Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

I've spent so much times talking about the Mets homes, old and new, the appropriate way to prep for the upcoming season is to focus on their Florida home, Tradition Field in Port Saint Lucie. It's March 2007 and batting practice time for the Orioles, who've made the drive up 95 for a night game. And we're underway... with Mets leadoff man Jose Reyes lining one up the middle.

Following the "de-construction" of Shea Stadium has turned into a serial drama (working 10 minutes away in Astoria doesn't hurt). Now the remnant of the grandstand is down to just one section -- and the view from the highways and surrounding roads is dominated by Citi Field. Every week, there's less and less of Shea to catch your eye. The circular structure is reduced to its girders and stripped of flooring, of seats, of anything of value except to a steel recycler (did you see the 60 MINUTES segment tonight on Nucor, the company that specializes in reusing old metal?) Peering at the perimeter I walked so many times, my gaze focused on an entrance, the old ticket windows, the ramps leading to the upper decks. Look closer, beneath the awning... Zooming in on what I believe may have been the press and Diamond Club gate, I was struck how the entrance I used countless times now opens to -- a view of the future. The final segment came down on Wednesday, February 18th...

Sunday, with temperatures soaring into the 50s, I had the chance to return to the construction site in Queens for more views of the new Citi Field and the gradual demise of Shea Stadium. When seen from the perimeter of the parking lot, it's clear that the Mets' goal of evoking the image of the hallowed Ebbets Field has succeeded. Below, an old versus new comparison, from just beyond the elevated number-7 subway line. Above: From a certain angle, the two ballarks almost seem as one. In this visual illusion, Citi Field appears to grow out of the remnants of Shea. This shot certainly evokes the classic Frank Sinatra song "There Used to Be a Ballpark."