Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wonders why
a right-handed power hitter like the Mets covet -- i.e., Jason Bay or
Matt Holliday -- would want to play in Citi Field, calling it a "death
valley for righthanded hitters."
Cafardo is surely using David Wright as his case-and-point, which is just lazy journalism when you realize that he hit just as many home runs at Citi Field (five) as he did on the road (five). It's throwaway lines like Cafardo's that have perpetuated Citi Field's reputation as a park where home runs go to die, which really couldn't be any further from the truth.
Consider for a moment that according to homerun park factor Citi Field was actually 12th in majors in 2009 at 1.057, higher than even Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. This means that 5.7% more home runs were in games at Citi Field than in games played on the road.
Only 81 regular season games have been played at Citi Field thus far, and for the great majority of them, the Mets were a poor hitting team, especially when it came to power (last in the majors with 95 home runs). The dip in team home runs isn't much of a surprise when you remember that Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran were sidelined for most of the season.
The truth is that nobody can be certain of how Citi Field will play, as these park factors can fluctuate from year-to-year. However, what is certain is that the Mets are among a select few teams who can afford to give Bay or Holliday the money they want.
Cafardo is surely using David Wright as his case-and-point, which is just lazy journalism when you realize that he hit just as many home runs at Citi Field (five) as he did on the road (five). It's throwaway lines like Cafardo's that have perpetuated Citi Field's reputation as a park where home runs go to die, which really couldn't be any further from the truth.
Consider for a moment that according to homerun park factor Citi Field was actually 12th in majors in 2009 at 1.057, higher than even Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. This means that 5.7% more home runs were in games at Citi Field than in games played on the road.
Only 81 regular season games have been played at Citi Field thus far, and for the great majority of them, the Mets were a poor hitting team, especially when it came to power (last in the majors with 95 home runs). The dip in team home runs isn't much of a surprise when you remember that Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran were sidelined for most of the season.
The truth is that nobody can be certain of how Citi Field will play, as these park factors can fluctuate from year-to-year. However, what is certain is that the Mets are among a select few teams who can afford to give Bay or Holliday the money they want.
look at the stats for opposing teams, its not the Stadium.
My theory is that good power hitters aren't scared of CitiField, but just don't want to play for the Mets. I can't say that I blame them, given how the team (?) is run. The "Death Valley" bit gives them a seemingly plausible excuse.
But that right-center field configuration is just plain stupid. What is the point of it? Was it done just for aesthetics?
With the way the Mets are run (Owners, Management and manager a free agent would be stupid to want to go to Citifield even if the fences were 200'
Met's fan for to long