Calling Citi Field Anti-Home Run Is True But Misleading
Mets don't hit home runs anywhere
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The apple isn't getting much of a workout this season.
With all of the attention focused on the home runs flying out of Yankee Stadium at fantastic rates, the state of the round-tripper in Queens has gotten relatively little attention. Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Record tries to rectify that with an article pointing out how rarely the Mets put balls out of play at their home park.
Klapisch gets quotes from Carlos Beltran and David Wright, neither of him seem enthused with the deep, high fences in their new home. They've only got four homers between them at Citi, and the Mets have only gone deep 17 times as a team. Klapisch points out how rarely teams win the World Series while hitting home runs as rarely as the Mets, especially if they don't play stellar defense, which seems to implicate a serious miscalculation on the part of the stadium's design team.
Except that these Mets don't seem like they'd be hitting many home runs in any location. Klapisch doesn't mention that they've only hit 15 home runs in their road contests, even though they've had more plate appearances on the road. They've also allowed 19 home runs at home against 16 on the road, which makes it even clearer that there's more going on than just a stadium deflating power numbers.
Could it be the injuries that have ransacked the roster? Hard to argue against that when Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and Beltran have all been among the affected parties. Or maybe it has been the weather, which is getting more homer friendly, or its a combination of those things.
Citi certainly doesn't cater to home runs, but neither did Shea. Given the lack of facts to back up the assertion, there's no reason to think the stadium will be a detriment to the Mets any more than playing in a bandbox has been a problem for the Yankees. There are a lot of ways to skin a cat, and so far the Mets have shown that they'll make do in Citi Field just fine.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
