- Image by epc via Flickr
Demolishing Shea Stadium and building Citi Field was certainly unwelcome for some Mets fans. It marked a changing of the guard for the franchise and maybe even a sense for some of us that we would be left behind in history as fans of the “old” Mets that played at the “old” stadium. But I have to admit that before this season, I was really looking forward to going to Citi Field.
The surprise set in when we realized that Citi Field wasn’t really about the Mets, it was all about the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson. Sure, Robinson is an individual worthy of all the recognition that he gets, and more than we know. But there was something glaring missing from the new stadium… The Mets history!!! In building this new $800 million project, the Mets forgot that the Mets were going to be playing there and that they’ve had some history of their own.
Four and a half months into their inaugural season at Citi Field the Mets are beginning to correct that glaring problem. And I’m glad that they’re finally starting to make this into a park for Mets fans. It’s nice that Dodgers fans were so welcome until now but it seemed to come at the expense of their own fans.
The Mets are adding images of their own championship 1969 and 1986 teams and some of their great players that have come along in the last half-century. We’ll finally get to see the team’s championship banners in left field that were previously relegated to facing the street on the outside of the stadium like a forgotten and unimportant blip in history.
We’ll finally get to see images of Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez, and others that were strangely absent. It’s finally starting to feel like the Mets fans own this park instead of the team’s sponsors that are so prominently displayed both inside and out. The Pepsi Porch and the Subway sandwich sign that are more prominent than the team.
A big problem is being fixed. It’s just sad that the people that run this team were blind to the problem that was right before their eyes. Clearly, they’re out of touch with their fans. The only things that are still missing are a statue of Seaver outside the stadium and an ownership group that understands what this team is all about.
The Mets Report 
I asked on my blog yesterday how much Mets stuff is enough for you? What’s your answer Dave? That’s something I’m kinda curious about now that the Mets have tried.
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Good question. I still need a Mets Hall of Fame, Keith’s number retired, and an old-timer’s day. If they do that I’ll be satisfied. It’s really sad that they didn’t have the recent changes to Citi Field at the beginning of the season though.
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I posted about a dozen suggestions earlier this year on my blog of what they could do. Part of me thinks that they should go a little nuts with retired numbers and get Koosman, Doc, Darryl, Keith, and Piazza. It’s such a gray area going from the very elite in the franchise’s history to guys who made a difference over just a few years (and in some cases, had so much potential). It could be a series of posts from every blogger called “If I owned the Mets”.
I’d like to see the photographic imagery in person before I judge, but I think that it still isn’t enough, like they just don’t get the message clearly.
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Dave,
As you know as well as anyone, no one has been as critical of the Wilpons obsession with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and total aloofness to the history of the NY Mets as I have. I’ve always welcomed your support when I made my various rants about these people. It is clearly about time that they did something other than those cheap card board black and white posters outside the stadium.
Even within the deal with lowering tix prices recently, they required that you go through some third party so as to find an angle to help them, while adding more hoops to to jump through to get the price for US the fans.
I honestly have to say that I feel strongly that until these people sell the Mets, we are never going to have the pride and passion one needs to win from ownership, for the team we all love and suffer highs and lows with.
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