Before this season started, Steve Cohen issued a challenge to Mets fans: pack Citi Field every night. Even during their magical run in the last two months of the 2024 season, Citi Field often had more green seats visible than orange-and-blue-clad fans. But nearly halfway through this season, Mets fans have answered Cohen’s challenge—and then some.
I went to my first Mets game at Citi Field in two years last week. Living in Arizona now, I still catch the team every time they visit Chase Field, but there’s nothing like seeing your team at home. It was a Wednesday night in June. I got off the 7 train and was shocked at how crowded it was heading into the ballpark. This felt more like a Saturday crowd with a big giveaway, not some random weeknight game.
Once the game began, the energy from the fans never stopped. The Mets took the lead on a Pete Alonso double, David Peterson was rolling through the first three innings, and the crowd made it feel like a game in late September with a playoff berth on the line.
Juan Soto launched a home run. Brandon Nimmo hit two of his own. Between the light shows after each homer, the fans rocking the stadium, and the unique connection this team has with the city, it’s easy to see why the Mets have an MLB-best 27–10 record at Citi Field this season.
This night, though, belonged to David Peterson, who pitched the first complete game shutout of his career. By the eighth inning, fans had taken notice. They gave him a standing ovation as he headed back to the mound in the ninth. They chanted his name as he retired the first two Washington batters, and the entire ballpark rose to its feet as he got Andrés Chaparro to ground out to Brett Baty, completing his gem.
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| David Peterson finishes off his complete-game shutout |
The atmosphere at Citi Field this season matches the team on the field: fun, special, and full of the sense that anything is possible. There were 40,681 fans at the game, and everyone was riding each pitch like it was October. Citi Field has become the best home-field advantage in baseball, largely thanks to the fans, who have come out in droves to support one of the best teams in the league.
The vibe felt like one big party, a fun night out with 40,000 friends. Met fans have waited a long time for a team like this. As summer rolls on, there’s no question: the atmosphere around Citi Field will continue to be off the charts. The team generates excitement and feeds off the fans.
It reminds me of 2006. Shea Stadium was rocking every night. That team had so many iconic moments, very similar to what’s happening now at Citi Field over the last two and a half months.
How many memorable moments have we already seen this season? Lindor’s walk-off home run against the Cardinals, the three-game sweep of the Phillies in April, taking two out of three from the Dodgers on national TV, Peterson’s complete game shutout—and it’s only mid-June.
We got a taste of just how intimidating Citi Field can be in last year’s NLDS. That energy never faded. It’s been buzzing around the ballpark since the home opener. We can only hope this season ends with a parade in November. But for now, the fans are enjoying watching one of the best Mets teams in recent memory.
If you build it, they will come. Steve Cohen has built the Mets into a winner, and the fans can’t get enough of it.
Injuries and a June swoon threaten the happy feelings. Home field wins and losses vs. road have greatly improved in recent years. Prior to that,little home field advantage.
ReplyDeleteI think slightly shortened fences would help the Mets power hitters. If, however, Pete is not signed, maybe leaving the fences where is, as a pitchers park, may pay off when speedsters like Jett, Morabito, Benge, and Ewing bring small ball on base and stealing skills to Queens starting in 2026 and into 2027.
Wait a minute...
DeleteIs Tom...
No...
He's putting me on here
Bad timing from the Mets for this post to be published. Wrote it on Saturday, when the team was still rolling
DeleteSadly, I have never been to Citi
ReplyDeleteMoved out of NYC in 1980
Disabled since 1992
Did you get to at least drive by recently?
DeleteTom, do I sense a little movement? Check to see if it's an imposter...lol.
ReplyDeleteThe above comment listed under the name Tom Brennan is produce by a fake news perpetrator from a rival Mets blog, the name of which escapes me from the moment they came into existence
DeleteHa Ha! I haven’t changed, but I am always strategic.
ReplyDeleteIf the Mets are going to pass on Pete and move towards 1980s Cardinals style small ball with Jett, Morabito, Benge and Ewing, and Acuna in a utility role, fences at current dimensions would be more suited to their doubles/triples/speed games.
If Pete is kept, which I favor, shorter fences will be the Rx. As Lindor and Alonso and Nimmo get older, they’d end up with boosted offensive numbers and less fan dissatisfaction/blowback when they inevitably struggle more as they age
Pitchers without elite stuff do well with fences where there at.
ReplyDeleteBut hitters do better. Why should pitchers have the best ERA in baseball if…they are not the best?
DeleteSteve, it happens. Too often, over the years.
ReplyDeleteHow can we not sign Pete? We're maybe a .500 club w/o him. Time to dump Young and Alvy has to go down please!!!! Atlanta curse alive and well with last nights game a painful reminder.
ReplyDelete