Opening Day At Citi Field, The House That You And I Built

The first player ever to hit a home run at Citi Field? Sean Lamont of Georgetown, which beat St. John's 6-4 on Sunday as Mets fans got to give their new, controversial ballpark a test drive.

The game drew 22,397, the seventh-largest crowd to ever watch an NCAA baseball game. I wonder who sat in Bernie Madoff's seats? Whoever they were, they got a bargain; when those seats are finally resold (Bernie probably won't be using them), they're going to cost a bit more. A modest proposal: Since we're basically paying for them anyway, I think that Madoff's tickets should be rotated among all American taxpayers. Dibs on Aug. 15 vs. the Giants.

The season tickets, just behind home plate, will likely be resold by the trustee for Madoff Investment Securities LLC.

Mets executive vice president David Howard said the seats were paid for and were in either the first or second row behind home plate, a section known as Delta Club Platinum. They list for $695 each for opening day on April 13 and June interleague games against the New York Yankees, all classified as platinum by the Mets.

They cost $595 for gold games, $495 for silver games, $395 for bronze games and $295 for value games. Overall, the season ticket comes to $40,095 per seat, an average of $495.

The Philadelphia Daily News points out that since Citigroup helped underwrite the new stadium, and that bank is now getting millions in federal bailout money, hey, it's the House That We Built. More ballpark photos here. Nice job, everyone.

Madoff's Citi Field Seats Could Soon Be On The Market [Seattle PI] Axis Of Evil: Madoff, Citi And The New York Mets [Philadelphia Daily News] Mets Nowhere In Sight As Georgetown Tops St. John's On Opening Day [New York Daily News]