CitiField
It’s a long but easy ride out the Number 7 subway line to get to CitiField. The subway opens directly out to the main plaza in front of The Rotunda. The Home Run Apple from Shea is there, as is a large statue of Tom Seaver, who, oddly enough, only has two arms.
After the mandatory selfie in front of the Apple, we walked into The Rotunda entrance. What a lovely space to enter a ballpark! A bright, airy space with a rounded high ceiling. The escalators are in front of you, and the team store is tucked away in the back. A quote from Jackie Robinson circles the wall. It’s bright and cheerful, and is a great way to start a ball field experience.
We took the escalator to the main level, and walked the entire concourse. The concourse is wide and bright, with lots of different concession stands. There are cute touches, like a “Shea Bridge” you walk across as you circle the concourse.
From there, we followed the excellent signage to the elevator to access our 3rd level Club Seats. Their Club Level is much like the Nats Park Club Level, except it’s much wider, allowing for many more seating options. Lots of regular tables and high bar-style tables, plus a large bright area of comfy plush chairs and sofa seating groups. A full bar runs the entire length of the back, plus several concession stands are tucked here and there. I liked the fact that because of the design, you didn’t have a constant stream of people passing from one area to the next like you do at Nats Park. People came there to sit and relax there, not to pass through from one area to the next. Attendance was only about 20K the night we were there, so maybe it might feel less relaxed on a more crowded night, but I think the layout mitigates against that. As you can tell, I really liked this Club Level.
Our seats were second row aisle seats in Section 319, directly behind home. We picked them up on StubHub for $58 each, including fees. They were directly below the press box, and were of a normal height for 300 level seats. The seats were padded, but not the backs.
Draft beer ran about $17 a pop, still expensive but a buck cheaper than Yankee Stadium. Other concessions were similarly priced.
The scoreboard is large, but not gigantic like Yankee Stadium. It had standard scoreboard features, but not the extensive ones like tracking the horizontal and verticals break of each pitch.
As with Yankee Stadium, the crowd was very involved. A nice thing I saw was when Lindor came to bat. He’s been struggling at the plate, and was batting about .100. When he was announced, the crowd gave him an enthusiastic standing ovation. I asked some nearby fans why they did that, and they said it was to encourage and support him. I liked that kind of fan support. I think at Yankee Stadium he’d have been booed.
Bottom line is I liked CitiField a lot. It seems much newer than 2009. The whole ballpark seemed bright and cheerful. The scoreboard gave me all the info I needed, without being so big as to distract from the play on the field like the Yankee Stadium scoreboard did. The seats were comfortable and not too high up, and the staff was amazingly friendly. I must say they did have the hardest Find-the-Ball scoreboard Hat Game I’ve ever seen.
I would definitely return to CitiField if I get a chance.
