The Next Stop Is...

I tend not to find myself on the 7 Train during the off season. Usually, if I end up on there between October and March, it means I had some business somewhere around Midtown and I needed to get from the West side of Manhattan to the East side quickly and the 7 train is my best option (The Grand Central Shuttle is sometimes an option to this end as well, but other times, it's not).

The extension of the 7 train probably isn't much of a secret by this point, unless you're not a regular subway rider or you choose not to pay attention to the foibles of the MTA. The line is being extended from its current terminus at Times Square to a new terminal at 34th Street and 11th Avenue (for whatever reason, a proposed stop at 41st Street and 10th Avenue was not included which is kind of stupid given the area's residential boom). Currently, this is scheduled to open in 2014, although whenever the MTA says something, it's good to take it with a grain of salt. But should you find yourself at the Times Square station on the 7, you can see down into the newly-constructed tunnel which is interesting if you're into that sort of stuff (and as a Subway nerd, I include myself). All that being said, the extension affects me and probably a good number of Mets fans very little, but it's interesting to mention it because it probably ties in to the latest development I've noticed on the 7 Train.

For much of my formative years, the 7 train consisted primarily of the R36 "Redbirds," which weren't originally red but ended up that way over the course of time. These were kind of classic old-school subway cars without much in the way of modern feeling or amenities. The Redbirds were retired sometime around 2003 and the 7 fleet turned over to the much shinier R62A cars, which you've been riding to Citi Field ever since the place opened, so you know what they look like.

But if you've been on many of the other subway lines in the city, you've probably been on the "Talking" Subway cars, the new trains that have digital readouts and recorded station announcements. These cars are now slowly taking over on the 7 train. Last week, I found myself on a crosstown trip and there it was, a brand new R188 sitting there, telling me that "This is a Queens bound 7 Local Train," and "The next stop is...5th Avenue." The way these things tend to go, you see one, then you see some more and before you know it, they've taken over. What does this mean? Ultimately, not much. But with a new section of line and a new train communication system being installed on it, the arrival of the new subway cars seemed imminent. Strange as it may seem, there may be something comforting about the first time I hear "This is...Mets-Willets Point. This is a Flushing Bound 7 Express train..." when I'm on my way to a game.

Of course, tourists and newbies may still not realize that this is where they're supposed to get off.

Travel With The Light

It was a difficult night all the way around for me, as I attended the penultimate game on my 15-game plan last night (and I have to say last night because the proceedings dragged on long enough that I was unable to arrive home before midnight). Difficult to get to Citi Field, difficult to sit through and difficult to get home from.

I work in the East Village, so getting to games after work is usually pretty easy for me, just hop on the 4/5 at Union Square, take it one stop and switch to the 7. Not much to it. Tuesday night, however, was a different story. I was meeting a friend by the apple at 6:15. However, I was slightly delayed leaving work, but that generally is the case and it's never actually been a problem, since even if the trains are running slowly, I can get there in about 40 minutes. So I texted him and said I'd be there closer to 6:30. I arrived at Union Square and got a 4 train, which sat there for a few minutes before creeping uptown. This, again, is nothing new. The 4 is always slow, especially during rush hour. It was when I got to Grand Central when things really went haywire. I arrived on the 7 train platform to see people standing about 4 deep. The 7 is one of the few especially efficient subway lines and can run like clockwork during rush hour, so already I knew something was up. I stood around for a few minutes and a train came by going to Times Square. I took that as a good sign, since what goes down has to come back before too long. But nothing was running to Queens. And I was starting to get concerned because my friend was probably sitting out at the apple wondering where the hell I was, and I couldn't text him since I was underground. Finally, a Queens Express came by, but people had packed into the train so tightly that there was no possible way to even get a foot on, so I had to let it go. After about another 10 minutes of waiting, and an announcement of a "Police Investigation," another Times Square-bound train showed up. This time, I was taking no chances. It had to come back the other way, so I figured if I get on now, I'll be able to get it back out to Queens. Or, there'll be another train I can get on. And, sure enough, there was an Express at Times Square, about to leave. It was about as packed as the prior Express, but I managed to shoehorn myself in and finally get myself out to Queens. By this time, of course, it was about 6:45 and making first pitch was a lost cause. It wasn't a total disaster, however. By sheer happenstance I ran into Faith and Fear's Greg Prince getting off the train at Citi Field. I've communicated with Greg several times over the years, but we'd never actually met. We both seemed a bit amused by the folly of meeting due to the MTA's mishaps.

I eventually found my friend, who had also found himself stuck in the delay, but nonetheless had still been sitting there for a good 30 minutes waiting for me. He demanded I buy dinner, although I eventually negotiated my way out of it. Perhaps the free seat upgrade, that took us from section 512 down to section 112, worked in my favor. Nonetheless, by time we were seated, we'd missed the first inning almost entirely.

In the grand scheme of things, missing the first inning didn't matter too much, since we ended up sitting through more than our share of ballgame. The remainder of the game dragged on endlessly, with no particular rhythm and loads of raucous fans that were unfortunately rooting for the Giants. Ostensibly, we missed the first 10 minutes of a 3 hour, 55 minute mess of a game that started ugly and ended uglier, with only a small bit of good in between.

Zack Wheeler, who is probably just about at his innings limit at this point, faced off against his former team and looked like a guy who was probably ready to shut it down for the Winter. He was all over the map in the 2nd inning, walking 4 guys, including the opposing pitcher Yusmeiro Petit with the bases loaded, gave up another run on a dying quail by Angel Pagan, and a 3rd on a Fielder's Choice. He looked not long for the game, but somehow managed to settle down enough to get through 5 innings, barely.

Meanwhile, the Mets exploded for 4 runs in response, thanks to rallies centered mostly around some good fundamental play. Ruben Tejada doubled to lead off the 3rd, went to 3rd on a Wheeler sacrifice, and scored on a Young groundout. My friend, always quick to call for sound play, was a fan of this. In the 4th. Wilmer Flores rang an RBI double off the wall and later, when Matt den Dekker got himself in a rundown long enough to distract the Giants infielders, scored the go-ahead run.

Sadly, the Mets decided to abandon the fundamentals after the 4th inning. The Giants re-tied the game in the 5th thanks to Zack Wheeler forgetting to cover 1st following a fine Lucas Duda stab of a Brandon Belt line drive (Wheeler was, perhaps, stunned that Duda managed to come up with the ball&madsh;I certainly was). Later, with Josh Satin on 1st and none out, neither Eric Young nor Juan Lagares attempted to move him along, where he would have scored on Daniel Murphy's subsequent double. My friend, at this point, was screaming and tearing his hair out.

And it all pretty much went down the toilet from there. Angel Pagan homered and tripled and the Giants fans chanted and cheered, and Lucas Duda, who the Giants for some reason was walked intentionally in the 5th inning (the Giants must not have bothered to send advance scouts), generally fouled up some rallies. By the 9th inning, it was pushing 11pm and just about all the Mets fans had left. In spite of having the lead, Bruce Bochy kept insistently changing pitchers (as opposed to Terry Collins, who kept changing pitchers because they weren't getting any outs), finally landing on Tony Sergio Romo, who allowed the Mets to load the bases and bring up Duda as the potential winning run. I'm sure I wasn't the only Met fan thinking back to Friday when Duda shocked the world and hit a 3-run Homer. Surely, he was more than capable of running into a Fastball. If he could do it here, maybe some of his foibles could be forgiven. But, sadly, it was not. Duda worked the count full before taking a mighty swing and popping out to 3rd. Andrew Brown's final out was pretty much academic. And after 3 hours and 55 minutes, the game had mercifully come to a close.

But I still had to get home. And I had to get home amid swarms of Giants fans, because they were more or less the only people left. A large group convened in the Outfield seats, but others were scattered about. My friend and I ended up with several in our subway car going back into the City. We got to talking to them, and I of course was all too happy to mention that I root for the 49ers. Apparently, the Giants are going to play the other team here right after they finish with the Mets. Many San Franciscans seem to be making a holiday of it, going to see the Giants play the Mets, and then again in the Bronx. Though the fans in the outfield seemed intent to endear themselves to nobody, the ones we rode with on the Subway were more than pleasant and provided good discussion to pass time on the ride back to the City.

In the end, I suppose, it's always good to find people to talk to in transit. It helps to remind everyone that there's more to the game than what goes on on the field.

Beating the Rush

Things started out so beautifully this evening at Citi Field, my 7th game of the season and my 2nd time this season taking in the mastery of Johan Santana. It was a nice, warm May night, with the pollen count at a tolerable level for my allergies and the chicken sandwich from Blue Smoke its normal tasty self. Lucas Duda hit and Ike Davis hit and the Mets were ahead, and Johan Santana was cruising along.

Then, SPLAT.

That would be the bullpen imploding in the 8th inning, following a string of questionable moves by Terry Collins. Collins has, in general, had the right touch with the bullpen this season, and given that the parts he has are limited to begin with, there's only so many moves that can be made. But in this particular moment, you'd have to question why remove Parnell at all after the 7th, and bring in Jon Rauch, who just didn't have it at all, and then, following the Byrdak Shuffle, go to D.J. Carrasco, who never had it and was already in the doghouse with the rest of his team after his petulant display on Tuesday night.

You could see the beginning trickle of fans starting to leave once Carrasco came in the game, as though imminent doom was approaching. Nonetheless, given the way the Mets have performed of late, a 1-run deficit was hardly insurmountable. Carrasco, of course, made sure that such late-game theatrics wouldn't be necessary by incinerating things entirely. At least he had the good sense not to drill Devin Mesoraco after Todd Frazier's second bomb of a Home Run. Mercifully, Carrasco's been DFA'd, so we won't have to be subjected to him and his inability to get hitters out on a consistent basis anymore. I wish Manny Acosta were on similar thin ice.

So, at this point, the trickle of fans leaving had turned into a steady stream, and Citi Field was taken over by a patter of Reds Fans (there's always a few), at which point I figured I may as well get myself ready for a quick departure. Lately, I seem to be getting hung up in a crowd on the staircase for one reason or another, and I end up missing the first Express train back to Manhattan. This is a drag, because the Express has a tendency to sit around for 10 minutes at the station before it goes. Therefore, if you're on the first one, and you're fortunate enough to get a seat, you'll sit there while the train gets crowded and then leaves, but if you miss it, you're stuck there waiting, and then the train pulls in and you're sitting there another 10 minutes with the stadium staff, some of the guys from the Pepsi Patrol and a few stragglers.

It's not often that I give up on a game like this, but you could tell that the Mets weren't coming back. Aroldis Chapman came in and zapped through the 8th, and Sean Marshall, who for some reason is closing for the Reds, got through a relatively uneventful 9th, replete with me slipping down the stairs of 518 and hovering around for a few minutes before the game ended and I made my mad dash. If I ran anyone over, I apologize, but, hey, there was no good reason to stick around.

Citi Field, Take Two

So, two games in and I'm 0-for-Citi Field.

In reality, however, the game provided mere scenery for the other nonsense that seemed to go on for me throughout the evening.

I had been fixing to make an attempt to try to get to one of the high-end concessions at Citi Field, and I made a concerted effort to get there early and beat the crowd. I was angling for Shake Shack, since I'd heard so much about it from a number of different sources, but I've never been there myself. El Guapo is a big fan, but he has the advantage of working rather close to the original Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. I, on the other hand, do not and so this was the first time I'd ever really been close to one. And I'd heard more than a few people on varied WFAN shows call in and say that it's the best burger ever. As I've mentioned, I am a big hamburger connoisseur, so I was chomping at the bit to try it for myself.

I got to Citi Field at around 6:15, dropped El Guapo's ticket at Will Call and made a beeline for the Shack. There were plenty of people milling around, but I was hopeful that the line wouldn't be too long.

No such luck. The line had already formed well past the little aisles they set up and had extended back towards Left Field. Maybe I should have just said screw it and gone upstairs. Nooooooo, I figured. I came here for a Shake Shack burger, and by crikey, I'm going to have a Shake Shack burger. So I stood on line. I figured I had plenty of time before the game.

I got on line at about 6:20. The Guap texted me at around 6:35 telling me he was having a beer in the Promenade Club. I was still on line. I said I'd see him around the 5th inning. But I was exaggerating. I was in my seat by around 6:45.

Bottom line: In the words of Samuel L. Jackson, "That IS a Tasty Burger." I'm still on the fence as to whether or not it's worth waiting on line for 25 minutes to get, but it's a damn good burger, far better than the burgers they were serving in the Promenade level. It's got cheese (which I believe you can ask them to leave off), lettuce, tomato and what they refer to as "Shack Sauce," which I believe to be little more than overglorified Russian Dressing. The single shack is small, but substantial for your $5.75. But throw in some fries and a soda and I ended up dropping as much on food as I did on my ticket for the game. C'est la vie, I assume, in this Citi Field day and age. I recommend it and I'd definitely go back, provided you don't mind the inevitable lines that will form there early. When I was leaving, the line was significantly longer than it was when I got there.

El Guapo had been in the Promenade Club, as I'd mentioned. I didn't realize that you could get in simply by having a Promenade level ticket, I thought you needed a Promenade Club ticket. Apparently not. He raved about it, and he also raved about the Sausage and Peppers, which I've yet to have this season (next time, that's what I'm going for). Apparently there's a full bar in the Club, and even a Wing bar. This could prove to be a hidden gem.

In general, we both seem pretty happy with Citi Field. The team, again, is a bit of a problem and there's not much memorable to report about the game, short of things looked OK until Sean Green decided to do his best Aaron Heilman impression. And he really did a spot-on Heilman and screwed up the game good and proper. Once the Mets got behind, I think just about everyone knew that was it for the game, no matter how bad the Marlins bullpen supposedly is. Kudos to Alfredo Amezaga for hot-dogging catching a pop-up at the end of the 7th and further entrenching himself on the list of Marlins Players who need to get a pitch in the ribs at some point.

Some of the problems that I discussed from Opening Night seem to have been rectified. For one, the speakers above the seats were working. They didn't sound especially great (there was some sort of crackle that I tend to associate with a speaker that's been blown out), but at least I could hear the announcements and ambient Ballpark Music they play.

El Guapo reported back to me that there are TVs at the concessions in the Promenade Food court behind home plate. He says they're small, and so there's a very good chance that I missed seeing them on Opening Night. One other thing we noticed is that there were little to no lines there, which is great. I think most people were walking around and getting food at other places. The stadium seemed about half full most of the night, but there were definitely a lot of people who came and walked around rather than sit in their seats and watch the game. That's probably why there was such a lack of lines in the Promenade. I'm not complaining.

The egress problem was better last night as well, though I think that was more a side effect of the Mets being behind and people leaving early. We managed to get out of the stadium pretty quickly down the staircase that's right behind our section. Little to no lines in the men's room once again, which is always nice.

Afterwards, I mused to El Guapo that once the novelty wears off, and it's just people going to the stadium to watch the game, it's going to be pretty good. Those normal, dopey, Tuesday night games with 25,000 people are going to be great, particularly since we're now watching the game in a nice, modern, comfortable ballpark.

Then, came the ride home.

El Guapo, who lives in Brooklyn, and I always take the 7 Express back, without much debate. We ride in the rear car of the train (a little-known fact that you can always get a seat in the rear car). The game ended at 10:25 and he got off at 45th Road and I continued on to Grand Central. I was on pace to be home at around 11:10, until, mysteriously, the train stopped in the tunnel just after passing Vernon/Jackson. And it sat there. There was an announcement of "Train traffic ahead of us." But we continued to sit. And it got to be 11:10. Then 11:15. This was getting ridiculous. People in the car were getting restless. 11:25. Still nothing. All of a sudden, we see someone walking down the tunnel with a flashlight. He walked up to the train and climbed on. We asked him what was going on, but he wasn't very descriptive or helpful. It got to 11:35. People were getting frustrated. Finally, the train started moving, slowly, and kept starting and stopping before finally getting into Grand Central. I don't know what, exactly, the problem was and nobody would say. I have a feeling there was a train stuck ahead of mine, but nonetheless, tacking an un-necessary half hour onto the trip home after an already miserable game wasn't exactly the perfect capper to the evening.

If there's something to take away from this, I suppose it's that you can't blame the Mets for the MTA's problems.

A Stop With No Name

This story came out a couple of weeks ago. How I missed it is beyond me. I must have been in La-La Land or something, because I'd been waiting for some sort of news on the matter, and it happened, and I just plain blew it. That's a bad job by me.

Last offseason, I'd written a bit about the transformation of the 7 train station at Shea Stadium, and how the overpass that we'd been so used to walking over had been torn down to make room for the Citi Field construction. In its place was a staircase, which I felt took away from that great, grand entrance one would have to Shea. So be it. This offseason, I was wondering when the switchover would take place from the station being called "Willets Point - Shea Stadium" to "Willets Point - Citi Field."

As it turns out, that switch took place rather quietly and didn't turn out quite the way anyone expected. This story, from the March 11th NY Times, talks about how, although the MTA had procured some public funding for infrastructure and renovations to the station and the Passerrelle bridge to the LIRR station, it didn't actually involve any money for changing the name to Citi Field. Since the Mets were receiving what has become some ill-gotten funds for the stadium naming rights, the MTA apparently felt entitled to some funds for the subway station name as well. Understandable, though for other reasons I feel the MTA deserves to be boiled in oil. Why give Citi more free advertising that they don't deserve? It was only fair, after some $40 million was spent to improve what was a rather dreary station, that the MTA get their piece of the corporate naming rights pie.

The Mets, however, declined to offer any money to the MTA for the station name.

Thusly, as I discovered while looking at the weekly photo blog from citi_field on Webshots, the station is now rather ambiguously called the "Mets/Willets Point" station. It's even reflected as such on the MTA Website and on the latest Subway map. Any mention of the stadium is gone. Instead, signs just say "Mets Baseball," and the like.

I'm still not sure how I missed this completely. It's been mentioned on a few other blogs, both about the Mets and about the Subway system. The Mets Police, for one, seems to agree with the sterility of the new station name. They suggest taking it a step further: If they were going to charge to have Citi's name on the station, why not charge the Mets for the use of their name? By that logic, the stop may as well just be called plain old "Willets Point Blvd." or "126th Street." Why not, as suggested by a commenter on the QueensCrap Blog, remove any connotation to Baseball altogether and call it "Willets Point - USTA Tennis Center."

Still, though, I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of improvements they've made to the stop. The staircase did, for the most part, improve postgame egress to some degree, though things always seemed to get unnecessarily clogged up when 50,000 people were showing up to a game. Then again, since a sellout now comprises only 42,000 people, and with the William A. Shea Memorial Parking Lot set to open to the public, maybe those postgame rides on (what I sincerely hope still exists) the 7 Express back into Manhattan will be a quieter affair this coming season.

We'll see. All I need are my tickets. Have any plan holders out there received theirs yet? That's another story, for another time.

Stadium is Citi Field, but the Subway Stop has other ideas [New York Times]

Midnight Angel

Some time after last night's game, as I was heading up the escalator at Grand Central, I thought to myself, "Maybe this is a different team."

For all the world, this looked like another game the Mets were destined to lose to Philadelphia. After a solid, if uneven, 6+ innings from John Maine, the bullpen—rather, Aaron Heilman—turned around and handed the lead right back. I wasn't even sure why Heilman remained in the game after allowing Howard to basically hit the ball into Citi Field, and walking Burrell on 5 pitches. I know pitchers go through rough spots, but this has been ridiculous. He hasn't held games when the Mets were behind, and tonight, he just blew the lead, and blew the game for Maine. And there I was, when he came into the game, thinking to myself, "Gee, this has been a relatively drama-free game so far." 4 batters later, 2 runs home, Philly fans getting rowdy, and all I can do is shake my head.

And with the Mets still struggling to plate runs and get key hits, and with a tie game heading into extra innings in the hands of the Mets bullpen, Neither I, nor any of the Mets fans sitting around me at the game, felt all that confident about the Mets chances.

But something funny happened. The Mets didn't blow it.

In the 10th, Joe Smith walked Geoff Jenkins, and looked bad in doing so. But he got Feliz to pop to Beltran, and Coste lined to Delgado.

In the 11th, Smith opened by allowing about 100' worth of singles to Jayson Werth (Spiezio from the right side) and Cole Hamels, two plays where it was the Mets poor luck rearing its ugly head. But Smith managed to get Bruntlett to foul off a bunt attempt with 2 strikes. Smith departed, and we all held our heads. Entering the game, Scott Schoeneweis, to face Utley and Howard.

We were apoplectic. A row of 5 Philly fans sitting directly in front of me (why this always seems to happen to me, I have no idea) were on their feet. Schoeneweis quickly ran the count to 2-0 on Utley, and I figured this would be the perfect time for the Mets to pack up their tents. Here comes the fastball on the outer half of the plate, and here comes the 3-run HR.

But it didn't happen. Utley fouled off a few pitches, before smacking liner right at Easley, who turned an easy 4-6-3 DP. Amazing.

I turned to a few fans behind me and asked, "Did I just die?"

In the 12th, Schoeneweis was a Damion Easley error away from a 1-2-3 inning, before departing to cheers. Cheers! Loud cheers for Schoeneweis. Even I cheered Schoeneweis. And he deserved it, too. Sosa came in, threw one pitch for the 3rd out, and it was back to the grind for the Mets, who at that point hadn't managed a hit since Reyes beat out a grounder to short in the 8th.

With Schneider, Brady Clark and Reyes due up, I didn't feel inclined to think that would change. Especially with Reyes sure to be swinging for the fences. That's exactly what he was doing, and for some reason, he'd been doing that most of the night, as evidenced by 3 fly ball outs and a strikeout in the 10th. But this time, Reyes got a pitch from Tom Gordon that he could handle, and promptly smoked it off the wall for a double. A sign of life!

Angel Pagan has been one of the few Mets who has actually shown a sign of life at the plate on a consistent basis. I'm not sure what, exactly to say about that, but he's been in the middle of everything, carrying his great Spring into April, and earning himself more playing time at that. Pagan cashed in with 3 hits last night, including the Game Winner, a comebacker that snuck through the infield, sending Reyes home and crashing into Chris Coste just ahead of the tag (Just ahead? Just barely. I was among a few fans who stuck around to watch the replay after the game. Another fan thought he was out. I said, "Well, he very well might have been out, but he was safe, so does it matter?") and somehow, someway, the Mets won this game. A game that they had blown, and probably could have lost about 30 different ways before it was over.

A game that, last year, they would have lost. Maybe the breaks are indeed turning for the Mets. This is now two games in a row that they've won against Philadelphia because Philadelphia has shown themselves to be just as vulnerable as the Mets. They could make the argument that the Mets have beaten Philly without Jimmy Rollins, sure. But the Mets are playing without Moises Alou, who only hit .340 last season. Alou wasn't the MVP last year, but .340 is .340. Rollins' replacement, Eric Bruntlett, made 2 errors on Wednesday night, and last night managed to go 0-for 6. Alou's replacement drove in the winning run. It's a cliché (at least I think it's a cliché), but You make the best with the pieces you can put out there each day.

Towels and Trains...
Last night was Rally Towel night, in which we were all handed these cute little hand towels before the game. Even the Philly fans got them, which really bothered me when they started waving them in our faces after Philly tied the score. Then again, they handed out these things almost every game down the stretch last year. But I digress. It seemed like it took a while for the Mets fans to get used to them. In the first few innings, hardly anyone was waving them. By the 6th inning, most of the crowd was twirling them, and at the end of the game, just about everyone who remained was spinning their towels as they walked down the ramps.

There were moments where they prompted us to wave our towels, showing a clip of Mets fans at a packed Shea waving towels, and a sign that read, "Rally Time."

The last time the Mets handed out towels was Game 7 of the NLCS 2 years ago. That was the video clip they were showing. I don't know if anyone else picked that up, but I was a little disturbed by it.

On a much cheerier note, the Postgame 7 Express service is indeed back. In fact, the MTA ran a special Nostalgia Train to Shea on Tuesday morning before the game, replete with the David Wright wax statue from Madame Tussaud's to hype this up. I've made no secret about the fact that I'm a subway fan. I wish I'd known about it. Apparently they were handing out Shea Stadium Metrocards. Did anybody ride out on this train on Tuesday?

At any rate, the Express service back into Manhattan after the games is indeed back in full force, and in fact, it's probably better this year than it has been. Rather than making all the Express stops on the way, the Express only stops at Woodside, Queensboro Plaza, and then Grand Central, skipping Junction Blvd, 45th Rd, Hunterspoint Ave & Vernon-Jackson. A 7-stop ride for me has now been cut to a 3-stop ride, and despite the fact that the game last night ended at 11:08, and I probably wasn't on the train until 11:20, I walked in the door at 11:50pm last night. Now, we're talking.

The Express service is even running after weekend games, too, which is a first for service on the 7 line altogether. If you're like me, and you really rued the long ride back after the game, well, the MTA listened to us.

But Where Do We Go?

In November, I had read a post on Loge 13, assisted by photos from NYMDan at Mets Refugees, about the tearing down of the ramp from the 7 Train stop at Shea. I have to admit that it was rather shocking, considering not only the heavy foot traffic it had seen over the past years, but the tradition of the ramp itself. But there it was, gone, nothing left but a heap of scrap metal. That's kind of a shame. I didn't even know that my last trip over it following the last game of '07 would be my last trip over the ramp. My last trip was, needless to say, an angry, indignant stomp, rather than a victory march.

More recently, I had seen photos from NYMDan of the Walk-Up ticket booth by Gate E, a familiar meeting spot, no doubt, with its trees and benches and Newsday booth. That's pretty much gone, too. The benches and trees pulled up, the area now barren.

But it was the absence of that ramp that was digging at me. I wrote, last Opening Day, about how the crowd crush on the ramp was ridiculous. But, still, it was the best way out of Shea, and directly onto the subway platform. The crush had gotten better once the MTA had figured out the proper traffic flow, moved the turnstiles and put Express service into Manhattan after games. Then, they tore down the ramp! I was puzzled as to why they would do that now, as opposed to re-building it altogether after the 2008 season. Were we, then, supposed to cram ourselves by the dozen into the puny little sidewalk entrance onto Roosevelt Avenue?

The answer was, of course, no.

Here, again courtesy of NYMDan and Mets Refugees, we see that they are, indeed, building a new ramp from the platform to the street. But there is one thing that concerns me. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who is concerned. As of March 15th, this ramp is still pretty skeletal. Opening Day is April 8th. Less than a month away. Now, I'm not 100% sure who's in charge here, whether it's the Mets, or the MTA, as far as the ramp is concerned. It's safe to say that I'm a staunch advocate of re-designing the station altogether, and perhaps adding a second, more convenient exit to ease the bottlenecking that goes on. But they seem to only be replacing this one ramp, and at the rate they seem to be going, it might not be there by the time people start showing up. I can only imagine that I'll be sauntering into the Shea stop at 10:30AM on April 8th and stepping in wet concrete. That's if I don't walk out the door and fall directly onto Roosevelt Avenue. Hopefully, they'll work this all out. Hopefully, the ramp will be designed with a better traffic flow in mind. We'll see how this works out. I'm skeptical.

To Ride, or Not To Ride. That is the Question.

vs.

On a night at Shea where the only redeeming features gained from the night's affair were the Endy Chavez Bobblehead, and the tons of free Korean junk piled on us in celebration of Korean Night at Shea (El Guapo was particularly fond of the Shrimp Fries, I came away with a ton of Post-it Notes and Flags courtesy of Nong Shim America), an interesting predicament came about as we departed the stadium and set off for home.

Express or Local?

After my post yesterday, lauding the MTA for finally adding Express service back into Manhattan following games, we were both excited by the prospect of a quick trip home, for me, back to Ballclub HQ, Manhattan, for The Guap, Ballclub HQ, Brooklyn. We expected some crowds, since, of course, the thrill of Bobbleheads and salty snack food would bring out anyone, and 51,305 were indeed at the Stadium. So, after the game, we headed out, through the crowds, over the ramp, and proceeded to the entrance to the Express Platform.

(For those unfamiliar with the configuration of the Shea Stadium Subway station, I direct you here, to David Pirmann's fine site, NYCSubway.org)

We were greeted by an endless mass of people, standing, waiting, clamoring to get up to the turnstyles. Not a soul was moving.

El Guapo looks at me, and poses a most interesting theory.

"You know, this could work out in a backwards fashion," he says, "The Express will be crowded and unbearable, but the Local is probably going to be empty. It's a question of speed vs. comfort."

Being that it was a Friday night, and being that we both preferred to sit on an empty train, that may have been a bit slower, rather than be jammed into a faster train, we opted instead for the Local. After all that wait, and all the Hullabaloo over the Express, we were still on the Local.

And it turned out to be the best call of the night.

Arriving on the Local platform, we saw a mostly empty Express train pulling out of the station. Mostly empty, most likely because the mosh pit forming outside the fare control was where the crowds were. Another Express rolled in, and sat in the station, doors ajar, as the masses slowly tricked up the stairs and onto the platform.

Meanwhile, a Local pulled in. With very few people standing around waiting to get on it, we happily boarded a relatively empty car, sat, and pulled away, speeding towards Manhattan, without ever seeing that forlorn Express zooming past us.

I do wonder what happened to the masses at the turnstyles. How could it get so jammed up like that? Did they ever get out? Did they get through before the Express stopped running? Will these kinks get worked out? How many people will come up into the Station, see the mass and ask themselves the same question we did?

Is it really worth all that trouble?

Hello Goodbye

The Mets Midseason Makeover continued late Thursday afternoon when, mercifully, Julio Franco was Designated for Assignment and Lastings Milledge was recalled. I'll admit I was a little surprised by the move, but I can't imagine anyone was especially upset by it, especially given that the only true outfielders existing on the Mets roster were Beltran, Green and Ricky Ledee (and I wasn't looking forward to seeing David Newhan in left).

It was a half-Ballclub appearance at Shea last night, for Milledge's return, a taut, albeit rather unexciting, 3-2 win against a miserable Cincinnati Reds team led by wiry righthander Bronson "Don't call me Brandon" Arroyo and a melange of relief pitchers you've never heard of (Marcus McBeth? Jon Coutlangus? Jared Burton? I half expected them to trot Josias Manzanillo in). Yes, we were treated to a bit of history with Reyes and Gotay kicking things off with back-to-back HRs (and the first time in 46 seasons that the Mets have had leadoff Back-to-back HRs), but it was Milledge who provided the thrill of the night. After he was robbed by Encarnacion after scorching a liner to 3rd in his first AB, Milledge led off the 5th with another frozen rope to right for his first hit of the season. He nearly got picked off by Arroyo, but after El Duque tried to throw his bat at the ball on a sacrifice attempt and Reyes flied to left, Milledge was still on first, but running as Gotay hit a sinking liner to center. Ryan Freel (Gin blossom drunk) dove for the ball, but only trapped it, then rolled over it, although to anyone watching, you couldn't tell whether or not he'd caught the ball until he'd fully tumbled. But it didn't matter. Milledge was running full bore, around third, as Freel uncorked a rather wimpy throw home that seemed to arrive just in time, but Milledge just snuck his hand around David Ross (and his .194 BA)'s tag, scoring what would be the winning run of the game.

Instant impact and a spark. Sometimes it's the little changes that make the difference. And a hell of a lot better than showing up for Ricky Ledee in left.

Other notes: Mike Stanton (affectionately referred to as "Dumpty" by a Yankee fan College colleague of El Guapo and myself, a companion to Jeff Nelson's "Humpty," the Yankee bullpen combo of a bygone era) entered into the game in the 8th, and was neither accompanied by his reactionary right-wing country music nor a giant American flag on the scoreboard, nor was he announced into the game by PA man Alex Anthony. Perhaps because of the warm reception he would undoubtedly have received. Most people didn't seem to realize he was in the game, perhaps because outside of him and Weathers, you wouldn't have any idea who any of the Reds relievers were.

Of larger importance, mostly to us Subway riding Mets fans living in Western Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan, we all have reason to rejoyce! Finally, FINALLY, the MTA has relented to the complaints of riders and added Express service to Manhattan on the 7 train after the game. This is wonderful, ground-breaking news that deserves special mention and mild celebration. Yes, it is only for one hour after the game, and yes, it will be crowded. But it is a 15 minute ride from Grand Central to Shea, and I am looking forward to my ride home on the Subway of Mirth to be much shorter from here on out.

Now, will this continue once Citi Field opens? This, we shall see...