Mets Memories Meet Citi Field: An Opening Weekend Game
New York Mets
Specifics:
Citi Field
St. Louis Cardinals vs New York Mets
Date of Game: Saturday, March 31, 2018
Time of Game: 1:10 PM EST
Final score: Cardinals-2, Mets-6
Section First Data Gold, Row 3, Seat 5
Memories
As a local New Yorker, I grew up watching both the Mets and the Yankees. Although being from Queens, attending games at Shea Stadium was easier. By the time I was a teenager, I favored the NY Mets over the NY Yankees. For some reason I just found watching the National League games easier to understand. Plus, many of my high school and college friends grew up watching the Mets so we had more to talk about if I followed the same team. I have fond memories of listening to the Mets game on the radio at a friend’s house. I even referred to the cheers heard round the neighborhood during the 1986 world series, when writing an essay for college. The NY Mets are interwoven into my memories of when I was a teenager and through my thirties. Once Shea Stadium closed in 2008, my relationship with the Mets dwindled. It wasn’t until 2018 that I visited Citi Field.
My partner bought tickets to the March 2018 game as I wanted to go for my birthday. For us, driving to Citi Field would be more practical than using public transportation. Even though the stadium is a little more than 20 miles away, New York traffic can be predictably unpredictable. The car ride could possibly be an hour or more.
The Day of
Even though the game started a little at 1:10PM, we left around 11:00 in the morning. As this was my first visit to Citi Field, I wanted to have time to take in the atmosphere and look at things around the stadium. Since it was opening weekend, we needed to factor in crowds closer to the stadium. This gave us a good 2-hour lead to get to our seats for first pitch. It was a gorgeous day to be outside, very sunny. The temperature was in the mid-fifties. The drive went quickly and although the roads were congested as we got closer to the stadium, we didn’t experience any true traffic delays.
The parking experience was different than I remember from attending games at Shea stadium. I think this is mostly because of the First Data Gold tickets that we had for this game. Back in the days of visiting Shea, you could almost always get a spot in the lot across the street along the overhead train tracks. From there you’d dodge cars to cross the street to get online to enter the stadium.
For our Citi Field experience, we parked in Lot G. Lot G has its’ own entrance. There was no need to cross the street. Instead, the parking lot was built where the outfield of Shea stadium used to be. The train tracks are behind you as you walk towards the stadium.
Our walk across the parking lot and into the stadium was brief. As we walked along, I noticed a couple of different areas where you could sit at an open-air bar, order drinks and watch the game. Each area could probably seat like 30 people or more. They were unmanned as we walked by, but that was definitely something I didn’t expect.
At the Seats
These seats were a real treat! It’s not often that we sit in the lower decks for a game, and I don’t ever remember sitting behind the bullpen. We were so close to the players that we could see their expressions and sometimes hear what they were saying to each other. I found that to be a completely different dynamic for being at a game and I found myself focused more on what was happening nearby rather than what was going on in the field. I was thankful for the net, because lots of balls headed in our direction.
Being early in the season, the weather was cool at 53 degrees but sunny. Luckily, our seats had a little shade from the net. The perk of these seats (as if being so close wasn’t enough of a perk), we had access to complimentary food and beverages, although I am not sure if you needed to pay for alcohol. There were bathrooms towards the back of the room, so we didn’t need to go out to the concourse. The room had tables with snacks on them and there was enough room for you to stand and eat your food inside if you didn’t want to go back to your seat right away. Though we didn’t need it the day that we were there, the room also had air conditioning.
From what I can tell the stadium was fairly filled. At some games you see empty sections, that was not the case at this game. While there were empty seats peppered through the sections, I’d say that the Mets fans were at the game and showing their support.
About the Game
I felt the game went by quickly but in fact it lasted almost 3 and ½ hours. The Mets got runs on the scoreboard early and earned 2 at the bottom of the first. In the 4th inning, St. Louis made their mark and added a run in the top of the 4th, but the Mets scored a homerun at the bottom of the same inning making the score STL 1 – NYM 3. In the bottom of the 5th inning, another homerun for the Mets. Score is now 1 and 4. The Cardinals were getting on base, but they just couldn’t seem to get their runners across home plate.
In the bottom of the 7th inning, the Mets had a sacrifice fly and sent a runner home. This added an additional run making the score 1 and 5. At the top of the 8th inning, the Mets made a pitching change and that gave the Cardinals an edge to get their second run of the game, a home run. Score is now 2 and 5. The last run earned in this game was for the Mets and it was in the bottom of the 8th to make the score 2 and 6.
Leaving the Stadium
We took our time leaving the stadium, people watched. Took some photos. Spent time within the crowd outside and waiting for the traffic to quiet down. The parking lot was almost empty when we arrived at our car.
Final thoughts
I read that the reason the bars that we walked by were unmanned can only serve alcohol during the game, which is why they appeared empty. Additionally, the 2018 season added a new rule called, Mound Visit Limits. It’s basically what it sounds like, each team used to get unlimited visits to the pitcher’s mound every game, now it was limited to 6 each game.
Written February 24, 2026
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