Saturday, April 04, 2009

(8) Comments

I Loved Citi Field. Review and Notes From Night One

SS

I'm back from the game....and absolutely loved the stadium.

I'm not going to break any new ground here.  I give it the same glowing review everyone else did.  

Like Matt Cerrone mentioned on Mets Blog, it's not very Dodgery at all, even in the rotunda (whew.)  I do think the Rotunda is way overrated - the coolest spot is in centerfield by the shake shack, the whatever we call the space by the new ugly Apple, and the seafood whatever its called.

We had tons of fun stumbling around, upgraded our seats after the rain delay, and had the same reaction at the end of the night which was, "How do we get out?"

The angled seats are nice.  The obstructed ones are not (that post goes live at 7:45am tomorrow).

I love that all that noise pollution from Shea 1990-2008 is gone and has been replaced for the most part by organ music.  Awesome.

Big clean bathrooms are nice but after a few inning syou'll need to stand spread eagle.  Aim better and shake off boys.

I don't know what the heck that song is that K-Rod warms up to but I liked it.

They were having food line problems.  Very very long lines because it took forever to pay.  Our cashier told us the registers were on wi-fi and that the wireless wasn't working so well.  We noticed 3G didn't work so well.  Minor point.  You don't need to surf the internet during a game unless you're an obsessed blogger.

My longer el-cheapo walk to my car in Corona wasn't so bad once I figured out where the heck the walkway was in relation to the field.

They are calling the big screen "Citi-vision."  I won't be.

This place is a cavern.  415 to right center!   The ball didn't seem to carry at all.  I am predicted that there will never be a home run hit at Citi Field.  

Nobody wants Sheffield.

Really really nice.  Well done Mets.  Really well done/  Just go figure out the plexiglass problem.  We'll get into that in the morning.  

Tomorrow for me, Yankee Stadium.

www.metspolice.com
@metspolice
8 Responses to "I Loved Citi Field. Review and Notes From Night One"
Anonymous said :
April 4, 2009 at 12:51 AM
i thought the same thing about no home runs will be hit there. it looked huge, and the wind was blowing in.
Anonymous said :
April 5, 2009 at 11:01 PM
The stadium sucks. Went to the Boston Game on Sunday. Went to Citi Field yesterday. Was very disappointed. If you walk around the place there are limited TVs to see the action(Not a problem at Shea…) Restrooms were not a major upgrade like mentioned. I used to be able to bring my young family and wife to the game to enjoy scoreboard crap, music etc. but they didn’t do that at Citi, so I was the only one enjoying the game (from what I can see from my obstructed view). The food was same as Shea, (unless you go to the overly packed first floor behind the field - you can find a few exceptions), but lines were three times as long as Shea, and crowded the walkways to the point that you could stand still for 5-10 minutes at a time. It took 45 minutes to get a hot dog. Also, I know how we relate to the Dodgers, but I just feel like we (the Mets) don’t have an identity when I walk into a futuristic Ebbits field with a Dodgers video playing for Jackie Robinson, (Although I have a ton of respect for Jackie). Just really strange for the fan that started to enjoy the Mets in 1986 with his Dad at Shea. I guess they didn’t think about that.

The actual field looks nice, but my seats made me unable to see the plays from left center to mid right. (I saw every play from the first row and last row at Shea). My concern is that in the future the Mets will have to over pay sluggers to come play here. Just like PetCo in San Diego this place is huge. Homeruns will be way down, and when a slugger looks at this place they will think twice, especially when many of the new stadiums have smaller dimensions. Only time will tell there.

I went to a Mets vs Nats game in Washington DC, and enjoyed their new ballpark ten times over. What a shame, I miss Shea and the childhood memories. Will probably watch more games from home this year.
Anonymous said :
April 12, 2009 at 11:33 PM
Not sure what the second post is talking about...many more TV's, but you dont need many since you can watch the game from any food area. That was my biggest complaint about SHEA, you can miss the action.
Lines WERE long for food. Noticed not all registers were manned...hope they hire more for opening day??
The food is ten times better!!!! i got food poisoning from a BUBBA BURGER (more than once)at SHEA, with some nervousness i ordered a Burger at Citifield and survived. I'll take the food service they have now anyday compared to the crap service and bad food from Aramark. I also like the diversity of food available.
My seats are in lower promenade (the same as my Mezz seats at SHEA) with no obstruction problems. My only complaint (minor) is that the flag poles in Right field area, tends to block some aspects of the scoreboard.
Speaking of...there was scoreboard crap, but limited, but hey! it was an exhibition game.
I have to agree about the NY GIANTS/BROOKLYN DODGERS theme...i had to look hard to find photos of veteran METS around the stadium. That was what i miss about SHEA, huge banners of '69, '84 & 2000 METS. Didn't notice that at Citifield.
Overall, looking forward to watching baseball at Citifield and proud to be a MET fan with this new stadium.
Anonymous said :
April 16, 2009 at 11:00 PM
There are 3 glaring things I have noticed about Citi Field from watching the games on TV.

1) Why is the outfield fence and adjacent trim green and not blue? Honestly, I can't tell if the Mets are playing a home game or are on the road in Philly/Washington/Pittsburgh or any other of "new" parks.
2) Why are they honoring a player who never played an inning for the Mets with such a huge monument when the area probably could have been better used and appreciated by the fans if it was showcasing great moments and players in Mets history? Jackie Robinson deserves all the praise in the world but c'mon, an entire frigin' rotunda?? The Dodgers don't even honor the guy like that.
3) The 2 bullpens and their staffs are separated by...get this...a chain link fence. Unbelievable. Also, you can't get a clear picture of who is warming up in the visitor 'pen because the tv picture is mostly blocked by...THE CHAIN LINK FENCE.

Look, the park is beautiful in many ways from what I can see and so much better than Shea ever was, but jeez, at the very least make the place look like the Mets actually play there. Sorry Fred, maybe you should have bought the Dodgers instead considering your obsession with them.
Anonymous said :
April 16, 2009 at 11:54 PM
Dissappointing place...quiet...people wandering around not watching or caring about the game...overpriced...scoreboard blocked...from the back of the promenade you have to lean forward at all times to see home...the palace is a playground for the rich not the loyal met fans..and 15 thousand less people a game...it is a disgrace with our tax dollars.
Anonymous said :
April 20, 2009 at 1:22 PM
I've now been to 3 games and sat in 3 different locations: field level in centerfield (between left foul pole and the home run apple), 13 rows up in the promenade on the 3rd base line (my Sunday plan seats), and field level in right field just before the Pepsi porch. Got there early for all 3 games and did a fair amount of wandering around, sampling food. Also walked around during the games, checking out the action/views from different spots. The best part of Citi, especially compared to Shea, is that you can actually see the game as you walk around - you're not glued to your seat. And you can stand just about anywhere for just about as long as you want and the ushers don't chase you away. For me, the best food was the Shake Shack double burger - very tasty and a decent amount of food for the price - unlike the pulled pork sandwich at blue smoke that cost a dollar more than the Shack burger but was about the size of a poker chip. The ribs at Blue Smoke were a better value than the pulled pork sandwich but were only OK, not great. But unless you get there 2 hours before game time, you might as well forget it. The lines - especially for Shake Shack - are insanely long and the whole area gets claustrophobically crowded. This is true in a number of places on the concourses, the width of which are greatly reduced in a lot places to accomodate concessions, causing bottlenecks and forcing people to shuffle along in a tight pack to get by.

As a tall person with long legs, I was really looking forward to the new seats, which the Mets kept hyping as being more spacious and comfortable than the seats at Shea. That sort of depends on where your seats are. There's definitely more leg room on the field level, but up in the promenade, where my regular seats are, it's just as cramped. The seats seem a little bit wider, but not much. They do sit a little bit higher off the floor, which for me means I only have to stand up every other inning to keep my legs from cramping up.

The view from the centerfield field level seats (where I sat for opening night) were the worst of the 3 I sat in. Because the wall is so high, your view is blocked starting about 20 feet in front of the warning track. Any ball hit to the track or the wall, you have to turn your head 90 degrees and look up at the overhead TV screens to see what's happening. The infield feels like it's a mile away and everyone is the size of insects. Terrible seats. I'll never sit there again if I can help it.

My regular seats are OK but not at all as good as my old Sunday plan seats at Shea (3rd row of mezzanine reserve right behind home). For all the talk about the "intimacy" of Citi, my new seats 4 rows from the back of the promenade are a long hike up, and while the view of the field is totally unobstructed (except for a tiny little piece of the left field corner), it's all rather small and distant.

The best were the right field level seats I sat in for the last 5 innings of the Sunday game against the Brewers, courtesy of a friend who had scored 4 tickets and was only using 2. The view was pretty much unobstructed and although far from home plate, close to the field and IN THE SUN - a welcome relief from the promenade, which is in the shade the entire game and coupled with the breeze was very chilly. Thursday night, in an effort to get warm, I was walking around and "discovered" the promenade club. I walked in and was amazed: enclosed, warm, great views of the field, tables, two full bars and food. But when I tried to go back on Sunday to warm up, I was stopped at the door and told that only promenade club (i.e., box) ticket holders are allowed. Bummer.

Funny how you don't miss your water til the well runs dry, but there are definitely things about Shea that I already miss: one being the way you could walk all the way from foul pole to foul pole on the walkway between the box seats and the reserved seats in every section. No more colorful characters in costume with funny signs, no more cowbell man (which may be a relief to some, but not to me). As odd as it sounds, I also miss the ramps - a much nicer way to get in and out than climbing up and down the low-ceiling-ed, concrete stairs.

Look, it's a nice place, and has a whole lot more charm than Shea (which is easy since Shea had none), but the glitziness and exclusivity (the multitude of off-limits, "private" club areas), smaller size and higher costs of Citi make it feel less an everyman experience - a day at the ball park - than it does a somewhat artificial, day at an amusement park that happens to have a baseball game being played in the middle of it.
Anonymous said :
April 26, 2009 at 11:05 PM
To be Honest I feell that the whole stadium was a rush job
Michael Proper said :
November 2, 2009 at 8:11 PM
I'm a Cubs fan and went to my first Mets game last night and loved the stadium. Other than Wrigley, it might be my favorite.

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