I attended the first MLB exhibition game at brand new Citifield last night, featuring The 2009 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox. Most of the opening day starting lineup played the first 5 innings before a rain delay brought out the scrubs and eventually the Mets won, 4-3. I give the new stadium high marks all around; nice atmosphere, good food and reasonably priced beverages make it a great place to spend an evening. After the delay, we found our way down to the box seats five rows behind the Sox dugout for an intimate rendez-vous with my team where I received a text from Jack Tobin: “Just saw you on TV. Nice.”
Personally I had no problem with Shea. I think it had character and functioned perfectly well for baseball games. It was only 46 years old. That we feel the need to destroy relatively young buildings to erect newer ones baffles me. I know it’s all a money game, and the team will profit from this investment, but it does seem wasteful. How long will Citifield® last? As long as Citibank can keep funneling taxpayer dollars into its advertising.
Final Four begins tonight. Why would I ever have picked Louisville to win it? Obviously I should be cheering UConn. Though I can’t profess to care too much about college basketball, the tournament and associated social endeavors are good times.