Citi Field

Citi Field opened in 2009 with a left-field wall 16 feet tall, and for three seasons it suppressed home runs like few parks in the Major Leagues. The Mets had built a pitcher's park — center field measured 408 feet to the wall, right-center stretched to 415, and the left-field wall, tall and flat, picked up the nickname the Great Wall of Flushing. David Wright hit five home runs there in the inaugural season. The dimensions were the story of the building's early life, and the organization could not leave them alone.

Before the 2012 season, the Mets pulled right-center in from 415 feet to 390 and built an 8-foot wall in front of the 16-foot left-field wall. In 2023, they moved the right-field fence in another 8 feet and installed a new center-field scoreboard measuring 17,400 square feet — the largest in any MLB ballpark. The ground has been restless since the day it opened.

What Happened There

On June 1, 2012, Johan Santana threw the first no-hitter in Mets franchise history, an 8-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The franchise had gone more than 50 years without one. The first Mets game at the park had its own footnote: on April 13, 2009, Jody Gerut of the Padres led off with a home run off Mike Pelfrey — the first player in MLB history to open a new ballpark with a leadoff home run. A college game between St. John's and Georgetown had actually opened the park on March 29, 2009, before the Mets played their first regular-season home game against the Padres.

The Ground

Citi Field sits in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, about half a mile southeast of LaGuardia Airport, with planes frequently visible beyond the right-center-field fence. It replaced the adjacent Shea Stadium, demolished shortly before the new ballpark opened. The architecture firm Populous designed it, and the Jackie Robinson Rotunda — a wide entrance that greets fans arriving from the train station, inspired partly by Ebbets Field — is the feature most identified with the building. Citigroup holds the naming rights at a reported $20 million per year.

The Mets have called Citi Field home since 2009. The fences have already moved twice.

Reporting: Wikipedia, MLB.com, This Great Game. Park data: MLB StatsAPI and Retrosheet, via the Fever engine.