Pleasent Diversion

Last night I ventured forth to the borough of Queens, setting foot on Terra Reginae for the first time. The purpose of my call was my need to satisfy a cultural itch; I needed to see a baseball game in New York. And because I've yet to receive my share of the TARP bailouts, I cannot afford Yankee Stadium, which left me at Citi Field watching the Mets, a team whose season has gone from bad to worse and who is all but mathematically eliminated from the post season. Which is why my visit wasn't so focused on the quality of the game, but more so on the stadium, the experience and the feel. All in all, it was a pleasant diversion.

Replacing old Shea Stadium, which was built in the 60's, was generically round, and was by most accounts charmless, the new Citi Field cost a whopping $750 million to build. Yet, like the team that plays there, the stadium can't seem to outshine the Yankees $1.5 billion dollar cathedral which opened the same year. Seeking to be the voice of all non-Yankee New Yorkers, the Mets have embraced fan bases whose teams have been exiled to the west: The Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. To that end, the stadium's exterior is a nod to the Dodger's old Ebbit's Field, and its grand foyer (yes, the stadium has a foyer) is an extensive tribute to Jackie Robinson, the color-barrier breaking Dodger. It was a bit strange to see so much tribute paid to another teams heroes, but then again the last time the Mets won the World Series I was 2, and half that team's stars went on to get busted for drugs. Maybe it is best they use other teams heroes.

The stadium itself is quite pleasant. Broad concourses wrap around the field, allowing an easy pregame stroll to take in the field from all angles. In right field there is a mini replica Queensborough Bridge crossing over the bullpens, and every seat seems to have a good view. And a hungry man wont be begging for options – Hot Dogs, Italian Sandwiches, BBQ, with specialties like fried dough and kettle cooked popcorn. There is even a killer smelling Mexican taqureia and a 'world market' which serves Japanese sushi, Chinese and Korean dishes and even fresh fruit! And what is a ballgame without beer? Well, I've never seen a selection of beer at a stadium like this before. There is a myriad of imported brews, smaller domestic breweries, local favorites and of course your major American players, so if you can't find a beer you like there, you must not like beer!

As I settled into my seat $25 upper deck seat behind home plate I'd walked up an purchased at the stadium that evening, with my Hoegarden and Italian Sausage, I looked out over a green field basking in the warm light of a late summer evening. Behind the massive video board I could see traffic shuffling across the George Washington Bridge. Throughout the game airplanes veered off course, swerving around the stadium beyond the right field wall as they approached the landing runway at Laguardia. Baseball game or not, the view was peaceful and relaxing.

Easing our way through the game, there was action and excitement, but not a forced freneticism like some stadiums try to produce. The fans at the game were easy going as the evening slipped into night, where the sky's stars failed to appear, a subtle reminder that even at it's parks and fields, New York is as urban as it gets. I got personal satisfaction from the stars on the field, when each team's biggest star hit a home run. The Mets lost, the crowed groaned knowingly as their early lead slipped away, as if they half expected it. After the game, everyone got up and went home, smiles abounded and I don't think it was just the beer. People seemed to have had a good time. It had been a pleasant diversions.