Baseball in NYC: Take the family to the game

With both the Mets and the Yankees playing great baseball, now is the time to visit New York City with your family and catch some games.
Citi Field, home to the NY Mets, has family-friendly promotions like times when kids can run the bases. The ball field also offers good local food, like burgers from Shake Shack and cannolis from a Mama’s of Corona, a Queens bakery.

At Mr. Met’s Kiddie Field, kids can test their skills at a batting cage, dunk tank and video game kiosks. Citi Field also has a new specially priced area, BJ’s Club-House. Tickets here are $10 for kids 12 and under, $20 for adults ($20 & $30 for marquee games).  Get to the park on time; Mr. Met visits during the bottom of the 1st inning of every home Mets game.

At Monument Park at Yankee Stadium, kids can pay homage to Yankee legends, including Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Joe DiMaggio. Two of the particularly kid-friendly places to each include Johnny Rockets, with burgers, hot dogs and shakes, and Nathan’s Famous, with hot dogs and corn dogs.

Minor Leagues offer major fun
NYC also has two minor league parks with kid-friendly perks. The Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets farm team, plays in Coney Island. You can take the kids to the NY Aquarium, a few blocks away, or for a ride on the namesake wooden roller coaster, the Cyclone.

The ballpark also has a playground behind the bleachers, where kids can run around before or during the game.

The Yankees minor league club, the Staten Island Yankees, play at a field next to the Staten Island Ferry. Take a free ferry ride and walk to Richmond County Bank Ballpark. The Staten Island Yankees set off fireworks after every Thursday and Friday night game.

The Brooklyn Cyclones gives away jerseys at every Thursday game. Travelingmom.com is giving away New Era’s “Stars & Stripes” women’s tank tops, with Mets or Yankees logos, for those who can’t make it to a Thursday Cyclones game. Proceeds from the red, white, and blue tank tops go to the Welcome Back Troops Fund, an organization that provides support to veterans and their families when they come home from war.

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