Schwartz: Citi Field More Than Ready For First Taste Of Postseason Baseball
By Peter Schwartz
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Oct. 19, 2006.
Carlos Beltran takes a called third strike from Adam Wainwright and the Mets lose to the Cardinals 3-1 in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series at Shea Stadium.
It wasn't supposed to be the end. It was supposed to be the beginning. But there was the meltdown at the end of the 2007 season when the Mets blew a seven-game divisional lead with 17 games to play. Then in 2008, their final year at Shea, the Mets had a 3½-game lead on Sept. 10, but did not make the playoffs.
The following year, the Mets moved into Citi Field, but six more losing seasons followed. Mets fans were wondering just when they would get that next taste of the postseason.
The waiting is now over.
For the first time since 2006, the Mets are back in the postseason as the NL East champs get set to face the Dodgers in the NLDS starting on Friday night in Los Angeles.
But it will be Game 3 on Monday when Mets fans will finally get another chance to experience a home playoff game.
"There is a lot of excitement from both the employees and the fan base," said Sue Lucchi, the Mets' Vice President of Ballpark Operations.
The Mets played so many memorable postseason games at Shea Stadium. going back to the 1969 World Series. There was Mookie Wilson's ground ball getting through Bill Buckner's legs to win Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, the 1999 postseason, including Todd Pratt's series-winning home run against Arizona in Game 4 of the NLDS and Robin Ventura's "Grand Single" against the Braves in Game 5 of the NLCS, as well the run to the 2000 World Series and the 2006 postseason.
You could feel Shea Stadium shake during playoff games but how will Citi Field be for a postseason contest?
"I think it's going to sound a lot louder that it did at Shea," Lucchi said. "We have standing room around the park. This park goes completely around in a circle whereas Shea had the whole back of the house open. I think you're going to see a big difference between here and Shea Stadium."
There's a lot of preparation that goes into hosting postseason games. Lucchi's staff has been busy getting Citi Field playoff-ready with bunting around the seating bowl, new signage on the dugouts, and the re-stocking of the team stores with playoff merchandise.
"Everybody's kind of moving around and getting ready for this with a big kick in their step," said Lucchi, who is believed to be the only woman to hold a similar position in MLB. "You can feel the excitement."
It has been a very special season for the Mets, who surged into first place after the trade deadline acquisitions of Yoenis Cespedes, Tyler Clippard, Kelly Johnson, and Juan Uribe, as well as the return of captain David Wright. A fan base so hungry for a winning team was rejuvenated in 2015 and the numbers show it.
Heading into the final home series against the Nationals this past weekend, overall attendance through 78 home games was up 17.71 percent, which was the third-largest increase in the league. The Mets' weekend attendance was up 25.48 percent for an average of 36,488, with Friday crowds up 23.17 percent, Saturday games up 32.52 percent to 38,807 and Sunday openings up 20.61 percent to 35,990.
At the end of the day, the Mets drew more than 2.5 million fans to Flushing this season, the second-highest total since moving into Citi Field.
And now the excitement will reach a whole new level as Citi Field gets ready for its first taste of postseason baseball. The Mets do have some experience with big games at their new home including seven opening days, the annual regular season Subway Series games with the Yankees, and the 2013 All-Star Game.
When the regular season ended last Sunday, the Mets didn't waste much time starting preparations for the playoffs.
"We all kind of took a breath and from that moment on we started up again," said Lucchi, who joined the Mets as an intern during her college years at St. John's. "This being our first playoff berth since moving into this building, there's a different type of atmosphere."
This week has been uncharted territory for the Mets since Citi Field opened up. Normally, at the end of a season, the stadium goes dormant for a couple of days and then everybody comes back to prepare for the offseason.
But this year is different. All hands are on deck.
"There are lots of carts with lots of food and drink as we're getting ready to stock up the stands," Lucchi said. "Since we've been here we haven't been doing that, so everybody feels a special thing happening here at the ballpark."
When Mets fans arrive at Citi Field for Game 3 on Monday, they will see a spruced up ballpark. There will be a special souvenir stand set up in the Jackie Robinson Rotunda that will be filled with postseason and NLDS merchandise.
Fans will also notice a distinct opening day feel as a cleaning crew has been busy touching up the ballpark and making sure that everything is pristine. Also, at the end of this week, the NLDS logos will be painted on the field, a telling sign that it's time for real October baseball.
'It's just a different kind of feeling," said Lucchi. "You can feel that when you're here at the park and this is something that we've been looking forward to for a long time to feel."
It's been nine seasons since the Mets were last in the playoffs. Since 2006, fans have had to endure a lot of pain and suffering. However, this is not a time to reflect on bad times but rather an opportunity to celebrate what has already been a season to remember and enjoy the first postseason at the team's state-of-the-art ballpark.
The fans are ready to bring the roar and Citi Field is ready rock. To quote Tug McGraw…."Ya Gotta Believe!"
Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @pschwartzcbsfan. You can also follow the @Mets and @CitiField
