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Views Of Citi Field: Left Field Foul Pole

I miss Citi Field, and Mets games.

 

Clearly I like to roam when I’m at the game alone, and this shot from last April reflects that. It’s taken from the Promenade corner in left field shot right over the foul pole. This is actually the first place I ever sat in Citi Field, way back during the St. Johns exhibition game before the 2009 season. You’re not close to the action, but you do get a nice bird’s eye view of the entire field, sans the left field wall which you need to lean forward to see.

photo by Ceetar

Behind me is the only exit in the ballpark that resembles the Shea ramps, and doubles as the smoking section. You can also see the Manhattan skyline from there.

photo by Ceetar

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New Feature: Spin It

This feature could also be called rose-colored glasses. I’ll take one particular aspect of the Mets and try to use logic, reasoning, and statistical analysis to look at the best case scenarios for various Mets players and situations. It’s also about spreading optimism, however small. So along those lines, I’d like to write the posts based on reader-submitted questions.

 

If you want me to tell you why Daniel Murphy will be a good player for the 2013 Mets, or why we should put our faith in Kirk Nieuwenhuis as the regular center fielder, let me know. Email me at ceetar@ceetar.com,or tweet at me @Ceetar.

 

To start us off I’m going to link to a Mark Simon post describing what the Mets need to make the 2013 playoffs.

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Hall Of Fame Vote: Now The Hall Of Favorites

Fake Piazza plaque via CeetarMike Piazza was clearly a Hall of Famer, as were numerous other players on the ballot that were not elected this year. He’s among the leaders, if not THE leader, in many offensive categories including home runs and slugging percentage. He was a perennial MVP candidate and was on the All-Star Team roughly every year. He hit, and hit, and hit.

 

Any allegations about illegal substances that may or may not have had some unknown positive effect on his overall performance are pure speculation at best. The Hall of Fame has a five year waiting period for a reason and as we look back at Piazza’s numbers and performance over the years it’s clear he should be a clear-cut favorite to be on practically every ballot. There has been plenty of time for dirt-digging and witch-hunts, if such things matter to your vote. Nothing substantial has turned up as the dust settled on his career, clearly meaning he should be inducted into the Hall of Fame among his fellow all-time greats.

 

It simply isn’t a Hall of Fame if the most famous players aren’t a part of it. Perhaps we should start referring to it as the Hall of Favorites, subject to the whim and folly of the baseball writers of America. It’s not just Piazza either, and it’s not all voters that have failed baseball fans. There are many well-reasoned ballots out there that were forced to leave people off the ballot not because of whispers and rumors, but because they are only allowed to vote for 10 people and found more than 10 on this ballot were qualified. For none of those qualified players to get in is a travesty.

 

The Hall of Fame is just a museum, but baseball is a sport that celebrates lore and history and the Hall of Fame is a great representation of that. It has failed in that regard, and it’s a step down a road to being just another virtually meaningless award. If it’s not going to represent the best of the best, then it’s purpose has passed. Take down all the plaques and let it remain as a museum of treasures and accomplishments, and as fans we’ll remember who the truly great players are.  It’s not the Hall’s fault, as it’s the writers who vote for the collection of players honored, but if they’re not going to change the criteria for voters, these things will continue to happen and deserving players will be kept out. There is a lot of outrage right now, but this may be the last straw. Next year many fans, such as me, will treat the pending vote as a triviality.

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The Mazzy Awards

The third annual Mazzy Awards were held Saturday night at Donovan’s Pub in Woodside. No matter what other activities you’re interested in to pass the time between last out and first pitch, you miss your baseball pals. The men, women, and baseball-headed mascots that make up so much of your life from the time when pitchers and catchers report to Port St. Lucie and the final strike of the season. Alas, Mr. Met couldn’t make it this year, but maybe next time..

 

When you have the opportunity to help honor fellow fans and bloggers and talk baseball on a quiet night in January, you do it. No one takes themselves too seriously, it was just a fun way to whittle away the offseason, but Shannon and Keith both did an amazing job setting up and executing these awards. High quality video streams, a private room for us, official envelopes and even bobblehead award statues. Everyone agreed that they should make it an annual event; next year I hope you join us.

 

Hanging out with a beer or two with fellow Mets fans talking sports, Hall of Fame, old wax cups at Shea Stadium and even television almost made you feel like it was baseball season again. If you listened carefully you could almost hear Howie Rose describing the new blue uniforms as the Mets jogged out to take their places on the field.

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Optimism in the Air

We are now closer to 2013 Mets baseball than we are to 2012 Mets baseball. Yesterday was the Mets Baseball Equinox and now we march towards a new dawn with anticipation. The Mets are undefeated this year. They have not disappointed us yet. Young players still have the potential stat sheets and scouts predict for them and no one’s gotten injured since last year.

 

This clearly doesn’t mean everything is rosy, but Mets baseball approaches and we’ve got miracles and just plain baseball fun on the horizon. No need to fret over how it’ll ultimately end up, let’s just enjoy whats coming.

 

Hey, even the NHL looks like it’ll sneak some games in to entertain us while we wait.

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Disappointment Over A Good Mets Trade

There is no doubt that the trade Sandy Alderson is in the process of pulling off is a good one. We still aren’t aware of some of the finer details, but the Mets are adding two top prospects, John Buck, and a third minor leaguer, for R.A. Dickey, Josh Thole, and a minor prospect. Dickey is one of the best pitchers in the league, and he still may be a top of the line starter for a couple of years, but the Mets are adding players that may still be having a positive impact on the team six years from now. It’s certainly possibly they may not flourish, particularly the much farther away Noah Syndergaard, but the probability favors the Mets in that regard.

 

The problem is the immediate future. Travis d’Arnaud, the catcher the Mets are receiving, will probably be up to the majors very soon, if not on Opening Day. John Buck will likely be on the team in the interim, and probably shift to a backup role when d’Arnaud gets called up. Together it’s unlikely they provide as much value as R.A. Dickey, and that means a team already under .500 is probably taking a step back before pushing forward. That’s disheartening for most fans, whose number one concern is the current roster of players on the field. Many of us would rather root for the guys we have to succeed, particularly when they’re great ones like Dickey, than reinvest emotion in new guys that are merely promising to be great. Ultimately though what the fans want doesn’t matter because winning is what brings in the fans, the attention, and the money. It’s not out of the question that d’Arnaud plus the pitcher the Mets replace Dickey with is worth more than Dickey and Thole would’ve been, but it doesn’t seem like a good bet for 2013 nor the type of improvement the Mets need to climb out of 4th place if it does happen.

 

That’s where the disappointment comes in; this trade does not make the Mets better in the foreseeable future. Sure, it raises the probability that they are better down the line, but it’s also important that this player is going to be cheap and under team control for a long time. Fans can forgive losing star players, whether homegrown ones or adopted ones, when the team placed in front of them excites and captures their attention, but so far I’m not so sure the 2013 version is in position to do that. Especially if we don’t get an impact bat for the outfield and instead go with Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and a platoon of Mike Baxter and 2013’s version of Scott Hairston. We heard a lot about the present value of contracts with the David Wright negotiations, and that concept applies to winning seasons too; a winning season in the present is worth more than one in the future. Good process only gets you so far, and there are plenty of inherent risks between now and then that could sabotage the plan. A clearly improved 2013, even if it ultimately falls short, could create the excitement that draws fans in, fans that will continue to come in 2014. The message lately has felt like it’s not worth investing in this team yet, which keeps ticket sales and revenue down; revenue that could make the job of creating a winner in 2014 easier. It’d be unfair to assume Sandy Alderson’s going to take the rest of the offseason off at this juncture, meaning he could still improve the team and the outfield, but it’s hard to see the type of players coming that give this team a “If everything breaks right” chance at the playoffs.

 

As always with the Mets these last three years, the money question is always looming. Partial sales, which included Sterling money invested in the Mets, helped pay off loans and seemed to at least point the Mets in the right direction. Allusions were made to a payroll in 2013 at or above 2012’s number. The deferred contracts and negotiations seem to point in a different direction, although it is still possible that Sandy Alderson spends most of that money on players that make the Mets better. It’s never a good idea to expect much direct truth from a general manager, that’s not their job, but given the message that the actions are sending it feels pretty hard to do more than guess at the plan. The Mets appear to be in a holding pattern and I just hope they get clearance to land before they run out of gas.

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Views of Citi Field

View from the "Subway Section" by Ceetar

 

I like to call this spot the Subway Section because it’s reminiscent of view from the subway platform outside of Shea Stadium where you could peek into the stadium. These photos are taken from just behind the right field scoreboard, next to the entrance to the Excelsior level inside corridor. You can watch replays on one of the televisions directly to your left.

 

Photo taken from the "Subway Section" by Ceetar

 

It affords you a view right into the Pepsi Porch as well and if you look down, the World’s Fare Market concourse. In my eye this section includes the walkway to the Pepsi Porch, which doesn’t afford much in the way of real viewpoints of the game, but still offers a tease as you walk between sections.

 

"Subway Section" at Citi Field, by Ceetar

Here’s a shot of the original “Subway Section” from Opening Day 2007.

 

Shea Stadium, from the Subway Platform, by Ceetar

 

 

 

 

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Opening Day Ticket Price Hike A Troubling Sign

The Mets spent more time and energy and research on ticket prices than you did. Their research suggests this is the best way to maximize revenue and push customers into committing to packs and getting more people into the ballpark for the other games. That doesn’t make it suck any less. The problem is it’s Opening Day and the demand is still high.

It’s one thing to say you’re annoyed with it in November and not going to buy, but once Spring Training kicks in and we hear about people planning to finally get out to the park again and see live baseball many people are going to be looking to find tickets. I’d be surprised if the stadium looks less than 95% full.

It’s a business first for the Mets, and it’s hard for me to get too up in arms at any specific tactic to maximize profit on the high-demand times, but it doesn’t bode well for the future. It’s not just baseball either, or just the Mets. Fans in this same market complained and moaned about personal seat licenses in the NFL, but the Giants and Jets both sold a ton of them. Movie tickets are going up, and if you think $63 for 3-4 hours in the sun watching baseball is rough take a look at the prices of some of the Broadway plays.

Revenue sharing money from MLB is going up too, and it’s only going to lessen the percentage of revenue that ticket sales is. As that happens more and more teams are going to make decisions to milk every last dollar out they can, with no regard to actual turnstile attendance. Take a look at the Marlins fire sale. The Marlins flat out don’t care about the fans, but the franchise itself is making a ton of money from other sources. Actual fans in the park aren’t at the top of their priority list.

It’s unfortunate. Many fans remember the days before the late nineties when payrolls skyrocketed causing ticket prices to follow suit when going to a baseball game was one of the most affordable activities in the city. As prices have rocketed, fan salaries haven’t followed suit and the economy crashed creating less disposable income in general. As a result everything is crazy expensive. I can’t ever legitimately afford to sit in the good seats at a game in any of the other three major sports, and every year it seems I get further and further away from the Mets field as well.

Dynamic pricing was designed with this Opening Day situation in mind. It was always a way to maximize the revenue of the top games, no matter when they happen in a season and was never really meant to lower prices to bargain basement levels to get the place packed. The Mets know, as everyone in sports knows, that take advantage of the few high-demand games you have, and let winning take care of packing the park for the other ones.

Unfortunately for us, the baseball market in New York is huge. The big Mets games are going to sell, and as they do better and better, those games are going to sell too. There’s no boycott that’s going to work. Clearly you shouldn’t back down from voicing your opinion at some of these frustrating aspects of fandom, but know that the only person you hurt by not going is yourself. It’d be great if we could drive market value, but the truth is we don’t.

I sucked it up and bought Opening Day tickets. I want to be there, it’s pretty much a holiday in my eyes, and I’m not yet willing to miss it. Maybe I skip another game or two depending on my situation, but I’m going to check my stubbornness at the gate about the pricing and go. Maybe I’m just resigned to the idea that everyone is out to take every last cent from me, but once Opening Day gets here I’m going to be excited no matter what I paid.

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Ron Darling: Best Announcer in the Playoffs?

We know Ron Darling is a great announcer as Mets fans, having been privy to his talents on SNY since 2006. He creates great insight into the game as a former pitcher, and isn’t afraid to tell you what he thinks.  We’ve witnessed this frequently this past season with his remarks about how the Washington Nationals handled Steven Strasburg.  Unlike other former athletes turned broadcaster, Darling often goes above and beyond simply crediting players for ‘being players’ as if he’s part of some secret club that knows better than we do. He imparts knowledge like he wants us to have it, not like he wants us to know HE has it.

I was watching the third game of the Giants and Reds NLDS, and he offered a bit of analysis that blended an appreciation of advanced shifting with a thought to the game at hand and how long-term trends might not apply the same way to individual samples. The Giants were shifting against Joey Votto to pull like many teams do for left-handed hitters with power. Ron Darling noted that Votto had returned from knee surgery this season and may not be 100%. He was questioning whether or not Votto could put the same force into his front leg to generate the power and pull that the Giants were positioning for. Maybe, he mused, they should use the injury information to adjust the defensive positioning despite what the long term trends say.

Joey Votto had not hit a home run since returning from the surgery, but I have no idea if this theory has any statistical merit in Votto’s case or in knee injuries at large. That’s not really important here because Darling wasn’t suggesting that the Giants forgo the shift because it’s over-thinking or bad form or anything, he was proposing that there was another input that the Giants should take into consideration. Perhaps the player they were shifting against wasn’t quite the same player that had generated all the data they were using.

Baseball is a game with a ton of statistical data that can be used to make educated guesses about players and teams and overall results, but it’s also a collection of small sample results that can vary wildly based on any number of random inputs. A player simply waking up with a headache could throw off the projections for one afternoon. This is why the very best teams will succeed by being aware of the overall trends and still be able to make snap decisions in the moment to adjust those trends based on the fluctuating nature of many of the factors. It’s part of what makes Ron Darling a great announcer. As a pitcher he studied and learned a lot about baseball, and he’s brought that into the booth with him, and as a scholar he appreciates the studious work other people have put in as well.