The debate about Citi Field sight lines and oversight in neglecting Met history continues in bars, on sports radio and in blogs, including
Loge13.
If the Mets were playing better, we'd have something better to talk about. I am convinced of one thing: I am getting tickets in the Pepsi Porch this year at some point.
Meanwhile, the
New York Daily News ran a good column, touching on both sides of the issue. The Mets are definitely scrambling to announce a more accessible Mets Hall of Fame in the coming weeks and defuse some of the troubles. Here be the article, in case you missed it:
Who plays at Citi Field again?
The new $850 million ballpark
got an electric reception last Monday, but a growing chorus of Mets
fans are griping about a peculiar choice of which storied New York
stadium the Amazin's have honored.
There's a glaring lack of Shea
reminders amid an odd abundance of tributes to the long-departed
Brooklyn Dodgers and Ebbets Field, fans say.
"All I know is
there's got to be Mets stuff or it's embarrassing," said WFAN midday
radio show host Evan Roberts. "It's a cold feeling and it doesn't feel
like your home."
Sporting a facade that mimics the masonry of the
Dodgers' old digs, Citi Field also has the Jackie Robinson Rotunda -
with photos and film of Dodgers stars and Ebbets Field - and a
field-level eatery named the Ebbets Club.
Images of the
now-dismantled Shea Stadium, where the Amazin's played for 45 years and
won World Series titles in 1969 and 1986, are much harder to find.
A Mets spokesman stressed plans to honor team legends in a museum at Citi Field.
"As
previously stated, we will recognize our team's heritage and have
announcements in the weeks ahead," the spokesman said. He didn't
comment about the paucity of Shea pictures in the new ballpark.
"Respect
should be paid and Shea should be honored," said Stanley Cohen, author
of "A Magic Summer," about the 1969 Mets. "We lose the whole substance
of what the game means if we don't have something that recalls the
past."
Jason Antos, who wrote "Shea Stadium: Images of Baseball,"
was puzzled by the emphasis on Ebbets Field, which never hosted the
Mets and represents Brooklyn, not Queens.
"It's a little
confusing why, in the stadium where the Mets are playing, there's so
much attention being paid to Brooklyn Dodgers history," Antos said.
At the Mets' home opener on Monday, fans also bemoaned the lack of Shea likenesses.
"We're
still paying homage to a team that left over 50 years ago," griped
salesman Paul Palmeri, 48, of Middle Village. "It's like going to a
road game to watch your home team."
Mark Klimm, 48, of Newtown,
Conn., stressed he liked Citi Field but will forever have a soft spot
for Shea, where he fondly remembered marching on field at a Banner Day
in the mid-1970s. "That was an experience I'll never forget," he said.
While
fans won't see many images of Shea's blue windscreen panels with neon
outlines of ballplayers, the brand-new ballpark incorporates some
elements of the Mets' longtime stadium.
Citi Field includes
Shea's Home Run Apple and the New York City skyline from the Shea
scoreboard. The Mets also plan to mark Shea's bases with plaques in
Citi Field's parking lot.
Last week, Mets brass announced plans
to install a Mets Hall of Fame with plaques honoring the club's
legends, possibly in center field.
Still, many fans said they love Citi Field as is.
Season
ticket holder Monica Hickey-Martin, 44, of Stuyvesant Town, applauded
the ballpark's link to the Dodgers, whose westward move in 1957 paved
the way for the Mets' creation in 1962.
"So many Met fans became Met fans because they were Dodgers fans," she said.
Jeff
Cohen, 46, of Flushing, even suggested the lack of images of Shea -
where the Mets suffered late-season collapses in 2007 and 2008 - is for
the best.
"You want to do anything you can to erase the specter
of that reputation," Cohen said. "You want to have a fresh start and a
new look - even if that's the look of the Brooklyn Dodgers."
METS FANS! Take back the name of YOUR ballpark!
Stick it to the banksters! Call it Debits Field!
Do you LOVE your Amazin's, but HATE the fact that the name of their beautiful new ballpark was sold to a corrupt and greedy corporation (and paid for with OUR Federal bailout bucks, at that)?
Well, you can join the protest and reassert your naming rights, with the DEBITS FIELD T-SHIRT!
Visit www.debitsfield.com for details.