Word out of the New York Daily News has dimensions at Citi Field remaining the same for 2010 as for 2009. While the new Mets playpen has played large, it's not THAT big, as it's only 11th out of 16 NL parks in home runs per game.
Certainly injuries have played a part in the Mets' woeful 2009 home run total, but the park is big. However, instead of whining, it's not incumbent upon GM Omar Minaya to build a club capable of excelling in the new park.
A look at other recently built parks shows an organizational philosophy devoted to building a team that can thrive in its surroundings. The Giant and Padre parks both play large, so they developed outstanding pitching staffs. The Phillies' park plays small, so they went about building a team that hits bombs.
Citi Field would be a good spot to host a team similar to the 1980s Cardinals under Whitey Herzog. Get fast guys that hit the ball on the ground and hit line drives, and just let them run. Vince Coleman, Willie McGee and Ozzie Smith wouldn't have been nearly as effective playing in Atlanta or another park where the ball flew, because they couldn't hit it out anyway. But in St. Louis, they led the Cards to three World Series appearances in six years from 1982-87.
Learn from that, Omar.
Or don't. It won't bother me as a Phillies fan.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment