Citi Field: First Look
The good, the bad, and the ugly of Citi Field, brought to you in pictures. View the photos, read my remarks, and form your own opinion … or wait another two weeks and try to scalp a ticket so you can see the place for yourself.
Thanks to fellow blogger Andrew Vazzano of TheRopolitans, I was able to attend the very first baseball game ever played at Citi Field, between the St. John’s Red Storm and the Georgetown Hoyas.
While there, I took a bunch of pictures to give you an idea of what the new stadium is like. Unfortunately, the day was dreary, with gray skies and a constant mist, so all the photos came out similarly drab and colorless. Since there have been several photo and video “tours” on other blogs, I’ve tried to assemble more esoteric points of interest around the park.
What was most strange about this day was that it is likely the only time the stadium will look so sparse of spectators, despite being a sellout. All 42,000 seats were sold — within 45 minutes of going on sale on the internet — yet the majority of folks were walking around the inner guts of the stadium to check everything out rather than sitting in their seats.
All photos have been published as a series, and this is article number one. More than 20 photos and descriptions are included, to guide you through this virtual tour of Citi Field on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Click the links below this post to navigate through.
Left Field Scoreboard
This is a shot of the out-of-town scoreboard, which hangs over the upper-deck seats in left field. Do you see anything wrong with this picture? Here’s a hint: what if YOU were sitting behind that scoreboard?
Here’s an up-close shot. This is probably the first and last time you will ever see the New York Mets listed on the out-of-town scoreboard, and on the American League side to boot.
There are some really cool features with the out-of-town scoreboard at Citi Field — for example, the uniform number of the current pitchers are on the left, there are red lights telling you how many outs there are, and green lights on a mini-diamond let you know the runners on. But, there’s one annoying and vital issue with this “state of the art” scoreboard — you don’t know which team is at bat! So, yeah, it’s first and third with one out in the fourth inning, but we don’t know which team has runners on first and third. MAJOR FAIL! Maybe it’s a glitch that will be resolved by Opening Day.
Citi Field Seats
The seats are plastic and marginally comfortable — not much different from the old seats at Shea. However, there is more room between rows, at least on the field level.
The dark green color is an homage — apparently the ONLY homage — to the old Polo Grounds. For those unaware, the Polo Grounds was the first home stadium of the New York Mets, and was the original park of the New York Giants.
Citi Field Main Scoreboards
This is a view of the main scoreboards in centerfield, taken from the third base, field level area of Citi Field.
Close-up view of the main scoreboard. As you can see, it is a crystal-clear LCD with outstanding brightness and contrast. Note that the player on the board is Jimmy Parque of St. John’s. I’m going to take a wild stab and assume this California kid is the son of former LHP Jim Parque, a UCLA alum who won 13 games for Jerry Manuel’s 2000, first-place White Sox.
Another close-up of the main scoreboard. As you can see, in addition to static images, it can also show live video, in HD. Pretty sweet.
The New Home Run Apple
A shot of center field. Hey, what’s that beyond the center field fence? Looks like it may be the stem of an apple!
A closer look does reveal a massive apple in hiding. Though there was a home run in the game, the apple remained in its hiding place.
I can assure you, though, that it is a brand new apple. The next post in this series reveals the fate of the old apple.
The Old Home Run Apple
You can see the front of the old Shea Stadium home run apple by entering through the Jackie Robinson Rotunda and waiting on line to take a picture. I didn’t have the patience to wait on line so I took this shot from above. As you can see, it’s shoved over in a corner, as if it were in a staging area. My guess is that on bulk waste garbage night, Jeff Wilpon will push it out to the curb.
In the next photo, you’ll see Bernie Madoff’s new seat!
Bernie Madoff’s New Seat
For those who are unaware, the Wilpons’ financial adviser Bernie Madoff was forced to give up his pristine seats behind home plate due to the economy. Tough luck how these difficult financial times are affecting everyone.
However, a new, similarly special seat was set up for Mr. Madoff, as you can see above. The view of the game is not quite as nice as his Delta Club Platinum digs, but he will be much closer to the Shake Shack and have an excellent opportunity to raise cash — while enjoying conversation with fans.
Fun for Kids, Sort Of
It’s a ballpark within a ballpark! Next to the food court above right-center field is the “family area”, which is equipped with a fenced-in mini-diamond that could be a great place for tykes to play some wiffle ball, but in reality will likely be too small to serve as anything other than a romper room.
A few feet away is a pair of batting tunnels, though without pitching machines. There are “L” screens, however, so I guess that there will be some college interns tossing BP. Five swings and out, NEXT!
I get the idea of keeping kids with short attention spans entertained during a “boring” baseball game — the longer the family stays, the more money they spend in the park! But this is a feeble attempt at family fun, and the placement near the taco stand and shake shack in theory makes sense but again, the reality is that the area is going to be too cramped for all this activity. If the Mets wanted to create a great place for the entire family to enjoy the ballgame, they should have taken a lesson from Turner Field in Atlanta, which has a huge indoor wiffle ball stadium, arcade, multiple batting tunnels, running bases, and a sprawling outdoor area with multiple picnic tables set below a monstrous video screen. Actually there’s a lot more than that at Turner — see it all here.
Maybe I’m being too critical, but I’m envisioning a major, annoying bottleneck as I make my way to a rack of Kansas City ribs. More to the point is starting the great idea of the family environment, but then stopping short of making it a fulfilling experience. Instead, it’s an exercise in futility and frustration. Either do it right, do it all the way, or don’t do it at all. (Hmmm … sounds familiar, doesn’t it?)
In the next post, we take a bite of an expensive pulled-pork sandwich.
Pulled Pork Sandwich
Welcome to the food court.
Yum! Here’s the menu at Blue Smoke, which is above centerfield, immediately to the right of Shake Shack (another place for yummy treats).
I don’t remember PayPass at Shea, but in any case it is a convenient addition to keep the line moving. The girl at Blue Smoke didn’t know how to work the thing yet, but I’m sure it will be operable by Opening Day.
Here are pictures of my absolutely delicious pulled pork sandwich, which comes in a neat little cardboard box … though, the $9.50 price tag is a little steep. The beer is a “Blue Smoke Ale”, which tasted to me like a cross between a Blue Moon and a weisse beer.
Across from Blue Smoke / Shake Shack is a taco joint and there looked to be another food stand, but it wasn’t yet open. The food choices are great, the prices not so great, but my main complaint is this: where am I supposed to eat? There are no tables nor waist-high standup bars for eating, so you have to trek back to your seat. This isn’t a big deal for those used to Shea Stadium, but after visiting several other “modern” ballparks, I find this a major FAIL. The idea of the new style, open-air ballparks is that you can leisurely roam all around the park, watch the game from several angles, while enjoying good food and a beverage.
As mentioned in the previous post of this series, this area is way too small for the expected activity, and is going to be mobbed and cramped — except on cold rainy days in March when two college teams are the top billing.
I Scream for Ice Cream
No worries, the old standby — soft-serve ice cream from Carvel — is available at Citi Field. the Carvel is just a few steps away from the kids’ mini-park, and part of the upscale food court beyond center field.
Interestingly, there are Mets offices just above the Carvel, as you can see in the following pictures. If I worked there I’d gain 10 pounds in a month going on sundae breaks.
In the next post we take a bite from an old standby — which is lower in calories than you might expect.
Mets Gifts
MetsBlog FeedMore Sponsors
fix bad credit
repairmycreditnow.com - repairmycreditnow has a v phase process that will successfully fix bad credit legally
