The Golden Local Meets Mr. Met
By MICHAEL "THE GOLDEN LOCAL" NATHANSON
Updated 12:00 PM EST, Tue, Jun 23, 2009
New Yorkers take their baseball very seriously, and the locals have been blessed with two new houses of worship this year.
And of course the latest Golden Local debate gave baseball fans a chance to weigh in and decide which is the Best New Stadium.
In a battle every bit as ferocious as the Subway Series, more delicious than a Shake Shack burger, more magnificent than a Buckner ground ball, more alluring then Keith Hernandez' mustache, it was time to decide who had the best stadium, and New Yorkers, the greatest fans in the world, voted for the majestic Citi Field over the new Yankee Stadium.
From the intimacy of the park that puts every fan in the center of the action to Danny Meyer's amazing culinary genius, Citi Field is truly a stadium built with the fans in mind. Now I have to say, I was pretty stoked to present myself at the game, having been at Shea Stadium for Game 7 in 1986, when the Amazins won the World Series.
The new stadium didn't disappoint. Mr. Met himself took me on a tour of the stadium. We sampled delicious golden Box Frites -- an out-of-this-world pulled pork sandwich from Blue Smoke -- and got to mingle with some of the most die-hard fans on the block. The Big M was a gracious host and couldn’t have been more accommodating (hey, we mascots have to stick together).
I even got to meet pitcher J.J. Putz, who said I'd look good on his bookshelf, so I've got that going for me.
We were then taken on to the field behind home plate, where I presented Mr. Met -- as if his head wasn't big enough -- with the coveted Golden Local trophy for Best New Stadium. I even got my face on the Jumbotron, and heard the cheers of the crowd as the PA announced my name. What a feeling for this New York Golden Boy!
Congratulations to the entire Mets organization on creating a field of dreams that all New York baseball fans can be proud of.
Now I just have to figure out how to convince them to put up a permanent statue of me.
First Published: Jun 23, 2009 10:20 AM EST
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