Re-Built this Citi

Of course the title of the post is a play on the name of this song from the group Starship from 1985.

The Mets are on a short road trip now, a longer one later in the month, and while they're away, I have some ideas on how Fred Wilpon & Co. can vandalize Chez Amazin' to make it work better for Mets fans, along with some other random thoughts about our new ballpark.

• Dave Howard did say the dark green seats came from the Polo Grounds. He lied about obstructed views, but we'll take his word on this. My dad didn't seem to remember that detail of the park where he went to see Willie Mays play in person back in the '50s (The Polo Grounds may have ever only been seen in black & white). I'm ok with that. The orange/blue/green/red scheme from Shea may not look that good at Citi Field.


• Did you know that in a hockey arena, it's impossible to see the ice-side of every piece of the boards when sitting in the stands, as well as the puck or players when played on the ice against the boards? Think about it. The nature of the boards and the fact that you're always behind one side of them creates a natural obstruction. And nobody seems to complain, because the only seats that can fix that are either suites below ice level with windows into the boards, or seats vertically above the ice surface, but not sticking out over it. don't look down.
  I bring that up because with seats in fair territory at Chez Amazin', it stands to reason that some parts of the outfield wall would not be visible below. We've never had a lot of fair territory seats before. From the bleachers at Shea, I could not see the LF wall. I didn't complain about it. Of course, when third base or home plate are obstructed from your LF seats, that is a problem.

Now to some things we can do to fix Chez Amazin'...

1. Get some mets logos along the walls. Use the different logos (our version of the interlocking NY, script Mets, baseball/skyline logo, mets.com). I've seen other ballparks put the team's logo(s) around the wall and/or behind home plate. Only one needs to be inview of the TV camera behind the batter.


2. I've said it before, the championship banners from the Shea outfield wall should be on the wall at Citi Field. There's no real reason that they aren't there.


3. And I've said this before too. The Shea scoreboard skyline should be in a place where it can be seen better from the seats, rather than being stuck BEHIND the CF scoreboard


4. Name the bridge after Gil Hodges. I heard Howie Rose say it on WFAN the other day, and I think I've read it on a few blogs. It doesn't take much to do


5. Name some concession stand or area in the promenade after Shea, or after something from Shea. Having the old HR apple is good, but we want more of Shea.


6. Mets colors are blue and orange. We need some blue. The foul poles are orange (just like at Shea, and the only orange ones in the league). The OF wall has the orange stripe. Add some blue. It came from the dodgers, so Mr. Wilpon should be ok with it. Blue can be somewhere inside the stadium. It doesn't need to be visible on the field of play.


7. Name the escalators on the RF side after top Mets right fielders (Strawberry, Art Shamsky, etc.), and do the same in LF and CF. Ya, take the Mookie Wilson escalator from behind the big scoreboard up to the Excelsior level and take the Tommie Agee escalator up to the Promenade to the seats under the out of town scoreboard.


8. Name the patio above the Rotunda after some Mets catchers (because it's behind home plate), or even better, name it Casey Stengel Plaza (like the street name outside somewhere). How about calling it Mike Piazza?


9. Hang banners of Mets logos and/or Mets players and/or Mets moments inside the stadium, like we had at Shea (like what was sold from Shea). They can hang from the ceilings and stay 7 or 8 feet above ground, especially in the field level concourse, and be out of the way. Other concourses too if height permits. Don't use the tacky black and white ones either. I'll sell back the one I bought for $3,000.


10. Name the part of flushing bay visible from the RF seats over the LF wall after Kevin McReynolds. McReynolds cove (like McCovey cove). OK, that was pushing it.


11. What about a Mets Shoe-polishing stand? That would be a start.


12. Get a bar or bar & grill at Citi Field, one that's open to all fans after a game, and name it The Happy Recap. Make it a post-game destination, especially for those taking the train home (and not drinking and driving).