PLAY BALL!

Spring training season has not been very kind to the New York Mets.  They had a lackluster 7 win and 8 loss record in mid-March when we watched a game at their Springtime home field in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
 
That game did not help any either.  They suffered a 9-1 drubbing at the hands of the Detroit Tigers.  Detroit was looking like they could repeat play consistent with their World Series appearance last year.  Mets fans sitting near us were not quite as hopeful.
 

Their brand spanking new stadium has not fared much better in the economic arena either.  Last season their park was known as Digital Domain Field.  That disappeared when the sponsoring firm of that name went belly-up and reneged on their payments to the Mets for naming rights through 2018.  They owed the county $100,000 for this year and owed the Mets a similar amount.

Before the Digital deal, the Mets had a similar contract with Core Communities which named the stadium Tradition Field after one of its real estate ventures.  But, that deal collapsed after Core failed to make its payments.
 
So,as spring training season approached workers busied themselves removing all signs and traces of the Digital outfit and returned the name to Tradition Field until another sponsorship deal can be arranged.
 
The TV cameraman (above) is providing his feed to the Mets home office in New York city.

Meanwhile, loyal fans continue to support the troubled stadium which also serves as the home field for the Mets Grapefruit League minor league teams.  The view above shows fans lounging in right-center field of the 7,000 seat stadium.

The view below is along the left field foul line and reflects the tropical ambiance enjoyed by fans in this sparkling facility.

However, not only did the Mets loose the game we attended, their starting pitcher hit two batters, threw three wild pitches and gave up 3 hits, 6 runs, 4 bases on balls and had zero strike-outs in his two-innning performance.

To add insult to their day, the Mets loaded the bases in the home-half of the 8th inning for their first rally of the day, and, with two outs, their batter--struck out.