Delayed flight leads to sleepless night for Mets before Subway Series opener at Yankee Stadium
NEW YORK (AP) — By the time the bleary-eyed New York Mets finally got back to Citi Field early Tuesday morning, Adam Ottavino was so tired he didn’t bother to go home.
Ottavino and teammate Harrison Bader headed for the Mets’ sleep room inside the ballpark, where they closed their eyes and caught some ZZZZs. At last.
“Had my wife come pick me up when it was convenient,” Ottavino said at Yankee Stadium before the Subway Series opener Tuesday night. “I was comfortable. I was happy.”
Following a 6-4 victory Monday night over the Marlins in the finale of a four-game series, the Mets got delayed flying out of Miami. They sat on the tarmac in South Florida for at least 2 1/2 hours, pitcher Luis Severino said, waiting as their plane was properly fueled.
“I don’t know how long it takes to put gas in the plane, but it took a long time,” he said.
Severino said the Mets took off after 2 a.m. They landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport about 4:45 a.m., then bused across Queens to Citi Field, where players jumped in their cars around 5:30 a.m. and fought rush-hour traffic as they drove home in daylight.
First baseman Pete Alonso said he probably fell asleep at 7 a.m. or so.
“Yeah, the flight was nice,” he said, tongue in cheek. “We’re good to go. We’re ready to rock today.
“To be honest, it happens a lot. I mean, I know it’s probably a story today because we’re playing the Yankees,” he added. “But it happens way often more, but no one really cares because our job is to go out there and play regardless of the circumstances, and we’re going to go out there and give it everything we’ve got. And there’s really no excuses. We’re all going to be ready to go. Pretty sure all of us have had at least eight hours of sleep, so we’re ready to rock and roll.”
Ottavino, however, said it was the latest (or earliest) he ever arrived back from a road trip on a game day during his 14 years in the majors.
“It wasn’t fun. I wouldn’t recommend it,” the reliever said. “I’ve landed with the sun up a bunch of times, but usually on an off day.”
Ottavino didn’t have his car at Citi Field, so rather than book a ride share home to suburban Westchester, he went to sleep at the ballpark for a while before his wife picked him up in the late morning and brought him home.
Ottavino said he felt “dirty and gross” so he showered first at the stadium. Hours later, he was in the Bronx getting ready for the crosstown-rival Yankees in a sleepy Mets clubhouse.
“That’s part of what we do. Part of the life of a baseball player, baseball team. You know at some point throughout the year you’re going to be facing things like that,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’re here in the Bronx. Crowd’s going to be electric. Important game. So I’m not worried about it.”
Mendoza said he got home about 6:30 or 7 a.m.
“Ready to go now,” he said with a smile.
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