2008 Year in Review. This article summarizes the 2008 season, the highs and the lows.

These recent photos from WebShots' user Citi_Field updates us on the continuing dismantling of Shea Stadium. While most of the work is evident from the inside of the old park, the outside of the stadium is beginning to show the destruction. The field level and loge have been completely razed with most of the mezzanine gone too. The upper deck is in shambles and the canopy that held the light ring is coming down from the both outfield ends toward home plate. There are also exterior photos of Citi Field which looks very close to being completed.

Stadiumpage.com also has new photos of both Citi Field and Shea.   

In this article, read about how the neighborhood of Citi Field is likely to change over the next several years. Willets Point Rebirth  was orginally published on November 10th.

Willets Point Rebirth

There has been many comparison's to the Mets new home to Ebbets Field. This article points out the truth. What's similar and what is not.

It's Really Not Ebbets Field

After almost three years of work, both New York ballparks are just about complete. These photos of Citi Field and the new Yankee Stadium were taken by Tom Kaminkski from Chopper 88.

I wrote a review a couple of years ago regarding the new ballparks. Then, I could only display the artist renderings. But after two plus years of construction in Queens and the Bronx, we see the results.

Perhaps it's my ignorance to the construction process but it always amazes me that there are those that know how to take engineering plans and turn them into the real thing just as they appeared on paper.

As I wrote in my original review, the HOK architects employed by the Mets had the freedom to create something brand new. There would be no need or want to create a park that evoked memories of Shea Stadium. Actually, I'm sure the effort was to create something as far from Shea's design as possible. In doing so, the Mets followed the pattern of many new ballparks since Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened in 1992. While the Mets new baseball facility would be modern in many ways, it would also include elements of ballparks from long ago. Nooks and quirky angles in the outfield walls, exposed steel beams and trusses reminiscent of the many bridges in New York, traditional green seating and coziness are all a part of Citi Field. And the outside facade of the new stadium is modeled after historic Ebbets Field. And like the Brooklyn Dodgers fabled baseball park, Citi Field has a rotunda too, but on a much grander scale. The rotunda is dedicated to the memory of Jackie Robinson. A nice touch considering the pressure to name everything in a ballpark after a corporate sponsor.

While the Mets had the freedom to create something brand new, the Yankees wanted to recreate Yankee Stadium. Unlike Shea, Yankee Stadium, originally opened in 1923, was a ballpark from the classical era of baseball. And with the Yankees rich history of greatness, to alter the feeling of Yankee Stadium would be criminal. So the Yankees goal was much different than the Mets. The Yankees set out to recreate the original Yankee Stadium but also incorporated some of the characteristics of the rebuilt stadium from 1976. Fortunately, more of the original was borrowed than from the renovated. And like Citi Field, there is plenty of modern in the new Yankee Stadium. Gone is the narrow dark concourse replaced with much wider walk ways with many more amenities.

Citi Field appears to be the quainter and cozier of the two ballparks while Yankee Stadium has more majesty. Citi Field's facade is red brick with limestone arches while Yankee Stadium's shell is limestone that hearkens back to when the Stadium first opened in 1923. What I like most about the new Yankee Stadium is that they have returned the famous frieze to the roof surrounding the upper level of the main grandstand. That's where it belongs and in my opinion it was a mistake to have removed it during the 70s renovation.

The Yankees also kept the same field dimensions as the renovated stadium and the monuments have already been moved across the street. And while Citi Field has the Jackie Robinson Rotunda as the main entrance way, the new Yankee Stadium has the Great Hall that will feature banners and displays of great Yankee players from the past.

While the footprints of the two ballparks are about the same, Yankee Stadium has the the larger seating bowl with a capacity of 53,325 including standing room. In comparison, the Mets stadium will hold 45,000, also including standing room. The Wilpons purposely wanted a smaller venue to bring the fans closer to the action. Both parks have more luxury suits than their predecessors but Yankee Stadium will have more than Citi Field. 

It does appear from the photos, that Mets fans in the upper levels will be seated a bit closer to the action than their Yankee counterparts. The upper level at Citi Field, known as the promenade, appears closer to the field than the upper level at Yankee Stadium. And while both ballparks have less foul territory, it appears that Citi Field has less than Yankee Stadium as foul lines hug the field level down the left and right field foul lines. 

Both ballparks upper levels incorporate a split level design that allows fans to continually view the field while they go to the restrooms or concession stands. The upper levels of each ballpark differ however, in the way fans will get to their seats. At Citi Field, access is via stair cases at the foot of the top half of the upper tier right at the split while the more traditional tunnel entrances are used at Yankee Stadium. Citi Field does have six tunnel entrances behind home plate.  

Citi Field and Yankee Stadium offer dinning while watching the game. Citi Field has a glass enclosed  restaurant in left field in the Club level. Yankee Stadium's large field viewing restaurant is in center field bisecting the bleachers.

The second level in Yankee Stadium appears much bigger than that of  Citi Field. Likely that is where the Yankees have an additional 5000 seats.

The distance to the foul poles is farther from home plate at Citi Field when compared to those at Yankee Stadium. But Yankee Stadium's left center field fence is at a much greater distance than at Citi Field. Here is a comparison of dimensions.

	Yankee Stadium	Citi Field
Left Field	318'	335'
Left Center	399'	379'
Center Field	408'	408'
Right Center	385'	383'
Right Field	314'	330'

Citi Field's seats are green to the dismay of some Mets fans who feel they should have been royal blue and orange. Yankee Stadiums seats are blue, like the older stadium across the street, not like the green of the original Yankee Stadium. 

The lighting at Citi Field is mounted on the more traditional light towers which are actually higher than the lights at Shea Stadium. And in keeping with the bridges theme, the lights are arched in an homage to New York's Hell's Gate Bridge. The Yankees, on the other hand have chosen to use ring lighting above the frieze. Ring lighting was first used at Shea Stadium in 1964. I would have preferred that Yankee Stadium used banks of lights like the original Yankee Stadium to further recall the look of the original stadium. However, that is the only negative I can find with the Yankees new home. And in fairness, the one negative I have in regards to Citi Field is the number of seats. I would have preferred to see the Mets new park seat around 48,000 to 50,000. It would give Mets fans that much more of an opportunity to score tickets without giving up much in the design.

The outfield sections, between the foul poles, of the two stadiums are quite different. The grandstand at Yankee stadium curves around the foul poles much the way it does in the old Yankee Stadium. With the bleachers in right and left fields, there is a massive scoreboard above the restaurant in center field which will be used to replay the action.

Citi Field's three tiered grandstand extends around the left field foul pole all the way to center field. There is a picnic area in center and a double decked section of seats in right field. The top tier hangs over the outfield by eight feet further awarding Citi with the more quirky ballpark.

Citi Field has two scoreboards. The one in center, a video board, is not as big as the one in Yankee Stadium. The other scoreboard is in right center above the administration building and will serve to display statistical information. It is also capable of producing graphical displays.

Another nice touch to the new Yankee Stadium is the scoreboards on the outfield wall like they used to have prior to the renovation. I'm not sure if these are going to be hand operated or electronic. I'm hoping for the former. Citi Field's out of town scores will be provided on a board high above left field hanging from the canopy over the seats. Each game section has a diamond to show player activity as well as the score and number of outs.

I'm sure there will be debate over which team has the better ballpark. Mets fans will favor Citi Field while Yankee fans will claim there is no comparison with new Yankee Stadium. But in reality it's a silly argument. They are both different and both magnificent. They both feature more amenities than their predecessors with more restaurants, bars, and shops. The concourses are wider and the sight lines are better. With more restrooms and space to walk around, it should be a lot of fun to catch a game at each facility in 2009. Now, getting the cash together to accomplish that is another story.

Tom Kaminski has posted yet more pictures of both Citi Field and the New Yankee Stadium. In these pictures the fields are covered with snow. There are also some pictures of the incredibly shrinking Shea. Click here to view.

David Wright will play third base for team USA in the World Baseball Classic come March. Although other Mets will be in the classic, Wright will be the only Met on team USA. The left side of the infield will be Wright at third and Derek Jeter at short, an interesting combination since both these players are New York’s’ darlings for their respective teams.

The reason that Wright was selected is because Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees third baseman, has elected to play for the Dominican Republic. This has riled up the media as if they don’t have enough other things to bash A-Rod about. Let’s face it, everything from the Yankees not winning the World Series in eight years to the economy is being blamed on A-Rod and unfairly so. Now he is being accused of treason almost because he has decided to play for the country of his heritage.

In 2006, no one complained that Mike Piazza played for team Italy. Now you tell me, who should be more qualified to play for their country of heritage? Should it be Florida native A-Rod who speaks Spanish and is the son of parents who are Dominican citizens or Mike Piazza who grew up in Norristown, Pennsylvania with first generation Italian parents?

According to the rules established by the WBC committee, the answer is both. The rules state that as long as one parent was born in a foreign country, the player is eligible to play for that country. Major League Baseball likes this rule and for a very good reason. It allows Major League ballplayers to play for other countries making the competition more even. A competitive tournament is more popular and will help build interest in the Classic and baseball world wide. It would not be good for baseball, or the tournament, if the USA pummeled every country they played.

Italy did not stay in the tournament long in 2006 put having Piazza in the lineup gave the team some credibility. It also helped raise expectations for Italian players and hopefully inspired them to improve for the next tournament. Japanese, Tawainese, and Hispanic major league players all played for their native countries last time and no one seemed to care. But as soon as A-Rod decided to do it, he’s the bad apple again.

As a Mets fan, I have no business defending Yankee Alex Rodriguez. But he never did anything to me and in fairness he should have been a Met. But in 2000, the Mets got cold feet and walked away before ever offering Scott Boras a counter proposal.

The media and Yankee fans love to bash A-Rod. They hold him solely accountable for not winning a World Series. I guess no one bothered to notice that Yankee pitching over the last few years has left little to be desired or that other than A-Rod, no one hit consistently.

While Jeter continues to degrade as he gets older (and I think Jeter is a great Yankee by the way) he still gets a pass from the Yankee faithful while his range at short hurts the team. A-Rod has already won the MVP twice while in a Yankees uniform, but continues to be the lightening rod of Yankee fans’ ire.

A-Rod playing for the Dominican team is a good thing. His status as a national hero there further encourages young ball players to work hard. One day, these inspired young players from all over the world may very well be playing in your home town. Now how is that bad for baseball?

Here's a new slide show from Citi_Field from WebShots. Not much new from the last slide show but here we see snow on the ground at Citi Field and at Shea as demolition continues.

Francisco Rodriguez + J.J. Putz + Sean Green – Aaron Heilman – Scott Schoeneweis – Joe Smith = a much better Mets bullpen. This was purely a case of addition by addition, and addition by subtraction. In fairness, I must admit to being disappointed that Joe Smith had to be dealt. Joe is young and a fine talent. I think he could have been a solid reliever for the Mets for years to come.

But when a trade is made to bring in top flight relief pitching, you’ve got to give something up and the Mets did in trading Smith. Smith joins a pen in Cleveland with closer Kerry Wood who just recently signed a two year deal there.

The Mets arguably have the best eighth-ninth inning combo in baseball. How important is that? Last season the Mets blew 29 save opportunities late in games. Billy Wagner authored seven of them himself. Aaron Heilman had a hand in many too. Most likely, Wagner will miss all of next season rehabbing his elbow. His days as a Met are over, certainly if he wants to be a closer.

Now, no team is going to go through a season without blowing a save. Closer Brad Lidge did it last season for the World Champion Phillies but other members of their pen blew leads. On the other hand, 29 blown leads late in ballgames are simply unacceptable. Think about it, had the Mets blown 26 saves, they would have won the eastern division title. Had they blown 27, they would have won the wild card. With all due respect to Cole Hammels and his theories of the Mets choking, it was late inning poor relief that did the Mets in. Choking requires consistent excellence followed by the inability to perform in the clutch when it counts the most. That was never the case with the Mets bullpen. They were bad the entire season.

The Mets also obtained reliever Sean Green and outfielder Jeremy Reed from Seattle. Green is a ground ball specialist similar to Joe Smith but a bit older. Reed is more of a defensive outfielder so he takes Endy Chavez’s place. And to all those saddened by Chavez leaving the club, Endy was a nice fourth outfielder but his departure will not be the reason the Mets fail to make the post season again.

It’s impossible to predict what will happen once April 6th roles around and the new baseball season starts. But on paper, the Mets should be a much better team than the one that took the field the last two seasons. That is primarily because of the improvement to their biggest weakness, the bullpen.

I love those in the media who point out that K-Rod’s velocity is down and that Putz will resent not being the closer. Five minutes can’t go by before a Yankee shill has to throw cold water on the Mets deals. These are the same media types who fail to see that CC Sabathia is in the same physical condition as Tony Soprano and A.J. Burnett has been on the disabled list as many times as seasons he has played in. Again, of course things can go wrong but what better options did the Mets have to close out ballgames. There were none. Acquiring Rodriguez and Putz was an outstanding catch for Omar Minaya and his staff.

Some will say the Mets must address their lineup. It would be nice if they could get a bat to play left field every day or a better offensive catcher. But the truth is it’s not as necessary as finding a starting pitcher or two. The Mets scored as many runs as the Phillies did last year. And that was during a season when many Mets hitters, including David Wright, struggled with runners in scoring position. The Mets offense will be just fine, including a platoon in left field of Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy. Ryan Church should be better as long as he doesn’t slam his head into anything. And if Castillo is a man of his word, he will come into spring training in shape, ready to put the past two seasons behind him. If he truly does get himself together physically, he would make an awesome double play combination with Reyes. He’s that good a defender.

The Mets must find a starter. It likely will be the return of Ollie Perez unless the asking price on Derek Lowe comes down. The Mets patience as paid off for a number of deals going back to Johan Santana. Perhaps the same will happen again with Lowe who the Mets would probably prefer over Perez.

Going into the holidays, the Mets roster looks a lot brighter than it did a couple of weeks ago. There will be more changes coming, mostly minor ones like a left specialist to go along with Pedro Feliciano. And who knows, with Omar, he might just have a surprise or two up his sleeve.