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.
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.
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.
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.
