The New York Mets have mastered the knack of dashing their fans’ hopes for a World Series flag with September swoons in the past two seasons, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that they’ve found a way to dampen opening day fever about their new ballpark.
Bowing to the aesthetics of Citigroup—the bailed-out bank that’s forking over $400 million over 10 years for naming rights to the Mets’ Citi Field—they’ve unveiled the dullest uniform patch ever conceived by the mind of corporate America. Instead of highlighting the facade of Ebbetts Field that they’re recreating to replace Shea Stadium, the Mets accepted a Citigroup-style patch with “Inaugural Season” in white letters aslant on a blue square with “2009″ in horizontal white letters in an orange box across the bottom.