Surviving A Rain Delay At Citi Field

Going to last night's game at Citi Field, I was tempted to take my old toy broom, which I used to bring as a kid to games at Shea Stadium when the Mets were ready to sweep an opponent. Instead, I opted to take an umbrella, and I am glad I did.

The Mets ground crew quickly got the field covered when rain fell.

During the rain delay, there was an amazing spirit amongst the people waiting around in the ballpark. The way Citi Field is configured, there are plenty of refreshment areas and everyone was partaking in the bounty of hot dogs, pizzas, grilled sausages, and ice cream that is available. Another difference from old Shea is the quantity and quality of a variety of beers either on tap, in bottles, or in the can. Two hours is a long time to twiddle one's thumbs, but from what I observed many of the faithful were too busy holding cups to bother with that.

I am waiting for the game to start along with forty thousand other fans.

It is Fleet Week here in New York City with the impending Memorial Day holiday, and you could tell that all the big ships are in town because sailors were everywhere at the game last night. As lightning crackled across the sky and heavy winds blew, you could see that our Navy fellows were undetered by the adverse conditions. The regular fans were also not going to let the weather get them down. They came to see a sweep and some heavy rains were not going to get in the way of that.

After a two-hour rain delay, the game got underway at 9:05 with Mike Pelfrey's first pitch of the night. The damp weather didn't seem to bother Pelfrey (now 7-1), as he was on his game and pitched seven scoreless innings. The opposing pitcher Cole Hamels (5-3) matched him for the most part, but the lefty eventually broke down in the seventh and gave up two extra runs the Mets needed to close the deal.

I don't know what is more intriguing about this sweep of the Phillies: the fact that the Mets shut them out for 27 innings, or that the Mets finally seem to be able to get the big hits at the right times. If the pitching continues to be as good as it seemed to be this past week, and the hitters keep doing their thing, who knows what can happen? Hey, I know R.A. Dickey and Hisanori Takahashi are not Seaver and Koosman, but they looked pretty damn good to me.

The Mets are now 19-9 at home but 6-14 on the road. As they embark on this road trip, they need to be able to start winning some away games fast. Owning a 25-23 record, and having won five in a row and seven of their last ten games, the Mets are now only two games behind the Phillies in the National League East.

Ghosts of the old Mets seemed to hover above the field in the rain.

By the time the game ended last night at 11:53, I was pretty much ready for some sleep and not the long ride home from Citi Field. Although I was exhausted I was also glowing, because on that soggy night the ghosts of the old Mets seemed to hover above the field in the preternatural haze above the stadium. I could almost hear the voice of the late and great Tug McGraw saying, "You gotta believe!" And on this night, I started to think anything was possible again for my beloved Amazing Mets.