Disclaimer: I have not been to CitiField.
I have, however, spent the weekend watching the games played at CitiField. What they have seemingly tried to do, by creating a stadium with “character” via kooky OF lines, is just stupid. Mets fans, if you know this already, please allow me to be the last seat on the bus since it’s not exactly new.
From all I have heard, CitiField is great. Except for the fact that the entire front lobby/theater is dedicated to the Dodgers, not the Mets, of course. I’m supportive of deeper dimentions to suppress offense; Yankee Stadium is playing ridiculous so far.
What’s absurd:
- The OF lines that have sought to create an artificial “character” to the park. You can click on the blueprint to the right for a larger view of just how silly these lines are. I’m good with a big park, but these angles and nooks are just silly.
- The equally wacky, random and varying OF wall heights.
“If you click on the aerial shot of CitiField or the NY Times diagram, you will get a pretty good view of these random and varied OF wall heights. This has to be the reason why Instant Replay MUST remain in the game. Just look at this stupidity. Starting at the left field pole, you come out a few feet horizontally, then dip down. After that dip, you have an angling wall height for a seating section-and-a-half, from 12 feet to 15 feet. The wall remains the same height until you approach center field, where it dips down a few feet (to 11′) again until it gets to The Apple (16′), where it rises back to the previous height (11′). After The Apple, the wall again dips (8′) and seemingly follows the same height as the right field begins to jut out and then recede for no good reason. As you get to that right field depression, the fence rises to (18′) make room for the Modells sign. Nice work, Modells, getting some prime real estate. It actually looks like the park’s dimentions were modified to fit advertising, not the other way around. As you get to the right corner, the wall angles inward while the height becomes quite low (8′).