Author: Shannon Shark @metspolice

According to the Times….

As for the Mets, they continue to maintain that there are no obscured-view seats in Citi Field, despite what some fans were contending after Sunday’s game. Fans might miss a play or two, the Mets conceded. But, they added, the game action will be replayed on the scoreboards and the fans are closer to the field to begin with.

“Whenever you bring seating closer to the action, and put seating in fair territory, there will be certain angles where you lose a sightline here or there,” said Dave Howard, the Mets’ vice president for business operations. “That’s typical in new ballparks, but a little different for our customers because Shea didn’t have much of anything like that.”

No obstructed views?   Really?   Then explain this picture.  Better yet, watch this video.   Aren’t home plate and the pitchers mound things we’d want to see

I think the new park looks great and we’ll love it, but can’t the Mets be honest and admit there are a few duds?

The Times piece mentions:

Steven Gottesman, who has a 15-game ticket plan, went to see his four seats in Section 533, Row 15, near the top of the upper deck down the left-field line. To his “shock and horror,” he could not see the warning track or about 20 feet of the outfield from the left-field line to center field.

“In other words, I will only know if a home run is hit if I am listening to a radio at the game or I wait to see the sign from the umpire,” Gottesman, 45, said in an e-mail message.

If there are no obstructed views then why did VP David Howard say this back in February?

“If you’re a shorter person it could be an issue,” Howard said, “but we think that can be addressed in some way with booster pads . . . For most adults it should not be an issue, and if it becomes an issue we’ll have the means to address it.”

Why did Neil Best write about this topic that same month?

Did the Mets Police doctor this picture?  Unfortunately this is not our annual April Fools joke.

If there are no obstructed views then why is this article one of the most popular on our site week in and week out?

In happier news, Bloomberg reports beer now $6 down from $7.50

Mets, the park is nice.  Just be honest with your fans.  I see my left field seats are in row 3.  If there’s a pole in my face expect some live blogging via iphone, and a visit from me to customer service with my audio recorder running.

Check out the Times piece.

SPORTS / BASEBALL

It’s Going, Going … Did You See Where It Went? 

By KEN BELSON

Published: April 1, 2009

Yankees and Mets fans on a budget will have to settle for seats in far-off sections, some of which have obstructed views of the field in their new stadiums.

Dom D has posted the best of the Citi Field videos yet.

I can’t listen to Talking Baseball any more (the song.  I actually thought Ed Randall was good on WFAN last week).   Can someone write a new one.

Mute your speakers and hit play.

  www.metspolice.com

Got a comment from a reader:

BPALM said…

Get over the day game for opening day. It is a union rule that the Padres cannot play a day game after traveling cross-country to NY. This has nothing to do with the Mets and/or ESPN

I don’t think it has anything to do with anyone, I just think it sucks.   I decided to research what BPALM said and the only thing I could find was this which suggests he’s right on fact…

Teams are entitled to an off day for trips from the Pacific Time Zone to the Eastern Time Zone. The Commissioner is empowered to grant seven exceptions to this rule each season, no more than one affecting each club, to allow a club to play an East Coast night game the day after a West Coast day game. Except for transcontinental trips, off days are to be non-travel days whenever possible. As a result, teams head straight for the airport after the last game of a series, even if it’s a 16-inning night game, rather than return to their hotel to rest and travel the next day.

Assuming the above is correct (I’m a blogger not a lawyer), then Bud has already at least stepped in to grant one of his seven exemptions, or the game would be played on Tuesday (which it probably should have been).  That being said, the “legality” or it overlooks one thing:
The court of public opinion.

If there were a massive public outcry (which there won’t be at this point), the Mets could take the high ground of “we asked the Commish” – who then could blame the union.  I’d love to see the union tell Joe Fan how hard it would be to play at 4:05 instead of 7:05.   Waaaahhhh.

Not gonna happen, but seems like I’m not the only out there who’d prefer a day game.  I’m going to hold out hope the Post publishes the article (they interviewed us) and that Boomer and Carton wake up to a slow news day.  Ya Gotta Belive right?

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