Season Subscriber Benefits

Mets season ticket holders are getting their season ticket renewals in the mail. Got mine yesterday.

Inside, a copy of the 2010 schedule. Ticket prices of each tier of games have not changed much, but you notice there are less gold games, automatically decreasing the total cost of the season. The overall decrease? 2.9%. My seats are in the Promenade Reserved Infield. I can't complain about the prices. I was shocked at how low the cost was last season for the inaugural season at the park.

Here's my issue with the Mets in general. Their benefits fall a bit short. Just last season their started a split payment plan. A nice start compared to what they had before 2009, when they hit you with one big charge. However, in the days where credit card interest rates are skyrocketing, the least they could do was offer a six-month pay plan. The Rangers play half the games the Mets so, yet they offer an eight-month pay plan.

In the 'New for 2010' page, there is "Expanded Club Access." Sweet! Finally, if I'm freezing my ass off in April I can finally escape into the Promenade Club at the very least to warm up for a few innings. Wrong. On the other side of the page is list of every seating category (37 of them!!) on the left side with list of clubs along the top, and checkmarks underneath for which club each tier has access to. The only ones without a checkmark? Promenade Reserved and Promenade Reserved Infield. They are allowing Promenade Club holders to go to the Caesar's Club. How about just allowing everyone access to the Promenade Club, or at least those with a season ticket??

In the final game last season, they allowed us to participate in the DynaMets Dash, which was cool. Anytime you get on a major league field (or skate on the Garden ice, which the Rangers allow once a year), it's an experience. This season the Mets are offering tours of the field, dugout and clubhouse, which will take place in December. The Dash was great, as it got you on the infield dirt. This time, it will be nice to see how big that Met clubhouse really is.

There are also '"Take the Field With the Mets" Days', Mets Yearbook, and Mets Magazine opener edition giveaways in addition to the customary gift and media guide you get each year. These are all improvements and steps in the right direction, but the Mets can give us more, and if there ever was a time to do it, the time was for this season. Despite their efforts, they might have dropped the ball. That being said, will I renew? Probably. It would take a super f- you for me to drop.

Speaking of benefits, the Rangers had their annual fan forum last night, as reported nicely by Mrs. Hurley. I don't ask questions at these things, but if I were to ask one last night, it would be something like she suggested: Henrik needs to just snap at the next guy who runs him in his crease and use that stick.

The end of the evening featured a trivia quiz, with each of the five players in attendance giving away their Rangers jersey for those who get the correct answer. This contest in previous fan forums featured crappy questions which fans lucky enough to be next to the host got called on to provide the correct answer. They improved on that with some doozies last night. Which current Ranger was picked a few picks after Enver Lisin was picked in the second round of the 2004 draft? Getting that one is deserving of a $300 Ranger jersey. The answer was Dane Byers.

Lisin, by the way, is my new favorite player. The kid is hilarious, and you really see why the guys get a kick out of him.