The restaurant situation in left field cannot change unless major renovations are made – it is part of the concrete structure.

As mentioned, I could not see anything left of the SHEA commerative baseball sign. That meant all the other retired numbers to the foul line. In terms of the field of play, it was like a slice of pizza with one third cut off. If a ball was hit more than ten feet to Jason Bay’s right against a right handed hitter, I would lose sight of it. Same with an infielder going half way down the line to catch a popup.

If that is not a big problem with seeing the field, I do not know of one that is. We are not talking the corner warning track area LOL.

As far as the escalators, have you tried the one in left field? It stops on the lower promenade and my wife and I had to walk up a flight of stairs to get to the upper one. So they don’t all get on there at Citi Field.

Yes, it was nosebleed in the upper deck but still, we got there comfortably and saw all the field. But even at Citi, we were too high for any of those tee shirts being shot out of the bazookas to reach that level.

And though there might not ever be enough places to get a beer and unload it a few innings later, at least it was comforting to know that a rest stop was literally right around the corner.

Now try to find me co-starring with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. In fact, that is the only day that the Mets got me real angry. Everything was so set up for the filming that they even put a fake lineup on the scoreboard that was never even seen in the film. Of course, many of us penciled them into our scorecards with little space to place the right ones after they were suddenly removed. Might have made me mad but really must have freaked out Danny Murtagh as he team was penalized for batting out of turn which probably cost them the game.

and yes, the escalators went to the upper deck. But they get you there at citi also. But at shea, you still needed a rope to help keep from falling off the steep steps to the top of the upper deck!

I understand about the restaurants (depending on where it is you have tickets), but pretty sure some of that has eased up? But I never noticed a big problem with seeing the field.

I do know, however, the the last bunch of rows in the mezz and loge cut off a big chuck of the field (and the entire sky!).

I don’t know how much or how little I am estimating the fan base resentment for the reasons I stated…., however, I do have a few friends who feel the same way and said it takes away from the enjoyment of going to a Met game. I have heard this complaint from many on FAN over the years as well. Others stay away because they feel the Wilpons have ruined the team. Even though that was the case with Grant, I didn’t stay away because going to a Met game was still fun, though lonely, during those times.

That is the bottom line. For me, ownership has indeed put taking away some of the fun of going to a Met game into the equation. Though I had to pay $63 for two $19 tickets ($25 more or the cost of three tickets with the $6.95 that UPS charges individuals for overnight delivery) I still had no preconceived expectations for such a reaction the first time we went to Citi Field. I understood that time marches on and the old always makes way for the new so whatever fond memories I had of the old ballpark should not prejudice me against the new one.

In fact, my first reaction upon entering and seeing the field was “wow” this retro is really nice. We got there early to walk around and enjoyed the food court, the bridge and the different vantage points of seeing the field that one couldn’t get at Shea. And when we got to our seats and able to look out at the entire field I loved the way the ballpark looked, recreating that old time flavor. I felt I was back in the 1920s. So my initial reaction was great.

But after the initial euthoria cooled down, reality took over. I suddenly noticed what I thought was the foul line was really the rope holding the protective netting behind home plate. I then saw that what I couldn’t see – just from section 525 which barely made it past the infield dirt.

Then everything else started to come back to me. At Shea, there were two excalator banks at each of the five entrances at the ball park that went straight up to the top and let us off within a few yards either way of our seat locations. We therefore could 1) park our car at the closest area and walk right in, 2) not have to walk up an additional flight of steps or a ramp after that, 3) not have to walk half way down the corridor to then get to our seat locations and 4) did not have to worry about not having a bathroom nearby, something that becomes a problem as many of us get older.

All this, with most of the entrances denied permission to enter and an exclusive restaurant cutting off our view so patrons could be more angled toward home plate started making us feel like second class citizens. Never felt like that at Shea sitting in the upper deck. And it doesn’t matter what other owners do – we’re Met fans and that’s all that matters.

Oh, and if anyone wants proof that I had sat in the upper deck, those who have “The Odd Couple” film from 1967 please zoom on your HD set and see me with two friends sitting behind home plate in the upper deck (this is just meant as a joke – just couldn’t resist it).

If people aren’t buying tickets, it is most likely because they have had a few down years, and aren’t expected by most to be competitive. And that is pretty much what has always happened (attendance follows the ebbs and flows of the record).

And man, you must have never had a seat in the upper reserve if you think it is hard to get to the top at Citi!

I have been to CBP in philly a number of times, and to nats park (2x I think). Very similar design overall, including the bathrooms in the upper deck.

If you don’t like the place, don’t go. But I don’t buy that it is some kind of big rebellion against the oppression of the wilpons that it dragging down ticket sales.

“And somebody called up this morning to the FAN complaining about having to pay $55 dollars for seats that are now going for $40 due to that “dynamic” seating plan. Even the paying customers are getting sore and the season hasn’t even started yet.”

MLB in general is still trying to figure out how to handle the secondary ticket market (ie StubHub). The Mets are one of the teams doing a better job.

It has nothing to do with being a Met fan or even the quality of the players on the field. It goes way beyond this.

It goes to the owners who screwed the fans in ways that has nothing to do with the product on the field It was the way we have been treated by that ownership and saying we’re not going to do business with you again. Those reasons?

- Built a smaller ballpark and charged outrageous ticket prices instead
- Not being able to walk through two of every three entrances into the ball park
- Having to walk up a flight of stairs because to get to the highest level because the elevator bank stops at the lower promenade.
- Sitting behind third base and not being able to see anything of left field to the left of the “Shea” baseball on the outfield wall.
- Only having two sets of restrooms (according to the seating chart) situated behind home plate on the upper promenade level.

That doesn’t mean we don’t support the team. It means we won’t give these owners who felt more concern for the high rollers who sit in a restaurant cutting off our view, who have special entrances making others have to walk much further to get in, that we have to walk up a flight of stairs to get to our seats and hope we do not have an accident while having a long trek to the restroom – that’s resentful.

And somebody called up this morning to the FAN complaining about having to pay $55 dollars for seats that are now going for $40 due to that “dynamic” seating plan. Even the paying customers are getting sore and the season hasn’t even started yet.

But, it wa also tradition that after OD with 50K on hand, day 2 would be another weekday with about 12K in the park!

and attendance has always ebbed and flowed with the record and perception of the team. Heck, back in the late 70s they drew waht, barely a million? And had some years where they did not even break 7 figures.

Now back to the point you missed. We all love the Mets, I think. So it’s not hard to believe that someone who spends all day complaining about his team would also spend the money to watch his team. You mean to tell me you are going to spend 12 hours a day blogging about the Mets but not watch the games? Oh I am going to do it watching TV, that’s different…