So I was working for the Yankees for seven months in NYC, and not once did I make it to Citi Field. I guess I was hooked the day I stepped into Yankee Stadium. Honestly, as a huge baseball fan, I'm kind of disappointed in myself. But then again the Mets were abysmal last season so I feel like I may have been justified in not going.
Still, Citi Field was beautiful. I had heard bad things about it, but maybe that was just about the premium seating areas Yankee Stadium is known so well for. Let's get 'er done.
Location: So Citi Field is located in Queens, but more specifically Corona, NY. I actually had no idea - I guess you learn something new every day. The area around the stadium obviously isn't the best, I mean it is New York, but it was really easy to get to the stadium from my old apartment in the Meatpacking District. I just hopped on the "A" train to Times Square, then took the 7 all the way into Queens. It was probably just as long as my commute every day up to the Bronx, so using that as a relative reference, it was pretty tolerable.
Ballpark: Citi looks really pretty from the outside. It's something about that red brick that really gets me going. Plus they have the apple outside from the old stadium, a Hall of Fame in the lobby (with plenty of references to the '86 season), which if you're an Astros fan, really really hurts. Mr. Met was something cool to see, too. For some reason (probably because they're in a different division), I think the Mets are more "lovable losers" than the Cubbies are. But they've won a World Series in the last 30 years, so maybe they don't count as losers. But as long as I've been alive, they sure have spent a ton of money with no major hardware to show for it. Actually, there's a pretty good article on cnnsi.com linked here that shows they had the worst $/production metric of the '00s.
The Apple
The Outside
HOF
Gross.
Food: Citi actually has some great food! Your local kosher favorites, like Hebrew National, some knish, etc., but I had my eyes on Shake Shack in center field. Something I've learned through my stadium tour is that waiting in the longest lines for food is generally super worth it. So Shake Shack obviously had the longest line, and I downed a hamburger and a Black 'n White (Cookies and Cream) shake. Definitely a solid buy.
SHAKE SHACK!
Game: The game was so long ago now, that this is where my reviews will probably suffer. It was raining when I got off the stadium, and the Mets were playing the Padres, so naturally the stadium was pretty empty. I had a great bleachers seat that I bought at the ticket window because this was a makeup game from the day before. OH YEAH! I got lucky because I was supposed to take a train from Baltimore to New York, but the regional Amtrak was really, really late, so I ended up getting to New York after the normally scheduled afternoon game had started. But because the game the night before got rained out, I was able to hit the rescheduled game later that evening.
I ended up seeing one hell of a pitching performance by Jon Niese, who threw a one-hit complete game shutout. The hit he gave up was early, so he never threatened throwing one of the many no-hitters already thrown this season.
Scoreboard. Took the pitcher hoping Jesus would hit a HR in his first MLB start.
Outfield view. Quite nice, right?
Summary: Had a solid burger and experience at Citi. I kind of want to sit in a premium seat next time to compare the New York experiences, but I definitely had a good time by myself and look forward to heading back before I leave the big city.
Location: 6
Ballpark: 9.5
Food: 9
Game: 8.5
Overall: 8.5
Record: 18-6.
Giveaways: 7.
