NO RELIEF

The verdict is in from one visiting team, and Citi Field drew less than rave reviews. At least, its visitors' bullpen did.

Todd Coffey of the Brewers (I had the Brewers' feed of the game on Sunday) says that from the visitors' bullpen at Citi Field it's a terrible view - you can barely see second base. He says he has no idea what's going on in the game. There's a monitor, he says, but it's on a time delay. Coffey called the bullpen "poorly designed".

And upon further review, he's probably right.
All in all, it doesn't bother me. The visitor's bullpens always get the short shrift in new places - call it part of the home field advantage.

It's a unique design, the bullpens at Citi Field. The benches are right next to one another. The other day the SNY cameras showed Pedro Feliciano just hanging out and talking to one of the Padres' relievers.

What I wonder is when things turn sour out there. The image of bench-clearing brawls is always of the bullpens emptying and relievers trickling in from the outfield to join in the fray on the field.

Citi Field may become the first park in baseball history where the players leave the bench...and head for the bullpen for the brawl that starts out there.

MORE APPRECIATION: Just publicly showing appreciation for what you already know - the Southern Bureau rocks. I love the series-ending recaps. It's also comforting to know that when I'm sick, like I was this weekend, the blog won't go for days without an update. Also, good nuggets of information - no sooner did the Southern Bureau suggest that Luis Castillo would be back to batting second than he was...for a day.