The escalator was not out – the left field one stops in the lower promenade – there is no more of it. We had to walk from the left field area to third base – or from area 538 to 524 (typo from my previous reference to 525) which is 15 sections. It would have been an even longer walk from behind home plate.

The line of site for us meant hardly seeing anything to the left of the “shea” baseball. The area cut off was like a slice of pizza – becoming larger from when it began about half way from the infield dirt. Had Jason Bay ran 15 feet to his right playing his normal position, we would not see the catch. And it is not a limited number of seats involved – we were only eight rows up from the front and sitting in section 524. We don’t know how further into the infield the blockage began but it certainly did not start with our section. It stretches over a very long length of the upper promenade beginning before our seats in section 524 – which was just past the infield dirt – to section 538 – again, a minimum of 15 sections. A friend who met me there to say hello couldn’t believe how much of the field we were missing.

We liked the inside beauty of the park – and from the upper promenade it’s design made us feel as if we were watching a game in the 1920′s – a nice touch which we still love. So it’s not a matter of it’s aesthetics.

The cost is too high to enjoy a baseball game for so many I have talked to with nice but moderate means of income. And with the revenue the owners bring in from SNY, ticket prices did not have to reach such a level. Dodger ticket prices are no where near the level the Mets were asking for before they began virtually giving them away. The LA area is a big market just like New York with television rights and/or regional sports networks.

It just takes the fun out of it spending a small fortune on something like an afternoon at the ball park. Maybe it’s me because I remember when it was an inexpensive afternoon out. Before ticket prices were slashed i saw that it would actually cost us less to see a Saturday afternoon performance of Spider Man in the balcony than it would the Mets sitting in many of the better infield areas lower down that were not season boxes.

However, I do not feel the same as you about Citifield. I think it is beautiful, and I have attended as many as 18 games a year, and this year was the least amount I went to and it was 6 games.

First off you mentioned the price. Just like many say this team needs to spend, this is NY, well things cost in NY too, and the price of going to a game is the same or less than many other sporting events in NYC, and forget any concerts or B’way shows. You can find deals if you look.

Accessibility. I have never had a problem getting to a seat, never. You may have gone one, and part of an escalator was out, that’s a shame, but one time does not dictate how it always is. I’ve gotten elevators quick and the escalators are not that far out. It’s part of the whole experience.

History, in 2009 the decor was definitely lacking. Since then many photo’s have gone up and they added a HOF, have you visited that?

I find it funny how many people are screaming about the lack of history at the stadium, in the same breath have a hate that the facade has similarities of Ebbets Field, but forget that no matter how you slice it, this team does have a connection/history with both the Dodgers and Giants, sure some of it seem more prevalent of the Dodgers. The team colors are Orange and Blue a representation of both those teams, so you (generic you) can’t scream about history and then want to ignore one of the biggest factors.

You mention site lines, I’ve sat in almost every section of the stadium and there are a few spots that have site line issues, but I feel its a few. Have you ever sat in the outfield at the new Yankee Stadium? You can’t even see the field in some of those seats. Every stadium is going to have a few bad seats, every one of them.

As far as atmosphere, sorry, that’s on the fan base. Having fun at a game is also up to you. If you had fun in 2002 as you mentioned, then it’s no one’s fault other than your own if you’re not having fun now.

None this year, the home opener last year (we were given the tickets for the Champions Club), one in 2010 (our purchase and experience in the upper promenade. We didn’t go in 2009 at all due to the prices and complaints we heard about.

We used to go to Shea two or three times a year before that. We made it a point to be there on Ralph Kiner Night because I grew up with him. Was there when Bob Murphy announced his retirement when the team was going nowhere. Was even at the final game of the 2002 season when the Mets and Braves set a record for number of players used for one ball game.

That’s when going to a ball game was fun, at least for us.

Quick question, how many games do you get to each year? When was the last time you were there?

I know how you feel.

When moderating a panel about Met memorabilia at a 50th anniversary celebration held at Hofstra last April, one of the participants was a photographer and he ended his presentation with a video of Shea with it’s glory and demolition played to the background of Frank Sinatra’s “there once was a ball park”. Not a dry eye in the audience and I still shudder when thinking of it.

I have a brick from Shea that I would gladly give back it if meant rebuilding our former home one piece at a time. For whatever it’s faults, it was a ball park – not a shopping mall.

I even purchased a “brick” in memory of my father in the Fan’s Walkway” Yes, it was a charitable thing too…..but I am thinking that the Wilpons made some $$$$ on this too.

I have supported the plan as it were to turn the team around with Sandy Alderson at the helm but watching this team play at Citi Field is disheartening period. I am sure that the players love the ammenities of the clubhouse but what is it about this place that has our players struggling so much? Is the place haunted? I am not superstitious but it has me thinking that we are paying for the Wilpon’s greed and that it is time to say “Adios” to them!

Until this last 0-6 homestand, I was still hopeful that the last month of the season could be a glimpse of the future with our young hopefuls getting their feet wet but now, I can’t wait to see the miseryt end!

We need a new owner..one with the cash and the verve like a Mark Cuban to inject some life into this team and to rethink the emphasis on the Dodgers that was displayed at this ballpark

I know it is not going to happen….but we have seen miracles before.

Whatever one says about Shea, there was always a nearby entrance from the parking lot for all fans to use and an escalator close by to take us to the very top close to our section of seats. Whatever modern amenities Citi Field was supposed to offer, easy and quick accessibility to what passes for the cheap seats is not one of them. I think exclusion, however, was.

1) The real fans couldn’t afford to go to the ball park and so many who could afford to did it as a social event more than wanting to go watch a ball game. So much hanging around, as encouraged by ownership. During a game at Shea there were people underneath the stands getting food and waiting in line for the rest room. There were not so many wandering around, hanging out at places for they couldn’t. Thus, those who went to Shea did so to see the Mets.

When we sat in the Champions Lounge for the 2011 home opener, it was cold so in the middle of the game, like others, we went inside the lounge. The lounge was filled with people but unlike us and just a few others, few were paying attention to the game. Most were standing by the bar or sitting at tables having drinks and watching the PGA on television. In fact, I would say roughly half the monitors had programming on other than the game.

Now that the excitement of a new park has died down, many of those people are not even going and finding other venues to hang around at. And now that the average fan is able to get affordable tickets through the secondary market or deep cuts in ticket prices, they just don’t care any more.

2) The park itself turned many fans off for many reasons – the elitist treatment, blocked views, the emphasis on commercialism, the neglect of Met history and even the attempt to produce instantaneous institutions of sentimental tradition for fans to associate with instead of allowing the fans and the park to create their own (over time one began to associate Shea with seeing the fans coming off the ramp to the number seven train, with seeing the skyline in the background and even the nose bleeds from sitting high in the upper deck, etc.).

3) When the concern of the front office is to downsize in order to enable the current ownership to retain that ownership rather than to improve the team, it is going to turn off the fan base.

4) When fans no longer look toward the future in imaginary trades and free agent signings but rather in terms of payroll, the game itself becomes less fun.

5) And perhaps, even after four seasons, many still remember the warmth and friendliness of Shea Stadium, for many of us, our home away from home. Some called the old park sterile with a lack of individuality but so many more found it to be cheery, open and warm despite the nose bleeds or need for binoculars. It developed it’s own charm. Citi Field just was not built with any personality other than memories of a team gone for more than a half century. Steps have been taken to rectify that but the damage had already been done and the reasons for those actions known to have come about not due to sentiment but to fan anguish.

Thats pretty much what the Away stadiums have that our’s doesn’t!