Mr. Wilpon Tears Down This Wall, Sort Of!

It’s official, the Mets can’t do anything right. They certainly try, but for some reason they always seem to get everything wrong. Here’s the latest — the Mets are lowering the wall at Citi Field.

Well that’s just great! That’s what Mets fans (and perhaps some Mets players) have been clamoring for since the spacious ball park opened last season. So what’s the problem? According to the New York Daily News,  the Mets are only getting rid of that slice of wall that protects the seldom used home run apple in dead center field, so now it will be 8 feet high instead of 16 feet.

It seems like a waste of time, doesn’t it? How many balls hit off of that part of the wall last season? I have no idea, but it couldn’t have been more than a handful.

Most players say the problem with Citi Field is not the dimensions, but the height of the walls. Here are those heights:

Left field foul pole — 12 feet
Left field — 15
Left center — 15
Left of dead center — 11
Dead center — 8 with new configuration
Right of dead center — 11
Right center — 8
Right field — 18
Right field foul pole — 8

There is absolutely no reason for the stadium to have such high, varying wall heights. It’s not like the ballpark was built on a small plot of land with the wall close to home plate, necessitating a high wall (like Fenway Park). They should just lower the wall to 8 feet all around. Aside from giving batters a fairer chance to hit a home run, it would also be a nice homage to Shea Stadium (remember that place?) and its 8 foot walls.

So while lowering part of the wall is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t go far enough in addressing the problem. Just like everything else the Mets do.