“I think there is some sense that the park is a little more overwhelming to a team that spends half its time there,” is Mets GM Sandy Alderson’s very diplomatic way of seeing Fred & Jeff Wilpon’s half-full Monument To Avarice & Greed, aka Citi Field, has successfully fucked with the heads of his club’s power hitters. And as such, after a summer full of rumors, ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin, citing an unnamed Mets source, reports Citi will be slightly configured before the start of the 2012 season. Left unanswered, however, is the following ; if Mo Vaughn was such a bust with the Mets, why’d they name an entire Zone after him?
The 16-foot wall in left field will remain because it is structural, but a new 8-foot wall will be erected in front of it, a team source said.
The new left-field wall will not be constructed exactly parallel to the old wall. That would make it too close down the left-field line. Instead, a more modest reduction in depth will occur at the left-field foul pole, with a wider gap between the new and old walls in left-center.
Additional seating is expected to be added between the new and old walls, although there cannot be the same number of rows added throughout that area because of the different space between the walls in the corner versus in left-center.
In right field, where the “Mo’s Zone” nook currently exists, the fencing will be moved closer to eradicate that crevice.
A dramatic change will occur in right-center, which had measured 415 feet from home plate. The new depth is expected to be 390 feet — a 25-foot reduction. That should particularly benefit third baseman David Wright, whose natural power is to right-center.