Wednesday, March 25, 2009

METS WORKOUT DAY & PROMOTIONS 2009.

[UPDATED and corrected.]

One of the things I left out of the Citi Field Preview because I didn’t want it to get lost was the existence of an Open Workout Day for Plan Holders. It was in the brochure we picked up when we walked in, so of course, it was one of the many questions we peppered our guide with. As others have posted in the Preview comment thread, the workout is on Sunday, April 5. It is ONLY for Ticket Plan holders. Gates open at 9:30, workout starts at 11 and is scheduled for an hour and a half. Seating is GA so get there early, it may be your only time to sit behind the dugout. Parking is available in the lot for $5. But, again, don’t show up expecting to get in unless you have tickets.

They had an open Workout Day for plan holders in 2006, and what was cool about it for me was that I was able to get in the very front row of the field boxes and it was the first time I took photos of the Mets that close up. (It was so long ago the photos aren’t even in my MetsGrrl flickr account, because I didn’t have a MetsGrrl flickr account.) Of course, I didn’t know what I was doing, so the quality of the photos is sadly lacking, but I did get some awesome shots of Mr. Met, as well as a lot of unintentional shots of David Wright’s ass, since I was standing right behind third base. (Of course, since I’m a girl, no one ever believed they were unintentional. Go to hell.)

What I want to try to do is set expectations for that day.  The only thing that happened was that the players came out and took the field as though they were taking BP, with a break for the Party Patrol to come out and throw some t-shirts. We had thought there would be an introduction of the players, or some kind of engagement with the fans, but there was nothing. Maybe the Mets will make some changes this year, but I highly doubt it.

The players will be working, it’s not a Fan Fest or a time for the players to chat, pose for photos or sign autographs. And let’s be realistic for a second: new stadium or no new stadium, the Mets are not going to suddenly start doing that. This is obviously just a case of the Mets wanting to open the stadium to Plan Holders as a perk, so people can see the ballpark before the season starts. That is an awesome thing to do and I want to applaud them for doing it. It is probably a great day to walk around the ballpark, get your photo taken with Mr. Met, and have a hot dog. It is not a day to expect that David Wright, Carlos Beltran and JJ Putz will be sitting behind a table in the outfield plaza signing autographs. (I believe the Devil would need a pair of ice skates first.)

Of course, the irony is that TBF and I will miss out on this because we start driving to Cincinnati for Opening Day the second the Red Sox exhibition game on Saturday afternoon ends. (We weren’t going to go, but then I was invited to attend as part of a group of esteemed female baseball bloggers, to which I could not say no.)

The other thing I wanted to point out were the listed promotions for 2009. An awful lot of them say “first 25,000 fans” and not “first 25,000 children”. In the past they have made a typo or otherwise originally said it was going to be for everyone, only to redact that later and only give the bobbleheads to the kids. But we got brand new pocket schedules when we were at Citi Field last Saturday and the promotions there say “first 25,000 fans” too. I find it hard to believe that that’s a typo this time. Of course, only time will tell if we will all be going home with our commemorative Frankie Rodriguez bobbleheads or not.

I don’t know any more than this so if you have questions, call the Mets. I cannot help. All I would do is call the Mets.