New York Mets: Five of the best moments at Citi Field so far

The New York Mets spent forty-five seasons playing at Shea Stadium. They then moved to Citi Field in 2009 where new memories began.

Citi Field has been the home of the New York Mets since 2009 where we have seen many memories; some bad and some good. Whatever it is though Citi Field is a second home to all the Amazin’ faithful and we couldn’t be happier to be a part of these memories.

Some moments mean much more than others whether it is a postseason game, a walk-off win, or even a spectacular pitching performance. Here are just a few moments at Citi Field to start things off!

We can’t forget about the first-ever regular-season game at Citi back on April 13th, 2009 where the Mets faced the San Diego Padres. The Mets found themselves trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth with two runners on where David Wright came to plate. We all remember Wright crushing a three-run home run to tie the game and we loved nothing more than the first Mets home run at the new ballpark than to be off the bat of David Wright.

Another one we can’t leave out was Friday, April 19th, 2009 where the Mets faced the Nationals and it was a Matt Harvey vs Stephen Strasburg in a battle of the young aces. Harvey outdueled Strasburg and then rained down the “Harvey’s better” chants throughout Citi Field.

How can we not mention the Asdrubal Cabrera walk-off home run on September 22nd, 2016 to give the Mets a huge come from behind victory over the rival Philadelphia Phillies late in a season where the Mets clinched a wild card berth.

Yes I know we may have left some moments out and I’m not saying they were not huge parts of the Mets at Citi Field but let’s look into some of the even better moments than Citi Field has blessed us with.

When Johan became No-han

June 1st, 2012 a day no Mets fan will ever forget. Johan Santana was on the mound on a Friday night against the St. Louis Cardinals where former Met Carlos Beltran was back in town. Santana was coming off an injury where he was kept out all of the 2011 MLB season and was making his eleventh start since return.

Johan was dealing from the moment the game started and as the game went on you just got that feeling of something amazing was going to happen whether you were there, watching on TV, or listening on the radio.

Every no-hitter or perfect game always has one key play late in the game; it’s not a rule it’s just simply how it is. The unsung hero in this game was not David Wright, Daniel Murphy, or Ike Davis the player that helped preserve the potential no-hitter was none other than Mike Baxter.

With one out in the seventh inning up came Yadier Molina, which we all know has been there to ruin good things for the Mets in the past. Molina lined a deep shot to left field and Mike Baxter tracks it down to make a spectacular grab to save the no-hitter.

Unfortunately, Baxter’s momentum took him crashing into the wall in left field where he would leave the game with a bruised left shoulder. That crash subsequently put Baxter on the disabled list but even in his mind, it had to be worth it.

On to the final inning, the Mets had an 8-0 lead on the Cardinals. The game was all but over but one factor was left. Can Johan Santana make history?

Just one out away and up came David Freese who has been clutch for the Cardinals in the past and Johan Santana got behind in the count three balls, no strikes. He then locked in with two straight strikes to take the count to a full count. I think we can remember the famous Gary Cohen call on the following pitch:
“He struck him out! It has happened! In their 51st season, Johan Santana has thrown the first no-hitter in New York Mets history.”

The players stormed the field to mob Santana on the pitchers’ mound and Citi Field was rocking. It took 134 pitches but Johan Santana did what no Met was ever able to accomplish throughout the whole franchise.

2015 World Series Game 3

It was the first World Series appearance for the Mets since 2000 and the first-ever World Series game at Citi Field. If there were any tickets available they were standing room only but even if you had a seat you were not sitting during this game.

The 2015 Mets had a wild run to just get into the playoffs and it was so much fun to watch. Starting with the lows of the Wilmer Flores trade that went wrong, to blowing a 7-2 lead in the ninth inning the following day against the Padres.

With everything looking like he Mets were going to fall through again at making the playoffs all those lows turned to highs. It started with the call-up of the anticipated minor league player, Michael Conforto, and then a huge trade that landed the Mets Yoesnis Cespedes. These moves plus a few stand-out players ran the Mets straight to the World Series where they faced off against the Kansas City Royals.

The Royals took games one and two but now the series shifted over to Citi Field. The place was buzzing and fans were excited for Noah Syndergaard to be on the mound to try and keep the Mets in the series.

From the very first pitch, this game was everything for Mets fans. The Royals lead-off hitter was Alcides Escobar who is known for loving to swing first pitch and get on base, so Syndergaard had his own gameplan for Escobar. Syndergaard started the night off with a fastball thrown high and inside near the head of Escobar to brush him off the plate. The Royals bench took exception to that and had words for Syndergaard.

When asked about what he thought about the Royals players reaction to his pitch here is what Syndergaard said to reporters after the game:

“I mean, I certainly wasn’t trying to hit the guy, that’s for sure. I just didn’t want him getting too comfortable. If they have a problem with me throwing inside, then they can meet me 60 feet, six inches away. I’ve got no problem with that.”

Syndergaard went on to fan Escobar on the very next three pitches therefore that little brush off seemed to affect Escobar’s approach at the plate. The Royals were able to squeeze one run out though in the first inning to give them an early lead.

The very next half-inning the fireworks continued for the Mets. Trailing 1-0 with a man on up came the captain David Wright. With everything that Wright has been through with this franchise, everyone knew how badly he deserved a world series. So in his first at-bat, he delivered on a monster two-run home run to give the Mets the lead.

It might have been one of the loudest moments in Citi Field history when that ball left the bat of Wright. The Mets gave up two more runs in the second but after that, it was all Mets from thereon out.

Curtis Granderson homered to give the Mets the lead back, Wright got another two-RBI single late in the game along with a few more run-scoring hits and the Mets went on to win 9-3 and stay alive in the series.

Now we all know the Mets lost the series and they blew three of those games but game 3 was just so electric for fans. From the opening pitch to the final out the stadium was rocking with fans screaming and cheering and was just a special moment for all Mets fans around the world.

From tears to cheers

Back during the postseason push in 2015 for the Mets they had an interesting few days by the trade deadline. As the deadline was approaching there were rumors out that the Mets were looking to make a deal to make a late push to the postseason.

On July 29th, 2015 the Mets were playing the San Diego Padres and reports came out mid-game that a deal was in place for the Mets to bring in Carlos Gomez from the Brewers and one of the pieces to be moved was Wilmer Flores.

What was weird about this was after all the reports came out Flores was still in the game where he came to bat in the seventh and the fans gave him a standing ovation. The ovation carried out to the field where cameras caught Flores crying at shortstop as he found out pretty much that he was going to be moved.

The tears came because this was a team Flores came up with when he was just sixteen years old and it finally hit him. Now what came to follow was not the norm. Apparently, the trade fell through due to concerns over Carlos Gomez’s hip and the media was jumping on it. Mets manager Terry Collins was not happy about it postgame where he let it out to reporters:
“You guys think this game is easy to play? Play it with s— like that going on in the background.”

So with Flores still on the Mets roster two days later the Mets came into a three-game series against the Nationals who they trailed by three games in the NL East. Flores got things going with an RBI single in the second inning. The Nationals tied the game late in the eighth and this game headed to extras.

In extras, neither team scored in the tenth or the eleventh. Carlos Torres pitched a scoreless top of the twelfth to give the Mets another chance of a walk-off. Leading off was none other than, that’s right you guessed it, Wilmer Flores.

With a 1-1 count to Flores, the tears from Wednesday night quickly turned into Flushing cheers. Flores drilled a shot to deep left-center field for a walk-off home run to pull within two games of the division. Flores rounded third and grabbed his jersey by his chest and gave bumps pretty much saying hey this is where I want to be.

Yes, it was huge to pull within two games of the Nationals but for Flores, this was bigger than just that. As I said earlier he came into the system as a sixteen-year-old and the Mets is all he knew and that is where he wanted to be.

Matt Harvey’s All-Star Game

Citi Field was the home of the 2013 MLB All-Star Game. This marked the first time Citi Field held it as well as just the second time the Mets held it in franchise history with the first being in 1964 the inaugural Mets season of Shea Stadium.

What made this moment better than the game just being held at Citi Field was the Mets had two starters for the NL team. One being David Wright who was in his seventh all-star game and the other was Matt Harvey who got the nod to start the game in his home stadium.

The night began with hall-of-famer and the late-great Tom Seaver throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. When the game started out came Matt Harvey who was in his first full season at 24 years old and got the start after a stellar first half of the season where he went 7-2 with a 2.35 era.

Harvey showed why he deserved the start when he threw two scoreless innings giving up one hit and striking out three. This was big for Harvey as he was one of the upcoming names to potentially be a star when he came up and the world got to see what his potential could have been at the time.

It was only two innings but it was just a dominant two innings as he blew away each batter of his three strikeouts. The future was looking bright for the Mets and that rebuild might have fully been effect for the Amazin’s. In a postgame interview with SNY’s Chris Carlin here it what Harvey had to say about his first all-star appearance:
“It was incredible, obviously I’m in my home so I got to do my normal routine and kind of get ready but you know walking out there and throwing in the outfield and hearing my name getting chanted is something I’ll never forget and you know I’m very thankful for. This whole experience has been absolutely amazing.”

Unfortunately, the ending of Harvey’s Mets career was not what we expecting but this was definitely a special moment to have happened at Citi Field for Harvey and Mets fans.

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These were just some of the best moments that have already happened at Citi Field but with the new ownership coming in we are hoping to have many more moments in the near future here at Citi Field.