A visit to Citi Field

A few weeks back, Matt and his dad got a chance to go out to New York to see some golf, some baseball and some family.
The Men watched the U.S. Open, which was played at Bethpage Black, a very difficult course. (And one that Matt's Dad has played while growing up on Long Island.) The Men had been to the U.S. Open at Bethpage in 2002. That was a great tournament -Tiger edged Phil. This year didn't have a brand name winner and it had plenty of rain, but it wasn't any less fun. The Men saw all the big golfers and saw them up close. Plus, there was random sightings of Rudy Guliani (walking with Phil) and former Mets catcher Gary Carter (watching golf, oddly enough).
The Men also had a chance to check out the Mets new ballpark, Citi Field for a game against The Rays. The park opened this year, replacing that overgrown behemoth, Shea Stadium.
The outside of Citi Field is supposed to resemble Ebbets Field, the former home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The centerpiece is the Jackie Robinson rotunda, which lines up behind home plate. The rotunda includes video and images from Robinson's career and a huge blue No. 42 that you can get your picture with. The space was impressive although the meanings were a bit jumbled. The area seemed designed to invoke storytelling. And, if you know the stories, that's great. Sadly, Matt didn't get a very good picture of the rotunda.

As for the stadium itself, Citi Field is huge and beautiful. Players are complaining about the dimensions and understandably so. The Men saw David Wright launch a ball - for a double. But the park itself is stunning. It's similar to Coors Field, with sightlines from every part of the ballpark. You can watch the game while standing in line for your hot dog. And, the Mets let you walk around in - or look into - every level of the park, rather than forcing you into your ticketed seats (like the White Sox do to upper deckers). Even sitting in the upper deck, The Men had a great view.

The food was average for baseball food and the prices weren't outrageous. The staff there was exceptionally friendly, which goes against some of New York's reputation. And all of the items in the gift shop came out to even dollar amounts so the lines moved faster, which was sort of ingenious.

The only downsides to Citi Field was the surprising lack of baseball history in the stadium. There was very little to commemorate the Mets' two World Series championships, and no team artifacts or tributes to the great Mets. Matt had the feeling those will be added in the future, during special events. (Tom Seaver Day!)

The Mets were generous about keeping the stadium open, even after a night game so The Men got to walk down behind home plate and visit the Big, Big Apple. The Apple used to emerge from the ground of Shea when Mets' players homered, and it has been transported to Citi Field where you can take a picture with it. After that, Matt got to run the bases of Shea Stadium, which are marked in the parking lot.

Overall, a nice park and only going to get better.

So, Matt's baseball stadium total remains at 12, because Matt's goal is to visit the stadium of every team, not every stadium ever. (Matt's dad has been to many more, including a bunch of retired stadiums.

Here's Matt's ratings of the fields he's visited:
First tier: Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox), Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles) and PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Second tier, and close behind: Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals), Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers), Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs)
Third tier, still close behind: Coors Field (Colorado Rockies), Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers), Citi Field (Mets)
Fourth tier and further back: Shea Stadium (New York Mets), U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox), Yankee Stadium (New York Stinkees)
Fifth and this is a bad stadium: Metrodome (Minnesota Twins).
You can read ESPN Page 2's else review of all these stadiums right here.

Lynne and Matt plan to add two new stadiums to the list this weekend, so reports will be posted here soon!