Citi Field

[nymTom]

Seriously, people are WAAAY overreacting over this.

Overreacting???? Name another ballpark or any sporting facility where you see another teams existing Jersey when you first walk in being hung all over the place??? Except shared stadiums ofcourse!!

[mdnash]

Overreacting???? Name another ballpark or any sporting facility where you see another teams existing Jersey when you first walk in being hung all over the place??? Except shared stadiums ofcourse!!

what if the photos of jackie robinson are road uniforms so instead of 'dodgers' across the chest it reads 'brooklyn'?

dont be so ridiculous. the Mets honor NY baseball. the LA dodgers and SF giants are NOT New York baseball and will have no place in citi field. mets history will be in the mets museum. Homage will be paid to Jackie Robinson in the rotunda. Thats it. If you don't like it go to Canada.

[RichardK]

lol this thread is getting more hostile than outside the green zone in iraq

[nymdan]

lol this thread is getting more hostile than outside the green zone in iraq

Yeah. When I have a chance I'll clean out the thread a bit by moving all the "Too much Dodgers?" talk to a different thread.

[Elvis]

dont be so ridiculous. the Mets honor NY baseball..

I have to agree with gemcaptom. If the Dodgers decided to honor "Los Angeles baseball" in their main entrance, and display photos of the Tigers, Angels and Stars before honoring our own greats, I'd be put off too. If I owned the Mets, I'd honor METS baseball first--in the rotunda, and honor NY baseball second--in the museum.

[nymTom]

I have to agree with gemcaptom. If the Dodgers decided to honor "Los Angeles baseball" in their main entrance, and display photos of the Tigers, Angels and Stars before honoring our own greats, I'd be put off too. If I owned the Mets, I'd honor METS baseball first--in the rotunda, and honor NY baseball second--in the museum.

Thanks Elvis, thats the point i was trying to make. Not a hostile situation but just an observation as a Mets fan. Im all for history of the game and honoring the past. I want a Rusty's grille, a Kiners Korner and stuff like that around the park. Jackie Robinson is honored in many ways in NY and around baseball and well deserved. He was an icon . If they have a statue of him in the rotunda and some plaques, thats cool, but please No Dodgers attire, LOL!!

[nymdan]

Thanks Elvis, thats the point i was trying to make. Not a hostile situation but just an observation as a Mets fan. Im all for history of the game and honoring the past. I want a Rusty's grille, a Kiners Korner and stuff like that around the park. Jackie Robinson is honored in many ways in NY and around baseball and well deserved. He was an icon . If they have a statue of him in the rotunda and some plaques, thats cool, but please No Dodgers attire, LOL!!

I think this calls for a "Save the Apple"-like campaign to promote Mets history in the park.

[nymTom]

I think this calls for a "Save the Apple"-like campaign to promote Mets history in the park.

I want to bid on the old apple and put it in my backyard, that would be awsome!!!

[Jim Vaz]

I want to bid on the old apple and put it in my backyard, that would be awsome!!!

Anything to keep that thing OUT of the new park is ok by me!!

[Elvis]

If they have a statue of him in the rotunda and some plaques, thats cool, but please No Dodgers attire, LOL!!

How about wearing his UCLA or L.A. Bulldog uniforms?

[nymdan]

This thread now contains all of the Dodgers talk from the Citi Field thread. Please use this thread for further discussion on this topic.

[Lafferty Daniel]

I want to bid on the old apple and put it in my backyard, that would be awsome!!!

That would be pretty funny.

[Lafferty Daniel]

How about wearing his UCLA or L.A. Bulldog uniforms?

And Pasadena Junior College.

Citi Field tries to capture the feelings from Ebbets but it fails. Even if Citi was in Brooklyn it would struggle to emulate the classic ballpark. I mean how many ballparks in 2007-2008 can get away with copying a ballpark built before WWII? Maybe the Mets would've been better off creating a ballpark that really fits in with the team's history. The facade could've been white like coke to celebrate the '86 team. What about orange and blue seats? And the team is called the Metropolitans so how about an innovative design that actually relates to New York City, a place well known for it's forward thinking.

[Gary Dunaier]

Even if Citi was in Brooklyn it would struggle to emulate the classic ballpark.

'If Citi was in Brooklyn'... boy oh boy, my first thought when I read that was that Wilpon had the perfect opportunity to create a smaller-scale version of Ebbets Field - in Brooklyn - in Coney Island, for the Brooklyn Cyclones. But nooooo.....

Maybe the Mets would've been better off creating a ballpark that really fits in with the team's history. The facade could've been white like coke to celebrate the '86 team.

If memory serves me right, the official soft drink of the 1986 World Champion Mets was RC Cola, not Coke.

Actually, I don't know if they had an "official" soft drink back then, but RC Cola was the soda product that was advertised on the scoreboard that year.

And the team is called the Metropolitans so how about an innovative design that actually relates to New York City, a place well known for it's forward thinking.

According to the Mets' media guide, the name is "Mets... just plain Mets." Although part of the reason "Mets" was chosen was because of its historical association with the Metropolitans of the American Association, and the corporate name of the original ownership was "New York Metropolitan Baseball Club, Inc.", the official name of the ballclub, Steve Somers notwithstanding, is just Mets.

[penncentralpete]

i think he was referring to COCAINE ('86 Mets)

[Mr. Grission]

Very sad how easy it is for you to spew forth the vile resentment born of bigotry. You must be the type that always has that great quip on MLK day also. Hasn't anybody taught you that Italians and Africans have the same ancestry ? You have the same ancestry as Jackie Robinson.

You are an ignorant, despicable racist. Shame on you and the vile, ignorant parents that raised you.

I don't think I wrote anything rascist and I think you took what I said totally out of context. All I said was that there are plenty of other pioneers of the sport that are not immortalized by the rest of baseball the way Jackie Robinson is. I think you also ignored what I said at first that what he did for the sport was great. Jackie Robinson was a great man, and a good ballplayer, and for me I don't even look at the color of his skin but the level he played ball. And SBBL I think you are the ignorant one, for totally attacking my parents and the way I was raised. Just because I disagreed with you about something, you went and attacked my family and where I come from, that to mke is ignorance at the highest degree.

Anyway, I'm done with having to defend myself and what I believe. Citi Field is a nice ballpark but like I wrote before I think there is a little too much homage to the Dodgers and Giants. I liked the idea that onemoredayatshea had suggested here: naming the rotunda after Willie Mays, a pioneer that actually played for the Mets.[/QUOTE]

Based on stats, you could make the conclusion that Babe Ruth was a better ballplayer than Jackie Robinson. But Jackie was a pioneer who gave opportunities to so many people. All Babe did was eat and drink beer. Ushering out the deadball era is NOTHING compared to ending a decades-long racial barrier in Major League Baseball.

You people are making it sound like they are making Citi into Dodger fans heaven. There are THREE Dodger related things! The rotunda, the Duke Snider grill place, and some third thing which I forgot.For those three Dodger things there will be thousands upon thousands of Met things. The great Mets will definitely be honored somewhere.

It's a shame that you guys could possibly be against honoring Jackie Robinson, great American hero and a great ballplayer too.

[Yankeefan90]

You people are making it sound like they are making Citi into Dodger fans heaven. There are THREE Dodger related things! The rotunda, the Duke Snider grill place, and some third thing which I forgot.For those three Dodger things there will be thousands upon thousands of Met things. The great Mets will definitely be honored somewhere.

It's a shame that you guys could possibly be against honoring Jackie Robinson, great American hero and a great ballplayer too.

I think that 3 Dodger things is more than enough in a Mets ballpark. You won't see the Dodgers rename Chavez Revine DiMaggio Revine, or Dodger Stadium Willie Mays Stadium. Why because it has nothing to do with thier team's history. And you said the great Mets will be honored somewhere, well that somewhere should be very prominent and not second to all the Dodger nostalgia. The very fact that Citi Field resembles Ebbets Field should be enough. And I have no problem with Jackie Robinson being honored, but once again it should not be the main event in a Mets ballpark. They could have named the resturant after him, or the RF seats that overhang onto the field. But the rotunda should've been named after a Met.

[TON OF BRICKS]

The Mets were born out of the desertion of both the Dodgers and Giants- hence the blue and orange. In place of a deteriorating Ebbets Field, Walter O'Malley, the Dodger owner, had a dome stadium designed which he wanted to build in the Atlantic yards. Robert Moses, the city's building commissioner, wanted to put the stadium in Queens. Although many blamed O'Malley, it was really Robert Moses' fault that the Dodgers left. Eventually, the Mets were born and a stadium in Flushing was, as desired by Robert Moses, eventually built. Like my parents, Fred Wilpon grew up in Brooklyn and a faithful Dodger fan. But back then, there was no celebrity culture, and the players worked and lived in the neighborhood during the off-season. Baseball truly was the heartbeat of America and the Dodgers were the heartbeat of Brooklyn. It was a time period in American history most of us today could never really understand. It was a time period where people were segregated in almost every segment of society, eating a restaurant, taking a bus, walking into a store, etc. Yet, when it came to baseball on the field, things changed. The closest thing for Met fans was the 1969 World Series. Except for those early years (loveable losers to World Series Champs in 1969), the NY Mets grew up in a time period where baseball, like all sports, became a celebrity culture driven by greed. The Brooklyn Dodgers, thier fans, and that time in America is lost forever. But what better way to pay tribute to a part of NY Baseball history then to design the new stadium as a tribute to that past and remember a ball player who took the crap, stood up and played ball. Look beyond the uniform. That is what it is about.

[BoofBonser26]

That is an OUTSTANDING idea. I have hoped that somewhere along the lines as they discuss plans about the ballpark they indicate a hall of fame will be included, but to this point, just disappointment.

For anyone who has a chance to get out to Great American Ballpark, give yourself a couple extra hours and see the Reds hall of fame. It is a first class example of a feature every new ballpark should include -- team history. Anyone who prides himself as a baseball fan should certainly appreciate the collection.

This is the same idea the Indians used when they built Heritage Park last season - a wonderful mini-park just beyond center field housing the Indians Hall of Fame.

[soxnut67]

That's not true. There are many fan bases that have loyal fans who would sit for days watching them play. Boston is a great example. People go for the atmosphere yes, but they see their beloved Red Sox play. Same with Wrigley Field, Dodger Stadium, Busch Stadium III, that comment is a bit ignorant to other franchise's fans.

Uh Wrigley, no they don't. It's a bikini and beerfest and what are we doing after the game so we can tell people we were there, and find out where we're going next.

[dgk]

Uh Wrigley, no they don't. It's a bikini and beerfest and what are we doing after the game so we can tell people we were there, and find out where we're going next.

nice stereotype

[Lafferty Daniel]

Uh Wrigley, no they don't. It's a bikini and beerfest and what are we doing after the game so we can tell people we were there, and find out where we're going next.

Yeah I hate it when fans have fun too.

[Gary Dunaier]

I'm sure all teams have a certain amount of people who go to games not strictly to watch the game, but to enjoy "being there," which can be defined many ways.

Seeing the ballgame as "a bikini and beerfest and what are we doing after the game so we can tell people we were there, and find out where we're going next" is one way.

Another is walking around the place and taking pictures of the ballpark from as many different angles as possible.

Still another is just soaking in the atmosphere, taking it all in. You've all seen those "lighter side" shots they show on the news where someone's fallen asleep at the game, or maybe they're reading a newspaper, or something like that.

[Yankeefan90]

You've all seen those "lighter side" shots they show on the news where someone's fallen asleep at the game, or maybe they're reading a newspaper, or something like that.

HAHAHA, falling asleep at the game. I know it sounds funny, but I did that once. It was at a Mets game(no I didn't fall asleep because I was bored) and I had a terrible headache. So I just put my head on the bar next to my seat and dosed off for about an inning or 2. I believe it was fireworks night, I was awake for that. I can see someone reading the newspaper, sometimes you go to one of those game where it's a complete blowout in the first couple of innings and the whole game is slow and boring.

[aqib]

Is there anything at the park paying tribute to either Bill Shea or Gil Hodges? Shea is the reason the Mets even exist and Hodges while mostly known for his Dodgers days was a Met and managed them to their first World Series.