Mighty Casey Has Struck Out

When Shea Stadium is torn down, the last seat removed and the last hunk of grass unearthed, when the Mets’ new home is constructed just beyond what used to be the outfield fence where John Franco nurtured his tomato garden, it will be called Citi Field.

As an urban baseball park costs more than the owners were willing to pony up, especially in New York where the unions demand top dollar, Citicorp stepped up to the plate. The designers claim that with this park, as is becoming more common, they will return to the “retro” look of baseball parks, emulating the Brooklyn Dodgers old Ebbet’s Field.

Except with a big fat “Citicorp” logo slapped upon it. Citicorp logos on beer cups and placards and possibly, tattooed on each players’ rump.

Just kidding (Christ, I hope so), but I suppose corporate sponsorship has become a necessary evil in these days of construction and maintenance costs spiraling out of control. Except for a handful of holdouts (Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Jacobs Field, Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium among them), few parks are still named after their team, their geographic location or their owner.

When Husband and I first saw the earth movers over the outfield fence, we hoped that the name of the “new” Shea Stadium would stay among them. He suggested “Metropolitan Park,” which incorporates the full name of the Mets and still has that “old time” feel. Or (we hoped) that the name would commemorate some beloved personality from the Mets’ history: Casey Stengal, Tommy Agee, Tug McGraw.

But, as usual, nobody listens to us.

When the announcement came out, I was disappointed but I suppose it could have been worse. At least “Citi Field” sounds like “City Field” which is almost like “Metropolitan Park.” Kind of. We could have had a different sponsor and then had to bear with something completely stupid, like “Trump Park, The World’s Greatest Baseball Field Ever.”

Then I got thinking about how much worse it could have been. We could have been stuck with:

Gotti Field
Flushing Field
Head On Head On Head On Park
The Other New York Stadium
Number 7 Train Park
We Try Hard Park
John F. Kennedy International Airport Stadium
Waste Management Field
We Don’t Suck Park
Nathan's Hot Dog Field

So I guess Citi Field isn’t so bad after all. It would have been more fun to simply call it “Yankee Stadium.” After all, it’s been working well for “that other New York team” for decades.