Baseball bats bigscreen

Screenvision, Clearview to offer Mets games

By DADE HAYES

After tasting success with opera and rock concerts, movie theaters are trying baseball games.

Screenvision and Clearview Cinemas, the Cablevision-owned chain, are expanding on last year's sold-out New York Mets simulcast at the 1,100-seat Ziegfeld Theater by offering three more Mets games at three Gotham-area venues.

First up is a Mets-Atlanta Braves game on Wednesday that will appear on screens in high definition in Manhattan's Chelsea nabe; Parsippany, N.J.; and Port Washington on Long Island. Games in July and August will follow at sites to be announced.

The "Mets at the Movies" series will be plugged on SNY, the cable sports net co-owned by the Mets, Comcast and Time Warner. Admission will be $12, and fans will get elements of the Shea Stadium experience, with T-shirts launched into the air and an appearance by mascot Mr. Met.

After pushing the "alternative content" idea for years, exhibs have finally achieved some traction in recent months, with the Hanna Montana concert pic and Metropolitan Opera simulcasts both faring well at the B.O. In March, ShoWest was dominated by blue-skying about the potential for a wide range of such events.