J Schil's Blog

(Editor’s Note: My buddy Jon Schneider is interning for SNY this summer, working on their multiple blogs. He gave me this guest blog about his experiences at Citi Field so far.)

This past Tuesday and Wednesday, I went to what were my 8th and 9th games at the new CITI field, and I have to say, I like it a little more every time I go. At this point, I’ve sat at almost every vantage point from the stadium, ranging from behind home plate in the padded seats to the upper upper deck all the way in right field. I’ve seen the Caesars club in the excelsior level and the Acela club as well. I’ve been through the tunnel, in the bullpen, and in the Mets clubhouse. If you ask me, I think we (the Mets) did it right)

The Food: As most Met fans like to do, the first thing we think of is, how it compares to the Yankees. Well, as we all know the Yankees also opened up their new stadium and I have to say that besides those fantastic garlic fries, Yankee stadium is to CITI field as Qdoba is to Chipotle. Let me give you an example: I am a man who loves his spicy Italian sausage with the peppers and onions when I go to a game. And so after going to both games and getting the same Premio Italian sausage, I came to these conclusions

1. CITI’s sausage was twice the size and 50c cheaper

2. the peppers and onions were fresh off the grill at CITI, at Yankee they looked like they were taken out of a can.

3. And that’s just the sausages.

And please do not get me started on the topping stands located throughout the magnificent Mets’ stadium. To call it fantastic would be an understatement. I’m talking fresh chopped tomatoes, onions, oodles of different sauces, regular sauerkraut, hot sauerkraut…you name it

Besides food, CITI field is a beautiful stadium aesthetically. The only thing it may lack is the “met feel” that some fans desire..and rightfully so. Conversely, that’s about the only thing that Yankee stadium does not lack…but that’s beside the point.

I would say throughout the first half of this season, the stadium did lack a bit of a “fan presence.” I think the new ballpark itself drew a lot of the fans away from watching the game and brought them to want to walk around, check out the shake shack out in center, look at the new restaurant, and not stop looking at the absurd amount of advertisements. I think, and I hope that the new stadium allure starts to ware off and people start watching the game more. There have been some crucial points in games where you would think the fans would be on their feet, but were not.

Overall, the stadium is state of the art. It does not lack in the amenties department, maybe just a bit in the Mets one.