Right field at Citi need not be Yankee Stadium-esque, but it needs to be smaller and more inviting to men who swing the bat. The tall wall in left-center could be moved a tad closer and perhaps shortened. But as is, it facilitates extra-base hits and, as Shea Stadium did in all directions, legitimizes the home runs that are hit. Leave it alone.
Right field is the rub. The club isn’t about to turn away from the advertising revenue the Mo Zone generates in right. Its less-than-stuffed pockets need all available pennies. But the Mets ought to eliminate, adjust or move the Zone and make life easier for their best player and most recognizable face. Eliminate Mo, add some seats -- they may be necessary again one day -- and give David Wright a fighting chance to hit 30 home runs.
I’ve never been a fan of these kinds of arguments. The Mets wanted a pitcher’s park so they built one. If they can’t trot out a pitching staff that takes advantage of that more than the pitching staffs of the visiting teams do, well, that’s kind of tough. As it is, the Mets have scored more runs at home than they have on the road in each of their two full seasons in Citi Field and are currently averaging slightly more at home in the early going this year. Don’t go changing the organizational strategy every couple of years. And in this case, at least make sure that the problem is actually the park’s dimensions rather than your poor team before making rash decisions.
The argument I hear most frequently in favor of moving the fences at Citi Field? It would make David Wright’s statistics look better. And that’s really not a reason to go messing with the fences.
