With construction getting down to small detail stage, Jeff Wilpon and the Mets threw open the doors to Citi Taxpayer Field for a media tour on Tuesday. The Mets' new park is expected to be "game-ready" by late January and, as if I need to say it, Citi is going to be quite a bit nicer than Shea Stadium, which will be a parking lot come April. Follow the jump for some reviews (plus a video) of the folks who took an early sneak peek.

Ben Shpigel, NY Times: "Wilpon (right), who guided our tour, told us that David Wright, Nick Evans and Daniel Murphy took batting practice not long after the season ended, before the grass was installed, and that they seemed pleased with the park's dimensions and how the ball carried. The 16-foot wall in left field makes it a little difficult to pull home runs back, but the fence is noticeably lower in center (maybe 12 feet or so) and even lower in right. The trade off is the overhang, evocative of old Tiger Stadium, that should make patrolling right field a daily adventure. It is quite possible, Wilpon noted, for a ball to carom off the facade and onto the warning track or the grass."

Ken Davidoff, Newsday: "Each seat is angled to face home plate, and less foul territory will bring fans closer to the action. When you go for food — and the options will be plentiful (if expensive) — you can keep an eye on the field thanks to a 360-degree concourse. Many fans will enter the ballpark right into the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, a shrine to the groundbreaker that will feature a '42' statue. And Mets fans will be pleased to know that places have been set aside for a brand new "Home Run Apple" (in centerfield, in front of the primary scoreboard) as well as the old one, carried over from Shea Stadium (in the "Diamond Plaza," behind the seats in centerfield)."

Anthony DiComo, MLB.com: "Yet of greater interest to Wright, Murphy, Evans and others in uniform, of course, is what lies deeper within the stadium. Lockers have been fully installed in the home clubhouse -- Wright has already chosen his — and the carpet and bathroom tiles feature images of the fluorescent icons affixed to Shea Stadium's exterior walls. Adjacent rooms lead to some typical clubhouse amenities — the manager's office, kitchen and weight room, to name a few -- save for one in the back that houses a hot tub, a cold tub and an underwater treadmill. Unlike anything at Shea Stadium, that room, along with one for indoor batting cages and pitching mounds, will allow players to rehab injuries at Citi Field, rather than always fly to the team's Spring Training complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Danielle Sessa, Bloomberg: "The chief operating officer of the New York Mets defended the baseball team's deal to call its new ballpark Citi Field even after sponsor Citigroup Inc. was bailed out by the U.S. government. 'It's good business for both of us to have the partnership and a relationship,' Jeff Wilpon told reporters after a tour the new stadium in Flushing, New York. 'I understand that there is some upsetness in the marketplace, but we don't agree with it.'" 

Bart Hubbuch, NY Post: "Jeff Wilpon and the Mets gave the local beat reporters a behind-the-scenes look at Citi Field today. My first impression: Very, very nice. It reminded me of a larger PNC Park in Pittsburgh, and the fans are going to love it. It seems to be about 85 percent done, although the grass and pitcher's mound are already in ... The most impressive thing to me was the home clubhouse, which is huge and redefines the word 'swank.'"

Ted Berg, SNY (via Mets Blog):