original mets62
February 17, 2005
I will always remember this game, because I was able to talk my wife into driving down to Philadelphia to see the Mets clinch. At first she resisted, until I promised her dinner at a fancy restaurant. (We ended up eating hot dogs at the Vet.) As it turned out most of the fans came down from NY, and my wife was interviewed by Ch 7 newsman John Johnson as to what made her come down to Philly. Her answer was (as she pointed at me) him in the METS shirt and cap. Because we did not clinch, I tried to talk her into staying over and going to the Sunday game. I struck out this time!

Joe From Jersey
January 3, 2006
It was the only Mets game I EVER attended that the Mets was the visiting team. Veterans Stadium was 15 years old at the time; it looked like it was 150 and the turf had the color of a worn out billards table. Me, my cousin and my late brother (who was a fan of the Bronx team) drove down to Philly, got there 1 1/2 hours before game time and sat in the upper deck in right field (not too high up though). I remember all the Mets fans being there and knowing the reputation of Philly sports fans. During the game, the Philly PD started harassing Mets fans (this was the year after they bombed the MOVE HQ's) and my brother who had some adult liquid in him wanted to take on Philly's finest but I told him to sit down. After the game, which we lost 6-5 and didn't clinch, we're getting out of the parking lot which took forever, when all of a sudden right next to us were 2 gorgeous blondes in a Camaro with Delaware plates. I asked my cousin to dump my brother in Philly and we were gonna follow those ladies to Delaware. My bro overheard this and was pissed; we headed back to North Jersey anyway.

AJP
June 16, 2009
I remember buying tickets at the Ticketmaster in Macy’s the morning of the game. A Mets win would clinch the pennant, the Mets first in 13 years after many years of abject failure. This was the first time I ever drove a long distance and I very excited driving on Jersey Turnpike and seeing all that Met regalia worn by occupants of neighboring cars.

I had great seats right behind the plate in the 700 level. Watching the game in a park so different from Shea was a new experience for me and I actually was impressed with The Vet. The open air 700 level concourses were a lot less dirty, grimy and smelly than the lower concourses. Future Phil Lenny Dykstra knocked the first pitch of the game over the wall against future Met Mike Maddux, however the Mets would lose and wound up clinching several days later at Shea.

I do remember watching with binoculars scary activity in the right field seats. I was not just a regular ballpark fight; it was downright mini-riot pitting Mets fans with the Philadelphia Police.

Eric Shively
March 10, 2023
My enduring memory of this game (I would have been 11 at the time) will always be the wild melee that broke out in the upper deck between a big group of Mets fans and a column of helmeted Philly PD officers. The crowd in the Vet that day had been pretty rowdy as I remember, and this one section of Mets fans started breaking seats and throwing the pieces onto the field. I’ll never forget watching a long column of cops emerge from the tunnel, clubs drawn, and head up into the offending section where they proceeded to beat those idiots from pillar to post. Particularly vivid to me is the image of one guy tumbling down the concrete steps. Wild scene, man.

Eddie Kelly
May 3, 2024
Sept 13,1986: Me and my friends drove down to Philadelphia to watch the Mets clinch the division. We asked for the cheapest seats and they put us in the right field bleachers. It was full of Mets fans, it was Saturday night and everybody was rowdy. We were clapping and stomping our feet in unison as Mets nation took over Veterans stadium.

After Lenny Dykstra's lead off homer for the Mets things went downhill from there. As the game wore on are some fans started ripping large pieces of the seats right off of their foundation. Some were carelessly and dangerously throwing them around. That's when me and my friends quietly decided to go sit nearby where it wasn’t so crazy.

It was our best move of the weekend! Next thing you know the Philadelphia Police Department arrived in riot gear, along with the K-9 unit. These guys meant business. Anyone who resisted arrest was beat up by the police.

I saw one guy mouthing off to a cop about their presence in the stadium. That guy never knew what hit him after the cop took his nightstick , cross checked in the midsection and sent him falling backward down several rows of seats.

The Mets wound up Losing the game. We were just happy to escape from Philadelphia in one piece. It was one of the craziest experiences I ever had.