Welcome to Citi Field

And the day has finally come. Mike Pelfrey will throw the first meaningful pitch ever tonight at 7:10 pm (most likely later than that, you get what I mean) in what is sure to be a fantastic night at the Mets new digs. While yesterday's heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Cy Young, er uh Josh Johnson makes today seem bittersweet, I really think it's time the Mets show what they are made of. If they really want to put down the horrors of the past two years, something like a 5-1 homestand should do the trick. They have lost 3 of their past 4 after taking the first two from the Reds, and they seem to still have problems with getting that big hit, or putting the other team away when ahead.

Instead of dwelling on the inconsistencies of this past week, I'm really looking forward to this week. I'm going to the game Friday night with my brother, treating me to a nice birthday weekend for the first weekend series at Citi Field. I tell ya, StubHub is the greatest. I'm sitting in Section 125 nine rows from the field (3rd base side). We paid almost half the price of the actual price of the seats. Back to tonight, I can't wait until I hear Howie Rose's voice welcoming the sellout crowd to Citi Field. While this will be a crazy game even before it starts, I think it's very important for the Mets. After Johnson mowed them down yesterday, they should be very aggressive against the Padres starter Walter Silva (who?). A win tonight would really up the team's morale and whatnot, getting out to a nice start at their new stomping grounds. Hopefully there are no tough fly balls hit to Daniel Murphy...

So as a new chapter is written in Mets history, the Mets have a lot to look forward to. But with high expectations for the 2009 after a totally rebuilt bullpen, a questionable starting rotation beyond Johan Santana and almost the same offense as last year, except a year older, and the NL East (save for the Nationals) looks better than expected, the Mets look like they're in for a tough ride this year. I happened to turn on the Cubs pre-game show before and the announcers were talking about preseason predictions about who would make the playoffs. One of the announcers was talking about how the baseball season is one long struggle. I mean any team can have high expectations and just totally suck (see: 2008 Detroit Tigers), but the Mets are better than that. Hopefully the veterans can step up and help the youngsters and the unproven to really get through the season.