The bloodbath at Citi Field
Let’s get straight to the point here. Everyone knew the hype with this game. Boomer and Carton discussed the “Marvel” Thor Syndergaard bobble on the air, USA Today wrote an article, Bleacher Report wrote an article etc. I even wrote a preparation blog and how crazy it would be to help you guys out. Once again, I was right. Everything I discussed in my preparation blog was accurate.
I arrived with the wife around 1:00. There was maybe, 20 people in line. I’ll openly admit it was to early to get there. But, I was prepared. No one knew when people were going to start lining up so I wasn’t to upset that we got there early. I took a stroll around the gates and saw the boxes stacked but mostly stayed off the grid.
I scoped the scene out and I got in the bag line at 2:30 and there was maybe 40 people ahead of me. Perfect position.
If you want to get technical, these two ladies sitting in folding chairs were the first to enter the stadium.
Within an hour, there were thousands and I mean thousands of people. Every line to each gate had a sea of people. It was grueling hot and I just kept chugging water. I left to take a piss in the porter potty and I almost got lost on the way back there was so many people. I’ve been to way to many bobblehead games and this one takes the cake. There were people farting, sweating, fainting, arguing, pushing you name it. There were guys dressed up and wore different kinds of crazy masks as this dude had an Iron Man helmet on.
I stood on a curb and estimated there were easily 20,000 people surrounding Citi Field. No joke. Employees that were going in to work the concession stands had to muscle through the lines of people. Little kids were getting impatient and old grandma’s were hanging by thread by leaning on their canes. By 3:00 there were police cars by the 7 line station, cops on scooters, undercover cops telling people in line to spill out their beers etc. Soon after, the security guys with the “search wands” appeared and they were ready to pat people down. It was “gametime!”
Season ticket holders got first crack of getting in the stadium as they were allowed to enter 30 minutes before everyone else. All you saw were hundreds of people holding their bobbleheads going up the escalator. Once people in line saw that, the anxiety started to kick in. Little kids were crying, new borns were getting fed a bottle, people started cutting others in line, you name it.
So the cock suckers the Mets are, they held their ground by opening up the gates at exactly 5:10pm. They knew people were waiting for countless hours in the heat. They couldn’t open 20 minutes early? Made an announcement? No. Exactly 5:10 on the dot!
So, the gates finally opened and we got in and collected our bobbleheads. I kid you not, I have never seen the security presence this strong. Citi Field had 2 guards for every gate. There was 5 uniformed cops right behind them looking for people to just throw out. It was a crazy scramble.
We went up the escalator and saw another 4 security guards just eyeing the scene. We looked down below and just saw thousands of fans just swarming the gates trying to score the bobble.
Within 5 minutes, I turned around and saw at least 8 guys with big bags trying to buy bobbleheads from people. There were 2 guys right by the escalator and a bunch of others spread out. They failed big time. Every fan shook their head and pretty much said, “Fuck off, I’m keeping it”. Within 25 minutes, all the bobbleheads were gone. I looked down towards the gates and every brown box was empty. Gone!
We met up with some friends eventually and had a nice cold beer and some grub with them. Citi Field knows how to prepare a hot dog and fries. After all the pressure and anxiousness, a cold beer felt good.
The best part of the night was meeting at least a dozen Snipers throughout the night. We shared a bunch of stories and it was good to connect with all of you. I’m glad you guys came out and gutted out the wait for the bobble.
By the way, never even think about going into a store like this. Prices are tripled and if you want game used memorabilia, hit the internet as stores like this will rape you.
The stadium was definitely live. There was a ton of energy and it seemed everywhere you looked you saw the Mets promoting this bobblehead night. It was plastered in stores, billboards, in the bathrooms you name it.
We took off around the 7th inning as it was a long ass day and I was shot. I ended up with 14 bobbleheads. How I scored them is a mystery I cannot reveal. A lot of you guys ask me “How do you get so many” and if I tell you, my system that I use goes to shit. I didn’t pay a single dollar for each extra, and no, I didn’t steal them. My wife didn’t help me if that’s what your thinking as well.
This bobblehead game was a bitch to get extras and I knew that going in. Everyone, and I mean everyone that was in line early was keeping their collectible. I overheard some scum bags offer $50.00 for one and people just walked away. I don’t think we’re ever gonna see a game like this again. Citi Field made it a point to bump up security and it paid off. Many big time collectors and flippers couldn’t even scratch 5 extras. My system prevailed and as much security as Citi Field threw at us, we still walked away with 14 in total.
I received a lot of hate messages saying I stole bobbles away from little kids and a lot of people didn’t get a chance to have one. You know what? Those people who carelessly arrived late and didn’t sit in the fucking heat for hours and sweated their nuts off probably doesn’t deserve one. Not to be a dick, but they knew the hype. They knew this was a huge game for collectors of all ages. Shame on them for showing up late thinking they were gonna be handed a bobblehead 10 minutes after the gates open. No sympathy for those folks.
Now, the bobblehead itself will be discussed in a “Bobble of the Day” blog, as I know many of you are anxious to know the result. Overall, this was a bloodbath of an event and will be hard to replicate in the future.