Carson Benge’s electric Mets debut was ‘everything and more’

A bird defecating on a person’s head promises good fortune, according to the old superstition. 

There is less information established about the dark or promising omens when a bird dies nearby in your major league debut, but maybe Carson Benge will be the test case. 

On an afternoon that had a bit of everything — a phrase that nearly applies literally in this case — the Mets’ exciting rookie first sunk, then soared, then watched a bird soar and then sink in a scintillating and strange 11-7 Mets Opening Day victory over the Pirates at Citi Field. 

How did this measure up to your expectations, Carson? 

“Everything and more,” Benge said, accurately, after a Thursday that was mostly wondrous and part bizarre. 

First, the wondrous: Every at-bat from the club’s No. 2 prospect looked stronger than the previous one. He struck out twice, first against Paul Skenes — “Calm down,” Benge told himself after the three-pitch strikeout. “Deep breath, calm down.” — then Yohan Ramirez, before an impressive fight against lefty Mason Montgomery in the fifth. Benge dug a 1-2 hole before fouling off two pitches and letting three balls go by, earning an eight-pitch walk. 

With a bit more familiarity and feeling better about himself, Benge stepped up in the sixth inning, got a first-pitch sweeper from Pittsburgh’s Justin Lawrence and smoked a home run to right field. 

A person known as a baseball player and not an entertainer — a throwback who does not show much emotion on the field — made an exception. The 23-year-old watched the ball fly, touched first base and took a leap, his back to home plate, while his arms crept toward his torso and flexed. The moment he had dreamt about as a child had become a reality. 

“I just got chills,” said Benge, who was a spring star and only learned Monday that he won an Opening Day job. “This is where I’m supposed to be and just having fun.” 

He resumed his gait, rounded the bases and arrived at a rocking dugout. Manager Carlos Mendoza “told me it’s fun here,” Benge relayed with a smile. “I was like, ‘You’re right.’ ” 

He went through the high-five line, which was punctuated not by a slapping of hands but a big hug from Juan Soto. 

From there, Benge heard the sold-out crowd swell louder until he made his way to the top step of the dugout, where he took a curtain call. 

“It means the world,” said Benge — whose parents made the trip from Oklahoma, and who had 22 friends and family at the park. “Having all the people that have sacrificed so much for me come up and watch that happen is definitely big.” 

Offensively, Benge added a five-pitch walk in the eighth and swiped second base, which was the last normal “first” he could check off. There was the bizarre one — perhaps one proving that Benge can take whatever that is thrown at him in stride. 

Late in the game, “I heard a thud,” Benge said. He looked over and a bird had fallen from the sky a few feet away in right field. 

“I looked over and it was just down,” Benge said. “Down for the count.” 

He did not panic, his eyes trained on the batter. At least on the field, he appeared to be the only one aware of the animal. 

“I just looked around and was like, is anyone going to grab this?” Benge said. “No one was looking at it, so I wasn’t about to stop the game for it.” 

Unfortunately for him, the fans noticed, too, and they began chanting for him to pick it up. He declined, and after the frame a stadium worker ran onto the field and removed the bird, ending a surreal first day of Benge’s major league life. 

Is this a good or bad sign? 

“I’m not superstitious,” Benge said. “It worked out.”