Some Ballpark Stuff (Did Don LaGreca really say that?)

I mentioned in an earlier post that I put the 2 New York parks in about a C+ range, right around the mean of where I see MLB parks.

This week, ESPN 1050's Don LaGreca made the second ridiculous comment I've heard from him on Citi Field. Quite frankly, he is the 180 degree opposite of what I consider the ideal fan of a team to be, as he is one who thinks in the short term rather than to the overall good.

What I mean is that the long season sport is never to be viewed from the Small Sample prism, and not too much credence can be given to a couple of games. In this manner, he has made himself the mouthpiece for the Wilpon family, much like an old New York sportswriter had done with prior Mets management.

Those of you who are in my age group will remember the influential former Daily News columnist Dick Young, who represented the old world of sports, one that when we grew up we learned was mostly fiction.

To me, he has two lasting legacies, both of which were extremely negative for New York sports fans. First, as the beat writer for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950's, he completely misread Walter O'Malley's intention to leave for LA, writing repeatedly that there was no chance they would go. He revised this opinion at the very threshold of their departure to the West Coast. His special gift was continuously chastising O'Malley sole villain, something that I believed until learning better 20 years ago. I view this as a face-saving exercise on his part for playing the fool.

However, his most egregious action was his participation in the trade of Tom Seaver from the Mets in 1977, the "original sin" of the franchise. At the dawn of the Free Agent era, Seaver was working on a low ball contract, and wanted to be paid more in line with his status as the best pitcher in baseball. He was also very vocal in his unhappineess that the Mets did not make a play for any Free Agents in the Class of 1976.

M. Donald Grant was Chairman of the Mets, and didn't want to hear it. The impending higher salaries of the time were an anathema to him, and he wouldn't budge. Fine so far. But that wasn't enough.

He chose to plant a story badmouthing Seaver's wife, which Young gleefully printed. Seaver was furious, ended all discussions, and demanded the trade. The "sin" as such, beyond trading the face of the Mets, was the Grant legacy, one which is in the Met fans' DNA to this day: we don't want to be like the Yankees; we play the "kids"; we try to be a small market team. That's how you got the Wilpons.

Back to LaGreca. In a discussion about the dimensions of Citi Field last season, and specifically David Wright's missing power, he asked, "what's wrong with a park that plays better for triples?" I don't know Don, but maybe nobody will want to sacrifice their stats, and thus their livelihood, to play here for a franchise with a losing pedigree? Or was that by design by cheap owners with financial problems?

But it was this whopper this week that made me post. When comparing Yankee Stadium to Citi Field, he said something like "...well Citi Field is better than Yankee Stadium because it's not a shrine to the Yankees. At least Citi Field is original."

Original? Don, were you drugged and blindfolded each time you entered Citi Field? Did you somehow miss the fact that it's a deliberate facsimile of Ebbets Field? And if you were familiar with HOK parks built in the last 20 years, you would know that it shares design elements with at least 5 other parks built in this era. It's every bit as original as the next Applebees grand opening.

Your anti-Yankee slip is showing again. Please stop being Fred Wilpon's best friend, it's very unbecoming.