I feel the need to respond to a few salient points that Koblin makes.
First, some factual errors...
1. Citi Field never had "forest green" walls. They were a black / dark grey. See here in this photo I took when the stadium first opened. (More photos here, here, here and here.)
Koblin misquoted Dave Howard from this piece. Howard is referring to the seat, not the walls. Except below.
Citi Field’s exterior is a splendid architectural response to the dullness of Shea, while the inner bowl is muted. Shea’s candy-colored plastic seats are gone (along with generations of chipped paint on the handrails) in favor of dark green seats everywhere.
“Dark green is the color of a classic ballpark,” said Dave Howard, the team’s executive vice president for business operations, as he stood ankle deep in snow. “And we thought the other team in town would use blue.”2. Only the Yankees can have 408 walls? Come on. Please note all the other stadiums that are 408 to CF.
3. Only the Mets put retired numbers on their outfield walls? It's not like they're growing ivy out there. See U.S. Cellular Field, Busch Stadium and :gasp: Shea Stadium!
And now for some more personal viewpoints...
4. Mets fans haven't been showing up to Citi Field the last few years has absolutely nothing to do with the stadium. I love the stadium. It's beautiful and a huge upgrade over Shea Stadium. (At least to some of us.) I haven't been going to many games because the team stinks. It's not the stadium that makes me not go, it's the team on the field.
5. The whole point of the article is that the Mets seem to be listening to their fans, making the stadium more Mets-ian. Why is that a bad thing? How could that ever be a bad thing?
6. The uniforms. Everyone loves them. If you yearn for the days of black uniforms, you should be buried in the parking lot where Shea Stadium used to stand.
7. This doesn't even address the most obvious point of fan contention with the stadium: The Jackie Robinson Rotunda. He never was a Met!
This article does not reflect any of the thoughts of any Mets fans I've talked to over the years. We all seem absolutely thrilled with all the changes the team has made with the stadium since it opened. How, Mr. Koblin, is that a negative thing?
I don't get what this article was trying to accomplish. I'd love to find out, though.
Want to attend a game? Check out the Mets Citi Field Schedule and judge for yourself.