Shea And The Citi

Who was William A. Shea anyway?* Now it doesn’t matter:

Citigroup Inc. will put its name on the Mets’ new stadium in a deal reportedly worth $20 million a year, sources close to the negotiations said yesterday.

“CitiField” — as the new ballpark will be called — is scheduled to be ready by the 2009 season and will be located right next to the old Shea in Flushing.

The Mets plan a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday and sources told Bloomberg News they will officially reveal the new name then.

. . .

Bloomberg News reported that Citigroup — the nation’s biggest bank — may be paying as much as $20 million a year for the honor of gracing the 2006 National League Eastern Division champs’ new stomping grounds.

. . .

The stadium’s new name was first reported on the Internet blog hotfoot.metsblog.com, where a reader wrote that his father was working on the new ballpark and noticed a sign at the construction site that read, “CitiField: Coming in 2009.”

*It’s never too late to learn!