CitiField

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Not exactly high-up sources, but someone I trust who's father is working at the "New Mets Ballpark" says that there has been a sign erected at the site saying "CitiField: Opening 2009". A second person with a similar situation e-mailed MetsBlog to confirm it.

So whattya think? I say it's kind of dumb, but no worse than most corporate names. CitiField at Bob Murphy Stadium would be cooler.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I loved Bob Murphy, but I think naming a ballpark after him is a bit too much.

As for corporate names, I liked the idea of Met Life Park. CitiField? Icch. I'd prefer CitiBank Park. One thing worse than a corporate name is a cutesy corporate name.

[soupcan]

We knew it'd be a corporate name. I agree with Yancy, MetLife would've been the perfect fit but really it doesn't matter.

I think the spelling of 'CitiField' bothers me more than the name.

'City Field' really isn't half bad.

I guess Banco Popular's days are numbered.

[Guest KC]

I don't care what they call it so long as it's called the home of the 2008
World Series Champion New York Mets.

Old mofo suggestion from way back always made me chuckle: The Polo
Grounds, by Ralph Lauren.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'd really rather not have a field name that morphs so easily into ShitiField the moment the disgruntled start grumbling about something or other.

Estadio Popular. Now there's a name.

[HahnSolo]

We can hope Citicorp at least stays around for a while. My one wish for a corporate sponsor was that it was a stable one, so that we weren't renaming the ballpark every other year like in SF and Arizona.

[soupcan]

Edgy DC wrote: Estadio Popular

Ooooh, nice one. I dig that.

[seawolf17]

It doesn't matter to me. I'm calling it Bob Murphy Stadium.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I dropped off the Dickshotmobile for service just a couple blocks from Shea this morning. I will investigate when I pick it up, prolly early tomorrow.

I walked from the garage to the 7 this morning admiring Shea, which is kind of a sad place in November.

[Frayed Knot]

The sign part seems a bit fishy. Seems to me that they'd announce something prior to just erecting a sign w/o any fanfare. A large part of the reason corps do this sort of thing is for the pomp and circumstance that goes along w/it.

]I dropped off the Dickshotmobile for service just a couple blocks from Shea this morning. I will investigate when I pick it up, prolly early tomorrow.

How many pieces will it be in when you pick it up?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Bring a camera.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Frayed Knot wrote: How many pieces will it be in when you pick it up?

Hopefully one. The rubber cowl between the bottom of the windshield and the hood became un-stuck and needs replacing and resealing. After all that the rain the other day, the passenger side floor could double as an aquarium.

[metirish]

] Mets stadium: CitiField? BY KEN DAVIDOFF Newsday Staff Writer November 10, 2006, 3:15 PM EST The Mets are very close to striking a deal for the naming rights to their new stadium, and Citigroup is the likely winner, Newsday has learned. The Mets will officially break ground on their new ballpark, set to open in 2009, on Monday. The new name of the ballpark will likely be announced at that time. The Mets have long indicated that they would sell the naming rights to their new ballpark. It is believed that they have also discussed those rights with Verizon and Pepsi. Citigroup has conducted market research to determine the best name for their new stadium. Among the names proposed were: Citigroup Ballpark, Citi Ballpark, Citibank Ballpark, Citibank Yard, Citibank Coliseum, Citibank Diamond, Citibank Field. The web site hotfoot.com reports that a sign on the grounds of the new stadium reads, "CitiField: Coming in 2009."

[metirish]

They should conduct some market research here.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Hotfoot.com is a Bird Repellant website, but they were close.

[MFS62]

Edgy DC wrote: I'd really rather not have a field name that morphs so easily into ShitiField the moment the disgruntled start grumbling about something or other.

Or hearing the "Flushing Toilet" comments from Yankee fans about Shea.

I agree. ShitiField is just too close to get unnoticed - even by Yankee fans.

Later

[nymr83]

I'd rather CitiBank Field than Citifield.

[stevejrogers]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: I dropped off the Dickshotmobile for service just a couple blocks from Shea this morning. I will investigate when I pick it up, prolly early tomorrow. I walked from the garage to the 7 this morning admiring Shea, which is kind of a sad place in November.

Same here, kind of an empty "Gee I hate this time of year" feeling.

Kind of makes you wish the Dome idea went through and the building could be used year round ala MSG/Nassau/Continental/ect

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Citibank already has its name on the ugliest building in Queens: Lonely, windswept and absurdly out of scale:

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

even better shot here:

[metirish]

Yep, I hate that building..always did...

[stevejrogers]

Is that their World HQ?

Man, that makes the Co-Op city Hi-Rises off of the Hutch look like a bustling Manhattan skyline!

[MFS62]

Aside from looking out of place, that is one ugly-arse building.

The only times I've been to Queens in the past few years have been to go to Shea, and I come over the Whitestone Bridge and go home the same way.

Where is it?

Later

[metsmarathon]

around mile 14 of the nyc marathon...

1 Court Sq
Long Island City, NY 11120

basically between 44th dr & 45th ave, along 25A Jackson Ave, just south of the queensboro.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

As skyscrapers go, it's not the worst thing ever. It's just its scale is so wrong for the hood it's not even funny.

They're currently building a neighboring building so it won't look quite so lonely, and tho it will probably always be too big, there's lots of industrial-to-residential/biz developments going in near there today.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I agree, the building doesn't look bad itself. In Manhattan nobody would even notice it.

I remember when it was about to be built. I had a co-worker who lived in Long Island City and she was part of the neighborhood group opposed to its construction. Needless to say, the group failed in its task. If I remember right, and I may not, I think it was intended to be the start of a Long Island City skyline, which appears to be slow in developing.

The LIC skyline is much like the one in Allentown, Pa. Just one building that sticks out like a sore thumb.

I've long thought that LIC would have been the perfect place to build the replacement for Shea. But nobody with any authority seemed to share that opinion because I never heard a word about any location other than the Shea parking lot.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

There was talk in the 1960s of building a park above the Sunnyside Yards, IIRC, for the Jets but that plan never got off the ground. This issue with building in LIC, aside from the fact that residential is the highest/best use today, is that to face Manhattan would mean looking into the setting sun in every game.

[G-Fafif]

Edgy DC wrote: I'd really rather not have a field name that morphs so easily into ShitiField the moment the disgruntled start grumbling about something or other.

If there are any other "South Park" diehards out there, perhaps the first thing that crossed your mind was the Chinese takeout place called City Wok whose phone is answered for comedic effect by an Asian man who pronounces the "C" in "City" as "Sh". Their specialty is the City Beef.

Well, at least it figures to be fertile ground.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Not official yet, but looking more and more so.

="Associated Press"] Out with the old: Mets new park to be named CitiField NEW YORK -- Goodbye, Shea Stadium; hello, CitiField. The Mets and Citigroup Inc. have agreed on a 20-year sponsorship deal for the team's new ballpark that is worth more than an average of $20 million annually and includes stadium naming rights, a baseball official said Saturday. The source spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal will not be announced until Monday at the formal groundbreaking. This will be a record for U.S stadium naming rights, topping the approximately $10 million annually the NFL's Houston Texans receive from Reliant Energy to call their home Reliant Stadium. The agreement between the Mets and the financial services company includes options for both the team and Citigroup that could extend the deal to 35 years. Other commercial arrangements are part of the contract, the official said. Construction on the ballpark -- next to the current stadium in Queens -- began last summer and is scheduled to be ready for the 2009 season. The Mets have played at Shea Stadium since 1964, the team's third year in the league. The ballpark is named for William A. Shea, a lawyer who helped bring National League baseball back to New York. The decision comes three months after the U.S. Tennis Association renamed the nearby USTA National Tennis Center after tennis great Billie Jean King. Monday's announcement will take place at a ceremony to be attended by Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Citigroup is one of the world's largest full-service banks, with 200 million customers in more than 100 countries. Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press

[Benjamin Grimm]

I can't blame them for taking $20 million per year. That's a lot of dough, and it would be hard for anyone to resist.

I just wish the name wasn't so hokey. CitiBank Park or CitiBank Field would have been more acceptable, even if it does sound more corporate.

I guess we can just pretend that the name is "City Field" which sounds kind of 19th Century.