With all of the recent fielding/base running blunders by Daniel Murphy, it brought back memories of this game, where Johan Santana pitched a gem. The only two runs he gave up were unearned because of Daniel Murphy dropping a routine fly ball in left field. Johan struck out 13 and deserved a better fate. Murphy is nothing but an American League DH with no power and no baseball instincts to run the bases.

This game started a new era in Mets history as it is the 1st game at Citi Field. Also this game was the 1st time my fiance Pamela ever saw a Mets game with me in New York. We live in South Florida and we flew up for this game and to see our family for Passover.

We took the 7 train to the game. As the train was making its way into the Willets Point station it felt a little strange to see that Shea Stadium was not there anymore. Well this means its time to start a new era of memories in a great new ballpark. After we got there we took a walk around the whole ballpark outside and inside just checking everything out. We saw every area in the park that the public could see except the Sterling Club and the restricted areas like the team clubhouses and press box. We made sure we got the first-game collectibles such as the program, cap and others. After batting practice we made our way to our seats.

I made sure I had my camera ready for the first pitch and took a great shot. Shortly after that Jody Gerut goes deep to break in the park with a first-ever batter-lead-off home run in a new ball park. We said all game that it would be fitting that David Wright should be the one to hit the Mets first HR in Citi Field. When #5 came to bat in the 5th inning the whole crowd was standing and sensing something big was about to happen. Bang!! It did!! David Wright goes deep for the Mets historical first HR in Citi Field.

Although they lost this game, the memories of the first game in a new park will be there forever. We would have loved to see Shea open in 1964 also, but we were not born.

My first game at Citi Field. Classic pitchers duel. It seems that might become common at this spacious field. This is a ballpark compared to the former stadium. Nice feel to the park as you walk around.

Jose Reyes and Omir Santos hit the first Met triples at Citi Field in this game.

UGH!! The Mets scored a bunch of runs, but the awful pitching spoiled the game. What is going on with this team?? I'M GETTING VERY WORRIED!!

It was unusually warm for April - almost 90 degrees at game time for this 1:10 start. Ollie Perez got rocked early and often which set the tone for the rest of the season. If I recall Daniel Murphy got a couple of wild chances in left field. Stadium was packed; everyone wanted to see Citi Field. I remember being very impressed with the food and not so impressed with the sight lines from Section 339.

Another horrible loss!! So nothing much has changed, the bullpen with the exception of K Rod and Parnell is still a mess. JJ Putz was a putz today. Thanks a lot JJ. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Another Santana game blown because bullpen is a complete mess. Mets have no business playing like this and I have a bad feeling they will get their butts handed to them this weekend in Philadelphia. This team needs to be broken up and completely revamped with players who have some guts and aren't scared. As a Mets fan I am completely fed up with this group of players who will never give us fans what we deserve. Mets players should follow the example of Santana who has shown nothing but guts and pride in the way he has pitched for the Mets. Santana himself is probably wondering why he even came here to a team filled with losers.

Tough loss for the Mets but they did show some heart in this game. Gotta give the Phillies credit for the plays they made, Werth throwing the runner out at home and Taschner getting double play on Beltran. Ollie needs to go to the minors and figure out whats going on. Mets need him this year. Bullpen, with the exception of Green, did an outstanding job today.

Beltran is a mystery to me, great hitter but he tends to fall asleep in certain situations. Where was he in the 1st inning when Victorino hit the triple. If he had backed up the play Victorino may have been at second instead of at third. Although with the way Ollie pitched it probably would not have mattered.

Gotta admit my earlier posting was a little unfair. This team is not filled with losers, it is just that the losing is frustrating. This team is too good to be playing the way they are. Mets fans it is early and this team will eventually play better. Let's hope Maine can get us a series victory tomorrow.

Johan Santana seems to wow me every time he goes out there on the mound. The guy is money!! What a great start by Santana and gotta give props to Park who pitched really well in a pressure situation for him. But this game was all about Santana as he dominated one of the best offenses in the game. Mets got a break in the 7th inning as Feliz and Werth made bad plays on defense. Great hustle by Delgado to get Santana and the team a win. K-Rod was money once again in the ninth, but how about Feliciano in the 8th going through Rollins, Victorino, Utley and Howard. Clutch performance by him!! Good win for the Mets and they seem to be on a bit of a roll. Let's hope they can get the sweep behind Pelfrey on Thursday.

Great job by the Mets fininshing off the sweep of the Phils!! I like they way they did not settle for a split, they got the win in Game 1 behing Santana and took Game 2 in convincing fashion.

Pelfrey was good, 7 innings and only 3 runs against a very good offense. I am encouraged about the way he and Maine are improving start to start.

Offense was on tonight with Beltran, Wright, and Reyes going deep. Mets scored 4 in the first but did not stop there, they added on 3 more after that. That's important when you are playing the Phillies because they never quit. Can't blame Feliciano for giving up the 2 runs as the inning should have been over (terrible call by the 1st base umpire), plus the pitch to Werth was a pretty good pitch.

And finally K-ROD. This guy has been unbelievable for the Mets. Pitching in 3 straight games, he still went out there and got the job done. I can honestly say that the horrors of last years bullpen debacle are finally gone and we now have the best closer in the game. GO METS!

Nice job by Niese to come in and pitch 6 strong innings. Definitely think he has earned another start. Big game for Delgado as he and Beltran are carrying this offense. Let's hope Reyes and Wright can get hot as well. That's 5 wins in a row and I am loving what I am seeing from this team. They also have 5 consecutive starts by their starting pitchers with 6 innings or more and 6 of 7 in May. Good starting pitching, solid defense, and timely hitting is what helps teams put together streaks and this is what the Mets are doing right now. Let's keep it up with Maine facing the Pirates this afternoon.

My first game at Citi Field; had so-so seats in section 106 in the RF corner. Short walk to the long line at the Shake Shack.

After 30 plus years of going to Shea (RIP), it was time for yours truly to make my initial trip to Citi Field. After being awestruck seeing the spacious and beautiful Jackie Robinson rotunda; I got to my seat at the Excelsior level 332, row 12, seat 13. Me and my long time friend Kathy saw everything except most of the scoreboard, HD Diamond Vision and parts of left field but that's okay. It was Autism Awareness Day and we were treated to a pre-game acoustic concert by 80's rocker Sebastan Bach (Skid Row) and then Garry "Bababooey" from the Howard Stern Show threw out the 1st pitch and it was straight out of "Bull Durham". The weather even worked out as the threat of rain storms never happened as the Mets romped over the Pittsburgh Pirates!

That's 7 in a row. If you had told me last week at this time that the Mets were going to sweep Atlanta at Turner Field, come home and sweep the Phillies, and then follow that up with a 3 game sweep of the Pirates I would have thought you were crazy. This team is clicking on all cylinders right now and I am loving it. Another great start for Mets pitching, that's 7 in a row with 6 or more innings allowing 3 runs or less. Offense came through and then put the game away in the 8th inning. Everyone is hitting and it seems as if this team is just going out there and having fun. Only thing I am concerned about is Shawn Green. The guy is getting flat out killed out there and he is the only un-reliable arm in their bullpen.

My first game ever at Citi Field! I wish it would have been a Mets win but still I had a great time walking around checking out the new stadium! During the game two drunk guys in right field were thrown out of the staduim by security for mocking Jeremy Reed. Only in NY do fans mock their own team! The 7-game-win streak ended and as usual the Mets did not hit for Santana.

Love the aggressive base running by the Mets in this game. Good to see they are taking advantage of the speed that they have. Nice game by Wright, 3 hits and 4 stolen bases. Big hit by Castro to give K-Rod a 3-run cushion, although it seems as if all he needs is one run and he closes the door. Maine pitched a great game once again, unfortunately the bullpen could not hold it. Parnell gave up the 2 runs in the 8th, but I don't think he pitched all that badly. Two of the hits were infield hits, just some bad luck for him. Honestly thought the Mets would not have much energy for this game considering the cross country flight yesterday, but they came out with the energy that they need to exhibit all year long. And by the way, the win allows them to add a full game lead on the Phillies and Marlins and a 1/2 game lead on the Braves.

Mets steal 7 bases, a franchise record. Wright becomes first Met to steal four bases since Roger Cedeño accomplished the feat exactly 10 years earlier, on May 14, 1999.

What a relief!! Mets finally score runs for Santana, man did he deserve those runs. Wish the defense could have been better as errors by Castillo, Wright, and Cora made the game closer that it should have been. Nice to see Putz close out the game with 95 on his fastball. Mets need him and K-Rod at full strength all year long. Nice start to a very tough road trip for the Mets.

Horrible loss for the Mets. So many mistakes that they probably did not deserve to win. You make 5 errors in 1 game, chances are you are going to lose. Obviously the biggest mistake was Church missing third base. This changed the whole ball game as the Mets were deprived from bringing in K-Rod in the bottom of the inning.

I am really angry with Manuel's comments after the game. He seemed to magnify Church's mistake like he killed someone. Manuel needs to grow up as he acted in a selfish and childish way after the game. It is a manager's job to support his players unless they are not going all out and showing hustle. The fact is that regardless of whether Manuel likes Church or not, he needs to support him. Church is here and he needs to feel like he is a part of the team. He should not be outcasted by a manager who is clearly over-rated.

What a way to escape to the west coast and see the Mets in Hollywood star in "A Comedy 0f Errors." 0nce again the Mets play their classic role of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by committing 5, yes, FlVE errors.

Not to mention the base running error by Ryan Church who failed to touch 3rd base and score the potential game winning run. Then to commit 2 errors in the bottom of the 12th inning including Jeremy Reed (playing his 4th game ever at first) throwing away the winning run.

A Hollywood ending as the home team rides off into the sunset with the win.

I'd rather this game end up on the cutting room floor.

What a great game. The video tape replay changed the outcome, correctly, for the Mets when Omir Santos, the catcher, hit a ninth-inning 2-out lead-reversing home run just over the Green Monster in Fenway. In the bottom of the ninth with Francisco Rodriguez unavailable, JJ Putz pitched the ninth. Every hitter besides the one he walked smashed the ball hard, and the Mets somehow converted them to outs, including great plays by Wright, Castillo and an excellent play by the shortstop Ramon Martinez to end the game. To quote Gary Cohen after two were out, "Putz isn't fooling anyone (hitter) tonight. He has to just not fool one more hitter."

Well, to me it was one of the best games in 2009 for the Mets. Josh Beckett of the Red Sox looked strong, our pitcher Mike Pelfrey looked decent I have to say. He pitched a better game than his last outing which was a "disaster of balks", but at least he kept the Mets in the game. The Mets blew some chances of scoring and going ahead during the game. Oh well.

The Mets losing 2-1 in the top of ninth, when the Red Sox brought in their closer Jonathan Papelbon I was saying, "The Mets need a miracle to slap this psycho around in the ninth." Hahaha boy they did. Sheffield leads off with a walk and then Omir Santos with a 2-run homer over the green monster. Obviously anybody can see that Santo's shot was clearly a home run, I don't know why the umpires (knowing it was outta here) were stupid enough to review the damn tape. After the call was made I jumped out of my chair excited going nuts!

And the bottom of the ninth was spectacular, Mets defense was AMAZIN to end the game once and for all.

GREAT COME FROM BEHIND WIN! It was 1986 all over again!

Wow what a win!! Did not think the Mets had a chance against Papelbon in the 9th. Santos with a huge home run wins the series for the Mets. Wright, Castillo and Martinez with game saving plays in the bottom of the ninth was great to see. Let's not forget Pelfrey's strong outing that gave the Mets a chance in the 9th.

It was my first time at Fenway - a Mets fan in Sox territory! I was sitting on the green monster for the home run - a security guy let me sneak up for the 8th and 9th inning. When Santos hit that home run I WAS GOING NUTS!! Everyone else was so angry around me saying it wasn't a home run. When the umpires looked at the feed and declared it a home run I couldn't contain myself. I was so happy. I'm surprised I survived leaving that game - although while we were leaving at the end EVERYONE started a "Yankees suck" chant, which really riled everyone up!! SO GOOD SO GOOD SO GOOD haha

Nice to see the Mets get the sweep of the awful Nationals. Santana was human for 1 inning, but got them through 6 gutsy innings as he always finds a way. The guy is a flat out winner!! Nice to see Murphy have a big game. Lets hope he has some more of those. I am so impressed with the way this team is playing considering all the injuries. This team is showing the heart and desire that was missing the last 2 years.

Gotta say I was tired of hearing Acta and Dunn cry about the replay. (Did they actually think they could win a game in this series?) Dunn stated that if he had caught the ball they would have not over turned the call. Well, why didnt you catch the ball Adam? If it was not a home run you should have been back there to make a play on it, right? Manny Acta should be more concerned about the horror show he is putting out on the field on a daily basis than whether a couple of home run calls go against his team.

Went to this game and saw Tim Redding get rocked early which took the wind out of the Mets sails and kept the crowd very quiet. Not a lot of energy on the field or in the stands I recall. Except the Mets rallied late, got some men on base in the 9th but it was too little too late.

Nice series win for the Mets as Florida is a tough team and they have given the Mets problems in recent years. Gutty performance by Maine and nice job by Parnell to get out of a jam in the 8th inning. Once again K-Rod was money as usual. As a Mets fan I am exteremly proud of this team for continuing to find ways to get the job done despite all the injuries they have had this year. I have to question the training staff on whether they are doing their job in getting these guys ready to play on a daily basis. One or two injuries is understandable but the amount of injuries the Mets are having this year is ridiculous. Putz needs to get it together because right now he is reminding me way too much of Heilman. If he cant do the job in the 8th inning what value is he to this team. Maybe the Mets should try to trade him to a team that needs a closer and try to get some more pitching. I think Parnell can get the job done in the 8th inning.

The bottom of the eighth inning was pure torture. I drove down from Buffalo to see this game, and sure enough the Mets blew a big lead. Watching J.J. Putz give up hit after hit after hit against a horrible Pirates lineup was as bad as it gets.

Was there for this one, Mets jumped out to an early lead and Livan cruised. Anti-climactic, but that doesn't mean non-enjoyable.

My wife and I did a weekend Baltimore/DC road trip and this was the final stop on Sunday afternoon at the new Nationals Park.

Livan Hernandez looked great the whole game, and it was nice for the Mets to have a laugher game for once.

Hopefully the schedule makers at SNY will make this an Ulti-Met classic and air it on Friday December 25th, 2009 after we have had our fill of the Yule Log, football and everyone telling Ralphie that he will shoot his eye out! Probably the most emotional roller coaster ride of a regular season game in Mets history with Citi Field becoming "Home Run Derby" and then some.

Wow, back to back tough losses for the Mets. You look at this series and the Mets could have very well won all 3 games, but a lack of clutch hitting really doomed them. In Game 2 they had several opportunities to re-take the lead but could not find the big hit. And in Game 3, no add-on runs!! How many times have we seen this same movie with the Mets? They get an early lead and stop hitting. You can't do that against any team in the majors, but especially not against the Phillies who make their living it seems on rallying late in games.

Positives from the game:
1. Wright is starting to hit
2. Redding was exceptional in my opinion.

That's about it.

Now we are 4 games back and it is gut-check time. If the Mets have any chance this year these next few weeks are going to determine their fate. I think this weekend series against the cross-town Yanks is important because the Phillies have a tough series against the Red Sox in which they will have to face both Beckett and Lester. Mets need to try to get 1 or 2 games back and stay close until they get healthy again. By the way, after the loss to the Phillies Minaya announced that John Maine is going to the DL because of a dead arm. More injuries. WHEN WILL THIS MADNESS STOP??

This game was played in the thickest, densest fog I've ever seen at a baseball game.

Ibanez hit a home run that I don't think has landed yet.

In all my years watching this team have heart- breaking losses and other disapointments., this ranks WAY up there. How can a blown lead by the great Mariano, and a bottom of the 9th, 2 out routine pop-up by "Mr Clutch" himself ARod result in a Met loss??? You have to be a Met fan to know it can happen... and it did.

I was about ready to punch a hole in my wall when I saw the ending to this game. Can't believe it. This has to be one of the worst losses in Mets history. Luis just catch the damn ball!

What is lost in all of this is that the Phillies lost and the Mets missed a chance to cut into their division lead. Kind of felt bad for Castillo afterwards as after my intense anger had gone away I realized that he is a human and as humans we all make mistakes. The one thing I can say about Manuel is that he does not seem to place any importance on fundamentals. Mets are a fundamentally challenged team. All these mistakes are going to cost them again come September unless Manuel gets off his but and makes these players practice fundamentals.

As a side note I heard that Brian Bruney made some comments about K-Rod. Bruney is a classless individual who needs to worry about coming back and actually doing something to help his own team. He can never and will never be mentioned in the same class as K-Rod. Hey Bruney why don't you take some lessons from your teammate Derek Jeter on how to conduct yourself with class and professionalism?

On the Boomer and Carton morning show yesterday morning, they replayed the Howie Rose and Gary Cohen calls from this game. Probably one of the worst regular-season losses in Mets history. Baseball 101 says you catch a pop-up with 2 hands, NOT one. For Evil Empire fans this was like spending a Saturday Night in a hot tub with Audrina Patridge; for Mets fans this was like the end of "Old Yeller" and that movie DIDN'T have a happy ending!! ENOUGH SAID!!

I feel so embarrassed to say I was at this game. I've seen the Mets lose at Shea but not in blowout fashion. And it is always the Subway series in which I am bad luck for the Mets.

I was also at this game and it was terrible

Drove down from Connecticut to see this game and meet up with my friend and fellow Mets fan who lives in D.C. Looked liked there were more Mets fans at Camden Yards than Oriole fans. I remember Ryan Church in right field chatting with fans during breaks in the game, and K-Rod making it very interesting in the 9th by walking two batters. Luis Castillo caught a pop fly which had us nervous as he had dropped that key one at Yankee Stadium earlier in the year.

Boog's Barbecue was very good.

First rain delay in the history of Citi Field.

This was my first Citi Field game. After two rain delays Citi was just about empty. Mets lost 3-1 in one of the worst Met games I have ever seen. I got so angry after the rain delay and Mets offense didn't produce that I yelled "I waited an hour for this?!?!" The section I was sitting in had a laugh about it. That's about as much as us Met fans had to smile about that rainy day at Citi.

Great win for the Mets! Redding pitched a nice game against a very good lineup that has been bashing the ball. Santos, Castillo, Cora, and Murphy all with clutch hits. Stokes came through with a huge performance getting Pujols to hit into an inning ending dp. Bad News about Beltran, but the way the Mets won this game is the way they are going to have to win games until the regulars come back. Nice to see guys come up with clutch performances. Hopefully Mets can keep it up. As bad is it may seem, we are only 1.5 games back in the division.

Mets lineup was dominated in this game. Piniero shut them down from the get go. This is a tough time for the Mets. How much can we really expect from this team with all the injuries? I am proud of the way they are battling in some of these games, but I am also trying to be realistic. If the Phillies get hot, then I think the Mets are in serious trouble. The wildcard may be tough as well with Colorado, San Francisco, Milwaukee, and the Cubs all in contention. I still believe this Mets team has a chance, but it is going to be tough. If they make the playoffs this year, it would be an AMAZIN story!!

My 3rd visit to Citi Field (my friend had an extra ticket) and I am a perfect 3-0. Sat in the Promenade level 527 row 15 of 17 which is steep but not as high as the mountain once known as the Upper Deck at Shea. Enjoyed a rare blowout win by the Mets as they beat the Redbirds 11-0 and I saw Nick Evans hit his 1st major league home run.

Great Win for the Mets! Santana with a gutsy performance as I believe he is back to his old self again. Most importantly the Mets had a chance to win this series and they got the job done. Nice to see Evans get some clutch hits in the last two days. Let's hope he can be a spark for the Mets. All in all a nice win for a team that needs it. Despite all the injuries we are now only a 1/2 game out of the division. You Gotta Believe!!!

My mom bought my dad and I a ticket package as an early birthday gift. And with the way things were/still are going, I did not want to go. Unfortunately, a good friend and I went and I was miserable. FIRE MINAYA!

My first time to Citi Field, I brought a Red Sox Fan. Sat up cheap surrounded by Yankee Fans. All through the game I had dark thoughts against these obnoxious Yankee Fans. K-Rod gave up a late run. Mets threaten but fall short. I saw Mo earn his 500th save and it burns.

I attended this historic game for Mariano Rivera. I remember seeing his 500th career save, BUT, he also got his ONLY career RBI with a bases loaded walk too.

Ok, first, this is the behind-the-back play by Daniel Murphy. Mark Loretta hits a shot down the first base line that hits the bag and bounces high in the air. Murph runs over to it, picks it up and no-looks a flip behind the back to Bobby Parnell covering first to nab Loretta! OH WHAT A PLAY!

However, for my sons and I, the most memorable moment is when Troncoso of The Dodgers flipped a ball up to us in the first row in left field, which my 7-year-old son caught in his glove. PRICELESS! At first, my son had a Manny Ramirez BP homer just hit off his glove thanks to another ADULT interfering...OH SO CLOSE. But, all in all, having Troncoso flip one to him after seeing this happen is a moment we'll most likely NEVER forget!

My first game at the new CitiField.

My son Frank and I took in our first game at the new stadium. Big waste of money. We miss Shea.

Beautiful day at Citi Field as the Mets won and the highlight of the game was when the Mets hit back to back home runs and after the 2nd HR, the Home Run Apple didn't come up and the fans chanted "Apple, Apple, We Want the Apple" and after the inning ended, the apple popped up to the delight of the crowd. It seems it takes a few minutes for the Apple to re-set after going down. One of a few HIGH POINTS in a horrible 2009 season.

My wife, her friend, my high school buddy, and my father all went to see our first game at Citi Field, and it wasn't a very good one.

The start of the game was delayed by rain for 2 hours. While Mike Pelfrey is pitching out of his mind this season, this was one of his frustratingly ineffective, out of control starts that plagued him through much of the disastrous 2009 campaign.

It seemed like the AAA lineup the Mets fielded this game had better things to do somewhere else, as Jon Garland needed only about 2 or 3 pitches to get every single batter out, and took it to the house for the complete game.

My wife's friend, originally from Germany and who couldn't have cared less about American baseball if she tried, made some nonsensical, airheaded comment about the Schneider surname "being everywhere" when the useless bum came up to the plate. I quipped "as long as it ain't on the Mets roster next year" and got some high-fives from my father and my friend. That was about the highlight of the afternoon unfortunately!

What a day for my first ever visit to Citi Field as I look back on it three years later!!! Got to the stadium an hour early that day to hopefully walk around it and see it only for the walkways to be completely crowded with people hiding from the rain that day. Correction Jared it was a 2 and a half hour rain delay!! Then what made it worse was Mike Pelfrey did his best Steve Traschel imitation that day and took literally like a minute between pitches and he was ineffective that day too boot! Jon Garland literally threw like 90 pitches for a complete game for the Diamondbacks who won 5-2. The highlight of the day for me was a laugh Jared (yep the guy who posted ahead of me) gave me when explaining why they didn't play through the rain saying they're saving these guys for October baseball and don't want them to get injured in the rain!!

Even after the game it was still a disaster! I missed my train from Penn Station in New York back to Jersey by literally a minute. Then an hour later when another train came somehow I lost my train ticket back home and had to pay like $15 more dollars to get home! Eventually I got home at 9:30 that night for a game scheduled to start at 1:00 and had to wake up the next morning (a Monday) for a job I hated at the time! Fortunately though nothing lasts forever and things have gotten better in my life since three years ago. For the Mets I do think karma will be on their side one of these days so be it the Wilpons don't own the team!!

A few Mets players stood out in this game. David Wright and Fernando Tatis had three singles each and Cory Sullivan connected for a pair of triples, one of which drove in a run. Coming off the bench, Luis Castillo hit a tie-breaking single to put the Mets ahead to stay.

It was a rough day for the Diamondbacks' pitching and defense. The Snakes committed two errors, threw three wild pitches and even had a passed ball during the game. On each one of these six miscues, Wright either reached first or advanced to another base. This may have been the most amazing experience for David in his entire career!

The infamous game where David Wright gets beaned by the Giants Matt Cain. The sound of the ball hitting his helmet went right through me as I watched on TV. It was the WORST beaning of a Mets player since Piazza was beaned on PURPOSE on July 8, 2000 by that STEROID TAKING REDNECK MONSTER BULLY Roger Clemens.

I was at this game with my dad. Bottom of the ninth, score knotted up at two runs apiece... Frenchy Francoeur leads off with a hit, Fernando Tatis sacs him to second... then Daniel Murphy drives Francoeur home with a hit!

Bedlam ensues as the crowd goes wild and the Mets mob their heroes on the field! I think it was the first walk-off game I ever saw. Needless to say, it was a happy ride home back to NJ for both me and Dad.

None out trailing by two in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded. Then, the one thing memorable about this game was about to happen: Francoeur ripped a line drive towards the middle. The second baseman caught it and somehow within about a second he tagged one runner and stepped on second base and the game was over. A bottom of the ninth "walk off" unassisted triple play. Francoeur looked a little upset and if the list of triple plays on the internet is right, that was the first time a home team suffered a loss with an unassisted triple play ever in baseball history.

I went to this game at the last minute and bought a ticket sitting in the 300's and although I'm a hot dog person, I tried the Blue Smoke BBQ Ribs for the first time (Btw, EXCELLENT RIBS, the best I've ever had) and while enjoying the ribs I watched the dunk tank proceedings (The Mets and SNY need to put Julie Alexandria in the tank wearing a swimsuit and charge at least $2.00 for 3 throws and the proceeds would go to charity.) The game itself should be shown to every level of organized baseball on how NOT to play the game with guys not hustling, errors. Ryan Howard angered the Mets faithful by hitting 2 round trippers as I yelled "Test Him Now".

This was my first game at Citibank Field. It had always been a personal tradition to go to a Mets game on my birthday. For this one, my 32nd, I bought three tickets and invited my friend Jason, as well as my girlfriend at the time, who shall remain nameless.

Jason and I met in front of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda about 30 minutes before the game. My lady friend was still back in Manhattan getting ready, so Jason and I went through the turnstiles, up the escalator, and walked around the new stadium before the game started.

My first impression of Citibank field was that it was a nice recreation of Ebbets Field. I'm convinced I was a die hard Brooklyn Dodgers fan in a previous life, so it was nice to go back in time, but that nostalgia only lasted for a few moments upon seeing the stadium from the outside and then entering through the turnstiles.

Once I saw the field, it more or less seemed like every other ballpark built after 1991. Granted, it did have more character than the stadium in Phoenix (which seemed like an indoor shopping mall with a baseball diamond in the middle). However, in my opinion, it was much less distinctive than Dodger Stadium, or Shea for that matter. It didn't seem like the home of the Mets. It seemed like it could be the Orioles' home park, or the Brewers', or whatever, especially with the color of the outfield walls. I remember complaining to Jason about how that paint job was awful; the walls were a dark green so dark they looked almost black. Thankfully, they repainted them blue before the 2012 season.

This was a Sunday afternoon game and in a way, it seemed like everyone was going through the motions. The Mets were a 64-85 team playing out the string, and the only reason I was even there was due to tradition. The only reason Jason was there was because he was a nice guy and had accepted a free ticket, and as for my girlfriend, she didn't like baseball, didn't care about the Mets, and had only reluctantly agreed to attend this game because it was my birthday. However, at the start of the game she was nowhere to be seen and apparently on her way.

John Maine pitched a no-hitter for four innings. Then with the score 4-0 Mets, Josh Willingham of the Nationals led off the top of the 5th inning. He took the count to 1-1, and at that point, I don't know why- maybe it was angst over being possibly stood up by my girlfriend on my birthday- but I stood up and I screamed, "NO HITTER!", then sat down. On the next pitch, Willingham lined a single into center field and the no-hitter was broken. I honestly think I did that because I wanted to test the "no hitter jinx", you know, about not mentioning a no hitter during a game. Well, it worked, and I wasn't proud of it. I felt like Steve Bartman for a second; everyone around me was silent. I didn't care though; deep in my heart I knew that John Maine was not going to have the stamina to pitch nine no-hit innings, even knowing that he had thrown a one hitter (on July 29th, 2007). Still, I should have kept my mouth shut. Who knows; maybe he would have done it since it was my birthday.

With the no-hit bid over, the only drama was whether or not my girlfriend would finally show up. She did, arriving "fashionably late" in the 8th inning, which allowed me to give her a one-inning crash course on the rules of baseball.

The game itself was inconsequential to the history of the Mets, baseball, and our lives in general. It was a beautiful day in September, the Mets won, I didn't get stood up, and Jason got to see that I wasn't making up a story about a fake girlfriend.

So all in all, it was a good day.

What a season and what a disaster! THANK GOD WE WERE NOT IN THE PLAYOFF RACE THIS YEAR!! It's just ridiculous. 2007, 2008, 2009 has been nothing but disaster with the Mets, when we are not collapsing, we suffering with massive injuries. The way this game ended against the Nationals, out of all teams The WASHINGTION NATIONALS is just embarrassing, a game winning grand slam?? K-rod blows a two run lead in the bottom of the ninth! Just make it stop, let the 2009 season die! Being a Mets fan has not been easy these past three years, and this is nothing!! Remember the early to mid 90s? well I guess we are back to what we were before the 2005 season, us Mets fans know, that when the Mets are that close to becoming a dynasty, they always seem to blow it at the wrong time. Look at the bright side, that's our team, The New York Mets. Good and better things are going to come, only question is, when will these dark days end?

My buddy Simon gave me 3 tickets the day before and I went by myself. (I was hoping to give away the 2 other seats, NO SUCH LUCK THOUGH.) It was windy and cold at Citi and I was fighting a cold but I stayed throughout the game and enjoyed a nice Mets victory on what SHOULD have been a tune-up for post season play but stuff happens. I enjoyed my 7th and final visit to Citi for 2009. Better times await for 2010!