FLUSHING, NY – Next Monday is Opening Day here in New York City. Both the Mets and the Yankees will open their seasons at home at the same exact time. How insane is that? At least they will be playing teams within their own league, unlike the Reds and Angels who will play each other to kick off the season. Now, with 15 teams in each league there will be an inter-league match up every series. This will take a little getting used to.
Most teams like to have a promotional calendar to try and entice fans to come to a few more games. I like to call these give away days. The Marlins are the only team to hold their biggest give away day in the off-season, when they gave away most of their team to the Blue Jays. Being a Mets fan, I always like to look at the schedule to see what those crazy Wilpons have up their sleeve for the upcoming year. Let’s take a look at the best (or worst) of what the Mets are offering with their upcoming 2013 Mets Giveaways.
Concerts – The Mets have three concerts this year: Foreigner, O.A.R. and Nas. I don’t know O.A.R. or Nas but I’m sure both will be better than whatever is left of Foreigner.
Bobblehead Dolls – This year’s selections are Ron Darling, Doc Gooden, John Franco, Tom Seaver, David Wright and Mr. Met. For some reason, the Mr. Met bobblehead is described as Mr. Met Knitting Bobblehead. I wonder what he knits, an over-sized yarmulke?
Mets Dog Bandana – The Mets certainly have had their share of dogs throughout the years so I guess it is fitting to give away bandanas with their images on them. I’m hoping for the Vince Coleman Bandana myself.
Stress Ball – If there is one thing every Met fan should have… it is a stress ball. I think these should be standard at every game. These should have the faces of different Mets who have caused fans stress over the years. I would love an Armando Benitez version myself.
Banner Day – On Saturday May 11th Banner Day is back. We missed it last year folks, so this year I think we get a Meet The Matts Banner together for the boys to carry. They love parading around in those suits, so why not do it on the field.
Mets Apple Clock – This sounds like a great promo. Who wouldn’t want a replica of the Mets Apple in a clock form? The catch is there are only 500 available. There would be plenty for everyone if this was a 1979 home game.
All Star Gnome – To celebrate the All-Star Game being played at CitiField this year, the Mets will give away a gnome. Don’t ask why just enjoy the damn gnome.
Mets Headphones – These give you the experience of being at CitiField even when you are not. These specially designed headphones drown out whatever you are listening to with airplane noise every 10 minutes or so.
Social Media Night – Who says the Wilpons aren’t cutting edge? The perks for this $50 ticket-package include a scoreboard welcome greeting of your Twitter handle, plus pre-game and in-game Twitter giveaways. Also, if you purchase through a special link you are eligible to win the drawing to throw out the first pitch to that night’s game (April 24th). My bet is whichever geek wins the honor will throw out a Carl Lewis first pitch special.
Stay tuned tomorrow for our own social media expert, Angry Ward, who makes Carl Lewis look like a young Nolan Ryan.
