Juan Soto’s home debut with the New York Mets was a huge success. Citi Field is still Pete Alonso’s house, though.

Mark Vientos during warmups for the Mets' home opener at Citi Field on Friday, April 4, 2025. New York Mets fans ride the escalators to the concourse before the home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday. A New York Mets fan takes a photo with Jackie Robinson's number before the home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.

The first game in April at Citi Field felt and sounded like the five games last October, the crowd boisterous and bawdy, the baseball crisp, the mood ebullient. We dwell an awful lot on the many neuroses that so often seize Mets fans but back in the autumn, Citi Field felt like the happiest place in all of baseball for those five playoff games.