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Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Edgy MD Sep 07 2011 08:56 PM

It's nice to put Joe Robbie to bed with a winning record, but I'll always remember it as a stadium where a lot of deep drives died at the warning track, and a few seasons did as well. Lot of errors there also. I'll guess the obvious for our all-time leaders there: Piazza for homers, Alfonzo for hits, Leiter for wins, Benitez for saves. I picture a lot of Mike Stanton at Joe Robbie, pitching every chance he got for both sides.

Ceetar Sep 07 2011 08:57 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Dickey has never allowed an earned run here.

metsguyinmichigan Sep 07 2011 09:27 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

It gets a bad rap, but I always enjoyed the games I've seen there. Some fun memories. Saw the first two games, 1997 World Series Game Six, an Opening Day with the Mets, Roberto Hernandez giving my son a ball. A FanFest when I was in town covering a trial. It has its own exit off the turnpike, so getting there was easy. The Fish do need the retractable roof, but I think the fire sales did more to hurt the fan base.

Ceetar Sep 07 2011 09:31 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I didn't hate the stadium. (but then, I didn't hate RFK either) I saw two games there, one fairly worthless regular season Marlins game, and one WBC game featuring the mercy rule. The second certainly suggested that there are baseball fans in Miami (or at least, fans willing to travel there?) because it was everything you'd expect from fans that love their team. It just so happened it wasn't MLB in this case.

Ashie62 Sep 07 2011 10:00 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Wind blown tarp during the daily rain delays.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 07 2011 10:30 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Good riddance to an ugly POS park with no fans. F Jeffrey Laurie too.

seawolf17 Sep 08 2011 06:46 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Is it odd that one of my memories of the place is Matt Wise making his Mets debut, losing, getting hurt, and never appearing in a game for the Mets again?

G-Fafif Sep 08 2011 07:05 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Reflections on a few not altogether horrible Met moments at JRS here. Opted to leave out the horrible Met moments.

TransMonk Sep 08 2011 07:38 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Good riddance to an ugly POS park with no fans. F Jeffrey Laurie too. This. It was my least favorite NL stadium. They should re-name it Perpetual Rain Delay Stadium.

metirish Sep 08 2011 07:47 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Hated that when football started the playing field for baseball looked like shit.

Ceetar Sep 08 2011 07:49 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

went back to look at my 2009 albums. Disappointed that I didn't have any real crowd shots to show what that place looked like when it was crowded and alive. This one's the RF outfield. and by the RF bullpen.

Frayed Knot Sep 08 2011 07:52 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I'll third that sentiment. And while I don't think Miami is ever going to be a great pro sports town (recent Heat mania is LeBron/media driven and will be short-lived) a new stadium there is going to be a huge help. I think it was a couple years ago where right around 20 (or 1/4) of Marlins home games were either: rained-out, had the start time rain-delayed, or had a game in-progress rain-interrupted. IOW you're telling the fan-base that: the game tonight might actually happen, and if it does it might start on time, and if it does start it might end the same day it started, and if we do get all nine innings in the conclusion will be be somewhere between 9:30 and 2AM. But at least your seats will suck and face the wrong way most of the time. Tough getting repeat customers under those conditions.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 08 2011 07:57 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Howie and Wayne reported yesterday that the Marlins are changing their uniforms next year to go with the new stadium and the new name. (They'll finally be called the Miami Marlins, which is what they should have been from the beginning.) The uniforms are supposedly going to be rainbow colored. That doesn't sound like such a good thing. I caught a few innings of the game on TV yesterday, and the Marlins were advertising their new stadium, and the logo included a rainbow above the ballpark, which looks more like a spaceship. (They got the color sequence wrong; the green should come between the blue. And it looks like their rainbow omits those pesky colors indigo and violet.)

Frayed Knot Sep 08 2011 08:06 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

"They'll finally be called the Miami Marlins, which is what they should have been from the beginning" Supposedly the story behind that one is that when Miami/south Florida won the race against the Tampa/St-Pete area to have the first MLB team they chose 'Florida' as an in-your-face swipe and those uppity "northerners", as if to say; 'Y'know, even if you hicks eventually do get a team, WE will always be Florida's team on account of the fact that WE were here first. Look, it even says so right in our name'. Now they agreed to put Miami into the name as a condition of getting all the Miami-Dade county money for the building.

G-Fafif Sep 08 2011 08:07 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Benjamin Grimm wrote: (They'll finally be called the Miami Marlins, which is what they should have been from the beginning.) Marketing-driven decision to be a so-called regional team never panned out. They sprung to life the same year the Florida Panthers did, when that sort of thing was in vogue. "South Florida" too unwieldy a place name, but that was their market: north of Miami up to Palm Beach County, with delusions of a wider following. Marlins were resented in Tampa Bay area for being chosen for expansion ahead of them, and the rest of the state could give a damn.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 08 2011 08:21 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Oh, and the Colorado Rockies should have been the Denver Bears. And the Arizona Diamondbacks should have been the Phoenix Firebirds.

HahnSolo Sep 08 2011 08:23 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Isn't this place the site for Eric Cammack's only career AB and hit, a triple?

TransMonk Sep 08 2011 08:27 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Oh, and the Colorado Rockies should have been the Denver Bears. And the Arizona Diamondbacks should have been the Phoenix Firebirds. At least we finally got the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 21 2011 02:27 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

New Marlins logo? Miami Marlins Logo Leaked

TransMonk Sep 21 2011 02:42 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Wow. That would jump straight to the top of MLB's ugliest logo list.

Frayed Knot Sep 21 2011 02:46 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

That looks like the sign that tells you where to catch the municipal bus.

G-Fafif Sep 21 2011 03:26 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Frayed Knot wrote: That looks like the sign that tells you where to catch the municipal bus. I can hear the retirees on Collins Avenue now... Pardon me, young man, is this the bus to the Marlins' new stadium? If it is, could you drop me off at the next stop? Heavens, no, I didn't mean to go in that direction.

Ashie62 Sep 21 2011 07:00 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Howie and Wayne reported yesterday that the Marlins are changing their uniforms next year to go with the new stadium and the new name. (They'll finally be called the Miami Marlins, which is what they should have been from the beginning.) The uniforms are supposedly going to be rainbow colored. That doesn't sound like such a good thing. I caught a few innings of the game on TV yesterday, and the Marlins were advertising their new stadium, and the logo included a rainbow above the ballpark, which looks more like a spaceship. (They got the color sequence wrong; the green should come between the blue. And it looks like their rainbow omits those pesky colors indigo and violet.) Its the Tampa Bay Lightning!

Benjamin Grimm Oct 08 2011 02:20 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

This "animated sculpture" is going to be the Marlins' equivalent of the Mets home run apple. The Miami Herald wrote: Artist rendering of Marlins’ sculpture has fans in tizzy By Lomi Kriel Just about every baseball team celebrates a home run in their own unique way. The Mets have their apple. Houston has its train. Cincinnati has smokestacks that emits, yes, smoke, and fireworks. But, our Marlins home run celebration plans might top them all. The Miami Marlins will have a celebration sculpture that looks like a psychedelic roulette wheel of jumping marlins, diving seagulls and the wild colors have some fans in a tizzy. The 74-foot sculpture – designed by one of America’s most famous pop artist, Red Grooms - is under construction now and will cost $2.5-million, the county’s largest public sculpture. It will come alive anytime a player hits a home run. The sculpture apparently will help make good on a promise that Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, made two years ago. An art dealer by trade, Loria said the new ballpark would be a work of art unlike any other. The animated artist rendering of the mechanical sculpture with water, birds, waving palms trees — even flipping dolphins — had the Internet abuzz Friday after it emerged on a local web site. Located in center field below the scoreboard of the new stadium, the sculpture is a boom for Miami, county arts officials said, calling it an “absolute home run” in itself. The stadium is the first sports arena to spotlight public art as a home-run feature, showcasing Miami’s emerging reputation for the arts. “People will be really delighted by the work once they see it,” said Michael Spring, director of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs. “It’s a monumental work by one of America’s greatest artists … we didn’t want some esoteric unappreciated art work. We wanted something people could have fun with.” Some people were having fun Friday — but a few of the reviews flooding in over the web were not exactly flattering. Late evening, 94 percent of respondents — or 118 voters on a Channel 10 poll called the sculpture “tacky,” compared to only 6 percent deeming it “tasteful.” “This HAS to be a joke,” wrote Drew Housman on the county department’s Facebook page, where the video initially posted. “Mike Stanton might start bunting so he does not have to hurt his eyes looking at this thing.” “Miami Vice,” wrote Alex Padron. “We will be the laughing stock if this goes up.” It didn’t stop. “This is what would happen if Vikings attacked a Gloria Estefan concert by catapulting flamingos and marlins into the pyrotechnics display,” wrote Grant Brisbee, an editor for SB Nation, one of the country’s largest online sports communities. County officials defended the work, saying the magnificence of the final piece can’t be fully conveyed in an artist rendering. “The piece has evolved since the proposal,” Spring said “It hasn’t changed significantly … but I would say the real thing is going to be bigger and better.” Red Grooms, born in Tennessee in 1937, has been compared to Marchel Duchamp and has his work included in the collections of 39 museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 2003, he was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the National Academy of Design. Judith E. Stein, a Philadelphia-based arts critic who curated a retrospective on his work, said the sculpture was “absolutely charming,” consistent with the work for which Grooms has been widely recognized. “It’s taking the instinctive whoop of delight that a fan would give and giving it a visual form,” Stein said. “This is an art work that’s just screaming with enthusiasm … using a visual vocabulary that’s specific to Miami.” “Art is in the eye of the beholder,” Spring acknowledged in response to the criticism. “So we accept any and all interpretations of the art work.”

Edgy MD Oct 08 2011 03:17 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I approve. Long as it's not my park.

Frayed Knot Oct 08 2011 03:50 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

* For a guy described as "one of America's most famous pop artists" ... I never heard of Red Grooms until just now. * 74 feet !?!?

metirish Oct 08 2011 06:09 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Make it 174 feet please, can't wait to see this awesomely awful looking sculpture.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 08 2011 06:45 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I dunno. Now, it probably is going to be a disaster, and that rendering doesn't look too handsome I'll admit but the coverage of this story (and the new logo) has gotten so goddamn snarky it's as though teams would be better off not bothering to try anything creative or new. They'd all be as dull as Citifield. Geez Louise, it's not as though the new stuff here is displacing any classic Marlin designs. I say, let 'em crash!

Edgy MD Oct 08 2011 06:48 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Exactly. Anything that makes different teams more different is OK with me. Giant ugly fiberglass statue? Mountain in center field? Drunken out-of-work actors singing unrehearsed versions of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"? I say go crazy. Just as long as, should it work, the Mets don't try to copy it.

metsguyinmichigan Oct 08 2011 08:30 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I kinda like it. It's very Miami.

batmagadanleadoff Oct 08 2011 09:00 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

metsguyinmichigan wrote: I kinda like it. It's very Miami. If you're talking about the new Marlins logo, I like it, too. It really is very Miami. I also liked the Astros '70's rainbow unis. They were as loud and brash as the Astrodome, Judge Roy and a Texas oilman, and as futuristic as space travel -- a logical way to represent the franchise.

Centerfield Oct 09 2011 05:37 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I LOVE it. I hope those Marlins rotate around the sculpture. I'd be really disappointed if they didn't. And they HAVE to have strippers dressed as mermaids on hand every game to dance around the statue. It just wouldn't be complete without it. As for the logo, I can see free-agent sluggers thinking to themselves "I'd rather go to CitiField and hit 8 HR's than wear that uniform."

Benjamin Grimm Oct 09 2011 05:46 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: ...but the coverage of this story (and the new logo) has gotten so goddamn snarky it's as though teams would be better off not bothering to try anything creative or new. They'd all be as dull as Citifield. Excellent point!

metirish Oct 09 2011 07:28 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 09 2011 08:38 AM

New Marlins logo? Miami Marlins Logo Leaked It will be unveiled on the 11th but it according to this article it may be toned down http://blogs.trb.com/sports/custom/busi ... _marl.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/custom/busi ... has_p.html

Ceetar Oct 09 2011 08:37 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

well, i thought the colorful one was the hat logo. It'd look worse with that bland white than colored I think.

metsguyinmichigan Oct 10 2011 04:26 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I liked the Astros uniforms. And I give the Marlins credit for going all in with the logos on the seats at the new ballpark. Most of the teams seemed to do something neat with their seats in the new parks, and the Mets just slapped stickers on the sides of theirs.

Fman99 Oct 10 2011 05:24 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

metirish wrote: The empty chair is the perfect Marlins logo.

Frayed Knot Oct 10 2011 07:13 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I kinda like the little fishy symbol, I just think varying styles of M they're using leaves a lot to be desired.

MFS62 Oct 10 2011 08:15 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Centerfield wrote: And they HAVE to have strippers dressed as mermaids on hand every game to dance around the statue. But by the seventh or eighth inning, would they still have those costumes on? Later

Vince Coleman Firecracker Oct 10 2011 09:13 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I LOVE it. I hope those Marlins rotate around the sculpture. I'd be really disappointed if they didn't. And they HAVE to have strippers dressed as mermaids on hand every game to dance around the statue. It just wouldn't be complete without it. As for the logo, I can see free-agent sluggers thinking to themselves "I'd rather go to CitiField and hit 8 HR's than wear that uniform." Don't know about the strippers, but boy, does it rotate: I love it, too. But I hate everything about the logo- the stylized fish shape, the use of Dolphins' color scheme, the inexplicable yellow, etc. It not even an "M". It's an upside-down "W". Yuck.

Ceetar Oct 10 2011 09:21 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

They're not quite strippers (I don't think..) but I'm sure the cheerleaders will be on hand somehow.

seawolf17 Jan 26 2012 01:15 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

The new animated sculpture is yoooooge. http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/1/26/27372 ... ce-odyssey

metsmarathon Jan 26 2012 02:40 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

that thing is glorious. in a way.

Ceetar Jan 26 2012 02:56 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

metsmarathon wrote: that thing is glorious. in a way. Ridiculous in a "can't look away" way. Looking forward to seeing it in action. Also hoping it takes the Marlins a week to activate it and it gives someone an epileptic seizure when they do.

attgig Feb 05 2012 01:04 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Feb 05 2012 03:08 PM

[url]http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/2/4/2770236/counterpoint-the-marlins-home-run-celebration-machine-is-awesome I gotta say, I kinda agree. it's growing on me, just because it's so over the top and so crazy and ridiculous, that, well, it's kinda awesome.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 05 2012 02:56 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Same here. Though whenever it goes off, I want someone standing next to it, for scale.

Edgy MD Mar 07 2012 09:11 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Grant Bisbee published this photo of the giant homerun sculpture. Bottom left: human beings.

Ceetar Mar 07 2012 09:16 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Some of the Marlins batters already trying to explain away their 2012 power drop: [url]http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/05/marlins-hitters-already-annoyed-by-the-home-run-sculpture/ Still need a damn name for the thing. Presumably someone will sponsor it and we can call it the BumbleBee Tuna Float or something.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 07 2012 09:29 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Ceetar wrote: Still need a damn name for the thing. Presumably someone will sponsor it and we can call it the BumbleBee Tuna Float or something. Speaking of that... were the Nationals not able to find a stadium sponsor, or did they decide that they didn't want to go that route?

Ceetar Mar 07 2012 09:36 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Ceetar wrote: Still need a damn name for the thing. Presumably someone will sponsor it and we can call it the BumbleBee Tuna Float or something. Speaking of that... were the Nationals not able to find a stadium sponsor, or did they decide that they didn't want to go that route? My guess is a little of both. Didn't find a stadium sponsor willing to pay enough.

batmagadanleadoff Mar 07 2012 09:51 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

It needs some paisley.

Mets – Willets Point Mar 07 2012 10:02 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Fish-eye view of the ballpark.

Ashie62 Mar 07 2012 10:05 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Stadium Schmadium I turned in my my Medical license for Marlins season tickets everybody!

Vic Sage Mar 07 2012 10:10 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

maybe it's just me but... I LIKE IT! It relieves my urge to shoot heroin.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 07 2012 12:40 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

This thing is hee-larious. (The prospect of under-/overfed "floaters" drifting along in the tank behind home plate makes it doubly so.) Seriously, how much more fun will this be to watch than Ol' Pale Green And Soggy Joe Robbie?

Ceetar Mar 07 2012 12:48 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: This thing is hee-larious. (The prospect of under-/overfed "floaters" drifting along in the tank behind home plate makes it doubly so.) Seriously, how much more fun will this be to watch than Ol' Pale Green And Soggy Joe Robbie? first exhibition tonight, so expect lots of reports.

Frayed Knot Mar 07 2012 01:03 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

They actually exhibited there already, Marlins against some college team. Hanley bagged the first HR. Tonight probably represents the first ML-v-ML game there.

Ceetar Mar 07 2012 01:06 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Frayed Knot wrote: They actually exhibited there already, Marlins against some college team. Hanley bagged the first HR. Tonight probably represents the first ML-v-ML game there. no, tonight's FIU or something. guess I missed all the hype. oops.

Ashie62 Mar 07 2012 04:18 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I'll be there..Los Mets showed me no respects!

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 13 2012 03:14 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Augusta National is my favorite. http://www.sportspickle.com/opinion/117 ... rts-venues

Farmer Ted Mar 14 2012 08:03 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

SI.com has a pretty cool photo gallery with some shots of the Polo Grounds. http://cnnsi.com/multimedia/photo_galle ... ent.1.html

Gwreck Mar 25 2012 08:51 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Here it is! In action! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJqm8ybv4Uw

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 25 2012 11:03 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

With the help of a little magic-oregano cigarillo, I could watch that for a good hour.

metsmarathon Mar 26 2012 07:38 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

epic. gloriously epic.

Edgy MD Mar 26 2012 07:40 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I feel like I turned over the pinball machine.

Vic Sage Mar 26 2012 02:50 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I Like IT!

attgig Mar 26 2012 03:06 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

not enough flashing lights. I thought it would be more gaudy than it really was.

The Second Spitter Mar 26 2012 03:28 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Gwreck wrote: Here it is! In action! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJqm8ybv4Uw It LIVES! IT LIIIIIIVVVVVEEESSSSS.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 26 2012 03:32 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I'd imagine there will be MANY more flashing lights once the Half-Our-Crowd-is-Close-to-Death Star is fully-operational.

metirish Mar 26 2012 03:41 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

attgig wrote: not enough flashing lights. I thought it would be more gaudy than it really was. me too, but like LWFS says I'm sure when it's fully dicked out it will be spectacular in it's awfulness.

metirish Apr 01 2012 11:34 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

"@KeithOlbermann: Uh oh. Even with the Yankees & Miami's own ARod, they sold only 25,000 seats for the exhibition opener today at Marlins Park"

metirish Apr 01 2012 11:39 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

whatever Corrected. That's what I get for listening to YES RT @cotuck THEY ONLY PUT UP 25,000 FOR TODAY. TOMORROW THEY HAVE 30,000 FOR SALE. IT'S NOT LIKE PEOPLE AREN'T BUYING THEM.

Edgy MD Apr 01 2012 01:43 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Shouldn't he be job-hunting instead of trolling Twitter with mis-information?

batmagadanleadoff Apr 01 2012 09:07 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Now that's a scoreboard! (Not an adboard).

Ceetar Apr 01 2012 09:30 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

uhh, what do you think that blank space around it is for? I'm assuming ads. Also, why is it a trapezoid?

batmagadanleadoff Apr 01 2012 09:49 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

To each his own. You don't have to hate the CF scoreboard just because I do. But I think that the white space surrounding the new Marlins scoreboard is a design element, in fact, reminiscent to me of the white curvilinear shell that surrounded the original version of Shea Stadium's scoreboard. But even if the Marlins intend to use that space for advertising, the ratio of ad to scoreboard appears to be reasonable. Citi Field's main scoreboard is overwhelmed by ads. The CF scoreboard is surrounded by ads that are, in turn, flanked by other ads. In my opinion, it's the most hideous scoreboard in all of baseball, and looks as if it were designed by a child in less than 15 minutes. And you have to take it in in person to really appreciate how ugly it is because, like a fashion model, it looks better in photos than in person. Don't even get me started on the CF auxiliary right field scoreboard thing.

Ceetar Apr 01 2012 10:09 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Citi Field scoreboard aside, I mean the Marlins one. It's too premature to say it's not going to be overly advertised. Personally I think that arc shape behind a trapezoid looks silly, but it does also look like the blank boards that Citi Field had before they put the ads on. I don't really know how exactly they'd shape the ads to that though. Guess we'll see.

metsmarathon Apr 02 2012 10:01 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

the main scoreboard at citi is about 33% scoreboard, 67% ads. the right field scoreboard is worse, seemingly around 25% scoreboard, 75% ads. at least the out of town scoreboard fares better, at about equal size relative to the larger ads above them (which may not be considered part of htat scoreboard anyways). the arrangement of the citi scoreboards is that of disunity, and also serves to detract from the structural design elements of hte stadium, such as the latticeowrk supporting the lights and hte scoreboard itself. and in day time, it's pretty hard to tell what part of hte two main scoreboards you need to be looking at to discren useful information. the marlins board is frakkin' huge, and dead center. it is designed to focus your socoreborard viewing attention on the information which it contains, not to cause your eye to wander over innumerable advertisements in the hopes of finding game information. nd while the images might be preliminary or misleading, it appears from teh marlins website that the white spaces next to the marlins scoreboard may be illuminated or backlit, as the website shows it in a graded teal fade. and even if they were to give over to ad space, they would still represent a fraction (1/4 perhaps) of the overall available scoreboard space, as they are significantly smaller than the scoreboard display. furthermore, by adhering to the trapezoidal format, the ads there would become part of the design, instead of some stuipid square or rectangle that could be made to fit, and made to be put, anywhere, with no sense of aesthetics or unity.

Edgy MD Apr 02 2012 10:38 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

metsmarathon wrote: the main scoreboard at citi is about 33% scoreboard, 67% ads. the right field scoreboard is worse, seemingly around 25% scoreboard, 75% ads. As sadly true as this is, it was true in the latter years at Shea too.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 02 2012 10:42 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I've had about enough of Budweiser and Jeff Sessions.

metirish Apr 02 2012 10:47 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Scoreboard id dead center?, what about the batters eye?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 02 2012 10:52 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Well over the batters eye and a bit toward right center

Edgy MD Apr 02 2012 10:58 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I've had about enough of Budweiser and Jeff Sessions. Name that lineup, number boy.

metirish Apr 02 2012 11:08 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

The giveaway here apart form the obvious numbers is #61........

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 02 2012 11:12 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I remember this game because it was Jeff Sessions' birthday. Let's see here... Cedeno RF uh... Velandia? 2B Piazza C Clark 1B Timo LF Wigginton 3B Alfonzo SS? Duncan CF Leiter P

metsmarathon Apr 02 2012 11:13 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Edgy DC wrote: metsmarathon wrote: the main scoreboard at citi is about 33% scoreboard, 67% ads. the right field scoreboard is worse, seemingly around 25% scoreboard, 75% ads. As sadly true as this is, it was true in the latter years at Shea too. i estimate that to be about 5/8 ads, 3/8 scoreboard. i consider hte three scoreboard panels to be roughly the same size. if each one is A, the total scoreboard area is 3*A. the bud sign is twice as big as one of those, so 2*A. the HIP/chase/mohegan ribbon on the bottom is another equivalent area, A. the wendy's sign is about 2/5 A, plus its match on the other side, is 4/5 A. and the pepsi banners, which we'll count as well, are about 2/3 A each. after some math, we get 5 2/15 A for ads, and 3 A for scoreboards. 37% scoreboard is somewhat better than the main scoreboard at citi, and far better than the right field board.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 02 2012 12:19 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I remember this game because it was Jeff Sessions' birthday. Let's see here... Cedeno RF uh... Velandia? 2B Piazza C Clark 1B Timo LF Wigginton 3B Alfonzo SS? Duncan CF Leiter P I'm wrong here. It's Velandia wearing 13 playing short, and Joe McEwing wearing 11 playing 2B. We won.

Ceetar Apr 02 2012 12:20 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I remember this game because it was Jeff Sessions' birthday. Let's see here... Cedeno RF uh... Velandia? 2B Piazza C Clark 1B Timo LF Wigginton 3B Alfonzo SS? Duncan CF Leiter P I'm wrong here. It's Velandia wearing 13 playing short, and Joe McEwing wearing 11 playing 2B. We won. Jason Bay was 2/4 with a double.

Edgy MD Apr 02 2012 12:27 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

US Sentator Jeff Sessions?

Edgy MD Apr 02 2012 08:24 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Marlins in Negativeland.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 02 2012 08:55 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

whoa

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 02 2012 09:24 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Mind blown.

Edgy MD Apr 02 2012 09:38 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

In the end, though, it's not that surprising. Secondary colors are frequently the ideal complement to the primary color, or it's numerical opposite. Spring training unis generally graduate secondary colors to the primary position and... voila. Not far off from some of the misbegotten spring getups of years past.

metirish Apr 03 2012 11:44 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Mets score board right now, via FB

Ceetar Apr 03 2012 11:51 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

That's just the video board, the other scoreboard is the one you're comparing to the Marlins board.

Frayed Knot Apr 03 2012 12:18 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Let's also not make the assumption that the dearth of advertising on the Marlins' board is the result of some sort of high-brow aesthetic choice. To paraphrase the fake Mark Zuckerberg from 'Social Network'; if they could have sold more advertising, they would have sold more advertising

Ceetar Apr 03 2012 12:20 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Advertisers generally want people to ..you know...be in the stadium to SEE advertisements. Surprised no naming right though.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 03 2012 12:30 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I dunno. To me its all those small ads -- in newspaper talk "fractionals" -- that make the CF scoreboard look like a gigantic page in the classifieds. Having opened in a huge advertising slump contributed to it, but it's also the way they chose to sell. I do think if they cannot resist the $$ they bring in, they can and should do a better job of trying to arrange them so they look better. For example, the Pepsi sign, for a huge advertisiement, looks alright. Looking at CF from the Whitestone or Van Wyck just breaks your heart, nothing says "baseball" everything says advertising.

metsmarathon Apr 03 2012 03:03 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

if only we oculd better follow the yankees' lead on these things. they're all class. no extra ads. only the bare minimum. the important ones. the.. uh... [img=600x400]http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/mariners/yankees0630.jpg> yet somehow, citi looks slightly tackier. i think the big problem is that the ad spaces on the scoreboard at citi seem taked on. like the original space allotment wasn't enough, they needed more cash, so they just slapped up some more placards hanging off hte sides of the structure. oe, why does htat never work for me? i'd stick it in original size, but its about 3k pixels wide!

metirish Apr 03 2012 04:23 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Looking at CF from the Whitestone or Van Wyck just breaks your heart, nothing says "baseball" everything says advertising. great point , I go over that bridge a bit and yeah CF might as well have a blimp moored off of it.

Ceetar Apr 03 2012 05:03 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

if only we oculd better follow the yankees' lead on these things. they're all class. no extra ads. only the bare minimum. the important ones. the.. uh... [img=600x400]http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/mariners/yankees0630.jpg> yet somehow, citi looks slightly tackier. i think the big problem is that the ad spaces on the scoreboard at citi seem taked on. like the original space allotment wasn't enough, they needed more cash, so they just slapped up some more placards hanging off hte sides of the structure. oe, why does htat never work for me? i'd stick it in original size, but its about 3k pixels wide! I think that looks tackier than Citi. I guess technically the porch is advertising, but imo it's about as nice as you can get an ad.. with that and the bridge, at least the entire backdrop of the stadium isn't dominated by the ads. If you keep your focus on the field you sorta get away from the big glaring ads. (Of course, there is advertising all over the place... Not really much to do about it these days I guess. I do miss the pennants on the walls, and I barely remember those) I like it as the 'tacked on' look. It sorta deemphasizes the ads from the scoreboard. Also it was a solid change when they went from any old ad, to 'hey, let's get an actual tv company ad here in a muted black style so it doesn't distract from the scoreboard."

metsmarathon Apr 03 2012 07:41 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

to each his own. mfy3 is awash with adverts, to the point that the mfyldb's can't say shit about citi. but i think their scoreboard is a cleaner implementation of the ads upon ads upon ads. its the airspace between the ads on citi's board that makes them look all jumbly. again, like they were never intended to be there, but someone got a little too sell-happy, and they had to make do. the mfy's don't detract from teh stadium elements there because they occupy empty space. the citi ads occupy the space between teh structural / stylistic elements of the framework and supports of the board and the lights, and detract from it as such. why have the cool architectural lattice in the first place if all you're going to do is sandwich it between a bunch of ads? it is better that they replaced the construction equipment rental ads with the sharp ads. i'll grant you that.

Ceetar Apr 03 2012 08:06 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

metsmarathon wrote: why have the cool architectural lattice in the first place if all you're going to do is sandwich it between a bunch of ads? I can agree with that, it seems the perfect place for ads and yet it's a cool lattice. Do you think (on the video board scoreboard) it'd look better if the latticework went all around the advertisements as and outline? that might be better.

metsmarathon Apr 03 2012 08:36 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

it would certainly help make them look more integral

Ceetar Apr 04 2012 12:56 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

started putting some ads up They're calling it Marlins Park for now right? official in a couple of hours, so sounds like this stadium will continue the 'new name' tradition as they'll likely sponsor it one of these years..

Frayed Knot Apr 04 2012 12:58 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

'The Fish Tank' gets its official opening tonight as the Cardinals get rewarded for their championship by starting their season on the road in Miami. It's the lone game today (7:00 ESPN) before the rest of the league starts tomorrow or Friday.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 04 2012 01:25 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

And Jose Reyes' Met-purity will officially come to an end. Unless, of course, he pulls a muscle or something.

metsmarathon Apr 04 2012 01:27 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

it's too bad they couldn't grow the grass to be the same color as the walls. right now they kinda clash. and i like the way the ad names float by the scoreboard. it's all about getting ht name out there anyways. a distracting ad for miccosukee might show me more of what they're all about, but hte name actually makes me want to google it. and now i know it's a indian casino resort thing. better than a big ugle square or rectangle ad thing. like the stanley ad on the wall there. yeesh.

Ceetar Apr 04 2012 01:34 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

yeah, the Stanley one ain't great, but it's the lime green walls fault at least in part. I'm still thrown by the trapezoidal scoreboard. TV screens are square for a reason. just seems like it's going to be weird to view things on.

Ceetar Apr 04 2012 01:39 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

@coreyNYC is at Marlins park tweeting a whole bunch of things. Here's the bobblehead museum. interesting.

batmagadanleadoff Apr 04 2012 07:30 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Owner Jeffrey Loria on the Marlins' Bobblehead Museum http://news.yahoo.com/video/sports-1574 ... 33178.html Bobblehead Museum fan videos [youtube:63da8m04]aXRXH9haZZk[/youtube:63da8m04]

batmagadanleadoff Apr 05 2012 08:36 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I watched some of yesterday's Marlins inaugural stadium game. From the TV, the stadium looked fantastic. Innovative, futuristic, yet light and airy. I love the way they handled the scoreboard advertising. The copy looks like a transparency overlay, with so much white space that it appears as if the ad is not even there. The Marlins demonstrated that they're able to tend to the bottom line without being such damn philistines about it. I re-read this thread and this Lunchbucket quote resonates strongly with me: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: the coverage of this story (and the new logo) has gotten so goddamn snarky it's as though teams would be better off not bothering to try anything creative or new. They'd all be as dull as Citifield. I couldn't agree more. To tell you truth, I don't think there's anything in Citi Field - not one damn thing -- as aesthetically pleasing or innovative as the old Shea Stadium shingles or the white bandshell that wrapped around the Shea scoreboard.

batmagadanleadoff Apr 05 2012 08:50 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Looking at CF from the Whitestone or Van Wyck just breaks your heart, nothing says "baseball" everything says advertising. I could've written this same post, word for word. The first time I saw Citi Field from the Whitestone/Van Wyck, my heart broke.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 05 2012 09:00 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

/pats self on back. I also liked the look of the Marlins park, especially considering the fact that indoor ballparks don;t look good to me in general. I certainly don't mind the bright green fence and really liked the fish tanks. On the down side the logo is OK but way too big on the hats. I don't really like the number font they use, and confused why'd they wear home jerseys saying MIAMI on 'em, rather than MARLINS. I always thought use the city name on the road unis.

Edgy MD Apr 05 2012 09:15 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

batmagadanleadoff wrote: I love the way they handled the scoreboard advertising. The copy looks like a transparency overlay, with so much white space that it appears as if the ad is not even there. I'm with you then I'm not. I share your appreciation for the absence of advertising's intrusiveness on that wall. But in its place, you have the architectural character of a convention center. And not THE convention center, but the old one, on the other side of town, that never really worked out. The shear eggshell white surface and the ventilated metal surface of the same color underneath are living death and they're only going to get more deathly as they absorb stains in the Miami humidity. It's strangely sterile in a park that is anything but, and I suspect new garishness will cover that wall in time.

batmagadanleadoff Apr 05 2012 09:18 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Did the Marlins tip their hand? Is that David Wright, Andy Warhol style, in a Marlins cap on the scoreboard?

metirish Apr 05 2012 09:20 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

My first reaction was to think it was Wright.

metsguyinmichigan Apr 05 2012 09:33 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I like the new Marlins Park. It's different, it's fun, it's very Miami. And this might get me pummeled, but I liked Citi Field a lot when I attended the game there. And I think the changes make it better.

Mets – Willets Point Apr 05 2012 09:39 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I actually like Citi Field too, at least on the inside. The main thing I don't like about it is that it's still in the same sea of parking lots fairly removed from an inhabited part of the city. I also like that Marlins are trying new things with their ballpark, uniforms, and colors. I think they're all an improvement on the old Florida Marlins and breath of fresh air for baseball in general.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 05 2012 09:42 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I like the idea that the Marlins park is a modern design. Going retro was a good idea for the Orioles in 1992 but since then it's been done, and overdone, to death. I wish the Mets had been more innovative in their architecture.

metsmarathon Apr 05 2012 09:46 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

metirish wrote: My first reaction was to think it was Wright. wright would never wear that shade of lipstick

metsmarathon Apr 05 2012 09:56 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

having been to both, i like citi better than that other place in the city. i just think it could have been better. they did a good job with the architectural details on the metal work in the outfield / scoreboard area, and i really like the bridge, but on the intereior of the stadium, it's fairly lacking, and feels cramped. i don't know that it could be better, of course, it just felt plain on the inside. and the staricases are utterly dreary. say what you will, the rotunda is nicely done for what it is, and i like hte exterior. i love that the marlins went modern. we need more modern, stylish baseball stadiums. oh, apparently, the new marlins park plays big, or at least it played big yesterday for stanton, who hit a pair of 400-ft bombs that found the outfielders' glove. i wonder how much that will play in to the way their season unfolds. the bigness of citi sure had been blamed for many of the metsies' ills, hadn't it?

Ceetar Apr 05 2012 04:24 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I love Citi. Maybe I'm just biased, I dunno. I love the Bridge particularly, and the building behind it is nice too if downplayed and I love the way it randomly reflects things on sunny days. The Pepsi Porch is nice too, and a lot of those things do fit with the overall 'NYC' theme of it. I've long since accepted advertising is going to ruin everything and to expect big glaring ads everywhere and I just look past them. Like I said earlier, I loved the pennants on the walls (and on the flag poles) but those things were probably gone by the time I was 10. I like and I don't like Marlins park, and I Feel like I should give it a visit before I truly judge it. I like the old Orange Bowl sign being dropped into the concourse like oranges fallen off trees (was that the intent?) even though I have not even the slightest interest in the actual Orange Bowl. The HR thing is gaudy and ridiculous. but fine, whatever right? The aquariums..I dunno..it's neat in a way but I just internally cringe about the care and condition of the fish. The advertising on the board is done nicely though, yes, but I wonder if they're done putting advertising up, if they're still trying to hold out for 'higher' offers, and if they'll keep it like that if say Tropicana offers them enough money but it HAS TO be like _this_. And I agree with Edgy about the convention center thing. Also, the trapezoid is still bothering me. But then the silly dancers/cheerleaders/champagne chandelier .. but that's Miami, and I also hate Miami/Florida so it's probably built into that. YSIII is a mall.

Frayed Knot Apr 05 2012 05:03 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Did the Marlins tip their hand? Is that David Wright, Andy Warhol style, in a Marlins cap on the scoreboard? I'm pretty sure that's [crossout]Mike[/crossout] Giancarlo Stanton.

batmagadanleadoff Apr 05 2012 10:20 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 06 2012 07:53 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Does it help your opinion of the place or hurt it to hear Loria waxing about how the green is supposed to be a Joan Miro tribute? Jackholishness aside (and Lord knows, he oozes it from every orifice), I'm fairly certain I would have rather had his eye overlooking Citi's construction than, say, Jeffy's.

Edgy MD Apr 06 2012 08:30 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

He's a rich dilettante art dealer. He feels an emptiness where his soul should be and he tries to fill it by using his millions to buy and sell scraps from the tables of those who did have a shining soul. Drops his millions to buy into the legacy Miró dreamed up in his own glorious head. Nits. Any fool can order a mix of paint.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 06 2012 09:51 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Oh, totally agreed. I'm just saying, he's happened to push out a much less shtick-y, more-interesting ball yard than our extraneous-outfield-nook-benighted, last-of-the-retros number.

batmagadanleadoff Apr 06 2012 10:03 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Ceetar wrote: I love Citi. Maybe I'm just biased, I dunno. I love the Bridge particularly, and the building behind it is nice too if downplayed and I love the way it randomly reflects things on sunny days. The Pepsi Porch is nice too, and a lot of those things do fit with the overall 'NYC' theme of it. God bless you. You're OK in my book. (I think).

batmagadanleadoff Apr 08 2012 02:23 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

More Bobblehead Museum fan video while the ballpark sound system goes all psychedilc with Disraeli Gears sounds and then some MonkeeMusik. [youtube]41CS7WpQhjU[/youtube] Between that music, that scoreboard, and that bobblehead display, I'm there this year, Jose or no Jose.

batmagadanleadoff Apr 08 2012 02:47 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Bobblehead Museum fan videos [youtube]aXRXH9haZZk[/youtube] I count at least 12 one time Mets Bobble-headed in this video (none in a Met uni) and one Bobble that looks like a one time Met but the uniform number on that Bobble would be wrong if it represented the one time Met I'm thinking of.

metsguyinmichigan Apr 08 2012 03:49 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

batmagadanleadoff wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: Bobblehead Museum fan videos [youtube]aXRXH9haZZk[/youtube] I count at least 12 one time Mets Bobble-headed in this video (none in a Met uni) and one Bobble that looks like a one time Met but the uniform number on that Bobble would be wrong if it represented the one time Met I'm thinking of. Best part of about the bobble display is that it moves so the heads all bobble. That's cool!

batmagadanleadoff Apr 08 2012 08:24 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Bobblehead Museum fan videos [youtube]aXRXH9haZZk[/youtube] I count at least 12 one time Mets Bobble-headed in this video (none in a Met uni) and one Bobble that looks like a one time Met but the uniform number on that Bobble would be wrong if it represented the one time Met I'm thinking of. Best part of about the bobble display is that it moves so the heads all bobble. That's cool! And the 12 one time Mets bobbling in the Bobblehead Museum are: Carlos Beltran (Royals) Henry Blanco (Twins) Mike Piazza (A's) Rickey Henderson (A's) Joe Torre (Yanks) Frank Viola (Twins) Yogi Berra (Yanks) Cliff Floyd (Marlins) Jeff Conine (Marlins) Luis Castillo (Marlins) Jeff Reardon (Twins) Hideo Nomo (Dodgers) I also thought I saw a Ron Gardenhire (Twins) bobblehead, but the bobble's uni # is 36, not Gardy's 35.

themetfairy Apr 15 2012 06:59 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

We just got back from a quick trip to Miami to check out the new place. I'll post pictures in the next day or two - it's going to take me a little while to go through them. The place has its pros and cons. The retractable roof was an important feature - it poured Friday night, but that didn't affect the game at all. It was humid inside with the roof closed, but reasonably comfortable. The roof was open last night, which was much nicer. The Bobblehead Museum is kitchy but fun, and there's something for everyone in the collection. The monstrosity in the outfield only goes into motion for home runs, so we didn't see it in action. There's a club called The Clevelander which is like the Modell's Zone meets Mardi Gras - truly wild, and catering to those who show up at the ballpark but who have no interest in baseball. As far as the basics go, the seats are comfortable and the sightlines are good. Friday's game was not quite a sellout, but very full. But there were a lot of empty seats for last night's game, despite the fact that they had post-game fireworks. The crowd was loud and enthusiastic, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone wearing clothing that was purchased prior to a week and a half ago. The food was expensive but good, with lots of bars spread out throughout the ballpark. All in all, it was a good place to watch a game. The place has its quirks, but it certainly owns them, for better or worse.

metsguyinmichigan Apr 15 2012 07:03 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Sounds like fun! Looking forward to your photos.

themetfairy Apr 15 2012 07:31 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Thanks michigan :)

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 15 2012 10:40 PM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

It's a week at the new place, and they're having problems selling out? I'm reminded of a BillyWags quote, and it isn't "Know your place, Rook."

themetfairy Apr 16 2012 05:23 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Not a week. They had the one game, and then went on the road, so this was the team's first weekend home series. And yeah, they didn't sell out.

themetfairy Apr 16 2012 06:06 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Here are some pictures from the place - The plaza outside is pretty nice - The roof was closed Friday night, due to the rain. The sculpture is pretty bizarre looking up close (we didn't get to see it in action - they don't play it before games, during the 7th inning stretch or after wins, and we didn't see any home runs while we were there) - I love the Bobblehead Museum - The Clevelander is an odd area for a ballpark. It's like the Modell's Zone meets Mardi Gras, with bars and a pool. You have to be 21 to enter, and I doubt anyone down there really cared about the game - Billy the Marlin was circulating in the late innings - After Friday's extra inning game there was a concert by Daddy Yankee. Despite the name he was pretty good, but since we had a long day we didn't stay too long - The roof was open on Saturday, which was lovely - And the post-game fireworks show was nice. Not spectacular, but nice -

metsmarathon Apr 16 2012 07:20 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

i'm really kindof shocked that all the structural bits of the miami spectacle are exposed, and that they're so inartfully done. it's like they built the art pieces and then decided to make it move. and then when they built it it fell down, so they had to tack on some additional structural supports. i don't understand why the mechanism for the jumping flipping marlin is exposed like that, especially since behind it is a prime pedestrian space. if it was up against a wall where only maintenance folk could see it, fine, but this way, it's only art from one side. the tacked on support bars on the orange bit are especially bad. that could easily have been built into the structure, or at least better hidden. shit, paint it orange on the back at least. it just looks like they panicked and grabbed whatever leftover structural members thay had lying around the worksite.

metsguyinmichigan Apr 16 2012 08:35 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Awesome photos, Fairy!!!! I love the view of the Miami skyline. Yeah, the exposed mechanism is ugly, but it took the Mets a year to get Citi tidied up and improved. These are little touches.

MFS62 Apr 16 2012 08:44 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Nice pictures, MF. Michigan, isn't it in the rules somewhere that all photos of downtown skylines taken from baseball parks must include a Budweiser sign? It may be a law in some States. Later

themetfairy Apr 16 2012 08:48 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Thanks guys :)

metsmarathon Apr 16 2012 08:59 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Awesome photos, Fairy!!!! I love the view of the Miami skyline. Yeah, the exposed mechanism is ugly, but it took the Mets a year to get Citi tidied up and improved. These are little touches. i dunno.. its kinda like if htey'd only designed half a black hat for the apple to come out of, and you could see the mechanicals from behind it. or if the big ol' 42 and a big ol' angle iron holding it in place at the bottom. really, it's as if it was designed never to be seen from behind, only they placed it in the stadium such that it could. they are little touches, sure, and they're much more the fault of the artist, who clearly forgot that people could see the back of his spectacle, rather than the marlins. i'm just really surprised by it, is all. i get that nobody really ever looks at the back of a painting, but this is a 3-d structural work, meant to be seen from all angles. the artist should be ashamed that it came out looking so unfinished. this is more than a stairwell needing some fresh paint, or some signage late to come up. these are large parts that surely would be a pain to install in a working ballpark. maybe they got delayed, i guess, and will be slapped in on a long road trip...

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 16 2012 09:12 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I guess we'll see how it plays soon enough but already talk that the players are unhappy with how the ball is carrying there. If it keeps guys like Stanton neutralized for a while then that's OK with me.

Ceetar Apr 16 2012 09:12 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

They probably didn't tell the designer where the monstrosity would be going, so he figured against a wall since it'd be beyond the wall. They didn't even consider if it would be distracting to batters when placing it though, so clearly not a lot of thought went into it.

batmagadanleadoff Apr 16 2012 09:40 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

I'd bet anything that the exposed mechanism was (ahem) by design. Totally calculated, every step of the way. What? No body ever saw anything like this before? Like the exposed gears on some wristwatches or clocks? Or the exposed chain, chainstay and pulley on a bicycle?

batmagadanleadoff Apr 16 2012 09:41 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Ceetar wrote: They probably didn't tell the designer where the monstrosity would be going, so he figured against a wall since it'd be beyond the wall. They didn't even consider if it would be distracting to batters when placing it though, so clearly not a lot of thought went into it. Why would it be distracting to a batter? Why would it be any more distracting than the Mets home run apple?

Ceetar Apr 16 2012 09:43 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

the home run apple is a black box and invisible normally. This is a light colored monstrosity in the field of vision. I'm only saying it because it became a concern during the exhibition games. It seems like it ultimately wasn't an issue, but it was brought up by a couple of hitters.

themetfairy Apr 16 2012 09:44 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I guess we'll see how it plays soon enough but already talk that the players are unhappy with how the ball is carrying there. If it keeps guys like Stanton neutralized for a while then that's OK with me. We never saw the thing in action because they only mobilize it for home runs. There were a couple of shots that we were sure would be out on Friday and Saturday that just died in the outfield (although I understand that we missed a couple of homers yesterday).

themetfairy Apr 16 2012 10:44 AM Re: Mets vs. Your-Name-Here Stadium

Carlos Zambrano doing the Tebow thing before Saturday's game -