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If You’re Banned From Citi Field, You’re Not Actually Banned From Citi Field

It’s an honorable title, being the first streaker at the New York Mets’ Citi Field. It belongs to 32-year-old Craig Coakley of Bayside, Queens, who slid into second base while naked at Citi Field back in 2009. Check it out:

The stunt earned him a $3,000 fine, 20 days of community service and a lifetime ban from Citi Field; but that has hardly disturbed his trips to the Mets’ home field. He recently spoke about it to the New York Post:

“The ban did little to slow down Coakley, who now attends games in sunglasses, caps and other costumes — taking a page from former Mets skipper Bobby Valentine, who momentarily sneaked back into the dugout in a sunglasses-and-moustache disguise after an umpire ejected him from a game in 1999.
‘I went to games four weeks later,’ Coakley boasted. ‘And I was just at a game on Memorial Day!’

Last week, he added a fake beard to his collection, giving him the appearance of a sporty Abe Lincoln.”

We probably wouldn’t advise speaking to the media about now illegal trips to Citi Field, but we doubt it matters. Anyone who has been to a baseball game knows that the only pre-entry screening process is possession of a ticket. And no food, of course, as the alternate universe of a sporting stadium scoffs at market-appropriate prices.

A quick Google search on the topic uncovered this interesting Slate article, which essentially concludes what you were already thinking: there’s no way to enforce lifetime bans. It’s not like teams hang “most wanted” posters throughout the stadium, or some clandestine facial recognition software lurks in the eye in the sky. Really, it’s poorly paid stadium workers shuffling tens of thousands of people through security and ticket barriers, waiting for the barrage to end so they can make their way home.

So while we appreciate the disguises, just for the pure absurdity of it all, it’s more than likely unnecessary.

[NY Post]

Photo via Neil Miller

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