The Mets Have Given Up

Once September rolls around, it's not unusual for baseball teams to give up on the current season and start preparing for future ones, as teams out of the playoff race sit veterans in favor of rookies and try new, unorthodox lineups.   Every year, MLB's weaker teams use the September 1 roster expansion date to stock their starting lineups with unproven young players and begin to build for the future.  When I went to the New York Mets' Thursday afternoon doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field, I wasn't at all surprised to see the Mets feature a starting pitcher making his Major League debut; after all, the Mets are struggling this season and seem destined to struggle through 2012 as well. 

What was shocking, however, was the way that the team completely gave up on all aspects of the game presentation for Thursday afternoon's doubleheader, too.  Admittedly, the stadium was virtually empty when the first pitch of game one was thrown - check the picture below for view of the stands from the first inning.  Anticipating the sparse attendance, the Mets did the absolute bare minimum required to open Citi Field for the game.  Thursday's game is the closest I might ever get to seeing two Major League teams play at a minor league ballpark.

With so few in attendance, every ten fans had their own personal player to root for.

Only about one-third of the concession stands were open - most were closed up with metal doors pulled down over the windows.  When we finally did find an open concession stand and bought a hot dog, they didn't have any sauerkraut, which is inexcusable at a baseball game.  On top of it all, the Jumbotron wasn't working until the sixth inning of the first game, and it seemed as if the in-stadium camera operators didn't show up until after the midpoint of game one.  .

It's tough for casual fans to follow the game without a working Jumbotron.

I've never worked for a company that rented out a baseball stadium for some sort of corporate outing, but I imagine going to Thursday afternoon's Mets game was what it would be like.  Sure, the stadium is technically open, but no one is really watching the action on the field, buying anything from the concourses or watching the monitors in the outfield.  While the Mets and Braves played a game at Citi Field, the only part of the stadium in use was the actual, physical playing surface and a few hundred seats.  At this point in the year, I'm OK with the Mets giving up on winning (not shockingly, the Braves swept the doubleheader without much of a fight from the home team).  As a paying customer,* though, I expect a lot more from the Citi Field crew.

*NOTE: I bought tickets to the doubleheader on StubHub just hours before the game for $13 per ticket, including fees.  You'd have to be insane to pay anything near face value to watch a team that features Lucas Duda in the three hole.