April 13, 2009: A bad day in baseball. Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas suffers a heart attack in the press box at Nationals Park in Washington, and dies at age 73. It had been less than 6 months since he broadcast the Phils' 2008 World Series win, and less than that since he narrated a team history DVD that included it.
And Mark Fidrych, the Detroit Tigers pitcher who electrified baseball fans with his quirks in 1976, when he won American League Rookie of the Year, but then suffered a shoulder injury that led to the end of his career in 1980, is killed in an accident while working on his truck at his home in Northborough, Massachusetts. He was only 54, but had lived long enough to take advantage of the 1970s nostalgia wave, and see fans of my generation embrace him all over again.
There is a little good news. For the 1st time in their 48-year history, the New York Mets play a home game in a stadium that was not better designed for football. After 45 seasons at Shea Stadium, in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park in Queens, the New York Mets move next-door into Citi Field, with Citibank holding the naming rights. (They'd played their 1st 2 seasons, 1962 and 1963, at the bathtub-shaped Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan.)
Designed by team owner Fred Wilpon, who had rooted for the Brooklyn Dodgers, to resemble Ebbets Field, the Dodgers' home from 1913 to 1957, it has 41,922 seats. Like Shea, and definitely unlike Ebbets, it favors pitchers over hitters. Like Ebbets, but unlike Shea, it is not symmetrical: Distances are 335 feet to the left field pole, 358 to left-center, 385 to deep left center, 408 to straightaway center, 398 to deep right-center, 375 to right-center, and 330 to the right field pole.
The stop on the Number 7 Roosevelt Avenue/Flushing Subway/Elevated Line was renamed from "Willets Point-Shea Stadium" to "Mets-Willets Point." The Home Run Apple from Shea was salvaged as a meeting place, much like the bat-shaped smokestack at the original Yankee Stadium. A new, larger Home Run Apple stood inside, next to the Shea Bridge, honoring William A. Shea, the New York lawyer whose work helped get the Mets established, and the old stadium named for him.
The home plate entrance includes the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, an exhibit honoring Robinson's life, sort of a baseball equivalent to a Presidential Library. The following season, 2010, just to the 1st base side of the Rotunda, the Mets Hall of Fame was established, with exhibits including the Hall of Fame plaques, the 1969 and 1986 World Championship trophies, and seats from Shea and the Polo Grounds (the Mets' 1st home, in 1962 and 1963, and also home of baseball's New York Giants from 1911 to 1957).
As with the last game at Shea, the Mets' greatest player ever, Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, was invited to throw out the ceremonial first ball to their most recent superstar, former catcher Mike Piazza, not yet in the Hall of Fame. (He was elected in 2016.) After the last game at Shea, Seaver, then approaching his 64th birthday, threw a bad pitch that didn't make it to home plate. This time, however, he threw a perfect strike.
The opponents were the San Diego Padres. The game's opening at-bat was not a good omen: Mike Pelfrey pitched to Jody Gerut, and Gerut hit a home run down the right field line. The Padres made it 4-0 in the top of the 2nd inning.
The Mets' 1st Citi Field run came in the bottom of the 2nd, on a double by Luis Castillo. But Adrián González led off the top of the 5th with a home run, making it 5-1 Padres. The Mets came back in the bottom of the 5th, and when David Wright hit the 1st Met home run in the place, it was tied 5-5.
But the top of the 6th began with Luis Rodríguez hitting a ball to right field, and Ryan Church dropping it for a 3-base error. And Met pitcher Pedro Feliciano got him home with a balk. That would bring home the game's final run: Padres 6, Mets 5.
It was a reminder of what the team's 1st manager, Casey Stengel said back in the ridiculous 1st season of 1962: "Come and see my amazing Mets! I been in this game 100 years, but they've shown me ways to lose I never knew existed before!"
The Mets hosted the All-Star Game at Citi Field in 2013, and the World Series in 2015. For the most part, though, the new ballpark hasn't helped them.
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April 13, 2009 was a Monday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball that day:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays, 15-5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals, 9-8 at Nationals Park in Washington. Before the game, Harry Kalas, the Phillies' Hall of Fame broadcaster, had a heart attack in the broadcast booth, and died. The game, the Nationals' home opener, went ahead anyway.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 7-0 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Zach Duke pitched a 4-hit shutout.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-6 at Comerica Park in Detroit.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ted Lilly allowed just 1 hit into the 7th inning, and 3 Cub relievers finished the 1-hitter.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6 at Miller Park in Milwaukee. (It's now named American Family Field.)
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 10-9 at Rangers Ballpark in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. (It's now named Choctaw Stadium.)
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-1 at Chase Field in Phoenix.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 11-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-2 at the Oakland Coliseum.
The NFL was out of season. And the NHL was between the end of its regular season and the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But there were 12 games played in the NBA that day:
* The New Jersey Nets beat the Charlotte Bobcats, 91-87 at the Izod Center at the Meadowlands.
* The Toronto Raptors beat the Washington Wizards, 97-86 at the Verizon Center in Washington. (It's now named to Capital One Arena.)
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons, 91-88 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Indiana Pacers, 117-109 at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (It's now named the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.)
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Orlando Magic, 98-80 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 96-94 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
* The Houston Rockets beat the New Orleans Hornets, 86-66 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the Sacramento Kings, 118-98 at the Pepsi Arena in Denver. (It's now named the Ball Arena.) J.R. Smith led all scorers on the day with 45 points.
* The Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 106-85 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City (then named the EnergySolutions Arena).
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 119-110 at the US Airways Center in Phoenix. (It's now named the Cliché Alert: .)
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors, 101-72 at the Oakland Coliseum Aena (then named the Oracle Arena).
* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 113-83 at the Moda Center in Portland.
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