Ceetar

Yeah, sorry these are not my photos and I definitely don't deserve any credit or wish to take any and apologize for having created that impression. I thought the whole world had seen them already. Well, now they have. Which is kinda the point anyway. :-D Again, it's a difference of opinion. The Mets chose to cut out a Upper type deck and moved the cheap seats in. There are some pretty bad seats, but I definitely prefer when I'm sitting in say, 524 row H, to be able to see the action closer, even if that means sacrificing a small corner of the OF. And there are a lot of sections that are just fine. I had the opportunity to renew my plan for 2009, and the seats were coming up in the LF OF section, and I thought to myself "Hmm, I don't really know if I'll like the view from out there. I'd rather go to the stadium game by game and see where the preferred views are". I did that. I now know to request RF over LF in the outfield, to avoid the back half of the left field landing. To me, that closer view was what they felt was more important than cramming 60k people into the place. If it was up to me, I would've built another deck of 15 thousand people, but it's not up to me. But these things are decisions based on the owners, and that's their right. Whether it's the color of the walls and seats, or the height of the wall or anything else. Yes, they did a bad job with the Mets history stuff. Maybe you're right, maybe they had no intention of having a museum. Maybe they were just gonna hang the flyers and the banners outside and be done with it. (i.e., no more than they had at Shea) And i do think the att endance of the Hall of Fame induction game is a big deal. How can so many clamor about wanting to see history at Citi Field and then not go and see iti n the flesh? Amazing is subjective. To me, Citi Field is amazing. I don't sit in the bad seats (something that all ballparks have), I love the beer and food options, I love the way the stadium looks, both inside and out. And, of course, the Mets play there, which pushes it over the edge into my favorite stadium to watch a game at. But even objectively, I'd say I'd consider PNC or SF park as 'better', but that's about it.

I'm gonna take credit for it btw, but your album (and this thread) has now been pimped out to Mets Police, The Real Dirty Mets Blog, Metsblog, and Lennon's Newsday blog, to name a few. (Credit given to at least cranepoolforum all around)

There was a lot of "Oh, I put down all this money for tickets without even having a thought about how the view would be! I don't like it! Waaah". right away too. So much of the complaining was of a nit-picky difference of opinion type thing. A lot of it still is. I'm not surprised they were on the defensive, especially at first. They spent a lot of time building what I feel is an amazing stadium, and people were harping on minor things. (which isn't surprising. We always know better, whether it's which players they should sign, how to treat Reyes' thyroid, or how to build and decorate the stadium) Also, I don't know if this is anyone's fault, but they were racing the clock to get the building functional in terms of #1, playing baseball. It would've been semi-disasterous had the Mets had to play a series at Yankee Stadium because they didn't get the entrances paved or something silly like that. There was a ton of changes between when I was there for the Red Sox exhibition and when I came back for the first real homestand. I suspect things like Hall of Fames and banners got pushed aside. Sure, most of us would've rather them chosen to prioritize the HoF over the Team Store, but that's business. Also, regardless of the team's record, the August 1st game better sell out. (still cheap seats available) For all the clamoring about history, it's be insulting if the fans don't sell out the game honoring it.

I would assume since we haven't seen Reyes should up in PSL, that his weekly test last week was a failure and it's not a given that he'll miss Opening Day? Cora is going to be on the team anyway. So someone else has to be promoted either to start or backup. Not sure I have a favorite, and Jerry's "I'll ease Tejada into it" comment worried me.

Nah, it was confirmed that they were only lowering the wall directly in front of the Apple, to make it a more uniform height. I assume they'll paint that black and draw the orange line in shortly.

Also, I love that there is a brick that simply reads "Moo"

Frayed Knot wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: How hard was that? To do? ... not very. Ah, but to think of !! ... now that takes a bit more initiative. To be fair, a lot of that couldn't have been done when Citi Field opened. They didn't have the plaza done, or the grass grown, or even it completely paved. They didn't have all those trees and lightposts up yet that those things are hanging from. Of course, as that stuff went up, no reason they couldn't have attached the banners at that point. I guess there plan was always to wait until it was all set up and then make a decision about what to do. Growing pains.. They'll be criticized for only doing it because they were caving to public opinion, but I have to believe that isn't true. I love the lineup cards. They actually did have them up last year, but just over a random concession on the field level. Love these changes though, 14 days..

Yah! nitpicking time. Castillo's better than that. He's not Utley, but I'd probably take him over Prado, and definitely Uggla. Pagan's better than Morgan too. probably better than Maybin as well.

I think he leaves off Santana because that'd make the Mets arguably #1 or 2.

@SurfingTheMets Andy Green has had a leg injury. I believe a hamstring. Wore number 10 last year. Have his autograph.

Still like that Mets lineup better than the Marlins. It's likely Reyes is out, I think the only way is if he's cleared via his test next week. SS is up in the air still. I think if Reyes is cleared before opening day to get into shape, it's Cora and Reyes only misses a week or two. If his levels haven't regulated yet, it may be Tejada or someone else as Reyes will likely miss most or all of April.

Edgy DC wrote: And how is that an un-necessary risk any more than any other uses? Maybe using him as a starter is a risk. I don't get it at all. Bobby Parnell has a great arm, and the Mets moved him to the bullpen last year. What of it? I think columnists are working overtime to set Met leadership up with, "If something goes wrong, it's his fault, and I'm going to fry him" scenarios. I don't think we should fall into the same trap. That's fine, because there was plenty to fry them with last year and the media just rolled over and enjoyed Manuel's quotables. But now that it's obvious they have something to prove, the media will be looking for it. This can only be good, because Manuel is a horrible manager and media pressure may get the Mets to pull the trigger.

Minaya's repeatedly said Meija is going to AA. While none of this will likely have any real affect on Meija or his development, the idea that Manuel is/will do something totally against the organizational plan is a cause for concern.

David Lennon made a really good point. He was on with Kay yesterday, not sure if he wrote this anywhere though, but he said a lot of doctors he talks to say it doesn't really have any coorelation from HGH->thyroid. He also pointed out that with how rampant HGH probably is and has been, if there was a link we'd have seen a lot more guys having their spring blood work flagged for thyroid problems.

the DH infuriates me a bit. It's probably because they have a bunch of extra guys they want to try out, like Jacobs/Murphy/Davis at first and such. But they've been raelly pushing the defense drills with the Pitchers, so why not offense as well? It's such an overlooked area by so many teams, but just a little bit of focus on hitting with pitchers can often go a long way even if it's just to teach pitchers how to look for and swing at what is usually the "throw it down the middle" approach to pitching to pitchers. Remember last year when Jerry claimed he wasn't going to use the DH at all (and then proceded to use the DH in non-televised games?)

Edgy DC wrote: Unsurprising, since he's a rehab case, but to you have a confirmation link? Rubin tweeted it earlier today, I'd look for one but it's 5pm and it's quittin' time.