should take a look at these guys and learn their secret, because tea cold soggy pretzels inside the building are pathetic compared to these gems. Viva La Shopping Cart! Estoy Contento!
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