N.Y. Mets: Beyond The Right Field Fence

From the desk of:  HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

NEW YORK METS: The contrived right field fence will no longer be the Wailing Wall of Willets Point.

Were the original expansive outfield dimensions at Citi Field killing attendance?  That's the real question.

Ownership sure is behaving that way.  Shorten the fences, and hopefully the team does better in their new accommodations.  After all, it's not just chicks who dig the long ball.  That dad spending $450 bucks bringing his family sure would appreciate his kid's favorite player jacking one out too.

More offense, and more exciting games, will make fans flock back to Citi Field, where they'll buy beer, food, and souvenirs,

Basically, improve everyone's quality of life by moving the fences in.

Brilliant, right?

Let this reaffirm what a huge mistake the original dimensions at Citi Field were - (just because the organization keeps messing with them).  They would have showed more guts just sticking with the original layout and concentrated on fielding more suitable players.

But they caved, and by the end of 2011, the organization had no choice but to revisit left field's Great Wall of Flushing.  But, guess what - that wasn't enough.  Now, after the World Series, the Mets will make a second attempt to finally get things right (I use that word very loosely) - this time they'll reconfigure the right field Wailing Wall of Willets Point.

It's yet another example of just how far off the mark ownership was with this park from the very beginning.

We know it's more than just the dimensions - it's the overwhelming tribute to the Dodgers, it was the initial lack of a Mets Hall of Fame; it was hiding the Home Run Apple back by the chop shops; it was the Domino Pizza looking Citi Field logo and patch; it was a place that did more to alienate Mets fans in its first year than it did to welcome them home.

Citi Field's rudimentary alterations only occurred after the outcry.

The fences that robbed David Wright of his power alley, during his prime, weren't deemed too far until their high priced free agent acquisition, Curtis Granderson, couldn't hit them out of Citi either.

Good.  So now they'll move the fences in during a time when they are rebuilding around young pitching.

It's always so reactionary with them.

When you get right down to it, a field built in a giant parking lot has no reason for such idiosyncratic fencing.

The Mets won't be the only players to find Citi Field's dimensions more forgiving either.  The opposition has already endured the prohibitive years.  Hitting there will become easier for them as well.

The fans negative opinion and distrust of ownership is why attendance is down.  The decimation caused by the Madoff scandal, and the team still teetering on near-bankruptcy is why attendance is down.  The limited operating budget is why attendance is down.  False assurances and empty promises are why.  Five straight losing seasons are why.

Win, and they will come.




Mike