Reminiscing on Mets Opening Days in recent years

2011 – Brad Emaus will be our Kevin Youkilis!
Final Score: Nationals 6, Mets 2
Attendance: 41,075

Alright, maybe I was the only one who went that far with the projection. But I certainly wasn’t the only one excited for the Sandy Alderson Era to begin. Although I was a staunch Omar Minaya apologist–and proud of it–a new front office headlined by Alderson and Paul DePodesta was enough to get any stathead giddy. Better times were on the horizon…but in the interim, we were left with this…

The Lineup:

1. SS Jose Reyes
2. CF Angel Pagan
3. 3B David Wright
4. RF Carlos Beltran
5. 1B Ike Davis
6. LF Willie Harris
7. 2B Brad Emaus
8. C Josh Thole
9. P R.A. Dickey

Oh, seeing Willie Harris batting 6th reminds me, this was also Terry Collins’ Citi Field debut. If for some reason you’re trying to get pumped up about the 2011 Mets, try watching this incredibly awkward video:

As far as Citi Field openers go, this one was probably the most dull. Dickey walked 5 batters in 5 brutal innings, the bullpen walked 4 more on top of that, and Josh Thole atoned for his multi-hit performance by allowing a passed ball. The Mets rode a superb Jose Reyes to 77 wins in 2011, refusing to trade their superstar in hopes of squeezing out whatever ticket sales they could muster. The rebuild was off to a rocky start.