Update - From Newsday 4/2/09
Original Post - 4/1-09
A caller into WFAN, who was at the St. John’s game, complained that his promenade reserved seats in left field did not allow him to see the fence in left field from the foul pole to center field. Welcome to the world of cozy, tight, seating in retro style ballparks. It’s amazing to me that Mets fans complain after years of trashing Shea Stadium. For all of its negative press, Shea did one thing very well. The vast majority of seats allowed fans to see the entire playing field. The trade off was that most of those seats were miles away from the field.
So finally after years of bashing the big round park, Mets fans get their wish and now have a jewel of a yard in Flushing right next door to where old Shea use to stand. The fact is there are many seats in Citi Field that do not allow fans to view every square foot of the field. Is that a bad thing? Hard to say but it is not unusual by any means where retro ball fields are concerned.
In the case of the reserved section in left field’s third deck, it’s true, you cannot see the fence. That’s because the rake of the stand is set at a reasonable pitch and the deck is close to the field. The only solution would be to tilt the stands at an uncomfortable angle (something fans at Chicago’s Cellular field (1990) still complain about) or push the deck so far back that Citi Field would begin to resemble Shea Stadium or the over sized Commerica Park in Detroit.
Here is the view this particular fan was talking about from the 3D Seat Viewer…
Balls hit into the left field corner or up against or over the left field wall will not be seen from here, no doubt about it. For those plays, fans will have to rely on replays from the huge center field and right field diamond vision boards. Also, these seats are priced accordingly. Most are in the 20 dollar range. Again, the closeness to the infield does not come without a trade off. As stated, this is not a unique problem to Citi Field.
Citi Field is not the only ballpark with this issue. All of the new retro style parks have similar views. After all, retro style means the park resembles those from the past. You know, the ones that did not allow fans to see the entire field. At least there are no obstructing columns anymore.
If you think that Citi Field has a bad view from the outfield looking in, take a look at this view from Petco Park in San Diego…
Here’s a case of retro being taken to the nth degree. In an attempt to keep an old building as part of the ballpark footprint, fans in this section miss much of left field. At least at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the warehouse is behind the stadium.
I can't imagine New Yorkers not going ballistic over a view like this. Perhaps in laid back San Diego, it's okay.
Busch Stadium III opened in 2005. Like Citi Field, this park was designed by HOK, the same architects that started the trend in Baltimore.
From this vantage point in the right field upper level, the railing gives a good indication that fans sitting in the mid to back sections are not going to see much from the right field corner to center field.
It's simply another instance of the intimate close seating proximity versus the canyon like arenas built in the 1960s and 1970s.
This photo from Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia also demonstrates that tighter seating configurations lop off some of the playing field.
The railing you see is not the outfield fence. It is the railing of the third level. Fans seated here like those at Citi Field will not see plays in the corner or up against the wall. That's why the outfield seats tend to be the cheaper ones available.
The highly sought after Green Monster seats at Fenway park also come with a chopped off view of left field. Fans cannot see anything going on down by the warning track in left field or in the left field corner unless they lean over the wall and that’s only if they are in the first row. Plus at 37 feet high, it's dangerous.
That brings us to the Pepsi Porch at Citi Field. These seats come with a built in obscurity. You cannot see the right field wall or corner because the deck hangs over them. Yet these seats on StubHub are some of the highest priced tickets available.
Keep in mind that seats in the outfield sections of Citi Field tend to be cheaper than the rest of the park except for the popular Pepsi seats and the Left Field Landing. If it is imperative to see a complete view of the field and budget is an issue (these days, budget is an issue for almost everyone), I would recommend Promenade Reserved Infield. These seats are still fairly reasonably priced.
For my money, I don’t think I will be bothered too much if I cannot see a corner of the outfield or even the wall or part of the outfield. But of course I cannot say for sure until I go there to see a game in person.
The the newer retro parks are intimate. The closeness of the seats to the playing field is not without some trade offs. I sat through a game at Shea Stadium last season in the upper deck in right field. I could see the entire playing field (except for the right field corner) but the infield seemed like a mile away.
With all the amenities and closeness to the game at Citi Field, I am willing to give up a corner of the outfield if I can get in for a reasonable price. But that’s just me.
