No More Mo? Mariano Rivera Suffers Torn ACL And Career Is In Jeopardy

It's probably the last way that Mariano Rivera thought his career would end. Landing awkwardly during shagging fly balls during the pregame warmup routine.

His face told the tale. The pain in his knee and needing to be carted off for an MRI.

Rivera will need surgery, but the Yankees are now peering into the future of life without the greatest closer of all time backstopping their bullpen as he has since 1997.

The numbers for this 12-time All-Star are simply ridiculous:

First on the all-time saves list with 608
1119 strikeouts and 277 walks in more than 1200 innings
A 2.21 ERA and 0.998 WHIP
A career ERA+ (which measures his ERA against his peers, with 100 being average) of 206.
And then don’t forget the postseason: 42 saves in 96 games. A 0.70 ERA and a 0.759 WHIP. And five championship rings.

His ERA is the lowest of any pitcher with 1,000+ innings since the live-ball era began. Better than Hoyt Wilhelm. Better than Whitey Ford. Better than Sandy Koufax.

Yet, Rivera's statistics tell only part of the tale. While his career on the field is worthy of first ballot Hall of Fame induction, it's his off the field demeanor and grace that sets him apart from everyone else.

He's as classy and respectful of the game, his fellow players, and the fans as anyone who ever put on cleats.

Rivera will now have to go through surgery and consider rehabilitation and whether he thinks he can return to his prior form, which for him means being the best closer of all time. If he thinks he can return, he'll do everything possible to make his return possible. However, if he doesn't think he can return to his former greatness, he might never take to the mound again.

And it's a shame for not only Yankee fans, but the game of baseball. A talent like his comes so infrequently that watching him pitch was something that everyone appreciated - you could see it in the eyes of rival hitters and pitchers alike particularly at All Star Games. He would sit around and talk with anyone who wanted to about his cutter, the pitch that made him so incredibly effective. He'd talk mechanics and technique with anyone, and while some managed to attempt cutters of their own, none could master the technique with such precision.

It's a gift, and it was an incredible pleasure to watch him pitch in pinstripes for all these years. It's sad that we may not see him play competitive again, though one can hold out hope that he might be able to come back from even this.

We can only hope.

UPDATE:
Well, that was quick. Mariano issued a statement saying that he would definitely come back for 2013.

"I'm coming back," he said. "Write it down in big letters."

Rivera was on crutches today and said that he's heard he could be back to work in 3-5 months. He would not rule out pitching this season but said if everything goes right he'll be completely ready by spring training next year.

He plans on telling his teammates as a group, something he hadn't done by the time the clubhouse opened to the media.

Rivera said he decided late Thursday night in his hotel room and that he will fly back to New York Saturday.

"You don't go out like this," Rivera said.

Are the NY Mets Screwed On Day One of 2012 Season?

The New York Post is reporting that the prospect of empty seats at today's season opener has the team management freaked out:

The Mets are so terrified by the embarrassing prospect of playing to empty seats at today's opener, they've made an Amazin' "buy one get one free" pitch.

Some 15,000 of their fans have been offered one free seat for Saturday's or Sunday's Atlanta game in exchange for every ticket they buy for today’s opener.

Plenty of the 41,880 seats for this afternoon’s game at Citi Field against the Braves were still available early today.

If the Mets don’t sell out, it will be the first home opener since 1997 that didn’t fill their stadium.

The Mets sent more emails yesterday, cutting ticket prices to today’s game by between $4 and $22, depending on the seat.

At this rate, the Mets are going to be offering anyone who buys a game-day ticket season tickets for all remaining games by June 1. That’s just bad. Real bad.

The team isn't expected to be very good, but this is the first day of the new season and fans should be optimistic that they've got baseball to look forward to in a great ballpark (which in many respects has more creature comforts and better food including the Shake Shack than the new Yankees Stadium, which was built at the same time) and finally has enough Met memorabilia to make one think that the Mets actually play there. The Mets ownership also finally realized that they needed to bring in the fences and reduce their height because they simply couldn't generate runs at home.

So, what else can the team do to get fans in the stands? Reducing ticket prices further seems to be the way to go, including on those games that the team charged more in the tiered pricing scheme that charged more for games against some division rivals (and the Yankees of course).

It might make sense for the Mets to seriously cut ticket prices, and to include other incentives for those who already bought season tickets or ticket packs, because they’ll be able to make it back on concessions. If no one is at the games, they aren’t making money on concessions.

Then again, if no one is going to games, it might make the Citifield Shake Shack the only one in the chain where you wont have to wait on line for a great burger or shake in the chain's presence across the city.

Rainbow Over the Bears Game

While attending the Newark Bears game versus the Rockland Boulders at the Bears and Eagles Stadium in Newark, we had sun showers, which produced a quite spectacular rainbow that framed the entire skyline. With my cellphone, I wasn't quite able to get the whole thing, but this just spoke to me:

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And the final score of the game: 16-4, Bears. Tim Raines Jr, son of former major league great Tim Raines, hit two homers and drove in 6 runs in pacing of the onslaught.

Mets Ownership Sells Minority Stake

Who's the lucky ones who are buying a minority stake in the New York Mets sports operation? It would be David Einhorn, who is president of Greenlight Capital Inc., who's buying a $200 million stake in the team.

Now they have the headache of dealing with majority owners Jeff and Fred Wilpon who are continuing to deal with the fallout from the Madoff Ponzi scheme and their poorly chosen comments slamming players on the team (even if the comments are largely accurate).

Fred Wilpon Is a Schmuck

Fred Wilpon is once again making waves today (HT: anonymous emailer). Wilpon and his son Jeff have been under fire for his ongoing and close relationship to Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, and the Mets organization may not have sufficient funds to pay the bills. The Wilpons have been looking to sell a minority stake in the team, but today Wilpon decided to take pot shots at some of his marquee players.

Specifically, he rips into Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran.

On right fielder Carlos Beltran, Wilpon mentions Beltran's huge postseason with the Houston Astros in 2004 and says, referring to himself: "We had some schmuck in New York who paid him based on that one series. He's 65 to 70 percent of what he was."

That's right. Wilpon paid crazy money for a guy who has never lived up to that one playoff series. Wilpon is the schmuck who paid out that deal.

Then, Wilpon goes after David Wright, who is currently nursing a stress fracture in his back, claiming he's a nice player but not a superstar. If there's anyone on the team who doesn't deserve to be bashed, it's Wright. He's played hard from day one and is a class act. Kicking Wright while he's down is no way to act.

He then savages Jose Reyes over his upcoming contract talks, claiming that Reyes will seek Carl Crawford type money. Well, on that front Wilpon's probably right. Reyes doesn't deserve Crawford-type money (7 years, $140 million). Crawford probably doesn't deserve that kind of money and I'm no fan of those kinds of long term deals because the players all too frequently can't live up to the expectations of those deals and injuries can curtail production. In Reyes' case, he's had an injury prone career to date, and he always seems to be one or two at bats away from being back on the DL for another assorted injury.

UPDATE:
The quotes are from a much larger piece in The New Yorker.

What Long Suffering Mets Fans Hope For In Sandy Alderson

Sandy Alderson is a no-nonsense baseball man. He's guided the Oakland A's and has led MLB's efforts to clean up the mess of underage players in the Dominican Republic.

So, it comes as no surprise that the Mets hope that by making him their General Manager, that they can clean up the mess left by Omar Minaya.



While Minaya's tenure as GM didn't always result in seasons being over as they began (they twice imploded in September with coughing up big leads), the feeling among Mets fans is that the team simply didn't give fans a chance right out of the gate.

Alderson's hire changes that, and Mets fans have to look forward to his hire of a manager who will show more fire and demand more of his players than Jerry Manuel did.

Mets Finally Dismiss Manager and GM After Season of Woe

The New York Mets finally have made it official. Manager Jerry Manuel was dismissed and General Manager Omar Minaya has been reassigned within the organization.

Apparently the Mets didn't feel that several sub-par seasons and questionable personnel choices were sufficient to give Minaya the boot.

Manuel got a well-deserved firing, but it came several months too late.

Minaya should have fired Manuel a week into the season when Manuel admitted that the Mets were unprepared to play the Washington Nationals and a former Met pitcher Livan Hernandez.

There was absolutely no excuse for being unprepared to play a week into the season. Minaya should take the blame for not firing Manuel, just as surely as he should be blamed for the string of personnel decisions that will continue to haunt the team for some time to come.

That includes a decision to give Johan Santana an extended contract. Santana has yet to play a complete season with the Mets - each of the past three years has ended with Santana on the disabled list for a long stretch of time.

Carlos Beltran is a shell of his former self and it is unlikely that he will ever regain his former glory in center field.


Jason Bay was a disaster, and it suggests that the Red Sox knew more than the Mets when it came to signing him.

The pitching staff has been a mess, but there are a few glimmers of hope. RA Dickey was a positive this year, but he's 35 years old and the chances that he can repeat his 2010 success is limited at best. John Maine and Ollie Perez were a mess.

Then, there was the implosion and criminal charges surrounding closer Francisco Rodriguez
.

About the only positive decision that can be attributed to Minaya was to give Jose Reyes a shorter contract than David Wright. Reyes has also been plagued by injuries and doesn't seem to show much in the way of maturity. There may be a few bright spots in the future for the likes of Ike Davis and Angel Pagan and the resurgence of David Wright who came off a bad year to post good numbers, but the pitching staff is abysmal.

The new managerial staff will have to cope with the mess left behind. Good luck to who ever it may be.

They're going to need it.

Ramapo Doesn't Need a Professional Baseball Team

Rockland County, located just north of New York City, is growing in population, but still maintains a rural vibe throughout much of the county. New subdivisions have sprouted up around the county, but there are unbroken stands of trees and woodlands. It is within one such stand of woods that work has begun to bring a Canadian league baseball team to the town of Ramapo, which would be located near Exit 12 on the Palisades Parkway.


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The Can Am league isn't exactly successful, and it has six teams spread out over the Northeast, with a team currently playing at Montclair State University at Yogi Berra Stadium. The Ramapo town supervisor thinks that a stadium and team are what the town needs, and wanted to make its voters pay for it.

Does this make sense financially for the town and county? Not in the slightest:

The team will pay $175,000 a year in rent. It would take more than a century for Ramapo to get back the construction costs at that rate. The team threw a couple of bones to Ramapo. The municipality will get a dollar for each ticket sold (not including those seats in the stadium's 20 luxury boxes – the town will get some money from those seats and some money from the sale of the stadium's naming rights. What are the odds that a Ramapo Stadium can get any money for naming rights when the New York Giants/Jets Meadowlands Stadium, the Dallas Cowboys Stadium and the Golden State Warriors facility are still unnamed?)

The team will give Ramapo two dollars from each car parked in the stadium's lot for a game. The town will also get 10 percent of the concessions whether it is food, beverage or merchandise sold at the stadium. The team will keep signage rights in the building. Based on Can-Am League attendance figures, the Town of Ramapo will get somewhere between $3,000 and $4,000 a game if the town and team is lucky.

Revenues will come in at $500,000 and that is a big maybe from games in real world projections not Town of Ramapo hired economist projections.

Ramapo taxpayers better understand that this stadium will be a loss leader no matter what both sides say. Ramapo officials think the team will bring in $900,000 in stadium related revenues. The bad news, the revenues figure is grossly overstated, the good news for Ramapo is that at this point they are not being asked to pay the team's expenses like New Orleans and Indianapolis and Glendale, Arizona residents are doing for pro sports teams. The bad news is that Ramapo will have to find money somewhere to pay from the annual $1.3 million stadium debt.

Voters figured this out and they voted down a plan for bonding the stadium. Despite that vote, which would have ordinarily killed the project, construction is still moving forward as the league is trying to find private backing to build the stadium.

Can-Am teams haven't exactly been sterling risks financially. Several have folded up, and this venture isn't exactly coming into a market that is begging for a professional sports team. Existing minor league teams in the region are struggling to make ends meet, and even minor league teams like the Staten Island Yankees and Brooklyn Cyclones have to work to bring in the fans (and they're the minor league affiliates of the Yankees and Mets).

Does it make sense environmentally? The local roads can't handle the influx of traffic, and it would mean that emissions and pollution in the vicinity of the ballpark would be higher than the surrounding area without any upside.

Can the existing infrastructure handle the traffic to the facility and would it have been a better idea to site the baseball team where athletic facilities were already present?

Rockland County Community College would have been a better location to site the ballpark given the way that the local roads can handle the traffic and the facilities would be used by those attending the college in addition to the team.

But more to the point, at a time when the local communities are dealing with education cuts and budget crises, spending millions to lure a team of dubious distinction to the town isn't a good idea.

In fact, is sounds an awful lot like the Simpsons Monorail:

Ump Admits Blowing Call That Would Have Resulted In Perfect Game

The 2010 MLB baseball season has already seen two perfect games. Tonight, we came within one out of a third perfect game. That would have been the first time since 1880 that such an event had occurred.

Actually, it should have been the third perfect game.

An umpire blew the call at first base, and that meant that Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga lost his bid for a perfect game Wednesday night with two outs in the ninth inning. Jim Joyce admits he blew the call.

First baseman Miguel Cabrera cleanly fielded Jason Donald’s grounder to his right and made an accurate throw to Galarraga covering the bag. The ball was there in time, and all of Comerica Park was ready to celebrate the 3-0 win over Cleveland, until Joyce emphatically signaled safe.

The veteran ump regretted it.
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“I just cost that kid a perfect game,” Joyce said. “I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay.”

“It was the biggest call of my career,” said Joyce, who became a full-time major league umpire in 1989.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland immediately argued the call and was joined by several of his players after the final out. Galarraga was trying to pitch the third perfect game in the majors this season.

The video clearly shows that Galarraga made the play by a full step.

Instead, Galarraga gets credited for a 1-hitter.

He lost his bit of history.

UPDATE 6/3:
Video embedded:


Also, both Galarraga and Joyce appear to be class acts and the whole incident reveals alot about the character of both.

Phillies Fan Tasered For Running on Field During Game

Leave it to Phillies fans to do something stupid. Running on to the field at any ballpark means an automatic ejection from the ballpark, but in this idiot's case, he first got a taste of a taser.



Now, I've seen some people complain that the taser was an inappropriate use of force, but I disagree. All too frequently, those who are running on to the field are tackled by security with the potential for serious injury. The taser allowed the security to bring this guy under control rather quickly and easily once the taser hit.

UPDATE:
Apparently MSNBC voters think that it was acceptable based on this online poll.

The Living Incarnation of Roy Hobbs?

This kid seems to be a cross between Roy Hobbs and Sidd Finch. We now apparently have a living incarnation of Roy Hobbs in the form of Ariel Antigua, a 5-year old from New Jersey who can apparently hit 85 mph fastballs and can more than hold his own in the field. Did I mention he's 5 years old?

McGwire Admits Steroid Use

Mark McGwire set the record for most home runs as a rookie. He broke the major league record for home runs in a season (to be eclipsed by Barry Bonds), and he now admits to using steroids in the season he hit 70 home runs.

In fact, he took steroids for pretty much the entire decade of the 1990s.

"I remember trying steroids very briefly in the 1989/1990 offseason and then after I was injured in 1993, I used steroids again," McGwire said in his statement. "I used them on occasion throughout the '90s, including during the 1998 season."

McGwire said he took steroids to get back on the field, sounding much like the Yankees' Andy Pettitte two years ago when he admitted using HGH.

"During the mid-'90s, I went on the DL seven times and missed 228 games over five years," McGwire said in the statement. "I experienced a lot of injuries, including a ribcage strain, a torn left heel muscle, a stress fracture of the left heel, and a torn right heel muscle. It was definitely a miserable bunch of years, and I told myself that steroids could help me recover faster. I thought they would help me heal and prevent injuries, too."

Since the congressional hearing, baseball owners and players toughened their drug program twice, increasing the penalty for a first steroids offense from 10 days to 50 games in November 2005 and strengthening the power of the independent administrator in April 2008, following the publication of the Mitchell Report.

"Baseball is really different now -- it's been cleaned up," McGwire said. "The commissioner and the players' association implemented testing and they cracked down, and I'm glad they did."

If baseball wants to clean up its act, it needs more big name players to come forward and admit their use. This way we can better judge the results on the field for who did or did not use steroids. So, while McGwire's numbers are gargantuan, they are diminished by his steroid use and puts players who didn't have nearly the numbers in a better light.

Yet, by admitting that he used steroids - by coming clean - McGwire is beginning the process of rehabilitating his image for voters who decide whether players can get admitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame. That's clearly what this admission is geared towards. McGwire is getting another chance here and he has to make the most of it.

It's a position that isn't all that different from what Alex Rodriguez went through at the beginning of the 2009 season, when he admitted to steroid use and managed to put the issue behind him.

Baseball To Announce New Hall of Fame Inductees

At 2PM EST, the class of 2010 inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown will be announced. Among those with a chance to be enshrined are Andre Dawson, Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin, Mark McGwire, and Don Mattingly among others.

Alomar has probably the best chance of getting in and could conceivably be the only one among the eligible players. McGwire isn't likely to get the call unless he does something to improve his image in the wake of the steroid scandal mess.

UPDATE:
Andre Dawson is the only one to get the call in his ninth year of eligibility. Alomar came up seven votes short [ed: fixed from characterization as "well short"], but Bert Blyleven missed by a total of five votes (at 74.2%). He failed to get 75% of the votes cast needed to be inducted. Blyleven has two more years of eligibility before he would have to rest his hopes on the Veterans Committee.

The Yankees Win... The Yankeeess Win!

That's right folks. The evil empire is back and they took out the Philadelphia Phillies to win their 27th World Championship in the process. The Phillies were quite smug coming into the Series, with Jimmie Rollins promising a win and back to back championships. The Phillie fans were even worse.

I guess they'll have to eat their words as the Yanks crushed them 4 games to 2. The series MVP is Hideki Matsui, who had a Godzilla of a Game 6, batting in six of the seven runs scored. Matsui is in the final year of his contract, so if this was his final game in Pinstripes, he made it a memorable one.



The Yanks also managed to win the Series in the first year of their new home, just as they did with the original Stadium in 1923. It's a rather fitting bookmark.

Congrats to the Yanks!

Oh, and the ticker tape parade is Friday in the Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan riding up from Battery Park to City Hall Park along Broadway.

UPDATE:
Memo to Jimmy Rollins. Denial isn't just a river in Egypt. When your team loses the Series 4-2, you can't hit, you can't pitch, and you are outplayed at every turn, you do not get to claim that your team is better. The Phillies lost. Bigtime.

They lost the series, they didn't win as many games as the Yankees did during the regular season either, so claiming that your team was better is asinine.

Moreover, when you bat .217, you are hardly in a position to claim your team is better despite losing a series in six.

Montana Jury Finds Bat Maker Liable In Child's Death

I had reported on a similarly sad story previously, but a jury in Montana found against the maker of Louisville Slugger, Hillerich and Bradsby, which was ordered to pay $850,000 to the family a child that was struck by a ball hit using a Louisville Slugger aluminum bat.

Hillerich and Bradsby has been ordered to pay $850,000 to the family of 18-year-old Brandon Patch. The teenager was killed during a 2003 baseball game after being struck in the head by a batted ball off an aluminum bat while pitching during an American Legion game in Helena, MT.

The Patch family argued aluminum bats are dangerous because they cause the ball to travel faster than those hit off wooden bats. They said Brandon did not have enough time to react after the ball was hit.

Although the jury did award the Patch family money saying that H&B failed to place warning labels on the aluminum bats, they also said the bat was not defective.

I expect that H&B will appeal the verdict, primarily on grounds that the bat was not defective and also that warnings would not have changed the outcome.

Moreover, I expect the costs from any changes made as a result of this suit to be passed on to the end users - whether it is the phasing out of aluminum bats in favor of wooden bats (of which there are concerns over maple bats and the fact that they shatter when they split), and/or the higher replacement costs for wooden bats compared against aluminum bats that reduce operating costs for Little Leagues, plus higher insurance costs for playing.

The verdict sets a dangerous precedent for the bat maker and other baseball bat manufacturers who produce aluminum or composite bats.

It also raises red flags for Little Leagues and others engaging in organized baseball activities since they too could be liable for injuries sustained through the use of the aluminum bats.

You Don't Say: Ortiz and Manny On Doping List

David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were on the 2003 doping list that included Alex Rodriguez and nearly 100 other major league baseball players? Really? You don't say. That's not exactly shocking. That would mean that those two players were taking steroids during the World Series run in 2003.

So, while only five names have been made public, the rest of the list is hidden away with names leaked every few months. I'm sure that's great for the game (sarcasm folks, sarcasm). Bud Selig and the union bear responsibility for this situation - as do the players themselves, who allowed this situation to persist.

What this Times report does provide that is most curious is a statement regarding Barry Bonds:

Five others have been tied to positive tests from that year: Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Jason Grimsley and David Segui. Bonds, baseball’s career home runs leader, was not on the original list, although federal agents seized his 2003 sample and had it retested. Those results showed the presence of steroids, according to court documents.

The Mets Show Their Politics Well

It can't come any clearer than this. The New York Mets farm team, the Brooklyn Cyclones renamed themselves the Baracklyn Cyclones, and they had none other than Obama girl throw out the first pitch:

For one night, the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones renamed themselves the Baracklyn Cyclones, in tribute to the new president. And tickets cost no more than $16, cheaper than nosebleed seats at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field.

Steve Fischer bought $5 seats when they were sold in January as an "Economic Stimulus Package.'' With the bobbleheads going to only the first 2,500 fans at 7,500-capacity stadium, he wanted to be at the front of the line before the Cyclones played the Hudson Valley Renegades.

"You can come to a nice little community ballpark like this, tickets are a couple of dollars. Food prices are much more inexpensive,'' he said, standing near Pee Wee the Seagull. "You get a lot closer to the action.''

The action included ceremonial first pitches thrown out by Amber Lee Ettinger, the Obama Girl, and presidential lookalike Randall West.

The real first family didn't take the Cyclones up on their invitation to attend, though in the first inning news broke that Obama planned to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the major league All-Star game in St. Louis on July 14.

Who can forget the fact that she didn't even bother to vote in the primary because she was too busy partying. Wasn't her 15 minutes up already?

I understand that their audience was likely overwhelmingly Democrats who voted for President Obama, but political fortunes change. Bad move on their part.

You Don't Say: Sammy Sosa Took Steroids

Yet another leak from the fine folks at Major League Baseball or those whose hands are on the supposedly confidential report of players who tested positive for steroids in 2003.

Prominent names were leaked, but none more prominent than Alex Rodriguez until yesterday. That is, until Sammy Sosa joined that list.

Sammy Sosa tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug in 2003, The New York Times reported Tuesday on its Web site, the latest in a string of baseball stars implicated in the sport's steroids scandal of the past decade.

The Times said Sosa is one of 104 players who tested positive in baseball's anonymous 2003 survey, which has been the subject of a protracted court fight. The paper did not identify the drug.

It cited lawyers with knowledge of the 2003 drug-testing results and reported they spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to publicly discuss material under court seal.

Sosa was best known for his run at the single season home run records against Mark McGwire. He hit 60 home runs or more three times, which is something that no other player ever accomplished (McGwire hit 60 home runs or more only twice in his career).

Sosa has retired, so his record is complete. Don't expect him to get into the Hall of Fame, although it depends on how he responds to the allegations. His testimony before Congress will be scrutinized:

Several of the game's biggest stars, including home-run king Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, have been implicated in steroids use.

Miguel Tejada was sentenced to one year of probation for misleading Congress after he pleaded guilty and admitted he withheld information about an ex-teammate's use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez is serving a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy. A-Rod in February admitted using steroids from 2001-03 with Texas following a report by Sports Illustrated that he was among the 104 players on the list.

Sosa sat alongside Palmeiro, Canseco and McGwire at a 2005 hearing before Congress and testified: "To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs."

"I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything," he told the House Government Reform Committee on March 17, 2005. "I have not broken the laws of the United States or the laws of the Dominican Republic. I have been tested as recently as 2004, and I am clean."

That left open the possibility he used a substance legally in the Dominican Republic that would have been illegal to use in the United States without a prescription.

The Baltimore Experience

This past weekend, I went down to Baltimore to get away from the NYC metro area for a bit and to take in Orioles Park at Camden Yards. We managed to see a bit of the city, including the Washington Monument, Fort McHenry, the Inner Harbor, and the area around Camden Yards.

The area around the Inner Harbor was full of life and the place was packed on this perfect spring day. The weather was just amazing, and I have the sunburn to prove it (wear your sunscreen and hats folks).

Parts of the city remind me of Brooklyn and the new ballpark fits in nicely with the downtown area. There's a reason that so many other teams have tried to replicate the feeling, ambiance, and intimacy that Camden Yards affords fans.

Our seats were awesome and had I tried to spend that kind of money at the new Yankee Stadium, I would have been in the terrace level in the outfield. For roughly $50, we had prime seats behind home plate just rows from the field. Eutaw Street is a thriving area just past the right field fence, and they've even got home runs out on the street immortalized with little plaques.

 

Inside the stadium, the Orioles mascot did his best to keep the crowd interested, and he brought kids out on to the field before the game started to play around. It was quite cute.

 

The first pitch was thrown out by none other than former Bush and Clinton Administration member Norman Mineta, who was introduced as the first Asian American mayor in the country and someone who had lived through the FDR internment of Japanese during World War II.

The outcome of the game didn't particularly matter to me, but the Tigers won 6-3 over the Orioles. However, Oriole fans have a lot to look forward to as Matt Wienters got his first major league hits in the game - a triple followed by a single. Congrats to him, and I expect we'll be hearing lots more about him in coming years. He's got quite the pretty swing.

 

All in all, we had a great time down in Baltimore and I can see going to more games. On that front, Baltimore definitely has a lot to offer, although that is a double edged sword. At times, it sounded like there were more Tigers fans in the stands than Orioles fans, and that's despite the fact that the Red Wings are in the Stanley Cup. I can also see why so many New York fans go down there to catch games - it's cheaper and it's a great ballpark.

UPDATE:
This photo panorama doesn't quite do the park justice. It's a combination of a dozen separate photos.

 

Welcome to CitiField

Last night I attended my first game at the new home of the Amazing New York Mets, CitiField. I have to say, the place is magnificent. In every way, the stadium will take its place among the great new stadiums in the league. Honestly, I was much more impressed with it than I was with the new Yankee Stadium.

One feature present in both stadiums is the fact that you can see the game while purchasing food and drinks. The teams went to great lengths to understand that the average fan gets up just over two times per game to get food and drink. In that time, the same fan misses more than 2 innings of the game. The goal of all the newer stadiums being built, is to allow the fans to continue to enjoy the game while spending money on food, drinks and souveniers. So, all the new stadiums are built so that while at the concessions, you miss as little of the game as possible. And indeed, they have shown that people now get up just over three times per game for concessions and miss less than 2 innings of the game (closer to 1.5 innings). Translation, happier fans spending more money on beer and hot dogs.

So why did I like CitiField better than Yankee Stadium, well, the answer is more than just because my NY Mets play there. In my opinion, and I spoke with a few of the people who I know who have been at both and they agree, CitiField has more of a fan friendly atmosphere, especially for the children. At Yankee Stadium, unless you get there several hours before the game and tour monument park, there is nothing else but the game. And that used to be great. But now, the modern parks are packed with the fan experience. CitiField has on the field level, behind center field, a place for children to play t-ball, and run the bases and see themselves on a large jumbo tron as the play. They have batting cages for the kids, a dunking tank, and even a video game area where you can play one of the baseball videogames (I think it was MLB, but not sure.) This is they type of fan experience they have brought to Camden Yards, and Citizen Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia. But it is conspicuous by its absence at Yankee Stadium.

Both had amazing food options, but I think CitiField had even more choices. Citifield, in addition to the usual hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage and peppers and and beer, had a fish place (lobster rolls, crab cakes, fried fish sandwiches) a barbecue stand, Mexican food, a shake shack, and several other great food options, although, I did have a hard time finding Carvel on the upper levels.

The seats at Citifield were really nice. The entire stadium is built so that it angles towards the pitcher's mound. All of the seats make you feel more on top of the game than Shea Stadium was.

Overall, I was really impressed with CitiField, and the Mets 7-5 victory over the Phillies! Mike Pelfry settled in nicely and overcame a first inning run by the Phillies and pitched decent, giving up 2 runs, and no strike outs. The Mets got home runs by Beltran, Wright and Reyes, and survived a poor blown call by the umpires, when they took away a double play in the eighth and instead awarded Victorino second on shortstop interference during a run down play. That lead to a Jayson Werth home run off of Feliciano, but K-Rod closed the door in the 9th to preserve the Mets' fourth straight victory.