Chasing Dreams at Citi Field

Ready for a rollercoaster of emotions? Let’s begin.

Let me clarify that the emotions are mine, but if you know me then maybe you can live vicariously through them as I tell this story.

Imagine loving a team so much that it becomes part of you. You get every app notification whether it’s a highlight or a trade, weekends are spent at the games and you have so much memorabilia you can’t even count all of it. Every sports fan has that team.

For me, it’s the New York Mets.

I played on Shea Stadium’s field on Family Sundays, I watched Citi Field get built and eventually take over, I attended David Wright’s last game and cried when it was over and it took until I was 20 years old to take down all my old posters in my bedroom. Even when the team is bad— and trust me, they’ve been bad— I’m still just as committed as I was back when I could barely understand the game.

As I got older and started to think about my future, I knew sports was the path. I didn’t have an exact idea at the time, but I always had that thought of working for the Mets. My first dream was to play for them but for a number of reasons you can all figure out, I knew I had to move on from that mentality.

On September 11, 2019 at 7:56 p.m., I got a message from my friend Gordon. He is a photographer for Yahoo News and I’ve known him for the past two years through the Brooklyn Cyclones. He shoots the Mets all the time, and told me he’d try and get me a credential one day to come shoot with him.

I was thrilled, but obviously I didn’t want to get my hopes up since nothing is guaranteed. Once I read his message, though, my hopes could not have been higher.

“Can you do Sunday night’s game vs. the Dodgers?”

I had already taken so many trips back to New York for my internship, so what’s one more to shoot my favorite team in the world, right?

I bet you’re all dying to hear about the game itself, so let’s just skip right to it.

I got to Citi Field and did the same thing that I do at any game at Quinnipiac. I got to the credential window, made my way through the hallway—with some help from Gordon of course—and unpacked my equipment in the photographer’s room.

Then, it was time to get to work. I walked through the tunnel and next thing I know I’m standing on the field. I work my way to the first baseline and take it all in.

The view was unlike anything I had ever seen. I’ve been in the first couple rows of the stands before so I’ve seen the action up close, but walking on the field itself and feeling the dirt crunch under my feet was so surreal.

I walked around and got comfortable with where I could and couldn't go, introduced myself to some other workers and security guards and eventually found a spot between the Mets dugout and on-deck circle for the night.

And it was the best seat in the house.

I was so close to the players I could practically hear their conversations even with the loud fans behind me. They definitely caught me staring a few times, but c'mon, could you blame me?

Player after player walked through the dugout and I could name every single one of them as they passed. Once I picked my jaw up off the ground I took a few shots.

The game itself was awesome. Hearing the crack of the bat and a 100 MPH pitch from such a close proximity sounded insane. It's such a different world compared to Quinnipiac or even the Brooklyn Cyclones because there are so many more people there. I specifically remember Brandon Nimmo hit an RBI triple and it felt like the stadium was shaking.

Even though the Mets would lose the game, it was still the coolest experience of my life to date. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: a little photo montage.

I'd love to include every single photo I took, but there's just too many to count. If you'd like to see those, check out the Mets tab of my website! Or, if you're feeling really generous you can head over to instagram and follow me @lflynnphotos.

Listen, a shameless plug never hurt anyone.

When the game ended, I packed up my stuff, thanked the staff that was gracious enough to let me come shoot and met up with my family-- because of course they all came to see this in person.

The person I really have to thank is Gordon. He helped give me the push I needed to get a taste of Major League Baseball and was an incredible mentor to me during my time with the Cyclones as well. I'm grateful for him every day.

I got back to Quinnipiac and in my first class back, one of my closest friends turned to me and showed off his laptop wallpaper. It was a photo of Michael Conforto that I took.

I really do have the best friends in the world.

Never in a million years did I think I would have an opportunity to shoot the team I grew up watching. I’ll never forget it and I can’t wait to get back there one day and shoot again.

A lot of people asked me how I got so lucky, what I did to get that connection and what felt like a hundred other questions. My advice?

Work hard, chase your dreams and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it.

"If they have a problem with me throwing inside, they can meet me 60 feet, 6 inches away." - Noah Syndergaard