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The Home Run Apple at Citi Field

The Home Run Apple is a motorised apple prop in the batter's eye at Citi Field in New York City, New York State, United States which rises whenever the New York Mets score a home run. It was first installed in Shea Stadium in 1980 at the behest of Al Harazin with a replacement being installed at Citi Field in 2009. The original was 9 feet tall while the replacement is 18 feet tall and 16 feet wide.

History

The Home Run Apple at Shea Stadium in 2007

The Home Run Apple was originally installed at Shea Stadium in 1980 as a way to improve atmosphere at New York Mets games and an apple was chosen as a play on New York City's nickname of the "Big Apple". When it was first constructed, it was made of fiberboard and came out of a top hat with the slogan "Mets Magic". However the Mets only won 67 games during the 1980 season and the Home Run Apple became known as "Harazin's folly". Often the Apple would get stuck which necessitated an electrician to be sent to repair it. Over time the Apple became misshapen and was hard to maintain with a Mets executive stating ""It was just totally fabricated out of plaster layered on top of a metal screen with a wood frame inside."

In 2007, the Mets announced that the Home Run Apple would be retired. in response, Mets fans started a petition website called savetheapple.com in order to preserve the Apple. Due to popular demand including an 89% of surveyed fans stating they wanted it moved from Shea Stadium, the New York Mets announced that they would construct a new Home Run Apple to be installed in Citi Field. The old Home Run Apple from Shea Stadium was installed outside Citi Field near the home plate entrance.

The original Apple outside Citi Field

The Home Run Apple at Shea Stadium was operated using a motor and pulley-operated elevator mechanism while the Home Run Apple at Citi Field is powered by hydraulics and is operated from the control room which requires a key to be turned and button to be pressed to activate it. Despite the improved engineering on the new Apple, it is still susceptible to failure. In 2009 when Fernando Tatis hit a home run for the Mets, the apple didn't rise. The fans booed and chanted "we want apple" for two and a half minutes until it was eventually raised.

Baseball

During Major League Baseball matches, the Home Run Apple is only raised for New York Mets home runs. However an exception to this happened in 1998 when the Mets' Subway Series rivals, the New York Yankees were forced to play one of their home games at Shea Stadium because of a building code violation at Yankee Stadium. During the match, former Mets player Daryl Strawberry hit a home run and the Apple was raised for him.

In 2015 when Travis d'Arnaud hit a home run that hit the Home Run Apple in the first game of the 2015 National League Championship Series, a plaster was put on the Home Run Apple where d'Arnaud had hit it.