NYC’s first fan: A ballgame with Mayor Bill de Blasio
He sat in the upper deck, basically unrecognized amid a sea of happy baseball fans. He let out a cheer when the best hitter on his favorite team smoked a home run and diligently scanned the out-of-town scoreboard to consider playoff implications. And he waited his turn in the long Citi Field men’s room line, just one more fan spending a hot summer day watching the Mets and the Red Sox play.
Except this fan had four bodyguards standing nearby.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio went to a baseball game over the weekend. Actually, he went to all three games played between his beloved Red Sox and the Mets, frustrated by his favorite team’s disappointing season but excited for the upstart Mets and what their surprising resurgence could mean for October’s playoff possibilities in the nation’s largest city.
But beyond that, he was simply happy to take a break from his municipal concerns to watch a game, chow down on a Nathan’s hot dog and reminiscence about what baseball has meant to him and his family.