Game 1 NYM@PHI

Yesterday we attended the first game of our trip. Game 1 featured the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia).

Pregame
We arrived at the ballpark at around 4:30 which was 2 and a half hours before gametime. Because we were in Philly, we decided that we should eat. We know that it may have been a bit early to eat, but none of us had the self restraint to resist those famous Philly Cheesesteaks. They were fantastic! I have only been to 3 other ballparks in my life, and this was hands down the best food that I have eaten at a baseball game.

After eating, we decided that we should try to catch flyballs in the bleachers during batting practice. This is where the real fun began. We were standing in the bleachers for about an hour trying to get just one measly ball. The part that was really ridiculous was that a man behind us managed to get 6 balls before we got any! It wasn't like we were not having fun. We said before this trip that we would be on the look out for obnoxious fans... well we decided it would be fun to be them. Oliver Perez, the New York Mets $36 Million dollar AAA pitcher, thought it would be fun to warm up in front of us. As psycho baseball fans, the three of us know that Oliver Perez has control issues. We began chanting things such as "Ollie, just a bit wide" and "Don't throw it away!" Essentially, it was just humorous taunting. We did manage to get a few looks from Ollie along with a few eye rolls.

Next the rest of the Mets came out to warm up and hit batting practice. Since all 3 of us can't stand the Mets, we categorized them all as "bums". Just as we were verbally abusing Pedro Feliciano, a New York relief pitcher, a man starts yelling at Feliciano like he knew him. Since we also wanted to interact with the fans around us, we asked him if he knew him. Turns out he is Pedro Feliciano's cousin. Pretty cool, eh?

We taunted every Mets player except for one, Frank Catalanatto. Rather then taunt him, we praised him. With praise came a lot of acknowledgement from Frank. Then, the highlight of the day occured. A ball was hit in batting practice and Catalanatto caught the ball. Well, it turns out our praise was worth something. He tossed the ball to us making him a hero amongst all three of us.

The Game
The game featured the Phillies prized prospect Kyle Kendrick and Mets lefty Jonathon Niese. Both clubs had a quiet offensive first inning. The second inning was where the fun began. Jason Bay lead off with a double, and then Mets thirdbaseman David Wright hit a bomb to center field to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. They were not done as just two batters later, Jeff Francoeur hit a solo shot to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. They never looked back. Catcher Rod Barajas hit two homeruns as the Mets crushedthe Phillies 9-1.

Win- Jon Niese
7IP, 4H, 1BB, 1ER, 7K

Loss- Kyle Kendrick
5IP, 5H, 1BB, 4ER, 3K

Citizens Bank Park
Food: 10
Fans: 6
Seats: 7
Overall Game Experiance: 8

The ballpark was stunning, the food was outstanding, and despite the blowout, it was a fun game. I have to say what really grabbed my attention was having the Eagles, Flyers, and Phillies all in one Sports Complex.

Other Notes
Phillies Closer Brad Lidge Made his season debut. He is not good. He gave up a homerun to Rod Barajas. I call it "The Brad Lidge Experiance".