Diversions

Yesterday, I mentioned that I had more coverage of the Subway Series from Shea. I had wondered if I would actually follow up on this, given that the Mets don't have any off days in the near future. But, since the Mets cooperated with me and laid an egg in St. Louis Monday night, it seems a pleasant diversion from the misery to offer you the Shea Subway Series experience in pictures. Whereas in my other pictorial posts, I've offered many views of Citi Field, or close-up shots of the Game Experience, I thought it more appropriate, with this being the last season of Shea, to take some photos of the Shea experience from the inside. Think of this as something to file away for posterity, views of our beloved Shea as its days wind down.

The game sold out, there's no need for the ticket booth by Gate E to be open. The lineup is posted, as per usual.

The satellite team store is still here. I've never actually gone into this store. I see people in there, although I can't imagine it's much different from the one inside the stadium. Maybe it's less crowded. I don't know.

Gate E has, historically, been my gate of choice, whether or not my ticket says to enter at Gate E. It's become a superstitious habit, in reality. I always go in at Gate E, buy my program, and then walk through to the Escalator by Gate D, up through the Field and to the Loge, then walk through the Loge to the New Era cap stand, then continue upstairs. Sunday, however, I had to stop at the Will Call window to drop a ticket for El Guapo. I went in through Gate D and walked around the Field Level. Blasphemy? Well, the Mets won. So, I suppose, this proves that I'm completely insane.

Better view of the Neon Spaghetti Strands above Gate E.


More Spaghetti. Here's Gate D's version.
And above the Diamond Club.

And, having dropped my ticket and entered the Stadium, I'm now in the Field Level. The Sausage and Peppers has, over the past few seasons, become my food of choice at Shea. It's always tasty and as the food at Shea goes, it's probably the best bang for your buck. Either that or the footlong Hot Dog, if you know where to find it. Keep reading and I'll show you.

What's a photo essay without a shot of BP from directly behind Home Plate?

Most of the satellite concession stands have these campy names like the "Grand Central Grille" or the "Midtown Express." This one's behind Home Plate on the Field Level.

Here's Fernando Tatis in the cage for some BP. Met for a Minute Andy Phillips is walking towards the dugout.

This seat looks like many other seats in the ballpark. The difference with this seat is that I can't afford it.

I believe these packet kiosks are relatively new. But, unlike most of the others which only offer Ketchup or Mustard, this one by the "Grand Central Grille" offers Relish and Onions. I don't know that there are any others like this one.

Sbarro took over the Pizza concession from Cascarino's. You probably read about my Shea Pizza experience a couple of days ago. I have no plans to go back. The Guap and I noticed some brave soul eating pizza during the game. He was mildly nauseated. I had an acid flashback.

Where's Keith?

I'm now walking down the first base side.

I would have liked to get closer to the field, but, in reality, this area is pretty much un-navigable. I was fortunate to get as close as I did.

Hey! Here's a good place to get a Footlong Hot Dog! I don't recall what year Nathan's took over the Hot Dog concession from Kahn's. I've always been pretty partial to Nathan's, although, finicky eater that I am, I only eat them at Shea or at the original location at Surf and Stillwell. The bootleg franchises just don't rate.

This is new. If you ever wanted a game-used, Spring Training Jersey of such luminaries as Gustavo Molina, Brady Clark, Willie Collazo or Ben Johnson, here's the place to find it. This little Mets Authentic Merchandise store has them all. Even jerseys of Tom Nieto and Rick Peterson can be found here. Only $200 a pop. The only players I noticed that were still on the Mets were Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis. Popular guys, indeed. I thought about getting the Heilman Jersey and sending it to Shirts vs. Blouses as a gag gift. I'm sure he would have gagged.

The Subway is still here. What's even more disheartening is that people are actually eating there. I can't understand why. I didn't take a close look at the prices, although my guess is that they're not participating in the $5 footlong promotion.

This I don't get either.

I'll accept this one, although, again, I didn't take a close look, so I don't know what their $9 Pastrami Sandwich looks like. It's right next to...

...this, which does make sense, although the sadist in me was really tempted to walk up to the counter and whisper to them that Shawn Green isn't on the team anymore.

Get your Mets Mustard here, folks!

I'm not really that close. I'm behind about 20 people and just got a good enough angle to zoom in and catch Pedro warming up.

Heilman, too.

Another look towards home.

I couldn't think of a proper snide response to the question posed to me by the ATM. If you have one, feel free to leave a comment.

People were looking at me funny when I took this picture, on the Loge. But when they tear down Shea and you're trying to remember what the bathrooms at Shea looked like, well, here you go.

I can't afford these seats, either. What's even stranger is that they'll let anyone walk around the Field Level during BP, but they shoo you away if you set foot in the Loge without a ticket.

I'll just continue upstairs, then.

Here's another Grand Central Grille, this one behind Home Plate on the Mezzanine. This one's pretty big. So big, it doesn't fit in the shot.

Only the Mets could make something like napkins look important.

Let's continue upstairs, then.

This is a view I'm more familiar with.

They don't name the concession stands in the Upper Deck. This dreary little stand is the UD's equivalent of the "Grand Central Grille."

OK, these seats, I can afford.

I believe it was Mookie Wilson who said that the best way to tell which way the wind was blowing was to look at the flags at the top of the Right Field side of the Stadium.

These signs telling you where you are are fairly new as well, although I didn't notice them anywhere other than the Upper Deck and outside the Stadium.

I thought this stuff was called "Dippin' Dots." Apparently, it's called "Molli Coolz!" I've never actually had it, but I'm told that it's the Ice Cream of the Future!

This is my seat for the day, Section 11, Row S. Covered, so I won't get wet when it rains later on, and I won't cook in the sun that's out now.

I thought the Apple was going to make the trip to Citi Field, although apparently that's now in some question. Anybody know the truth?


And now, some bonus video...


Ryan Church and Jose Reyes running in the outfield.



Starting Lineups are introduced.



And the Mets take the Field!

And away we go!

Oliver's Army.

At some point, it was raining pretty hard. You could see it ponding on top of the Yankees dugout.

With the Mets ahead, and a threatening forecast, we began to root for the game to speed up just to get to the middle of the 5th and an official game.

But it cleared up. Here, it's nice and sunny as Wright comes to bat in the 6th.

I think they played "Enter Sandman" extra loud when Wagner came in for the 9th just to piss the Yankee fans off.

And here he is.

I think Jeter and A-Rod just make an adorable couple, don't you?

One more out to go...

...And the Mets win!

Rejoyce!

And let the mass exodus begin.

And an out-of-focus shot of the scoreboard to close out the day. In the past, the crowd crush has been so bad that we've either had to stand by the Subway until things thinned out or walked down to Main Street just to get a train. But I think the problems may have finally been ironed out. With the Weekend Express running, the crowds moved steadily through the staircase and we were able to catch an Express in short order. A perfect way to cap off a fine Sunday at Shea.