The New York Mets will celebrate the life and legacy of legendary broadcaster Ralph Kiner during an on-field, pre-game ceremony on Opening Day at Citi Field Monday, March 31 prior to the game versus the National League East rival Washington Nationals at 1:10 p.m.
The ceremony will include a video tribute and the unveiling of the Kiner commemorative logo above the left field wall. Kiner’s children Michael, K.C., Tracee and Kimberlee, will attend and participate in the ceremony. The Kiner logo will also be painted on the grass behind home plate.
Righthander Dillon Gee will take the mound for the Mets and start opposite Stephen Strasburg for the Nationals. Among those attending Gee’s first career Opening Day start on Monday at Citi Field will be his 4-month-old son Hudson and Ray Corbett, the scout who signed him according to Adam Rubin.
“His first game will be my first Opening Day,” Gee said Saturday at Olympic Stadium, as the Mets completed their exhibition schedule and prepared to head to New York to begin the regular season.
Other Opening Day Events and Happenings include:
- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. He will be accompanied by six children from the East Harlem Tutorial Program who were affected by the recent building collapse in that community. Founded in 1958, the program runs public charter schools and after school programs serving children in East Harlem.
- The National Anthem will be performed by the Whiptones, a doo-wop a cappella group from Hanover Township, New Jersey, who were the Mets Anthem Search winners in the off-season.
- God Bless America will be sung by Terence Archie, who stars as Apollo Creed in the Broadway production ofRocky, before the seventh inning stretch
- The annual Mets Welcome Home Dinner will take place after the game. The event is a fundraiser for the Mets Foundation, which donates net proceeds to the the Katz Institute for Women’s Health and Katz Women’s Hospital of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. General Manager Sandy Alderson, Manager Terry Collins and the entire Mets roster and coaching staff will be attending.
- The Empire State Building will be lit orange and blue for the night in honor of Opening Day and the Welcome Home Dinner
Standing Room Only tickets are still available for Opening Day and can be purchased at Mets.com or by calling (718) 507-TIXX.
