I've recently been able to go to baseball games at the new stadiums here in NY. Citi Field is the new home of the Mets and the Yankees have moved to the new Yankee Stadium. I'm not much of a baseball fan but do lean toward the Mets, I have fond memories of the Mets winning the World Series in 1986. Although I prefer the Mets I'm not a Yankee hater either and jumped at the chance to go to a Yankee game when free tickets were offered to me. I've been to Shea Stadium several times, but I hadn't been to the old Yankee Stadium in years. My only other reference was PNC Park in Pittsburgh, which is a great stadium.
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| CitiField |
My seats at Citi Field when I went were Mezzanine level at 3rd base and my seats at Yankee Stadium were field level at first base. I like Citi Field better then Yankee Stadium overall, but both have some neat things. Overall as a stadium I liked Citi better because it felt cozier. The way the stadium is designed it is fairly closed in, Shea really opened up out as you went up, but Citi stays tighter into the field. This made it more intimate. Yankee Stadium also seems to open up wider then Citi does, though this could have to do with the difference in the location of my seats, but even just looking at the stadium I think this holds true no matter where you are seated.
Citi Field is family friendlier, there are some childrens activities there - wiffle ball and a dunk tank. My 10 year old nephew wanted to do both, but we only let him do the dunk tank. Citi Field is also cheaper to get tickets at, which is family friendly.
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| Yankee Stadium |
Food at Citi Field is also more convenient. Each of the levels (except maybe the 500 level seats) has its own private club for dining. The club on the Mezzanine level has all the regular foods which you wait on line for, but there are lots of tables and TV screens so it's a nice place to eat. In the walkways around the stadium there is also the typical food stations. Behind the outfield is a large eating area, I thought this area was overrated, there were a few tables where you would stand at, but no seating. It was quite crowded throughout the game too, but there is a large selection of beers here. But I liked that the option was here, and that you can watch the game on a jumbo tron.
I was in some pretty nice seats at Yankee Stadium, they were really well padded and a bit wider. The seats were the first row of the second section at field level, sweet! Here they would bring your food to you. Well you ordered it from your seats and it was brought to your seats, you just paid a 20% gratuity. Unfortunately, the menu wasn't that great so we didn't partake in this. The section in front of us had a better menu and got free bags of M&M's. So this is more convenient then anything that I saw at Citi Field but it's lack of selection made it not as useful. The atmosphere at Yankee Stadium was a little more serious and the environment was a little more hard core about baseball. And well there is something to be said for the Yankees players, they're all big names and with the right field being very generous to home runs games can be more exciting.
So if you're just looking for a fun baseball game then seeing the Mets and Citi Field will be fun, and you'll save a bit of money. If seeing the best players is your thing, then head to Yankee Stadium. But both stadiums will deliver a fun experience. Play ball...
