Giants fans won't be forgotten at Citi Field

Ken Davidoff

11:32 AM EDT, April 30, 2008

Gary Mintz of South Huntington, a Giants fan dating back to their days in the Polo Grounds, e-mailed me last week with this concern:

"At the meeting of the New York Giants Baseball Nostalgia Society [recently], many of the members (all in their 60s through 80s) feel slighted that Mr. Wilpon has made Citi Field look like Ebbets Field and are honoring Jackie Robinson with the rotunda.

"Granted, he is the owner of the team, and the one who pays the bills. But the old-timers feel that since the Mets took the orange of the Giants when they were formed, something in the stadium should honor the N.Y. Giants, whether it be a section or the like."

That seemed like a reasonable question, so I took it to Mets COO Jeff Wilpon Tuesday. And Wilpon took me to Citi Field itself, to convey the message that, while the Dodgers - Fred Wilpon's favorite team as a Brooklyn youth - do get the majority of the love, you long-time Giants fans were not forgotten.

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While I'm not quite old enough to have made it to the Polo Grounds, it seems that Mintz and his fellow Giants loyalists will be heartened by two elements of the new, impressive ballpark:

The seats are dark green, just like those at the Polo Grounds. This serves a direct tribute to the Mets' first home, according to Dave Howard, the team's executive vice president of business operations.

Citi Field's outfield features a plethora of unique angles and wall heights, as did the Polo Grounds. Consider this more of an indirect shout-out. "We looked at pictures of the Polo Grounds that made you think about it," Wilpon said.

Wilpon wanted me to see the outfield because it was hard for him to put into words, and even after seeing it, it's difficult to describe it to you. The key area is right-centerfield. That's where the fence slams on the breaks and takes a sharp turn. It's not as deep as Fenway Park's "triangle" in centerfield. It's more of a right angle than a triangle. It should prove challenging for outfielders, and memorable for fans.

Rightfield also has the upper-deck overhang in fair territory, reminiscent of the old Tiger Stadium, that should be manna to lefty pull hitters who can regularly put the ball in the air.

The heights of the walls, too, stand out. The fence rises as high as 18 feet in left-centerfield, where it's 379 feet from home plate, and then down to eight feet in dead center, which rests 408 feet from the batter's box. In rightfield, where it's about 370 feet for a homer, it's back up to 14 feet.

It's anything but a perfect replica of the Polo Grounds. But it's quirky like the Giants' long-time home, and its uniqueness will strike you - and, the Mets hope, their opponents, once Carlos Beltran and his corner outfielders get the hang of it.

"A lot of people said, 'Why don't you make it symmetrical?' " Jeff Wilpon said. "But symmetrical is not going to make it work. We want a homefield advantage."

They should have that, and the old-time New Yorkers should possess some sense of comfort that the Mets know they are the National League descendants of both the Dodgers and the Giants.

The ballpark, by the way, is scheduled to be completed on Jan. 25 of next year, giving the Mets a healthy 10 weeks or so of room for error.

The Next Step

Like all businesses, Major League Baseball continues to try and figure out how it can expand its customer base. Paul Estevez, the CEO of Kinetix Integrated Marketing, an agency that focuses partly on the Latino audience, has an interesting suggestion.

"I think that in general, Major League Baseball is doing a great job in recruiting and maintaining that Latino market," Estevez said. "All the markets that have strong Latin populations, they do a great outreach, from the actual broadcasts to doing clinics to getting the local businesses involved."

"I think there's more of an opportunity to get the more educated Latino that's been here a little longer, the second- and third-generation Latinos. ... If you came to me with an ad in English that had more of a Latin twist to it that I could relate to my culture, then I would understand that more. They're not strong yet in doing that."

Around the Leagues

The Reds, who fired general manager Wayne Krivsky and replaced him with "consultant" Walt Jocketty, bypassed Bud Selig's mandate on interviewing minorities by bringing in Jocketty, the former Cardinals GM, months ago. It would have been farcical to meet with other candidates, since everyone knew this was a fait accompli.

I'm not sure how to get around this, other than to hope that, eventually, owners will try the same end-around by hiring experienced minority GMs as "consultants."

The San Francisco Giants, still Gary Mintz's favorite team 50 years later, haven't been as bad as anticipated, so far. Still, their lineup is weak, and there's not much coming in the way of young, position player reinforcements.

"What you see up here is what they have," said one official familiar with the Giants' talent.

Every time a young player signs a long-term deal, as rookie Evan Longoria did in getting six years and $17.5 million from the Rays (with another three years and roughly $27 million available in team options), the criticism rises from opposing agents that the player didn't get enough.

I say, enough to that. If a player thinks he'll benefit mentally from long-term security, then he should sign the deal. We've seen too many players not follow through on their initial promise - off the top of my head, Rocco Baldelli, Bobby Crosby, Ben Grieve and Eric Hinske - who at least knew that they cashed in on their early success for something.

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