Category: CitiField

Baseball Day Games – Why Can’t We Have More of Them?

Casey Stengel;Roger Craig

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsEven though both the Mets and Yankees had lost their games before 5pm, I thoroughly enjoyed my workday and that was because there were so many day games on today. I’m left to wonder if this is what it was like for the previous generations of baseball fans?

Today more than half of baseball had started playing by 1pm. I started by listening to the pre-game show on WFAN live from Citi Field at around noon. Since this was a day game there were large groups of kids in attendance and you could hear them chanting “Let’s go Mets!” and generally having a good time at the park. It’s a great sound to hear in an office. Continue reading “Baseball Day Games – Why Can’t We Have More of Them?”

CitiFieldaphobia – Who Fears Hitting at Citifield?

New York Mets David Wright reacts to home plate umpire Paul Schrieber after striking out at Citi Field in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsRod Barajas can hit the ball out of Citi Field. So can Ike Davis. Citi Field does not seem to intimidate the new guys.

David Wright on the other hand has struggled to find his power stoke since leaving Shea Stadium behind. Last year we chalked up some of his power loss to playing in the World Classic and some to Citi Field. This year there are no excuses and I don’t think his power struggles are over just yet.

Although Wright will easily top last years home run totals, many fans I have spoken with seem to think Citi Field has gotten into his head.  Wright hit 4 of his 7 homers on the last 6 game road trip but he’s still going to have to find a way to hit homers at home.

Of course, I’m also worried about Wright’s strikeouts. He’s on a pace to strikeout over 200 times this year. With 14 strikeouts in the last 7 games I tend to think maybe David should have his eyes checked because he’s not seeing the ball correctly. Continue reading “CitiFieldaphobia – Who Fears Hitting at Citifield?”

Mets Cap Trade Day – May 21-23 2010

Flickr photo courtesy of Ed Yourdon

I am looking ahead to the next few home series and I noticed something very interesting. May 21st – 23 the Yankees are in town. The Mets have some king of weird promotion called Mets cap trade day but the day is for the entire series. The first 5,000 fans at these three games will get a Mets cap. Being that it’s cap trade day are you supposed to trade in a Yankee cap for a Mets one?

If so, how many Yankee fans will be rushing to Citi Field for their free cap? How many Yankee fans will give up their Yankee caps for a Mets one? Will Yankee fans, proud fans of a team that are the defending World Series champions, expect to change allegiances because of a free Mets cap?

Promotion Fail. The person who thought up this promotion should go before Omar or Jerry. Continue reading “Mets Cap Trade Day – May 21-23 2010”

Report: Mets 2010 Attendance Much Lower

Citi Field
Image via Wikipedia

The Mets had to expect some drop off from last year’s attendance. Even though the 2009 Mets were a horrible team, it was the opening season for Citi Field. The curiosity factor of the new stadium was sure to draw, and it did.

The luster of the new stadium is gone. It’s still new but not shiny and new anymore. The Mets did add some significant trimmings recognizing the history of the team. They forgot when they opened the stadium that the Mets did, indeed, exist prior to 2009. But that’s mostly fixed now.

If you’ve been to a game this season or watched on TV, you’ve noticed the abundance of empty seats. According to Fanhouse, the Mets set a new all-time low for single game attendance at Citi Field. And they’re down an average of 6,690 fans per game this year. Continue reading “Report: Mets 2010 Attendance Much Lower”

Forbes 2010 Baseball Team Values

The annual Forbes list of baseball team valuations lists the Mets as the third most valuable team in MLB. They lost 6% from 2009 and stand behind only the Yankees and Red Sox.

Forbes came out with their annual list of team values yesterday. The Mets are listed as the third most valuable team in the game behind the Yankees and Red Sox. That’s not a big surprise to any of us. What is interesting is that the Mets declined in value by 6% from last year, the only team in the top half of the league to do so.

You can still see the 2009 list of values on Forbes’ website. The Mets fell behind the Red Sox by losing value. The heavy debt from Citi Field and the poor season certainly are to blame for the devaluation. Continue reading “Forbes 2010 Baseball Team Values”

Dear Minaya: Break Up The Mets Core

David Daniels writes that the Mets core is broken. Omar Minaya needs to make some creative moves to fix a team built around stars that aren’t performing.

Courtesy of killrbeez via Flickr

It seems that every year it’s the same old story. We can’t seem to get our All-Star center fielder and All-Star shortstop on the field together. Whether you want to call it back luck, bad management or you just chalk it up to the fact that these two are injury prone, we can’t afford to keep both players if they keep going down so much. What to do…?

If I were Omar Minaya, I would trade one of these injury prone superstars to get a top line starting pitcher. If I had to trade one, here’s who I’d trade:

Carlos Beltran? – At 32 years-old and with two years left on his contract, if he can get back by May, get some playing time under his belt and show off the five-tool, Gold Glove, All-Star center fielder that he is, a trade involving Beltran by the July trading deadline could bring back at least a #2 starter and some major help for the minors. Re-stocking the minor leagues for future trades should be a priority and a front line pitcher would certainly help us now. Of course we would need a strong defensive center fielder to replace him to cover such a large outfield at Citi Field. Is F-Mart that guy? I’m not sure but he certainly stacks up to Reyes when it comes to nagging injuries.

Continue reading “Dear Minaya: Break Up The Mets Core”

Mets Links: Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, Jerry Manuel, More

New York Mets Jerry Manuel walks with his head down to the dugout against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field in New York

I’m trying to be positive on the day that Mets single game tickets go on sale. It’s tough to do that after the team drove straight into a brick wall in 2009, but this is a new season. I’m ready for the Mets to start winning some games next month when the real games start. And I’m hoping that they can get some payback on some teams, especially in the division, that beat them down pretty badly last year.

The links below are pretty negative about the team, in general. I think that’s partially due to the news about the team but it’s also because it’s so much easier to write a negative story than a positive one. Negative stories seem to attract more attention than stories about how everything in great in Mets nation, if there is such a thing. I don’t think the Mets situation is ideal right now but I’m not completely down on them either.

How can you be completely down on the team with the highest payroll in the National League? The highest payroll certainly doesn’t guarantee wins as we saw last year. But it sure gives the Mets a chance to be in it to the end. This isn’t a Pirates situation going on here. There’s no rebuilding or looking forward to two or three years down the road. The Mets roster has a legitimate shot to be in the race late in the 2010 season.

Continue reading “Mets Links: Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, Jerry Manuel, More”