New York Mets Tickets

Citi Field seat strategy for Mets fans, in short

For a New York Mets day game, buy on the third base side. That baseline falls into shade first, and on a July afternoon the gap in comfort between the two sides of Citi Field is large. For a night game, the sun only matters for a few innings, so pick on angle and height instead: the lower infield between the dugouts for proximity, or the Excelsior Level infield for a balanced view at a lower outlay.

One trade-off to know up front: the Mets bench is on the first base side, which is also the sunny side. If watching the home dugout matters more than comfort, accept the sun or choose a night game.

• Afternoon, comfort first: Excelsior sections 320 to 333, row 3 and up.
• Closest to the Mets: lower sections along the first base line.
• Lowest outlay, full view: the 500 level behind home plate.
• Home run balls: the Pepsi Porch in right field.

Field, Excelsior and the 500 level

Wikipedia gives Citi Field a capacity of 41,922 in three stacked tiers. Ballparks of Baseball notes that about 42 percent of all seats are on the lower deck, a larger share than at many newer parks, so more buyers end up close to the field.

Field Level (100s)

The lower bowl. Infield seats between the dugouts and the clubs behind home plate, the Delta Sky Club and the Ebbets Club, are the premium tickets. Both Ballparks of Baseball and Rate Your Seats put the Mets in the first base dugout and visitors on the third base side.

Excelsior Level (300s)

The middle tier, which includes club seating. It is closer than the upper deck, and several sections have covered upper rows. For many buyers it is the best compromise in the building.

Upper deck (500s)

The budget tier. Infield sections behind home plate show the entire field; the far corners do not. The top five rows are covered, but they are also the farthest seats from the action.

Sun traps and shade rows at Citi Field

The ballpark is open air, and Rate Your Seats charts a sun pattern consistent enough to plan around.

Shade

• Excelsior 320 to 333: row 3 and up is shaded for afternoon games.
• Field Level: the last 10 rows are shaded.
• 500 level, third base side: row 10 and up.
• Left field: the upper rows on the 100, 300 and 500 levels.

Sun

• Sections 104 to 114 and 306 to 312 on the first base line take sun for most of a day game, except in their top rows.
• Right field on the 300 level is known as the sunniest spot in the park.

Rain cover

Cover is limited: the upper halves of outfield sections 134 to 139 and 334 to 338, the upper halves of club sections 306 to 312 and 326 to 333, and the top five rows of the 500 level. If showers are forecast, those are the rows to buy.

Pepsi Porch, corners and other outfield calls

The Pepsi Porch in right field hangs out over the playing field, an idea borrowed from old Tiger Stadium in Detroit. It is the place to be for a home run ball and for a lively crowd. It is also on the sunny side of the park, so it suits night games better than afternoons.

• Outfield corners on any level point away from home plate. You spend much of the game with your head turned, which gets old by the seventh inning.
• The highest 500-level rows keep you dry, but the field looks small from there.
• First base line sections on a sunny afternoon are the seats most often regretted. If you buy them, bring a hat and sunscreen.

Look out to center field for the Home Run Apple, which rises after every Mets homer, and to the skyline sculpture from Shea Stadium's old scoreboard, now on top of a center field restaurant. Seats behind home plate frame both.

Subway Series and the games that go first

Every club plays 162 regular-season games, 81 at home, from late March or early April to late September, after a February and March spring training. The All-Star break comes in mid-July, and 12 teams make the postseason. Since 2023 the balanced schedule has had every team face every other team, with NL East rivals meeting 13 times.

Resale prices follow demand, and these dates draw the most of it:

• Yankees games. The Subway Series is the biggest regular-season draw, at either ballpark, and both fan bases show up. The two teams met in the 2000 World Series.
• Phillies and Braves series, which bring traveling fans and late-season stakes.
• Opening Day and summer weekends, which sell well in advance.
• Postseason games, the toughest tickets of all. The 2015 run ended with a World Series loss to Kansas City.

For the most choice, look at April and September weeknights against teams outside the division.

The 7 train, the LIRR and the gate rules

Citi Field sits at 41 Seaver Way in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, and transit is the easy way in. The 7 train stops at Mets–Willets Point beside the ballpark, and the Long Island Rail Road's Port Washington Branch serves the same station, which helps if you are coming from Penn Station or Long Island. Driving works too: the team charges a flat gameday parking rate, and lots open two and a half hours before first pitch.

As of the current season, the Citi Field guest guide sets these rules:

• Bag size: 16 by 16 by 8 inches at most, and no backpacks unless they are fully clear.
• Gates: open 90 minutes ahead of first pitch, apart from special events.
• Leaving and returning: not permitted.
• Smoking and vaping: banned everywhere in the park.

Rules change, so read the current guide before game day. Reserved Seat orders ship free.

Shea, the Miracle Mets and Citi Field's details

The Mets arrived in 1962 as a National League expansion club, filling the hole left when the Dodgers and Giants moved to California. The team colors carry that inheritance: blue from the Dodgers, orange from the Giants. Home was the Polo Grounds for two seasons, Shea Stadium from 1964 through 2008, and Citi Field since its first regular-season game on April 13, 2009.

The 1969 "Miracle Mets" climbed from expansion-era losing to a World Series win over Baltimore in eight seasons. The 1986 team rallied late in Game 6 against Boston and then won Game 7. Pennants followed in 1973, 2000 and 2015 as well, along with six NL East titles.

• Retired numbers: Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, Keith Hernandez, Dwight Gooden and David Wright are among them.
• Owner: Steve Cohen took majority control in October 2020.
• Mr. Met: introduced in 1963 and believed to be baseball's first human-form mascot.

Citi Field's brick and limestone entrance echoes Ebbets Field and opens into the 160-foot-wide Jackie Robinson Rotunda. The foul poles are orange, a Shea carryover. The park played tough on hitters at first, and the fences came in before the 2012 and 2015 seasons. It hosted the 2013 All-Star Game, whose 45,186 fans set the attendance record, and World Series games in 2015.

Sources

• Wikipedia – New York Mets
• Wikipedia – Citi Field
• New York Mets – Citi Field guest guide
• Ballparks of Baseball – Citi Field
• Rate Your Seats – Citi Field shaded seats
• Wikipedia – Kansas City Royals (2015 World Series)