 |
|
Citi Field trivia Archives
 The New York Daily News had an exclusive today. The Mets are cutting in half the height of the center field wall, from 16 feet to 8 feet. Now if only we had more guys who could hit it out to the center field wall. Here's the story... Broadcaster Gary Cohen may be able to proclaim,
"It's outta here!" a little more often in 2010. And
David Wright may not be as inclined to frustratingly fling his Great Gazoo helmet, or whatever protective
wear he uses, during the upcoming season.
The height of Citi Field's center-field wall will be
sliced in half, making the ballpark more homer-
friendly, the Daily News has learned.
Last season, the wall measured 16 feet in front of
the sparsely used Home Run Apple. Now, with the
second level of padding being removed, it will
measure eight feet in the middle of the outfield.
Still, as the Daily News exclusively reported in
September, the stadium's spacious dimensions won't
be altered.
The Mets hit 95 homers last season, by far the
fewest in the majors. San Francisco ranked 29th with
122.
Wright, whose home-run power is more to right-
center than the left-field line, saw his power
plummet as the Mets moved from Shea Stadium to
Citi Field. He went from a career-high 33 homers in
2008 to 10 homers last season - five at home, and
five on the road.
Greg Rybarcyzk, a former U.S. Navy nuclear
engineer who runs HitTrackeronline.com,
concluded that Wright hit nine balls in play at Citi
Field last season that would have been homers at
Shea Stadium - although that discrepancy won't be
fully addressed by the modest outfield adjustment.
Regardless, the Mets' 2009 power outage wasn't
exclusively a Citi Field phenomenon. They ranked
last in the majors in road homers last season with
46. Pittsburgh had the second-fewest with 50. The
Yankees and Phillies, who play in hitter-friendly
ballparks, also ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in road homers w
ith 116 and 108, respectively.
Meanwhile, an average of 1.60 homers per game
were hit at Citi Field last season, more than at five
other NL ballparks - San Diego (1.59), San
Francisco (1.59), Los Angeles (1.57), Atlanta (1.52)
and St. Louis (1.48). And visiting teams actually hit
two more homers at Citi Field last season than they
did at Shea Stadium in '08.
If Citi Field is imposing for hitters, it didn't scare
away free agent Jason Bay, at least when the Mets
offered the most money - a four-year, $66 million
contract. And it wasn't as if pitchers lined up this
offseason to pitch at Citi Field. The Mets' most
notable pitching signings have been Kelvim Escobar
, Ryota Igarashi and Josh Fogg.
 The Mets sent out this notice to season ticket and plan holders. The interesting thing isn't the game but that all the premium clubs will be open at Citi Field for this event...
EXCLUSIVE TICKET OFFER TO FIRST-EVER PRO FOOTBALL GAME AT CITI FIELD
NEW YORK SENTINELS HOST LAS VEGAS LOCOMOTIVES
WEDNESDAY NIGHT, NOVEMBER 4
The United Football League debuts this fall with the promise of exciting, traditional football played by talented professional athletes, including the rising stars of tomorrow, and an entertaining game experience. In its "Premiere" Season, the fledgling UFL will field four teams - the New York Sentinels, Florida Tuskers, Las Vegas Locomotives and California Redwoods.
In the first-ever pro football game at Citi Field, the New York Sentinels will host the Las Vegas Locomotives on Wednesday, November 4 at 7 p.m. As a Mets Season Ticket or Plan Holder, we are pleased to offer you an exclusive opportunity to purchase tickets for the November 4 game at 20 percent price discounts, with per-ticket fees waived, before sales to the general public. With this special offer, your ticket prices start at just $16.
For the Sentinels, led by head coach Ted Cottrell, this will be their only 2009 appearance at Citi Field. Please note that, for this game, all premium Citi Field club spaces will be open and accessible for your enjoyment.
 The Mets are extending the Fan Walk around Citi Field. If you missed out the first time, you can get another shot. I've used up a fair amount of bandwidth highlighting the shortcomings of Citi Field. However, the Fan Walk is one of the best things about the new stadium. Fans authored some witty, poignant and just plain goofy notes on the bricks. My siblings and I chipped in for a brick for our parents and it was a big hit. If you want one in time for the holidays, place your order by 10/19/09 (Hanukkah) or 10/26/09 (Christmas). Here is the link for more info.
 The Mets announced some mid-season adjustments to Citi Field. The biggest: they will now show live game action on the big video screens. This is to accommodate all the fans who have obstructed view seats. Apparently there are alot of us. The funny thing is, even the announcers in the booth have obstructed view seats, as Keith Hernandez has mentioned a few times on-air. Who built this stadium anyway? Newsday had a good article on the new changes expected for both Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. Here is the relevant Mets part: Dave Howard, the Mets' executive vice president for business, said Citi Field has been "extremely well received," with people commenting even on their reception in the parking lot.
He did acknowledge early-season criticisms: Some seats have obstructed views and that there is less celebration of Mets history than the Brooklyn Dodgers' legacy. As much as there was a "good riddance" feeling about Shea, there was an uproar Sunday when one of its traditions, the apple, failed to pop out of the centerfield hat for the second of two home runs. "We've heard our fans," he said.
So, he said, the Mets received permission from Major League Baseball to show the live feed on video screens the instant the ball is in play, allowing fans to follow action they might not see live. Also, an additional video board will be installed in the rightfield corner after the All-Star break.
Howard added that more Mets memories will be reflected with displays in the park this summer, and that there are bigger long-term plans to give the place a Mets atmosphere.
Whether they will make it a more hitter-friendly atmosphere by bringing in the fences or lowering the walls is a decision for the offseason. Howard did say that if the Mets are healthy, the park can work to their advantage because of their gap hitters, fly ball-oriented pitchers and mobile centerfielder and rightfielder. Backup centerfielder Angel Pagan said, "I need room to gallop, so this is the right place."
Howard said, "I think it gets in other teams' heads, too."
The question is, does it get in Mets' heads, especially David Wright's? There is some feeling that he and other Mets have taken their Citi Field swings on the road, where they have hit even fewer home runs than they have at home (24 to 28).
"You have to adjust your approach, you have to adjust your philosophy to this ballpark because it's not a launching pad,'' Wright said. "It's not a place where you're going to go out and get a lot of cheap home runs."
Gary Sheffield, who had a fondness for Shea ever since his uncle Dwight Gooden pitched there, said: "I love Citi Field. The atmosphere is electric. It's a challenge, but if you hit the ball square, it goes out."
The half-season has not been a solid hit or a full whiff for either park. But this week will be big in both spots. Yankee Stadium will import memories from next door with Oldtimers Day on Sunday. Citi Field will strike a chord with concerts by Paul McCartney, who played Shea with the Beatles in 1965, and with Billy Joel, who helped close down Shea last year.
Having gotten into heads and under skin, the two rookies, clearly here to stay, are trying to make their way into people's hearts.
 In March, the Mets held an important toilet test, in which volunteers flushed every john in the joint, in an effort to expose any flaws in the system. I'm sure they didn't test for stuck fans. Read on for details:Apart from the burgers at Shake Shack,
can we all agree that it's been exceedingly hard for either of the new
ballparks in New York to generate any positive headlines? Most of the time, the issues have been within team control (ie: bad sightlines for the Mets at Citi Field , expensive seats at new Yankee Stadium). But
also consider these two Citi Field-related headlines that are
circulating the web today and make it seem like the baseball gods might
actually be angry at New York for taking Shea Stadium and The House
That Ruth Built out of circulation: "The Mets have swine flu, pass it on" "Officials
in upstate Sullivan County said yesterday that the Mets may be linked
to the swine flu outbreak. A resident of Liberty became ill last
Wednesday, three days after attending a Mets game at Citi Field on
Mother's Day, said Sullivan County manager David Fanslau. The
unidentified victim became the county's first confirmed victim of the
H1N1 virus Monday afternoon, he said. "Because the woman's trip
to the game was her only known foray out of Sullivan County lately,
Fanslau said, local officials suspect there may be a link."
"Woman trapped by Citi Field toilet" "A
hapless Mets fan tried to make a diving catch when her gold tooth fell
into a Citi Field toilet -- and got her arm stuck in the commode. "The unidentified woman's bizarre Flushing adventure happened during last Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Braves, sources said yesterday. "It's
unclear how long she was trapped screaming in the john, but stadium
security guards and emergency medical personnel eventually showed up."
Almost makes you want to design a new sleeve patch for the Mets, doesn't it? Citi Field: "Come for the swine flu, stay for the evil toilets."
You have to admit: It does have a certain ring to it.
More on the toilet incident here: An unidentified female fan seeking relief amid the Mets 8-7 12th-inning defeat somehow had a gold tooth come loose. Unable to bear the idea of parting with it, she fruitlessly jammed her hand into the toilet bowl, The New York Post reported.
Instead of coming away with a handful of gold, the toilet had a handful of her. She sat there screaming as the toilet continued to flush over her arm until security arrived; they in turn called Cardoza Plumbing, the folks who installed all 646 toilets in the Mets new home. The low-flush "green" toilets installed at the stadium use powerful vacuum suction to cut down on water use, which may have contributed to the problem, according to the Post.
Related Stories
As a Cardoza plumber drove from his Jamaica headquarters to Flushing, the toilet continued flushing and a crowd gathered outside the women's room near Section 338. Suffice to say, the man from Cardozo was able to rescue the hapless maiden.
"The truth is, this kind of thing happens all the time -- usually with wedding rings or cellphones," a Queens plumber told the Post. "People have probably been getting their hands stuck in toilets as long as there have been toilets."
|
|
 |
They just never get anything right...What they really need to do is cut Ticket Prices in half cause otherwise nobody will be there to notice the shorter fence!