Two New York Stadiums, Two Thumbs Down

Right now, baseball's biggest joke is the new Yankees Stadium. Baseball's newest launching pad has caused great concern among baseball. That is why we can already tell that this ballpark has become a complete failure.

Yankees Stadium should be a cathedral, a landmark, but not a bandbox. We have not even reached the hot, humid summer months, and we have seen balls fly out of the park at an unprecedented rate. There have been 82 home runs hit in the first 21 games of the new park. That number is beyond belief, and the highest number of home runs in any park's first 21 games in baseball history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Also, there already have been nine games of five or more homers and three of seven or more. Fifty-one of the homers have gone to right field.

Maybe they designed the park this way so A-Rod can get to 800 career home runs without steroids. It's good that the Yankees acquired CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett this off-season, because they might not be able to recruit another free agent pitcher, regardless of the amount of money the Steinbrenner's throw at them. The good news, only 99 more years until its time to build another stadium.

Now, the Mets new stadium, Citi Field, and I must say that from an on-field standpoint, the ballpark works pretty well. The Mets wanted a pitcher-friendly park, and that is exactly what they have. They have a quirky wall out in right field, which adds some uniqueness. All of this makes the ballpark look nice on-field, however, it would be nice if all the fans could see the field. There is no excuse for having seats in the stadium where major parts of the outfield are blocked. Obstructed views should not be part of a state-of-the-art ballpark. I was sitting in the highest deck in the left field section, and I literally could not see one-third of the outfield.

Along with having obstructed views, I don't think the ballpark looks that great. I think they tried to hard to create an old ballpark feel to a new stadium, but they didn't accomplish that goal. Instead, it has an ugly in-between feel that is overwhelming. It is such a large structure amongst a bunch of auto shops in the middle of nowhere. You just don't get the comfortable atmosphere that you get in the newer parks such as PNC Park, Camden Yards, Nationals Park, or even Shea.

New York is supposed to have the biggest and the best. These two new ballparks have failed to live up to the hype.