New York Mets: My tour of Citi Field was better than expected

Citi Field is one of the most beautiful baseball stadiums with plenty to do aside from watching the game. I decided to check out a tour of the New York Mets home and was blown away with it.

A few months ago, I was trying to find things to do since the New York Mets were no longer playing baseball. I decided to look into tours of Citi Field just for the heck of it and see what they offered. Surprisingly enough, I found multiple different tours at very affordable prices.

The Mets offer a non-game day tour, three different game day tours, and private/group tours. I decided to try out the non-game day tour. This tour is only $20 a ticket for adults and $15 for kids twelve and under.

The non-game day tour advertises the Mets Hall of Fame, the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, the dugout, the clubhouse, and much more. The one downfall to the tours is that they are only offered two days out of the week at one set time, which is Wednesday and Friday at 11:00 A.M. With that being said, the tour does last around an hour and allows you to take pictures and videos.

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The tour starts in the main entrance, the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. The tour guides go over the history of Jackie Robinson and his contributions to the game of baseball. The guides also cover some interesting facts regarding the rotunda, like how many bricks hold it up.

The next stop we went to was a giant wrap-around hallway under the stadium. This giant hallway has access to pretty much everything in the stadium and can bring you wherever you need to go. The hallway has amazing artwork all throughout with various different murals and pictures from the history of the Mets.

The first room we entered from the hallway was the Mets Press Conference Room. The room is a lot bigger than expected, there are many rows of seats waiting to be occupied by reporters. With that being said the only thing they ever show on video is the table and microphones with whoever is sitting there with Mets backdrop. In addition the rows of seats, the room also has bathrooms connected and different pictures and newspaper covers from the past hanging on the walls.

Our next stop was upstairs to the Control Room. The Control Room is actually viewable to the public during games behind a glass window, but you cannot get as close or get an explanation as to what is going on in the room during the game. We were brought right up to the glass and told what exactly goes on in the room. There are a ton of video monitors that control and access the many different camera angles we see on tv. The coolest thing in the room, in my opinion, was actually the button that controls the apple from going up and down following a Mets home run.

Right next to the Control Room is the Foxwoods Club. The Foxwoods Club is a giant room located behind home plate with a view of the parking lot. The parking lot view is right where Shea Stadium used to stand and you can actually see where the bases were as they are in the pavement now. The Foxwoods Club also leads to the booths for the radio, television and press boxes in addition to various suites.

The next destination of the tour landed us in the Press Box. We got to sit in where various writers will sit during the game and write. We were also told some interesting facts regarding Citi Field, one being that the Mets are the only team that does not have yellow foul poles, theirs are orange.

Following the Press Box, we moved onto the Luxury Suites. The hallway leading to the Suites were lined with giant baseball cards of past Met players hanging on the wall. We were then brought into one of the Porsche Suites behind home plate. The suite included a tv, couches, a personal buffet, and an outdoor sitting area to watch the game.

The next part of the tour is probably the best part. We entered the Mets Clubhouse. Unfortunately, this was the only part of the tour where pictures and videos were not allowed to be taken. Despite no pictures or videos being allowed, it was still one of the greatest things that I have experienced and I would imagine other people have experienced.

Upon entering the Clubhouse we were able to see the teams workout facility, the offices for the coaching staff, the lunchroom, the batting cages, an indoor sprinting track, and of course the actual clubhouse where the players’ lockers are and where they get ready for the game.

After leaving the Clubhouse we walked down the hallway to our next destination, the dugout. We were brought up the stairs from the hallway to the beautiful view of the field and dugout. Being able to view what Major League Baseball players view on a daily basis was one of the coolest things one can imagine.

The next thing we got to do was actually walk up those dugout stairs and step foot onto the field. Unfortunately, we could not go onto the grass or around home plate, but I’m not going to complain due to everything else I got to experience. We were allowed to walk the warning track behind home plate and eventually down the right field foul line until we got to the bullpens.

Once we got to the bullpens we walked in and got to see a close-up view. I was shocked to find out that they actually have a small indoor room with a tv and a bike to warm up on. The bullpen was connected to the giant wrap-around hallway that I mentioned earlier.

Our final destination of the tour was the Mets Hall of Fame. The Mets Hall of Fame is connected to the Jackie Robinson Rotunda in the main entrance. It is accessible to the public on any given game day, but it was nice to have someone walk you through the history too.

Following the tour, we were given a discount to the team store at the stadium. When it was all said and done, the Citi Field tour was one of the best things I have ever experienced, especially for the price of $20 a person. To be able to step on the field, go in the dugout and in the clubhouse, to getting a look at suites and other things behind the scene, it is definitely something I will never forget.

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To any Mets fan with $20, you won’t be disappointed if you give it a shot.