Other than Marine One, the No. 7 subway line is the fastest way to a game at CitiField and it's also a great place to interact with other Mets fans. On the ride out to Saturday's game, I sat next to a talkative guy with a diamond stud in each ear and strong opinions about everything, especially David Wright.
"I say they trade David Wright as soon as possible," he insisted. "It will not only be good for the Mets, it will be good for Wright! He's a great player and he deserves to win. If they wait any longer, they'll get fifty cents on the dollar for him."
There were many other opinionated fans on the train and we all shared our thoughts about the Mets and baseball in general. It was sunny, cool and breezy outside -- a beautiful day for baseball as well as the 50 Cent concert immediately after the game. Before I knew it, the subway arrived at our stop, and we made the short trek to the ballpark.
There are many rituals to observe at CitiField, beginning with walking past Coffee, the hat-wearing, pipe-smoking dog who poses for pictures at the bottom of the 7 train stairs. It was my daughter's first trip to CitiField, so after she denounced Coffee's owner, we secured our seats and I gave her a tour of my favorite ballpark. Along with the weather and the 50 Cent concert, it was the day before Father's Day, so CitiField was buzzing.
As I've written in the past, food is a big part of CitiField, so we inhaled some hot dogs and lobster rolls and made our way to the Acela Club for a beer. It was not a great game for the Mets, who got only two hits and lost to the Padres 5-0. However, it was still fun to be a fan, and the Acela Club crowd was similar to the 7 train. "You want to love the Mets, but it's not easy," lamented a guy sitting nearby.
I started talking baseball with Nile, eight years old and a huge fan of David Wright. I asked him about the possibility of a trade, and he squinted at me like Clint Eastwood and said, "No comment." Someone else called Zack Wheeler a Jekyll-and-Hyde type of pitcher, and Nile cut him down with a withering look.
Remarkably, the Mets are 31-38 and a mere 5 ½ games out of first place, despite having three hitters batting below .200 that afternoon.
As for David Wright, he showed incredible loyalty to the Mets when he was a free agent, and is wildly popular as both a player and person. I can't say what's going to happen with Wright, but the fans certainly aren't going anywhere.
(Photo by Sarah Taub)