Citi Field: Cardinals at Mets

After the U.S. Open it was time to drive to Queens for the New York Mets game versus the St. Louis Cardinals. Last season, I wrote that I went to Nationals Park to attend a game at every existing Major League Baseball ballpark. Once again, MLB opened up two more parks this season – Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. With the Mets playing on Monday night, my decision to day trip to New York City for the doubleheader – Monday regulation play at the U.S. Open and a game at Citi Field – was definitely more justified.

Obtaining Tickets
While driving back from the golf course, I called the ticket broker I had tried to buy my U.S. Open ticket from earlier in the day. I told him the ticket never made it to Will Call and he said he would need to do some research. “For $20 I am not going to worry too much,” he said. I followed up that comment by saying I would be attending the Mets game and if he wanted to get me a Mets ticket we would call it even and he would not need to refund me the $20. After a few phone calls back and forth, he had an electronic ticket for me. Since I did not have a printer I was not able to print it, but I told him to email it to my cousin (who was at work) and he would print it out. That plan worked and we had our first ticket for the evening.

Pre Game Dining
Patrick and I made it back to Queens and he suggested we eat at some of the Irish Pubs in Woodside. Driving to Woodside (57th St.) from Citi Field (126th St.) is not that close, but is on the way to Citi Field from Manhattan on the 7 train.

We found parking on the street and made our way to Donovan’s Pub (located on the corner of 57 St. and Roosevelt Ave.). Donovan’s Pub has a sign on their store front stating they have the #1 burger. However, it does not say the #1 burger of what. New York City, Queens, Woodside, the bar next door?

However, with that sign, I, of course, ordered the burger. The burger was good but I am not sure how good. However, I did discover that Burger of the Month (BOTM) rates Donovan’s burger as #2 in New York City.

Parking
After Donovan’s Pub, we drove back to Citi Field and paid $18 to park the car – relatively cheap compared to paying $23 to park at U.S. Cellular Field.

Obtaining Tickets Part 2
Patrick decided he would attend the Mets game with my cousin and I, so we needed to buy two tickets outside the stadium. We crossed the 7 train tracks through the subway station from the parking lot and found a few scalpers in front of the main entrance of Citi Field. The first guy we saw had a stack of tickets so we offered $10 each for $20 face value tickets. We agreed on $15 each ($5 less than the $20 I paid to the broker for the e-ticket).

Citi Field
Citi Field is a typical “new” ballpark – many amenities and tries to create a local atmosphere. We did not walk around the park as much as I would have liked because my cousin wanted to eat dinner at Shake Shack – a “roadside” burger stand that originated in Madison Square Park. Supposedly people wait in line over an hour and even up to two hours on weekends to have these burgers. We waited in line between 30 and 45 minutes (an eternity at a ballgame) but the burger was well worth it. I thought it was much better than Donovan’s Pub burger, but BOTM rated Shake Shack #29 on their list.

The Game
The Mets defeated the Cardinals 6-4 – not much else to say.