Citi of Wonder

“This place makes our park look like a bandbox. It’s a tough environment to play in. A lot of wind, a lot of trash. This is a frustrating place when the wind is blowing.” - Aubrey Huff, 1B, San Francisco Giants


For many years, opposing fans would refer to Shea Stadium as a “big, purple toilet bowl”. It didn’t help that the ballpark’s mailing address belonged to an area of Queens known as “Flushing”. It was big, ugly, and outdated. It lacked the amenities, sightlines, and comforts of a new ballpark. But it was home. It was without question the orange-and-blue-splashed home of the New York Mets. It fit the character of its team and its city, and when it was full (as it was quite often in its dying years) there was no better place to be. Nothing shook the ground like 57,000 crazed Mets fans during the 1999, 2000, and 2006 playoffs. It had a distinct personality and it created a distinct home-field advantage.

When Shea disappeared once and for all from the Queens skyline in 2009, the Mets relocated to a ballpark that was cozy, beautiful, and full of all the amenities a new ballpark should have. But its best feature was also its worst; Citi Field was not Shea Stadium.

It wasn’t the ballpark where the Mets made all their magic happen for 45 years. In fact, it hardly even recognized that magic. Its main entrance was named – appropriately so, mind you – for a pioneer of the game and of National League ball in New York. But Jackie Robinson never played for the Mets. Its exterior was something out of Flatbush, circa 1911. Its green seats would have been more appropriate in Coogan’s Bluff. Yes, Citi Field was a great ballpark. But in 2009, Citi Field just wasn’t home.

In the off-season, the Mets did everything they could to change that. First, the stairwells went from a nondescript gray to orange-and-blue. Then, three gates and a prominent section of club seats were renamed for Mets legends. Then, there were banners outside the park of Mets from across the whole 49 years of franchise history. Then, the apple from Shea was moved from its dungeon behind the bullpens to a prominent spot outside the rotunda. And then there was the Mets Hall of Fame and Museum, and the re-dedication of a bridge that finally honored the man most responsible for the Mets even existing in the first place. All of this helped make this ballpark – whose main attraction in Year One was a hamburger stand – suddenly a more deserving home for the Shea Faithful.

Yet all of this barely scratches the surface of what has become of Citi Field in Year Two.

As we stand here today (hot off the heels of Oliver Perez’s latest epic performance), the New York Mets have more home wins than any team in baseball. Before today they had won 9 consecutive games at home. That hadn’t been done since the 2006 World-Beaters took 11 in a row at Shea in August. Whether it’s because of the good karma the franchise has “earned” with their ballpark modifications is not ours to know. But what we do know is that Citi Field is showing its character every time the wind blows.

I sat in front of my television this weekend in awe. No, it wasn’t just because I actually got to watch the Mets. It was because there was trash on the field. Everywhere. Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow, two men who knew many a blustery day from their days covering and playing for the Giants at Candlestick Park, reminded all of us back in the Bay Area seemingly every inning that Citi Field had the look and feel of a windy day at Candlestick.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, at Citi Field in New York, the wind gusts so much that wrappers, boxes, bags, and napkins are swept onto and then all around the playing field. The wind also makes every ball in the air an adventure. In fact, it single-handedly delivered the Mets three runs and the lead in the seventh inning today after they (somehow) managed to outlast the great Tim Lincecum. (Of course, it also helped escort Aaron Rowand’s two-run shot out of the park the next inning, a homer that was the difference in the ballgame.) But suddenly, the ballpark that lacked a personality has one.

Outside of the New Mike Pelfrey (and the addition of catcher Rod Piazza… er, Mike Barajas… er, whatever this guy’s name is), Citi Field has been the Mets’ top performer this season. The Mets are surviving their own ballpark. Their opponents are not. It has created a kind of home-field advantage that is very difficult to quantify and very difficult to adjust to. Just take one look at the way the Cubs, Braves, Dodgers, and Giants – four of the more competitive teams in the National League, mind you – have kicked the ball around the park. On the other hand, the Mets – who did all the little things wrong all year last year – are making a living by doing all of them right. They are suddenly an opportune ballclub taking advantage of every opportunity their opponents – and their ballpark – give them.

Citi Field. The "Windy Citi". Proud home of the New York Mets, since 2010.