Play Ball! Mets are back on the field and all is well, at least for one day

The Mets made it all the way to the third inning of their first exhibition game before a player limped off the field. But I am still glad I bought my first 2010 tickets today.

After last season, I did not expect to be buying tickets as soon as the single-game presale started. But now the miserable 2009 and disappointing offseason seem far away, and I can't wait to get back out to Citi Field.

Last year, plenty of tickets were available on StubHub, often at a discount. But when Squawker Lisa said she wanted to go to the Hall of Fame Induction Game in August, I decided to go ahead and get tickets now.

I am glad that Lisa wants to support all-time Mets Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, as well as Davey Johnson and Frank Cashen. Lisa alleges that Darryl and Dwight spent some time in the Bronx, but I am going to assume that the Mets will leave those episodes out of the presentation.

(By the way, Lisa, when are the Yankees going to have a day honoring Roger Clemens?)

If you click on the promotion asterisk for the August 1 game, you see the following:

Hall of Fame Induction
First 25,000 Fans
Presented by Citi

What happens to the fans who are not in the first 25,000? Do they have to wait outside around screens showing Brooklyn Dodger highlights? Wonder if there's a cutoff for Pyrotechnics Night - you there, no looking up!

We also got tickets for a late April game against the Braves. It's Ski Cap Night, and the way the weather has been, we will probably need to wear them. The Mets are also having a Scarf Night in April - remember when these items used to be given away at the end of the season on Fan Appreciation Day?

A few hours after I bought the tickets, I received a call from someone in the Mets' ticket office who saw my purchases and decided to follow up on a call he had made a few weeks ago about buying a ticket Six-Pack. I told him not at this time, but I appreciated that the Mets are making more options available that have fewer than 15 games. He said they always enjoyed getting positive feedback.

It made me wonder how many ticket calls resulted in less-than-positive feedback, things like "You won't spend the money on starting pitching, so I won't spend the money on you." Frankly, that might have been my attitude a few weeks ago. But as the exhibition season gets underway, I am willing to grit my teeth and hope that Mike Pelfrey reaches his potential, John Maine stays healthy and Oliver Perez, well, it's a new year.

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As for the first game, yes, Elmer Dessens had to leave the game after being hit in the leg by a line drive. But the Mets were being so cautious today that they benched almost the entire starting lineup because it rained earlier in the day.

I just hope the Mets' new "Prevention & Recovery" program will not require players hit with line drives to take the field wearing the 100-pound protective suit used by the bomb squad in "The Hurt Locker."

Even with a lineup filled with the likes of Mike Hessman, it was still great to see the Mets take the field for the first time in five months. It was just like old times. Along from Dessens having to leave the game, the Mets did not get a hit until the fifth inning. But then the Mets scored three runs, and later added a run on, of all things, a home run!

Granted, the homer was hit by Russ Adams, who does not figure to make the team, and it appeared to be wind-aided. But it counted just the same. Baseball is back!