Will The Citi Field Fences Benefit Mets’ Opponents More Than The Mets?

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• Bayonne Mets Fan December 1, 2011 at 9:33 pm

  Short answer – no.

  Again, the park is still bigger than Shea Stadium so I don’t know what the issue is. You grew up watching the Mets play at Shea so now the park even with the fences moved in is still bigger – so? It’s gonna be more of that type of game – fair for both sides and still leaning towards being a pitcher’s park which was what Shea was.
• Sach December 1, 2011 at 9:41 pm

  Off topic- Acc. to Rosenthal, The Jacket is in the mix to become Bobby V’s pitching coach in Boston. He also interviewed today for the Orioles Minor League Pitching Coordinator position.
• XtreemIcon December 1, 2011 at 9:53 pm

  Absolutely. This was a terrible idea and takes away the only real home field advantage the Mets had. I don’t know if this was Sandy’s idea or the Wilpon’s idea, but one or the both of them really made a terrible decision here and we’re going to see it play out unfortunately.
  • Gary S. December 1, 2011 at 10:10 pm

    How can making the dimensions similar to Shea a bad idea?Do you have any idea what you are talking about?
    • XtreemIcon December 1, 2011 at 10:17 pm

      You actually watch a little baseball, then get back to me. I’ll say it again. It takes away the only real home field advantage the Mets had trying to solve an issue that never existed.
      • Gary S. December 1, 2011 at 11:46 pm

        the mets will now play in a ballpark,not the grand canyon.What a horrible idea.the home field advantage of hitting 410 foot outs will be a thing of the past.What a pity
        • XtreemIcon December 1, 2011 at 11:52 pm

          Or maybe the home field advantage of the 3.54 home ERA. All gone now to try and fix a problem that never existed.
          • Joe Diaz December 2, 2011 at 2:07 am

            They were horrible at home last year.
            • XtreemIcon December 2, 2011 at 2:43 am

              Their record was, but offensively they were just as good at home than they were in the road, and they pitched much better.
              • Luis December 2, 2011 at 6:48 am

                Agree wi Extreme here- Bad pitching was disguised by the big park- that will not be the case to the same degree now…Wright and Bay may hit more HR, Pelfrey and all will give up many more….
              • Joe D December 2, 2011 at 9:59 am

                I disagree with you X. That park was getting into our hitters heads like Alderson said. He even admitted that the Mets hitters gave up on swing for power because it was futile.

                If the choice to keep Citi the way it was was to mask our atrocious pitching that’s a terrible reason.

                The Mets had millions invested on 4 different hitters in 2010-2011, Beltran, Reyes, Wright, Bay. The park should enhance their hitting now swallow it up whole.

                On the flipside the Mets had one starting pitcher making big bucks and he never even took the mound in 2011.

                The park is still bigger than Shea. If you’re worried about the effect changes will have on pitchers, than get better pitchers.

                It’s a shame that this park has taken guys like Wright and Bay and completely demolished all expectations for them having great offensive seasons after investing $30 million annually to them. In my opinion it derailed Bay’s career, and took Wright from superstar status to above average player. Hopefully the new changes can reverse that. I think they will.
                • Bayonne Mets Fan December 2, 2011 at 10:09 am

                  I still don’t understand why people would think it hurts this team to bring the fences back in. It boggles the mind and makes no logical sense at all.

                  If Citi Field never happened and Shea Stadium moved it’s fences BACK to the dimensions they are now, which is shorter than what Citi Field was, then people would be screaming why the heck are they moving the fences back? And I would be one of them. It’s all in your mind.

                  And someone said that the last 2 seasons were a home-field advantage???? That is just someone purely looking at some kind of misleading statistical data and not thinking for themselves and looking at the situation as it it in real life. And in real life the fences are still bigger than Shea Stadium – and the Mets played fine in Shea Stadium and nobody complained.

                  Oh…and if on opening day the Mets lose the game on a walk off HR that would have been an out in the original canyon sized Citi FIeld the decision to move the fences in would STILL be the right move because now it’s more of a normal baseball game so I would have no problem with the result because that’s the way is should have been….because the original Citi Field dimensions were just completely ridiculous and got into everybody’s heads.

                  Other teams came in and still hit HRs because they didn’t have to think about making adjustments and it wasn’t in their heads 81 games a season. Moving the fences is was the exact RIGHT thing to do and I’m sure the Mets players are happy about it
              • Joe Diaz December 2, 2011 at 2:25 pm

                Exactly! They had a terrible home record so it’s hard to say they have a home field advantage when they’re not winning there. The park only hides the fact that we have a sub par pitching staff .Build a good staff and it won’t matter that they’re moving the fences in.It’s still going to favor pitchers.All they did was make it a little more nuetral.LF is slightly shorter than Shea and RF is slighty further than Shea but the wind is still a major factor in the first 2 months of the season,even more so than Shea.The old dimensions had a major affect on our hitters psyhcologically. I could see if they turned it into another CBP or Cinergy field but it’s still going to favor the pitchers.Nobody is hitting 50 HR’s for the Mets next year because the fences were moved in.Hopefully it revitalizes Bay and Wright along with Davis and Duda and that could be a 100-120 HR hitting quartet.
      • Vinny B December 1, 2011 at 11:59 pm

        I think Citi Field has had a big effect on Wright and Bay. Mostly Wright I think because it took away his biggest strength, which is power to the opposite field. And I think because of that he has really change him as a hitter – He has not looked the same ever since Citi Field opend. How is that an adavantage if your taking one your best hitters strengths away? It’s not, it’s a disadvantage.

        I also think it effects all the players mentally having to play half their games in a stadium that’s ridiculously large….

        And for the people who these changes will make the Mets pitchers give up more HR’s, look at what Dan Warthen had to say about that:

        “We got into being a little bit mentally lazy and overly secure. I think that caused a lot of the homers this year. I really do. [The new dimensions] will help us focus and concentrate and not be so ready to go out there and throw a fastball away and hope they hit it to center field.”

        http://www.metsblog.com/2011/10/31/pitchers-were-mentally-lazy-in-2011/

        So, moving the fences in, might even HELP the pitchers! Also, think about our OF next year, we are going to be starting Lucas Duda in RF, who isn’t a RFer, and is very slow, so wouldn’t it help our pitchers, if he had less ground to cover in the OF?

        Moving in the fences is 100% the right move.
        • XtreemIcon December 2, 2011 at 12:08 am

          I’m sure that has nothing to do with getting beaned in the head. If Wright’s scared of the fences, he needs to sack up. Maybe the new dimensions got him thinking too much the first season, but 29 home runs and a .503 SLG% doesn’t seem like worried too much about it.

          The Mets had a 3.54 ERA at home last season. The terrible Mets pitching staff wasn’t so terrible at home. Meanwhile, the offense hit just as well at home as they did on the road. So the only home field advantage is gone now. I don’t see how this pitching staff, barring a healthy,32-start year from Johan and Niese putting it all together, can pitch even remotely effectively at home now. But hey, maybe Jason Bay will turn it around.
          • Vinny B December 2, 2011 at 12:19 am

            Before Wright got hit, he wasn’t the same. He only had 8HR’s at that point, and that was in August. He had already K’d 105 times at that point(115 games), when he would normally K 110-115 times in 160 games.

            So how could you blame that on being hit? In 2010, he did put up better numbers, but he still wasn’t right. He struck out 161 times, and hit for the lowest average of his career.
            • XtreemIcon December 2, 2011 at 2:47 am

              Like, I said, he had to figure it out the first year. After that, he managed to hit better at home in 2010 than he did on the road. He hit well enough to get MVP votes on a sub-.500 team.

              I’m not saying the fences aren’t in his head. I’m saying if they are, he needs to sack up. And they clearly aren’t affecting him a whole lot, as seen from 2010.
              • gary s. December 2, 2011 at 9:12 am

                So sacking up will solve DW’s problems.You should go into show business, you are a funny guy.If your head ever came near a 95 mph fastball you would probably wet your pants.Thanks for providing some humor to this site.
              • Vinny B December 2, 2011 at 9:41 am

                The part your forgetting is that Citi Field took away one of his biggest strengths, which is power to the opposite field. Those balls he used to hit in Shea for HR’s are now outs. And I think because of that, he has changed his approach at the plate and has become more of a pull hitter. So I think that’s one of the biggest reasons why his numbers aren’t the same at home, and on the road.

                And there’s no way you can tell me he’s the same player now as he was from 05-08.
                • gary s. December 2, 2011 at 11:08 am

                  I have been saying that for 3 years,The DW haters will be out in force next year if he does not hit 35-40 home runs, when the plain fact is that he was never a 40 homer type player, but a gap hitter to all fields whose line drives in a normal ball park would usually equate to 30 home runs a year and a .300 batting average because he didn’t have to overswing to put up good power numbers in shea.Of course, since than he has been beaned and broke a bone in his back but that is no problem, he just needs to “sack up” according to an expert on this site.
              • Joe Diaz December 2, 2011 at 2:32 pm

                Wright was better in 2010 compared to 09 but he was still very inconsistent compared to his 1st 4 years at Shea. If not for a career month of June the rest of his 2010 season was average at best and he was invisible for 6 weeks after the break nearly going the month of August without driving in a run.I think his 1st August RBI came on the 22nd of the month.Since Citi opened Wright went from a superstar on a path to the HOF to a little above average player.Therre are other factors of cours but I think Citifield has had the biggest affect on his decline.
• Trade Wright for Nolan Arenado December 1, 2011 at 10:12 pm

  In a word…yes. Obviously, this helps Mets’ opponents more than Mets. The Mets pitching staff is horrendous…opponents did not appear to have a problem crushing the ball out of the stadium at it’s previous dimensions, and I’m sure they hit plenty of “warning track power” shots that will now be homeruns. Davis and Duda will be helped by this because they had no problem before hitting HR’s at Citi, but it’s not going to help anyone else, since the Mets don’t have any other power hitters. Wright might hit a few more (if Alderson is an idiot and doesn’t trade him first) but, what if he doesn’t…what will his (and all of his apologists’) excuse be then? Don’t get me wrong…I am thrilled they are bringing the fences in, because the original dimensions were a joke (a cruel joke), but to answer the question of will this move benefit opponents more than the Mets, the answer is yes. Except for future opponent Jose Reyes, who might have more trouble hitting a triple there.
  • any December 2, 2011 at 12:34 pm

    2 word solution: better pitching.
    • Trade Wright for Nolan Arenado December 2, 2011 at 1:32 pm

      Easier said than done for this organization.
• Kay December 2, 2011 at 7:59 am

  I do not have a link to prove this, feel free to correct me but I thought I heard or read that last year, even with the horrendous pitching staff Citifield had the 3rd least amount of homeruns in the entire league.

  These changes are not that drastic to completely change it from a pitchers part to a hitters park.
  • Des December 2, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    Kay, you are right.

    The stingiest NL ballpark (measured by homers allowed, including inside the park jobs) was AT&T park in San Francisco (1.00 HR/game)
    Next was PETCO park in San Diego (1.23 HR/game)
    Third was Citi Field in NYC (1.33 HR/game)

    The American League’s stingiest was McAfee Coliseum in Oakland. It had 1.35 HR/game. Citi Field was the third stingiest in all of major league baseball.

    http://www.hittrackeronline.com/stadiums.php
• Donal December 2, 2011 at 11:29 am

  Breaking: According to Heyman on Twitter, Omar Minaya has accepted a job with the Padres.
• jdon December 2, 2011 at 11:31 am

  it is really quite simple. if other teams have more power or better talent, then it will.
• any December 2, 2011 at 12:28 pm

  well, 1st it is not about 1 year, or the current roster as of today. it needs to be designed for the next 3+ decades.

  and MO is that it helps the Mets more, working on the theory that having it as a home park messed with the hitters on the Mets (made them change their approach), while visiting teams did not do this for a 3 game series.
  • gary s. December 2, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    well said.