Unfortunately, due to the inclement weather in the New York area tomorrow, the exhibition game featuring the Mets and the Army Baseball Team has been cancelled, and is not scheduled to be postponed.

Luckily the Mets are offering full refunds, and both sides are interested in scheduling a game in future years. Like the graphic above says, automatic refunds are being issued via credit card, and cash transactions are being refunded at the ballpark windows.

Unfortunately for the Mets, not only will the not have the chance to play Army, they will have five days in between “games” unless if they want to have another scrimmage type game on Saturday, when the weather should be a little better.

Opening Day is only four days away, and MetsPlus will have a special post later on tonight!

Noah Syndergaard talked to members of the media about getting ready to pitch on Opening Day.

Yesterday on the countdown blog we discussed the caps that the Mets wear, and today we are heading to the bread and butter: the tops.

The uniforms are un-changed from last year, with the exception of the elimination of the 1986 alternate. Overall, I think the Mets uniform set is one of the best in baseball, and I’m excited to review it.

First, let’s look at the primary home uniform:

Robert Gsellman, #65

Rating: 9/10 (Since 2015)

This uniform is pretty good. Nothing distracting, solid pinstripes, blue lettering over orange, truly classic. The Mets skyline logo is also paired perfectly with the uniform. My only complaint is that it doesn’t look as nostalgic like the set did with the cream, off-white look that they had from 2010-2014.

Zack Wheeler, #45

Rating: 9/10 (Since 2012)

This is probably the best road uniform the Mets have ever worn, with the possible exception of the 1987 scripted lettering. Unfortunately, a gray road uniform can only be so good for me, so I give this a very solid 9/10.

Some people might give this rating slack, as it’s another timeless look, and while I agree, there is nothing amazing about that would give it a 10/10 rating.

Matt Harvey, #33

Rating: 10/10 (Since 2013)

This shouldn’t be a big surprise. As someone that always wears a Blue Alternate jersey with “MetsPlus.com” on the back, this jersey is my instant favorite. I think the design is new, yet classic, the perfect match in one wants in a jersey.

Unfortunately, this uniform isn’t worn nearly as frequently as it should be, and, well, is cursed at the moment.

Jacob deGrom, #48

Rating: 8/10 (Since 2013)

The road alternate is another good look, but is a second alternate uniform truly necessary? I’m not saying the home alternate (with it’s white outline) should be used on the road, but I just believe this uniform would be the one I’d cut if I was forced to cut one. I still like the jersey, and I’d buy it if I had the opportunity, but it hasn’t grown on me as much as I was hoping it was going to.

Ascetics have always been an important part of a baseball game to me. I’m very passionate about uniforms, caps and team logos, so much that I was one of the first to discover the Mets new alternate cap and batting practice uniform. So, as we inch closer to Opening Day (eight days!), I thought today would be a good day to showcase all of the Mets caps and uniforms, and give my personal rating on all of them.

First, lets look at the cap changes between last year and this year.

As you can see, the Mets downsized to three caps instead of four. The home alt was re-purposed as a practice cap, and the 1986 cap was cut altogether, though I’m sure we will see it again in the future.

The first cap I’m going to evaluate is the Primary Cap.

Rating: 10/10 (Since 1993)

First off, I should mention that I’m taking the New Era Logo out of consideration for this one. I hate it as much as anyone, but if I criticized that, then nothing would get a good rating. So this cap is basically a 12/10 that went down to a 10/10 with the New Era Logo. Personally, I love the Orange squatchee, I think it’s nice for the time, and the interlocking NY is a timeless, classic look. I wouldn’t change anything about the cap, and I proudly wear it often. 

Rating: 8/10 (Since 2017) 

I don’t think there is anything wrong with this look at all. I bought it at the Mets team store as early as it was available, and I think it’s a fine look. However, I do believe the design is messing with perfection. Does one really need the white underline? Can’t the Blue Uniforms just get paired with the traditional cap at this point? At least it matches the uniform, orange lettering with white background….

Rating: 8/10 (Since 2015) 

I quite like this design as well, and I’m especially happy the Diamond Era is being phased out for the more regular and better fitting AC Polyester fabric. The reason this is an 8/10 however is that I believe the uniform it is paired with looks better with the primary cap, which should render this cap useless. Another issue with this cap (and the older home alternate) is that it was rarely worn in 2016. If this was worn a little more frequently, I think I’d be able to get behind it a little more. 

Opening is only 9 days away, and, unfortunately, there aren’t many tickets available. The game, which almost always sells out, has starting prices for $93 dollars online, and is even more expensive on the third party sites like StubHub and TiqIQ.

When one goes to Mets.com/Tickets, they see all of the games on the right. Most are at reasonable prices, and then there is Opening Day, with prices five times more expensive (which should be expected).

When one clicks on the “Buy” button, they get the dreaded Check Inventory page, which usually means there is little to nothing left.

After proceeding, you get directed to a newer version of Tickets.com main page, which I’m still a little new to, and don’t really like…

Strangely enough the lowest price available doesn’t match the price given in the original page, which is very confusing.

Honestly, $249 + fees is way too much for a ballgame, especially a regular season one. Hopefully the StubHub market will take the price down to double digits, which would be a little more reasonable, at least for me.

Mike Piazza was inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame and had his number #31 retired by the Mets last year. With 10 days until Opening Day, I decided to throw it back to one of Mike Piazza’s most memorable game, the comeback versus the Braves in June of 2000.

This game has been replayed countless times on SNY, and is honestly one of my favorite Mets Classics. At the end of the day, the game was a regular night game in June, but that is sort of the charm of the whole game, and the 2000 season. Nothing super remarkable, but a good memory when thinking about it in retrospect.

Last season, I wrote more about Piazza and my experience at his prestigious events. Here’s an excerpt from my “Top Posts of All Time” from last December:

#1 Piazza Induction & Number Retirement (July 2016) 

I mean, how can meeting Mike Piazza not be at the top of the list? This is actually two blog posts, the first part was my time in Cooperstown, New York for the induction ceremony, and part two was the actual number retirement, which I enjoyed a little more.

This, without a doubt, is my top Mets related memory of all time.

Every year before Opening Day, the Mets invite some members of the press to Citi Field to see the ballpark before it officials opens. Typically, all of the new bells and whistles are showcased, and some of the new food options are offered. Today, the Mets hosted that event for the 2017 season, and we got an interested sneak peak.

There are 11 days until Opening Day. The Section 11 signage was not on the “What’s New?” Tour…

Yesterday, on this Opening Day countdown series, I talked about my first ever Mets Opening Day. Today, I’m going to talk about my first stadium opener exhibition prior to Opening Day, which was also the first Mets “game” at Citi Field, and how that is being replicated next year.

Lagares Days until Opening Day….

The first Mets game at Citi Field was not a regular season game. Instead, it was a exhibition game versus the Boston Red Sox, on April 3rd, 2009. The starter was Livan Hernandez, brother of Orlando Hernandez, and the guy that closed out the win was K-Rod, Francisco Rodriguez. I was at that game, and it got me really excited for the 2009 season.

This year, I will be able to go to a preseason exhibition game again, on March 31st versus the ARMY Baseball team. The game which was originally scheduled to be played on the field up in West Point, was re-scheduled to Citi Field when the playing surface was deemed un-playable due to the winter weather the upper hudson/catskills region experienced late last week.

It’ll only be a seven inning game with all proceeds going towards the Mets Foundation. Additionally, the tickets are “general admission”, so one can sit where the please, per se.

Of course, a lot of people won’t feel like playing hooky do go to an exhibition game, especially if one is planning on playing hooky the following Monday (for a game that actually counts) so my guess is attendance will be relatively low.

Opening Day is only 13 days away, for these next two weeks, I’m going to write a daily post leading up to the 1:10pm start on April 3rd. 

Opening Day is very special to me. While some kids wake up extra early on Christmas morning and run downstairs to see their presents, I wake up on Opening Day and get on the first train towards Citi Field.

However, when I was younger, I did this with Shea Stadium. My first Opening Day was in 2008, when I was nine (I had gone to games at Shea since 2003, but never an Opening Day until ’08) and, for the most part it was fairly overwhelming. The ramps that day, a 1pm Phillies vs Mets game, were as loud as I can remember, and the field was as green as I’ve ever seen.

The Mets were still sore from their NL East collapse the year before, and had lost 10 straight games up to that point. The booing of the Phillies players during Opening Day were so loud, and they were so passionate. Ultimately, the game was blown, in typical 2007-08 Mets fashion, by the teams bullpen (Aaron Heilman, Billy Wagner, Jorge Sosa, Scott Schoeneweis anyone?) and ultimately lost 5-2.

I wish I was smart enough back then to grab the camcorder and shoot some film, which would have been awesome right now….