The Mets "already consider" P Matt Harvey's return to Citi Field -- scheduled for Tuesday -- "a success" based on ticket sales, according to Mike Puma of the N.Y. POST. Mets Exec VP & Chief Revenue Officer Lou DePaoli said that the team has "already sold upward of 30,000 tickets for Harvey’s first home start" since August '13. He missed the entirety of the '14 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The second home game of the season is generally "the toughest to sell." DePaoli: "Once people heard what the rotation would be, it started bringing up sales a little bit." The Mets "expect another bounce in ticket sales for Harvey’s scheduled start the following Sunday against the Marlins at Citi Field." DePaoli said that the Mets "didn’t begin marketing Harvey’s first start until Thursday because they wanted to ensure a rainout wouldn’t push back his first appearance of the season" (N.Y. POST, 4/10).
EASY LISTENING: In N.Y., Tim Rohan reports the Nationals starting this season, for now at least, "are playing slow soft-rock songs during the visiting team’s batting practice" in an attempt to "gain a psychological edge on their opponents." The Mets during their season-opening three-game series at Nationals Park "heard the Carpenters, Elton John, Sarah McLachlan, Sinead O’Connor, R.E.M. and Kansas ('Dust in the Wind')." When the Carpenters came on during Wednesday's batting practice, Mets hitting coach Kevin Long "turned toward the Nationals’ dugout, smiled and shouted: 'We’re not buying this! You can’t bring us down!'" Nationals Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer Valerie Camillo said, "We like to be fun and creative with our in-game entertainment, and the songs we play during visiting team batting practice is part of the show. ... Hopefully, our fans will find it funny, and maybe we can even get a smile out of some of the visiting team players" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/10).
