Category Archives: TSR

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the first Citi Field sellout of 2013

The first and probably last Met home game to sell out this season was delayed two hours by rain Wednesday night. The Mets lost to Arizona 5-3. Those wondering why this game in particular will be the lone sellout on the home schedule in 2013 may guess it was Matt Harvey’s assignment as Met starting pitcher that packed the place. That’s actually not the case.

Matt Harvey (Josh Satin in background) - July 3, 2013

It was fireworks night. Year in, year out, fireworks night is the most successful promotion on the Met calendar. Harvey has made 11 starts at home this season. His starts are good for an extra three to five thousand fans in the stands. Yet, somehow fireworks night on the eve of a national holiday seems to draw an extra 15 to 20 grand. Go figure. I was just glad to see the place packed for a change.

The game didn’t start until 9:01 PM because of two red-colored blobs on the radar (representing intense precip) that dropped heavy rain on the field from about 715 PM to 815 PM. The NWS data station at LaGuardia registered .96 inches of rain from the storm. The relative humidity topped out at an uncomfortable 88 percent during the 10 PM hour. The weather here has been tiresome. It’s been warm, sticky and smelly for two weeks running with no relief in sight.

I knew something was amiss when I looked for Harvey doing his fun-to-watch pre-game warmup routine in right field at about 6:50 PM. He was nowhere to be found. A few minutes later, the grounds crew put a oval-shaped cover on the mound before rolling out the big tarp over the diamond.

Those who made the call on when to cover the field appear to know what they’re doing. When the rain started to come down in buckets, fans filled the concourses and bought ten dollar beers. The Mets sold a lot of beer Wednesday night. Normally, in the name of security and safety, two extra hours of beer selling time on the front end means an earlier cut-off on the back end. This wasn’t the case Wednesday night. The Mets didn’t alter end-of-the-seventh-inning last call for alcohol which meant suds were pumping much later than usual.

Harvey didn’t have his best stuff. Blame it on the rain delay I guess.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this game was the call-up and performance of Tony Campana, the former Cubbie and survivor of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Tony Campana - Arizona Diamondbacks - 7-3-13

Flourishing this season at triple-A Reno until Wednesday night, Campana (pictured above) looked solid for the Snakes. He made a big throw from left-center to get Danny Murphy at second base on a line drive off the wall that should have been an easy double. Murphy’s out immediately preceded a David Wright homer making Campana’s play a big one. Campana also stole a base and drew a big walk in the seventh inning that kind of was the beginning of the end of Harvey’s night. I don’t see why Campana isn’t an everyday leadoff man somewhere in the major leagues. He appears to play the center field position well. Yeah, he’s a slap hitter but he has great speed and spirit.

Absent from Met games for about a decade, the mothballed team mascot Mrs. Met surprised the full house with an out-of-the-blue appearance. She mingled with fans between innings and acted affectionately towards Mr. Met who has had to go it alone for a long time.

David Wright - July 3, 2013

Because of the late start, the game didn’t end until 12:18 AM. The New York Times printed its latest Thursday edition without waiting for the final outcome.

I stuck around for the fireworks but walked out a few minutes after they started. I don’t know what the fuss is about. The Mets attempt to weave team history via the video board in between the oooh’s and aah’s of the booms and flashes. The action in the sky is way less intense or dense than your average suburban community’s fireworks display.

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More than three years after United and Continental Airlines announced a deal to merge the two entities into the world’s largest air carrier, airport employees at the combined company have finally started wearing a single uniform type to work.

Small labels inside the garments say “Made in Vietnam.” The uniforms (distributed by Cintas) formally debuted June 25, 2013. All but the pilot work group at the new, combined United now have harmonized uniform types. Ironically, the pilots are the only major employee group at United working under an amalgamated union contract. Pilots will roll out their new work duds later this year.

Despite working side by side for more than a year now, rank and file employees at airports across the domestic system have until now been differentiated by subsidiary (old United or old Continental) based on use of outdated uniforms. Old Continental employees stuck out especially because the now defunct name was prominently displayed on their shirts.

While there’s been some grumbling about the quality and fashion sensibility of the new uniforms, I believe it’s an important and long overdue pro-worker element of the integration. As silly as it may sound to people who have never been through a merger of this scope and complexity, easily identifiable differentiation by one’s previous affiliation adds an unnecessary layer of tension to a process already rife with fear and suspicion.

I’m glad to be wearing the new uniform. I’m happy the shirt I wear now says United rather than Continental. There is still a single union contract to be worked out before a true melding of two groups of workers from different companies can take place. But at least workers now are no longer overtly marked by their past. It seems to provide a fresher, healthier starting point for contact with co-workers who come in from other cities. It removes preconceptions.