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Citi Field

Coordinates: 40°45′25″N 73°50′45″W / 40.75694°N 73.84583°W / 40.75694; -73.84583
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Citi Field

Map
Location126th St. & Roosevelt Ave.
Flushing, New York 11368
Coordinates40°45′25″N 73°50′45″W / 40.75694°N 73.84583°W / 40.75694; -73.84583
OwnerNew York Mets
OperatorNew York Mets
Capacity41,800
Field sizeTemplate:Citi Field dimensions
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke groundNovember 13, 2006
OpenedMarch 29, 2009 (college game)
April 3, 2009 (exhibition game)
April 13, 2009 (regular season)
Construction cost$900 million
ArchitectPopulous
Tenants
New York Mets (MLB) (2009-present)

Citi Field is a stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens. Completed in 2009, it is the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. Citi Field was built as a replacement for the adjacent Shea Stadium, which was constructed in 1964 next to the site of the 1964-1965 World's Fair. Citi Field was designed by Populous (formerly HOK Sport), and is named after Citigroup, a financial services company based in New York that purchased the naming rights. The $850 million baseball park is being funded by the sale of New York City municipal bonds which are to be repaid by the Mets plus interest. The payments will offset property taxes for the lifetime of the park.[citation needed]

The first game at the ballpark took place on March 29, 2009, with a college baseball game between St. John's Red Storm and the Georgetown Hoyas.[1] The Mets played their first two games at the ballpark on April 3 and April 4, 2009 against the Boston Red Sox[2] as charity exhibition games. The first regular season home game was played on April 13, 2009, against the San Diego Padres. The Mets are considered likely to win the rights to host the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Citi Field, which would bring the game to the Mets' home field for only the second time; the first was at Shea in its 1964 inaugural season.[3][4]

History

Planning

Shortly before leaving office in December 2001, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani announced "tentative agreements" for both the Mets and New York Yankees to build new stadiums. Of $1.6 billion sought for the stadiums, city and state taxpayers would pick up half the tab for construction, $800 million, along with $390 million on extra transportation.[5] The plan also said that the teams would be allowed to keep all parking revenues, which state officials had already said they wanted to keep to compensate the state for building new garages for the teams.[6] The teams would keep 96% of ticket revenues and 100% of all other revenues, not pay sales tax or property tax on the stadium, and would get low-cost electricity from New York state.[6] Business officials criticized the plan as giving too much money to successful teams with little reason to move to a different city.[6]

Michael Bloomberg, who succeeded Giuliani as mayor, exercised the escape clause in the agreements to back out of both deals, saying that the city could not afford to build new stadiums for the Mets and Yankees. Bloomberg said that unbeknownst to him, Giuliani had inserted a clause in this deal which loosened the teams' leases with the city and would allow the Mets and Yankees to leave the city on 60 days' notice to find a new home elsewhere if the city backed out of the agreement.[5][6] At the time, Bloomberg said that publicly funded stadiums were a poor investment. Under Bloomberg, the New York City government would only offer public financing for infrastructure improvements; the teams would have to pay for the stadium themselves. Bloomberg called the former mayor's agreements "corporate welfare." Giuliani had already been instrumental in the construction of taxpayer-funded minor league baseball facilities KeySpan Park for the Mets' minor league Brooklyn Cyclones and Richmond County Bank Ballpark for the Staten Island Yankees.

The original plans for what is now Citi Field were created as part of the New York City 2012 Olympic bid. It was originally supposed to have a retractable roof. After plans for a West Side Stadium fell through, New York looked for an alternate stadium to host the opening and closing ceremonies. The Olympic stadium project was estimated to cost $2.2 billion with $180 million provided by New York City and New York State. If New York had won the bid, the stadium would have been expanded to host the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as other sporting events, while the Mets would have played at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx for the 2012 season.

Construction

Citi Field under construction, seen prior to a Mets home game at adjacent Shea Stadium.

The projected cost of the new ballpark and other infrastructure improvements is $610 million, with the Mets picking up $420 million of that amount. The agreement includes a 40-year lease that will keep the Mets in New York until 2049.

On March 18, 2006, the New York Mets unveiled the official model for the new ballpark. By July 2006, initial construction of the new park was underway in the parking lot beyond left-field, with a projected finish ahead of Opening Day 2009 in late March.


As of April 13, 2008, all of the structure for the Jackie Robinson Rotunda was in place with the arched windows receiving their paneling and glass. By August 2008, the New York Mets and Daktronics installed 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) of integrated scoring and video boards throughout the stadium.[7] By September 2008, most of the Citi Field signage had been installed.[8] By December 1, 2008, all of the seats and the playing field had been installed. [9]

Opening Day Firsts at Citi Field

Statistic Opening Day
April 13, 2009
Score San Diego Padres 6, New York Mets 5
Ceremonial First Pitch Tom Seaver to Mike Piazza
First Pitch Mike Pelfrey
First Batter Jody Gerut (Padres) *
First Hit Jody Gerut (Padres) *
First Run Jody Gerut (Padres) *
First RBI(s) Jody Gerut (Padres) *
First Home Run Jody Gerut (Padres) *
First Walk Chase Headley (Padres) off of Mike Pelfrey
First Strikeout Nick Hundley (Padres) looking off of Mike Pelfrey
First Mets Batter José Reyes
First Mets Hit David Wright
First Mets Run Brian Schneider
First Mets RBI(s) Luis Castillo
First Mets Home Run David Wright
First Mets Walk Ryan Church off of Walter Silva (Padres)
First Mets Strikeout David Wright looking off of Walter Silva (Padres)
First Pinch Hitter Gary Sheffield
First Outfield Assist Jody Gerut (Padres)
First Pitching Change Edward Mujica for Walter Silva (Padres)
First Mets Pitching Change Brian Stokes for Mike Pelfrey
First Error Ryan Church
First Win Edward Mujica (Padres)
First Save Heath Bell (Padres)
First Loss Brian Stokes

* Home run hit in first at bat.

Notable Firsts at Citi Field

Statistic Date Player(s)/Team(s)
First Mets Winning Score April 15, 2009 New York Mets 7, San Diego Padres 2
First Mets Win April 15, 2009 Oliver Perez
First Mets Save April 18, 2009 Francisco Rodriguez
First Grand Slam April 27, 2009 Omir Santos
First Inside the Park Home Run August 23, 2009 Angel Pagan
First Double Play April 15, 2009 2B David Eckstein to SS Luis Rodriguez to 1B Adrian Gonzalez (Padres) *
First Triple Play August 23, 2009 2B Eric Bruntlett (Phillies) * '* Unassisted triple play to end the game.

Features

Entrance to Citi Field through the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, at night.

The new ballpark has a capacity of 42,000 plus additional standing room, over 15,000 fewer seats than Shea Stadium. The exterior facade is reminiscent of Ebbets Field (which was long sought by Mets owner Fred Wilpon, a Brooklyn native). Citi Field joins Coors Field and Safeco Field as modern ballparks with approximate replicas of the Ebbets Field facade.[citation needed]

Citi Field's interior design is primarily influenced by PNC Park, which was the favorite ballpark of Mets COO Jeff Wilpon. Other influences include Great American Ballpark, Coors Field and Citizens Bank Park. [10] Shea Stadium was the only ballpark in the Major Leagues to feature orange foul poles instead of the standard yellow, a unique characteristic that made its way into Citi Field.

The left field wall, featuring the Mets' retired numbers

Similar to Shea Stadium, Citi Field's spacious field dimensions make it a pitcher friendly park. However unlike Shea's symmetrical layout, Citi Field features several design quirks. While Shea's outfield fence had a uniform height of 8 feet, Citi Field's fence changes height several times, rising as high as 16 feet in left field and 18 feet in right field, which features a three sided notch that houses the Modell's Clubhouse seating area.[11][12]

During the first two games of a June series versus the Philadelphia Phillies, Chase Utley, the Phillies' second baseman, hit three home runs, including a game winner, into the bulge near the right field foul pole.[13] Later, at a June 26, 2009 game against the New York Yankees, Mets broadcaster, Gary Cohen, referred to the area as "Utley's Corner".[14]

Delta Air Lines signed a multiyear deal on September 15, 2008, to sponsor an exclusive section in Citi Field. The Delta Sky360 Club is a 22,500-square-foot (2,090 m2) restaurant-cafe-bar-lounge complex that also houses 1,600 premium seats behind home plate stretching from dugout to dugout.[15]

Pepsi Porch

File:Da Pepsi Porch.jpg
The Pepsi Porch in right field, at night.

The Pepsi Porch is a 1,284 seat area located in right field which extends over the playing field, and is inspired by Tiger Stadium's right field porch.[16] A 37 foot by 89 foot Pepsi Cola sign, reminiscent of the one facing the Manhattan skyline in Long Island City, sits atop the Pepsi Porch.[17]

Jackie Robinson Rotunda

The interior of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda
File:Robinson Rotunda.jpg
Looking out the rotunda, at Robinson's quote.

The front entrance of Citi Field features a rotunda named after Brooklyn Dodgers legend Jackie Robinson and honors his life and accomplishments. Engraved into the rotunda’s 160-foot diameter floor and etched into the archways are words and larger-than-life images that defined Robinson’s nine values: Courage, Excellence, Persistence, Justice, Teamwork, Commitment, Citizenship, Determination and Integrity. Robinson’s famous quote: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives,” is engraved into the upper ring of the rotunda. There is also an 8 foot sculpture of Robinson's number 42.[11] The formal dedication of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda was held as part of Major League Baseball's official celebration of Jackie Robinson Day on April 15, 2009.[18]

Home Run Apples

Another tradition from Shea Stadium making an appearance in Citi Field is the Home Run Apple. When a Mets player hits a home run, the giant apple, which has a Mets logo on the front that lights up, rises from its housing in the center field batter's eye. The new apple that has been constructed for Citi Field is more than four times the size of the previous one and was designed by Minneapolis-based engineering firm Uni-Systems.[19] Shea's original apple is located inside Citi Field's bullpen entrance gate.

Amenities and facilities

Behind the center field scoreboard is the 2K Sports FanFest area, an expanded family entertainment area that includes a miniature wiffleball field replica of Citi Field called Mr. Met's Kiddie Field, a batting cage, a dunk tank, video game kiosks and other attractions.[20][21]

File:Shake shack.jpg
The Shake Shack stand at Taste of the City in center field.
Citi Field was home to several sold-out games, filling a higher percentage of its seats per game than the New Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.[22]

Citi Field offers a wide choice of eateries. Taste of the City is a food court located in the center field section of the ballpark. It is run by restaurateurs Danny Meyer and Dave Pasternack and includes a variety of stands, including Shake Shack (burgers, fries, shakes), Blue Smoke (barbecue), El Verano Taqueria (Mexican cuisine), Box Frites (Belgian french fries) and Catch of the Day (seafood).[11][15] The World's Fare Market is located on the field level and features sushi from Daruma of Tokyo and sandwiches and pastries from Mama's of Corona.

File:Citi Field Large.png
Citi Field has a uniquely large outfield, making it especially difficult for players to hit home runs.

Restaurants and clubs are also available in every level of the ballpark. The 350-seat Acela Club, located in left field on the Excelsior Level, is the dining highlight of the new park and features a full view of the playing field as well as food from Drew Nieporent's Myriad Restaurant Group, renowned for Nobu and Tribeca Grill. [11] Citi Field also offers a choice of fresh fruit at several stands around the stadium. [23] Admission into the high-end luxury Acela and Delta clubs, and including the other semi-luxury clubs are exclusive to high-end ticket holders only, and some restaurants enforce that reservations be made.

Public opinion

Despite the modern amenities, Citi Field has not been without criticism. Most notable have been fan complaints of obstructed views, as well as an overemphasis in the celebration of the Brooklyn Dodgers' legacy over the history of the Mets.[24][25] In response to these criticisms, the Mets have begun installation of photographic imagery of famous players and historic moments in team history on the Field and Promenade levels as well as the display of team championship banners on the left-field wall. The team is also working on fixing the obstructed views in the Promenade level.[26]

The New York Post reported that after less than a season Citi Field is in need of repairs. The stadium suffered water damage to several luxury suites as well as mold, falling signs and concrete, flooding in outfield seats, faulty electrical wiring and shoddy tile work. Mets VP David Howard acknowledged these problems, stating that they are minor and typical in new stadiums. [27]

Access and transportation

Citi Field is located in the borough of Queens, adjacent to the neighborhoods of Corona, which lies to its west, and Willets Point and Flushing to the east. Flushing Bay is to the north, and the rest of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park is to the south. Because it lies within the Flushing postal zone, and because of its location in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, its location is frequently referred to as Flushing[clarification needed].

Citi Field is reachable via mass transit systems such as the New York City Subway using the 7 train at the Mets–Willets Point station, and the Long Island Rail Road station also called Mets–Willets Point. For selected games, SeaStreak provides ferry service between Highlands, New Jersey and the World's Fair Marina, located approximately a quarter of a mile north of Citi Field. The park is also close to several major thoroughfares, including the Grand Central Parkway, Whitestone Expressway, the Long Island Expressway, the Van Wyck Expressway, Roosevelt Avenue and Northern Boulevard.

Citi Field is adjacent to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where the annual US Open grand-slam tennis tournament is held.

Since the construction of Citi Field began, satellite parking lots in Flushing Meadow Park (access from College Point Boulevard) have been opened.

Naming rights

On November 13, 2006, it was officially announced that the ballpark would be called Citi Field, named for Citigroup Inc. Citigroup will be paying $20 million a year for the naming rights to the park over the next 20 years. This made Citi Field the second major league sports venue in the area named for a corporate sponsor, (after Continental Airlines Arena (now Izod Center) in the Meadowlands, but preceding Prudential Center in Newark and the proposed Barclays Center in Brooklyn), officially becoming the first in New York City itself, aside from two minor league ballparks (KeySpan Park in Brooklyn, and Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island). The deal includes an option on both sides to extend the contract to 40 years, and is the most expensive sports-stadium naming rights agreement ever, subsequently equaled by Barclays' $400 million deal with the New Jersey Nets for their planned arena in Brooklyn.[28]

At the groundbreaking for Citi Field, it was announced that the main entrance, modeled on the one in Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field, will be called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, possibly due to campaigns to forgo naming rights revenue and name the ballpark after Robinson. The Mets are spending more than $600 million for the new ballpark, which New York City and New York state are also supporting with a total of $165 million for such costs as infrastructure and site preparation. On February 24, 2008, the Mets and Citigroup unveiled the new Citi Field logo.[29]

Controversy over naming rights

Both Citigroup[30] and the Mets[31] maintain that the naming rights deal is secure, despite Citigroup's economic troubles. This deal has been criticized in light of the economic crisis of 2008-2009 and the $45 billion of taxpayer funds allocated to Citigroup by the U.S. federal government in two separate rescue packages, prompting New York City Council members Vincent Ignizio and James Oddo to suggest that the new ballpark be called "Citi/Taxpayer Field." [32] Congressman Elijah Cummings of Maryland, who serves on the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, stated in regards to the Citi Field naming rights deal, "This type of spending is indefensible and unacceptable to Citigroup's new partner and largest investor: the American taxpayer.... I strongly urge Citigroup to find a way out of this contract and instead spend that $400 million on retaining its employees and restoring confidence in its operations."[33][34][35] On January 29, 2009, congressmen Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Ted Poe of Texas sent a letter to United States Secretary of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner urging him to scrap Citigroup's $400 million naming rights deal. "We request that you intervene and demand that Citigroup dissolve the agreement they have with the New York Mets," reads the letter. "Absent this outcome, we feel strongly that you should compel Citigroup to return immediately all federal monies received to date, as well as cancel all loan guarantees."[36][37] However, Geithner rejected congressional demands to cancel the naming rights deal.[38]

The Wall Street Journal reported on February 3, 2009 that Citigroup considered breaking the naming rights deal. Citi has stated that no government TARP funds would be used in the sponsorship deal.[39]

Inaugural season patches

The design for the inaugural sleeve patch was criticized by fans and media.
File:Citi field 2009 cap logo.jpg
The design for the inaugural cap patch.

On January 14, 2009, the Mets unveiled the Citi Field Inaugural Season sleeve patch, which is worn on the players' right sleeves for the 2009 season. As Major League Baseball rules prohibit corporate names on uniforms, the standard Citi Field logo could not be used.[40] The patch echoes the shape, colors and orientation of the Citi Field logo, with the name replaced by "INAUGURAL SEASON 2009". Reaction to the patch was immediate and negative from Mets fans and critics alike,[41] with ESPN Uni Watch writer and blogger Paul Lukas calling it the "worst sleeve patch in MLB history".[42] Several fans have pointed out a resemblance between the sleeve patch and the logo for Domino's Pizza,[43] and the patch was mocked on an episode of The Colbert Report.[44]

In February 2009, the Mets unveiled a different patch, which is worn on the side of the caps and featuring the arches of the Jackie Robinson rotunda.[45]

Stadium comparison

In its opening season, Citi Field drew over 3.1 million fans with a game average of 92.7% of seats filled, 4th best in baseball.
Citi Field's left field foul pole.
An eight-foot blue sculpture of a stylized uniform number, 42, set atop a polished interior walkway
Memorial in the Jackie Robinson Rotunda inside Citi Field, dedicated April 15, 2009
Stadium Name Shea Stadium Citi Field[46]
Opening Day April 17, 1964 April 13, 2009
Capacity 57,333 45,000 with standing room
Seat width 19" to 20", 19" average 19" to 24", 21" average
Legroom 32" 33" to 39"
Average concourse width 21 ft (6.4 m). 43 ft (13 m).
Wheelchair seating 174 830
Luxury suites 45 54
Restaurants (total capacity) 2 (528) 4 (3,334)
Team store 2,600 sq ft (240 m2). 7,201 sq ft (669.0 m2).
No. of toilets 568 646
Seats per toilet 101 70
Public elevators 4 (Otis Traction) 11 (9 Otis Gen2, and 2 Otis Hydraulic)
Field dimensions (feet) Left field line- 338
Left field 1 - 358
Left Field 2 - 371
Left center - 396
Center field - 410
Right center - 396
Right field 2 - 371
Right field 1 - 358
Right field line- 338 		Left field line- 335
Left field - 371
Left center - 384
Center field - 408
Right center - 415
Right field - 378
Right field line- 330
Fence heights (feet) Entire fence - 8 Left field foul pole - 12
Left field - 15
Left center - 15
Left of dead center - 11
Dead center - 16
Right of dead center - 11
Right center - 8
Right field - 18
Right field foul pole - 8

Notable events

  • April 13, 2009 - Jody Gerut of the San Diego Padres hit the first home run at Citi Field, becoming the first player in Major League Baseball history to open a ballpark with a leadoff home run.[47]
  • April 17, 2009 - Gary Sheffield hit his 500th home run against the Milwaukee Brewers, becoming the first player to reach this milestone as a pinch hitter. It was Sheffield's first home run as a Met, which made Sheffield the first player to hit number 500 as his first home run with a new team.[48]
  • June 28, 2009 - Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees recorded his 500th career save, becoming only the second relief pitcher to reach this milestone. The Mets gave Rivera the pitching rubber from Citi Field used in the game in honor of his achievement. (Rivera's only run batted in, on a bases-loaded walk, also occurred in the game.)[49]

Other events

File:Citi Field Sunset.png
A sunset in Flushing, Queens lights up the sky over Citi Field

Paul McCartney performed a series of three sold-out concerts at Citi Field in July, 2009. McCartney, as a member of The Beatles, performed in the first concert at Shea Stadium during their 1965 U.S. Tour as well as in its final concert in 2008 along with Billy Joel.[50]

Citi Field was slated to host a United Football League game for the New York Sentinels on November 4, 2009.[51] However, the venue has been changed to James M. Shuart Stadium at Hofstra University.[52]

Citi Field made an appearance in the Ugly Betty episode Curveball.[53]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Citi Field.

Notes

  1. ^ St. John's Red Storm 2009 baseball schedule
  2. ^ DiComo, Anthony (2008-12-17). "Two exhibition games set for Citi Field". MLB.com. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  3. ^ Rubin, Adam (2008-03-14). "Mets likely to get 2013 All-Star Game". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  4. ^ Kernan, Kevin (2009-07-15). "Source: All-Star Game at Citi Field in 2013". New York Post. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  5. ^ a b "Bonus Season for Baseball". The New York Times. 2002-01-17. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  6. ^ a b c d Bagli, Charles V. (2002-01-16). "Bloomberg Says Details On Stadiums Were Omitted". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  7. ^ "Daktronics to provide 12,000 square feet of integrated scoring and video display technology at Citi Field" (Press release). New York Mets. 2008-01-28. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  8. ^ Bloom, Barry M. (2008-09-27). "Citi Field nearing completion". MLB.com. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  9. ^ Shpigel, Ben (2008-12-02). "Citi Field Starting to Look Like a Real Ballpark". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  10. ^ DiComo, Anthony (2008-12-02). "Citi Field nearly ready to open its doors". MLB.com. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  11. ^ a b c d http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/citifield/index.html
  12. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/nym/ballpark/events/eventspaces.jsp?content=knothole
  13. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=290610121
  14. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=5264063 Utley's Corner - first reference
  15. ^ a b Collins, Glenn (2009-03-24). "For Mets Fans, a Menu Beyond Peanuts and Cracker Jack". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
  16. ^ Price, Bill (2009-04-12). "Pepsi Porch great for Mets fans, but maybe not for Ryan Church". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  17. ^ "PepsiCo Joins Mets as Newest Signature Partner at Citi Field" (Press release). Major League Baseball. 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  18. ^ "Robinson family, Mets, Citi, Jackie Robinson Foundation, Major League Baseball, government leaders dedicate Jackie Robinson Rotunda at Citi Field" (Press release). New York Mets. 2009-04-15. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  19. ^ "Two MN Companies Keep Baseball Tradition Alive". KEYC-TV News. 2009-01-20. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  20. ^ http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/ballpark/guide.jsp
  21. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/nym/ballpark/fanmap_fieldlevel.jsp
  22. ^ http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance/_/sort/homePctl
  23. ^ Fernandez, Manny (2009-08-29). "Buy Me Some Peanuts and Nectarines". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  24. ^ Strang, Katie (2009-04-13). "Many fans unhappy with bad views at Citi Field". Newsday. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  25. ^ Herrmann, Mark (2009-07-13). "A tale of two new ballparks". Newsday. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  26. ^ Rubin, Adam (2009-08-14). "Mets adding more Mets to Citi Field". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  27. ^ "Mets in 'foul' territory". New York Post. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  28. ^ Wolf, Barnet D. (2007-04-29). "The Name Game: Company banners flying on more college stadiums, arenas". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  29. ^ "Mets honor Robinson at new home". New York Daily News. 2006-11-14. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
  30. ^ Brown, Maury (2008-11-22). "Amidst Near Collapse, Cititgroup Confirms Retaining Naming Rights Deal with Mets". The Biz of Baseball. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  31. ^ Klayman, Ben (2008-11-21). "Citigroup naming rights deal still in place-Mets". Forbes.com/Reuters. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  32. ^ "Pols want new name for Mets home: Citi/Taxpayer Field". USA Today. 2008-11-26. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
  33. ^ Irwin, Neil (2008-11-24). "U.S. Offers Citigroup Expansive Safety Net". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
  34. ^ Cummings, Elijah (2008-11-24). "Citigroup's Spending Indefensible and Unacceptable". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  35. ^ Nasaw, Daniel (2008-11-25). "Baseball stadium named for Citigroup faces scrutiny". Retrieved 2008-11-25. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |Newspaper= ignored (|newspaper= suggested) (help)
  36. ^ Herbert, Keith (2009-01-30). "Pols call for Mets to scrap Citigroup naming rights deal". Newsday. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
  37. ^ Grim, Ryan (2009-01-29). "Rename Citi Field: Bipartisan Push In House". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
  38. ^ Sisk, Richard (2009-02-13). "Mets fans will have to deal with Citi Field as name of stadium, says Rep. Barney Frank". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  39. ^ Enrich, David; Futterman, Matthew; Paletta, Damian (2009-02-03). "Citi Explores Breaking Mets Deal". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  40. ^ Kepner, Tyler (2009-01-14). "Mets' Latest Off-Season Problem? A Dull Patch". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  41. ^ Paul, Tony (2009-01-16). "Cause for a pause: Mets' fans, critics reach consensus -- patch needs work". Detroit News. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  42. ^ Lukas, Paul (2009-01-09). "Ladies and gentlemen, the worst sleeve patch in MLB history". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  43. ^ Sandoval, Edgar; Melago, Carrie (2009-01-14). "Love 'em or hate 'em? Yankees, Mets reveal 2009 stadium patches". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  44. ^ ""Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger"". The Colbert Report. 2009-01-15. {{cite episode}}: Check |episodelink= value (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |serieslink= (help); External link in |episodelink= (help); Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  45. ^ Noble, Marty (2009-02-19). "Mets unveil additional patch for caps". MLB.com. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  46. ^ "Citi Field Side-by-Side Comparison". Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  47. ^ Gagne, Matt (2009-04-14). "Padres' Jody Gerut opens Citi Field with a bang, homering on third pitch". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  48. ^ Ghiroli, Brittany (2009-04-18). "Sheffield joins elite club with No. 500". MLB.com. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  49. ^ Waldstein, David (2009-09-29). "Burnett Looks Sharp as He Prepares for First Postseason". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  50. ^ Farber, Jim (2009-06-03). "It's official: Paul McCartney will play first shows at Mets' new Citi Field". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  51. ^ "UFL Team Will Play at Citi Field". New York Post. Associated Press. 2009-08-14. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  52. ^ Kossak, Andrew (2009-10-22). "UFL wisely moves Sentinels game out of Citi Field". Pro Football Examiner. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
  53. ^ http://www.broadcastingcable.com/blog/BC_Beat/12576-_Ugly_Betty_Celebrating_Renewal_At_Citi_Field.php
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