On Monday, we woke up to overcast skies and a forecast of rain. While a little liquid sunshine doesn’t stop us, the forecast also included thunderstorms. I’m not fond of thunderstorms. (Just ask Stewy and Jasper!) More importantly, baseball players don’t play during thunderstorms. We started to wonder whether Citi Field would be “the stadium” that we needed to fly out to see after we got home from our trip to make our 30.
A Side Visit to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty
The Mets game against the Chicago Cubs had a scheduled start of 7:10 p.m., which gave us some time to see something other than a baseball park in New York City! When we finished the schedule in April, I booked tickets for the three of us to visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Between 1892 and 1954, 12 million immigrants passed through the building on Ellis Island seeking a new life in the United States. Among them was my great grandfather, Arthur James Seeney, who arrived from England in 1906.
After looking up his immigration records in the Ellis Island archives, we took a second ferry ride to Liberty Island and climbed 354 increasingly narrow steps up to the crown. Brad remembers having visited the Statue of Liberty as a child, and thought it was once possible to get to the torch. The park ranger said it hasn’t been accessible to the public in over 100 years, as the route is a ladder with 42 rungs straight up!
Our First Rain Delay
While we used mass transit to get to Yankee Stadium, Citi Field appeared to have more parking options so we decided to drive. Given the course of events for the game, this turned out to be a good call!
The forecast of rain delivered. It sprinkled on and off for the first five innings or so, then started to rain in earnest. The teams finished the sixth inning before calling a rain delay and covering up the diamond.
Baseball teams do play in the rain. (After all, we have baseball in the Pacific Northwest!) However, if it rains too hard, the ball gets too slippery for the pitcher to throw. The field also becomes too muddy and it becomes too dangerous.
We saw the head of the grounds crew review a phone or tablet with the umpires routinely. While the umpires are the ones who call rain delays, the grounds crew typically weighs in on the decision.
After the bottom of the sixth, the crew chief for the umpires appeared on the big screen to announce a rain delay. The ground crew hastily rolled out the cover for the field.
Most fans packed up their gear and headed for the concourses to keep dry. We sat in our seats for a while, then moved up into seats under shelter.
Rain Delay Rules
When a rain delay is called, it lasts for a minimum of 30 minutes before a decision is made about whether to resume or call the game. When a game is called, it will either be finished at a later date.
If the game has not reached the fifth inning when the game is called, it will be resumed at a later date. However, if the game is in the fifth and the home team is ahead, the game will be considered complete and the win will be awarded to the home team. If five or more innings have been completed and the game is called, the game will be considered complete and will not resume at a later date. Whoever has the most runs will be the winner.
However, the umpires aren’t usually in any hurry to call a game. And so we waited. And waited.
A Recap of the Game: Three Home Runs for Housing!
Home Runs for Housing got its first home run from Mets player Pete Alonso in the bottom of the first, giving the Mets a solid 3 – 0 lead over the Cubs. Two innings later, Alonso gave us our second home run, and the score was 5 – 1. The Cubs Kellinger #8 hit a gorgeous triple, only to slide past third base and get tagged out by the third baseman.
At this point, the chief umpire called a rain delay. After about two hours, they announced that the game would resume at 11:15 p.m.!
After the rain delay, Mets player Danny Mendick hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, bringing the score to 10 to 2 for the Mets. This was the last home run of the game. Thanks to our generous donors and 26 home runs over the course of this trip, we have now generated $16,071 for Wellspring Family Services’ Employee Stability Program!
At the end of the game, the Mets won 11 to 2 over the Chicago Cubs.
Our Impressions of Citi Field
In general, we liked Citi Field. It was clean and easy to navigate, and there was ample parking. They have a nice Hall of Fame and a beautiful plaza dedicated to Jackie Robinson.
Our Seats: Our seats were in Section 126, Row E, Seats 12, 13, and 14. The seats were excellent! After the rain delay, we moved closer to home plate. By that time, there were only about 300 fans left in the stadium, so there were lots of choices!!
The Food: Brad and I both thoroughly enjoyed the New York Deli Pastrami Sandwich. Ryan got hungry late in the game and had a late-night Shake Shack Burger and vanilla shake. That turned out to be wise, as we were at the stadium until well after midnight!
Non-Alcoholic Beer Review: Citi Field was the first stadium we have been to that had a choice of non-alcoholic beers! They offered Sam Adams Just the Haze Non-Alcoholic IPA, which was slightly sweet and very flavorful. In addition, they had Heineken 0.0%, which is one of my summertime favorites. It’s a light beer that tastes very much like the alcoholic version. Of the two, I preferred the Sam Adams.
Up Next:
Tomorrow, we’ll see the Kansas City Royals (again!) against the Boston Red Sox at the historic Fenway Stadium!
