Today the Mets are at 21-25 and starting a 3 game series in Atlanta.

I went to my first Mets game at Shea stadium since September 11th on Thursday afternoon. Stricter security measures were enacted after the 11th and they only served to keep me away from the ballpark. My understanding was that patrons were no longer allowed to bring in anything from the outside in with them.

I think baseball tickets are exorbitantly high-priced here in New York. All the years I went to Yankee games (when I was a Yankee fan), I made it a much more affordable proposition by bringing chicken from the Popeye’s over on River Avenue and a bag of chips and other munchies. I continued the habit after I changed my allegiances to the Mets.

A few years back I had a Mets Saturday plan and often we would pack a lunch and tote in various snacks with us to the ballpark. The snacks were always better than whatever you could get at the stadium and way cheaper too - sorry, I just don’t think paying $4 for a undercooked hotdog on a gummy roll is any kind of deal. The stricter security at the stadium combined with a bunch of off-season moves I didn’t like were enough incentive to keep me away.

This year, the Mets actually implemented a tiered pricing structure for games depending on the which visiting team the Mets are playing. This isn’t such a smart move if you are next to last in your division as you are almost guaranteeing higher priced game tickets won’t move once the team is out of contention.

Well, I was working and busy the first part of the year and feeling a little flush so, I decided to indulge and get tickets to a few games. The first tickets I got were for this past Thursday. Years past, the first game of the season I would normally go to would be one sometime in April. Invariably, I would wind up freezing my butt off. This year, I thought I’d avoid the chill by getting tickets for my first game of the season in May.

Yesterday, I think the high topped out at around 54° (that’s being generous), there was a steady breeze making it feel about ten degrees colder than the high and there were intermittent rain showers. When it wasn’t raining, there was this crappy mist thing going on - which was actually worse as the seats we were in which were shielded from the rain were no escape from the mist which seemed to get everywhere.

On the good side, the Mets won! All these big contract veterans Steve Phillips bought in are injured and they’re playing rookies and bench players. It’s lots more fun to watch these guys play. They play hard and you can see by their play they are really jazzed about being in the big leagues. As a fan, I’d rather watch these guys play (win or lose) than a bunch of veterans who take it for granted.

The other thing is, they aren’t a bad team! Maybe I’m too much of a fan but, I like this team better than the one the Mets left spring training with and I think they actually might have a chance to make things interesting. The next week (with the series in Atlanta, one in Philly and one at home against Atlanta) will tell the tale.

So, they do have more extensive security at the ballpark now but, it’s just a matter of figuring out what you can bring in and what you can’t. It looks like if you package things the right way you can still bring in your own food.