Mets embrace own history at Citi Field 2.0

As you may have noticed, NYaT is largely a Yankees blog.  But we do have one resident Mets blogger (Ari) so from time to time we have to pay heed to the other team in town.  Especially when that team has recently been on a tear, going from worst to first and then back to second all in just a few short days.  So without further ado, please welcome our newest guest blogger, the lovely Elissa Glucksman, as she offers a thorough review of the 2010 version of Citi Field.  Let's go Mets, F-A-N da da da!
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Last year Mets fans had a lot to grip about.  It seemed like every day another Met was put on the DL and the 2009 season fell woefully below expectations.  But at least we had a brand new stadium to keep our spirits up, right?  Wrong.  To most Mets fans Citi Field felt like Ebbets Field Jr., with a little New York Giants orange and black thrown in.

After a season of complaints the Wilpons have finally acknowledged that the Mets have a distinct and unique history of their own, wholly independent of their Dodger and Giant ancestors.  My first trip to Queens in 2010 was last Tuesday in the middle of the Mets' amazing homestand and I couldn't believe the difference in Citi Field's appearance.  Last year when fans walked from the parking lot to the stadium the only remnants of Mets history were five bronze plaques embedded in the parking lot commemorating Shea Stadium's home plate, bases, and pitcher's mound.  This year it is hard to avoid pieces of Mets history.  Banners are hung along the outside of Citi Field highlighting past and present Mets players, ranging from Ed Kranepool to Edgardo Alfonzo.  There are also banners hanging from the lights posts that illuminate the entire length of the sidewalk next to Citi.

I was lucky enough to have VIP tickets to the game.  All of the VIP entrances are now named after Met greats.  The first base VIP entrance is named after legendary Mets manager Gil Hodges, the third base entrance features Hall-of-Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, and the left field entrance is entitled Stengel VIP after Casey Stengel, the Mets' first manager.  The hallways inside each VIP entrance are adorned with photographs and memorabilia highlighting each of these three Met heroes.

The 2009 Citi Field feature that I hated more than any other was the Ebbets Club.  It was the club/dining area on the Field Level behind home plate.  What Ebbets Field has to do with the Mets, aside from existing in the same city, I will never know.  Thankfully, that horrible excuse for a club name is gone, and has been renamed the "Champions Club."  The club now celebrates the 1969 and 1986 World Series Champion Mets teams.  The first base side of the club honors the 1986 team, with pictures and memorabilia all along the walls, and the 1969 team is honored on the third base side.

Continuing the 2009 Ebbets Field theme, the Jackie Robinson Rotunda highlighted the Dodgers, a team that abandoned New York and its National League fans.  Now, the Mets' home run apple sits in front of the Rotunda in all its paper mache glory.  Whereas last year it was hidden behind the visitors bullpen, this year fans can get up close to the apple, taking pictures in front of it and passing its top hat as they enter Citi's grand entrance.  Think of it as the Mets' equivalent of the Old Yankee Stadium's baseball bat - a perfect place for Mets fans to meet up before a game.

The Mets have even brought a little piece of Shea into Citi Field.  The bridge on the outfield Field Level is now named "Shea Bridge" in honor of William A. Shea, the man who brought all of us Mets fans National League baseball.

Last, but certainly not least, my favorite part of the Citi renovations - the Mets Hall of Fame.  As you walk through the Rotunda, right below the escalators, you will find a Mets fan's dream - an entire room containing the best parts of Mets history.  When I entered the Hall of Fame/museum I walked straight into the 1969 and 1986 World Series trophies (how cool is that!) and I made my way to the original Mr. Met costume (possibly made out of the same paper mache as the home run apple).  There's an entire wall dedicated to the Mets' greatest players (the Mets Hall of Fame), and the rest of the room is a Mets museum.  There are cases full of Mets memorabilia, including the glove that Jesse Orosco threw up into the air after winning the 1986 World Series, the FDNY hat that John Franco wore in the first baseball game played in New York after 9/11, Keith Hernandez's Gold Glove award, and Tom Seaver's Cy Young award.  I felt like a kid in a candy store walking through this room.  Everywhere I turned there was another piece of my Amazins' history that I finally got to see up close and personal.

Don't get me wrong, the Brooklyn Dodgers were a great team and Jackie Robinson is an important part of baseball and our country's history, but the Dodgers left New York five years before the Mets first donned the blue and orange in 1962.  I'm glad to see that the Mets have finally embraced their history.  Take a look at some of that history in the photos below.