The official grand opening for the Mets’ newest home featured several dignitaries: the commissioner, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, as well as ceremonial first pitch participants Mike Piazza and Tom Seaver.
Jody Gerut was not a scheduled member of the festivities. The San Diego Padres center fielder led off an otherwise celebratory evening with a home run. Much like the entire 2009 season, the home opener at Citi Field reflected the immense disappointment in an underachieving year. Poor pitching, poor execution, and weird occurrences ruining tremendous hopefulness proved costly as San Diego spoiled the party, 6-5.
There was an in-game moment that did prove fit for the occasion. David Wright appropriately slugged the first Mets homer. But it turned out to be more an aberration than a trend as Citi Field’s canyon-like dimensions threw a wrench into Wright’s power numbers.
Nevertheless, this was one of the greatest highlights for the superstar third baseman.
After he laced a double down the right field line in the bottom of the first for the Mets’ inaugural hit in the new park, Wright came up with two on and two out in the fifth. It had enough lift and distance on his drive to send it about 390 feet and over “The Great Wall of Flushing.”
Wright was the latest Mets legend to make his mark on this night. Seaver and Piazza, who were instrumental in the closing of Shea Stadium, emerged from Citi Field’s center field gates and walked toward the mound for the first-pitch proceedings.
Just a few minutes after Seaver’s toss, Mike Pelfrey‘s third pitch was driven by Gerut inside the foul pole and over the right-field fence — making him the first player to lead off a game with a homer in a stadium’s inaugural game.
The Padres built a 5-1 lead on Pelfrey, who had enough difficulty getting his foot out of the dirt or even staying upright on the mound. The Mets rallied in the fifth with Daniel Murphy‘s single followed by Wright’s three-RBI blast. That would be the last time they put up any runs.
New York gifted San Diego the lead right back in the sixth. Ryan Church misplayed Luis Rodriguez’s sixth-inning fly ball into a three-base error. Then Pedro Feliciano balked in what would be the winning run.
The final 10 Mets batters went down in order. And to make matters worse, the Padres pitchers who closed it out were former relievers Duaner Sanchez and Heath Bell.
While the planned festivities on opening night were memorable, the unplanned aspects of the first game at Citi Field gave off a feeling that would be the entire inaugural season at Citi Field: a major letdown.
