The first ballpark visit of the new season is always an intense sensory experience.

I hit my first game Wednesday night at the ballpark on Willets Point for Mets/Padres. The encased sausages cooking on hot, flat metal grills at food stations on the main concourse were kicking up smoke. The fragrance hit my nostrils going up the escalator in the Robinson rotunda. The field looked great. The red, white and blue decorative bunting that had been hung for the season opener two days earlier was still flapping on the overhangs.

It was cold so only a few hundred were on hand for batting practice.

Why San Diego is playing in New York rather than the other way around during the first week of April is a question only MLB schedule-makers can answer. I’m not one to moan about the cold at any outdoor event but the conditions appeared to cause discomfort for some of those not dressed properly. Wind gusts during the first hour of the game were recorded at up to 37 mph. The first pitch temperature was 44 degrees but it dropped into the 30’s as the night went on. The official weather station at LGA across the bay put wind chills in the upper twenties.

I bought a $12 ticket at the day-of-game window. After BP, I had the flounder sandwich at Pasternack’s seafood stand beyond right field. The 2013 edition of the flounder sandwich has a little something extra this year. I’m not sure what it was but it was excellent. Maybe extra zing in the tartar sauce?

Matt Harvey (pictured above) started for the Mets and immediately dialed up heat. He hit 99 on the gun in the first inning. He struck out four of the first six Padre batters and didn’t appear the least bit phased by the cold.

Now in his first full major league season, the 24-year-old Harvey is expected to be a special starting pitcher for an organization that appears to be on the verge of assembling a contender. Harvey works quickly and has an unusually compact delivery. His velocity comes as a surprise given the ordinary appearance of his motion. Harvey credits a daily throwing regimen for maintaining arm strength. He says he never ices his arm.

It appears Mets skipper Terry Collins will not be overly cautious with Harvey on innings restrictions or pitch counts. After an unusually long bottom half of the fifth inning, Collins sent Harvey out for the top of the sixth despite the fact his young pitcher had an eight-nil lead and a decision all but in the bag. It was a situation I thought for sure would lead to Harvey’s removal, yet there he was for two more innings of easy dominance. In his final inning of work, Harvey struck out the first two batters, walked Quentin and then retired the clean-up batter on a fly-out. He finished with ten strikeouts, one hit allowed and two walks. He didn’t pump a fist or tip his cap. Harvey only shook off catcher John Buck a couple times the whole outing. He appears way more mature on the mound than a guy in his second year in the bigs.

Harvey lives in the East Village and is the kind of guy who will become a very popular Met player if he continues performing as he has since getting the call-up last July. His starts at home will sell tickets.

Two run homers by Duda, Buck and Davis were aided from the wind gusts pushing toward right field. Only Buck’s shot needed any help. Duda’s homer landed in the porch and Ike’s blast reached the Shea Bridge. The web site hittrackeronline.com says Ike’s homer traveled 425 feet.

The final was 8-4 Mets.

David Wright is back at the hot corner after what you’d have to say was a nice couple of months off. Named the team’s captain in spring training, Wright enters his tenth season as a Met. The seven-year, $122 mil extension he signed last November means he’ll be asked to continue being the face of the franchise. Much like the Captain on the other side of town, Wright takes the role seriously and never seems to get in any kind of trouble. As you may have heard, Mr. Wright has found Mrs. Wright. David says he’s engaged and will marry model Molly Beers sometime in the next year.

Speaking of Beers, Bud tall boys were sold at ballpark stands for $8.25. They just hand you the can and let you walk around with it without pouring it into a cup. This is new. In recent years, they’d sell you the aluminum bottle. Or sell you beer poured into a cup. This year, it’s the tall-boy can. I’m good with that. The price is too high but what are you gonna do?

The crowd was announced at 22,239. Actual fannies in the seats were probably no more than 15-thousand. Despite all the empty seats, the crowd was loud.