April 16, 2009
The Mets win! The Me-e-e-e-e-ets win!
I visited the New York Mets' Citi Field for the first time last night, to see what my tax dollars had wrought in Queens. My verdict, as delivered this morning at Baseball Prospectus Unfiltered: It's far from perfect, but still kicks the new Yankee Stadium's butt:
Citi Field is a typicalHOKPopulous modern stadium, with all that goes with that: Field-level seats close to the action, a wall of luxury/club seating in the middle, an upper deck that's higher than you'd expect at old-time ballparks, overly quirky outfield dimensions, more places to buy overpriced food than some (present company included) might think necessary. The Mets owners have been fond of comparing their new taxpayer-aided home to Ebbets Field; the comparison doesn't hold much better here than it did for Miller Park, which made the same claim.
That said, it's immediately clear that the Mets got most of the details right here, especially compared to their rivals across the East River. The Jackie Robinson Rotunda may be a bit of a ham-fisted nod to history (it didn't help that last night was Jackie Robinson Night, with a pregame ceremony featuring people wearing jerseys with words like "COMMITMENT" and "INTEGRITY" on their backs), but it's nicely human-scaled and functional compared to the Yanks' gratuitous Great Hall. Thanks to a relatively teensy 42,000 capacity, the upper deck isn't quite so distant as in the Bronx, about the equivalent of the back of the old Shea mezzanine — Mr. Met could almost even reach it last night with his T-shirt cannon — though the lessened seating has helped contribute to hikes in ticket prices.
And most of all, unlike the Yanks' new home, Citi Field reeks of baseball. There's plenty of attractive brick and steel, the scoreboards are useful but not overly imposing, and even the non-game attractions let you know that you're at a baseball game, not a mall: free batting cages and a Wiffle ball diamond out beyond centerfield for the younger set. (This was such an insanely huge hit last night, with my son among others, that I wonder if the Yankees are at risk of losing an entire generation of New York baseball fans here.) It may not seem like using brick-colored cinderblocks instead of grey ones should make a big difference, but it does.
I'm not sure it's $600 million nicer than Shea Stadium, but at the very least, Met fans can say they got a decent place to see a ballgame for their tax money. Unlike some other people I could name.
Neil,
Since you're far away from KC wanted you know more about the new "K". I put it here to compare it to Citi Field. Behind the outfield there's a diamond for the kids called the "Little K" that was moved from its previous spot behind right field. There's batting cages, carousel, mini golf, fast pitch, game room, etc. Glad the Mets decided to imitate us so much!!
There's also new outfield seating, expanded concourses, new restaurants, hall of fame (opening soon), expanded concessions, all while maintaining the original bowl of the stadium.
And all for $550 million less. We definitely got our money's worth. Not perfect, but I'm not complaining.
Posted by Chris on April 17, 2009 01:31 PM
Shouldn't the headline be... "Thuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh Mets Win!"
Posted by Greg on April 18, 2009 12:42 PM
The transliteration of John Sterling is a question that has puzzled centuries of linguists.
Posted by Neil on April 18, 2009 05:31 PM
I would hardly put Kansas City up as a model for shrewd public investments in sports stadiums.
Posted by Greg on April 19, 2009 12:07 PM