44 years, 16,060 days, 23,126,400 minutes.
This is the life of Shea Stadium, born on April 17, 1964 and closing fall 2008. It will leave behind a legacy, two World Series rings, miracles, disasters, MVPs and Hall of Famers, and a large parking lot.
It will say goodbye to the infamous Mr. Met, the "cowbell guy," and of course all of the fans who have been through it all. From the 1986 World Series when Bill Buckner gave the Mets a Game Seven and eventually a championship, to the 2007 late season collapse with a seven game lead and 17 games to play.
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But it's not over. As Shea Stadium says farewell, Citi Field says let's meet the Mets! In 2009, all we can do is hope that Citi Field brings along some luck.
With a lineup of multiple All-Stars, their chances look good, but as we know from last season, that is easier said than done. When the Mets play their last season at Shea, we hope that they can give it the ultimate gift—October Baseball.
The closing of Shea Stadium and the welcoming of Citi Field give Mets fans something to cheer about, despite last year's collapse.
I hope to purchase one of Shea Stadium's seats as well as a Citi Field brick. It will be the end of an era, but a new beginning is on the horizon. I find it appropriate that the Mets will say goodbye to Shea by the end of this season and hopefully put the horrors of the '07 season behind them once and for all.
Shea Stadium has 81 games left, excluding the playoffs. I pray that Shea will go down with a smile on his face and a third World Series ring.
Hey, we ain't called the Amazins' for nothing.
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7 months ago
Fans who've been through it all...from 86? You must be a young Mets fan...
How about from 64? I've been going to Shea since they put that concrete cavern up. After all I've lived in Flushing my whole life.
69 was still by far the best season in Mets history. Anyone who tells you any different is a moron.
As for Shea and nostalgia, let me tell you - there is none. New York got boned by Robert Moses when they built Shea. It was opened before they finished it and then never went back and finished it.
There's been more bad baseball played in that place than any other stadium in America. The Mets were bad - I MEAN BAD - for long stretches before you started watching them: from '62-68, '76-83 and then in the 90's.
Don't forget the disgraceful performances the Jets and their fans turned in from 64 until '84. The Yankees played at Shea in 74 and 75 - they did not make the playoffs. The Giants played at Shea in 75. Craig Morton was the QB. You can guess what kind of season they had.
Now Mets' ownership is attempting to gouge the fans through sentimentality. But Shea has no sentimentality. Its a dump. They raised their ticket prices 20% to try take advantage of Shea's last season.. I am a long time season ticket holder. I ripped up the invoice and called the Mets to tell them that after 27 years, I'm closing my account. I'm fairly well off financially, but I refuse to be ripped off. It turns out I'm not alone. My pal in the Mets ticket office tells me there are many cancellations so far this year.
If they raised the prices THIS year, waht are the prices at CITIField going to be like?
I'll still be a Met fan. I want to see them win. From a fan who can walk to the stadium, I'd rather watch the game on TV....
7 months ago
Fans who've been through it all...from 86? You must be a young Mets fan...
How about from 64? I've been going to Shea since they put that concrete cavern up. After all I've lived in Flushing my whole life.
69 was still by far the best season in Mets history. Anyone who tells you any different is a moron.
As for Shea and nostalgia, let me tell you - there is none. New York got boned by Robert Moses when they built Shea. It was opened before they finished it and then never went back and finished it.
There's been more bad baseball played in that place than any other stadium in America. The Mets were bad - I MEAN BAD - for long stretches before you started watching them: from '62-68, '76-83 and then in the 90's.
Don't forget the disgraceful performances the Jets and their fans turned in from 64 until '84. The Yankees played at Shea in 74 and 75 - they did not make the playoffs. The Giants played at Shea in 75. Craig Morton was the QB. You can guess what kind of season they had.
Now Mets' ownership is attempting to gouge the fans through sentimentality. But Shea has no sentimentality. Its a dump. They raised their ticket prices 20% to try take advantage of Shea's last season.. I am a long time season ticket holder. I ripped up the invoice and called the Mets to tell them that after 27 years, I'm closing my account. I'm fairly well off financially, but I refuse to be ripped off. It turns out I'm not alone. My pal in the Mets ticket office tells me there are many cancellations so far this year.
If they raised the prices THIS year, waht are the prices at CITIField going to be like?
I'll still be a Met fan. I want to see them win. From a fan who can walk to the stadium, I'd rather watch the game on TV....
7 months ago
Amen to that
7 months ago
John:
Good to hear from another guy who remembers the "bad old days". Growing up in Woodside I saw Shea rise from the ash heap that was Flushing Meadows during Sunday drives out to see the relatives on LI. But what amazes my kids is that I tell them that in 1964 Shea was palatial compared to the other stadiums in MLB. There was still old Forbes Field, Crosley Field, Connie Mack, cold and windy Candlestick, ricketty Yankee Stadium. Yes Dodger Stadium was (and still is) a jewel, and the Astrodome was billed as the "8th Wonder of the World". I agree the place is now a dump. But I spent oh so many days of my childhood in that dump. My mother would give my brother and I $5 between us to get us out of her hair on a Saturday afternoon. That 5 bucks bought 2 General Admission tickets, 2 roundtrips on the subway, 2 scorecards and 2 sodas. (you were still allowed to bring food into the stadium). We thought we were kings. We saw Mays, McCovey, Clemente, Ernie Banks, Drysdale and Koufax, those great Cardinals teams, Frank Robinson. It was amazing, even though the Mets stunk. The baseball was just amazing. And so, now in my 50's, I am torn. I eagerly await Citi Field, but I will get choked up when they tear down our dump on Roosevelt Avenue. Oh the fun I had there.
from 7 months ago
Guess you're right about Shea...I'll miss the times I had there, too.
I sat behind the Mets dugout for Jim Bunning's perfect game. I was sitting right behind the plate when Seaver fanned 19 Padres. I was in the Loge for Willie Mays' Mother's Day GW HR in 1972. I was at Game 1 of the 86 WS when the ball went through Teufel's legs and the Mets lost 1-0.
Plus both Monday Night Football games the Jets played at Shea
I guess it wasn't that bad a place...
7 months ago
I was at the black cat game against the Cubs. (Bordens Coupon Night), I was there on September 24, 1969 when the Mets won the NL East against the Cardinals thanks to Joe Torre hitting into those double plays. Stormed the field and came home with a hunk of Shea sod. I cut school in 1973 to see all the NLCS games and chanted "Rose Blows" from left field after the Rose/Harrelson dust up. (Yes, Rose played left in those days). Got another hunk of Shea a couple of days later. I watched Rusty Staub play courageosly in the '73 WS as well as Bowie Kuhn freeze his ass off. I was at all 4 games in '86 (and the 3 at Fenway too!) and still get goosebumps when I see the replays of the 10th inning from Game 6. I was there in '88 and had my heart torn out with Scioscia's dinger off Doc. I saw Agbayani and Pratt go deep in 2000, and nearly puked blood when Jeter led off the WS game with a HR after I watched the Mets beat the Yankees decisively the night before.
Attending Met games now is an expensive treat. With college tuitions, etc. my time there is now cut down to a handful of games. We had good times and bad times, but isn't that what real life is about? This is what differentiates Met fans from Yankee fans. In life you don't win every time, so don't expect it. You'll just be disappointed. Yankee fans expect to win every game and anything less is a failure. Like their games at Yankee Stadium they are joyless. Baseball is the best game ever invented. Enjoy the good and the bad. What's better than sitting at a ball game with your family? I always think of my late father when I'm at Shea. He introduced me to the game and I've done the same with my kids. My dad's hero was Carl Hubbell an my middle name is Carl, and I've passed it down to one of my sons. And so it continues....
7 months ago
You obviously no nothing about the Mets- it's not "Cowbell Guy", it's "Cowbell Man"- it even says that on the back of his jersey!
about 1 month ago
I was at The Black Cat Game, and Game 5 of the '69 Series. I also was at the Division clincher in '69, and joyously brought home my booty - large clumps of Shea sod, which I dutifully planted in my sparse Brooklyn backyard the next day.
It was a joy to be alive, and only in the 8th grade !
But that was when a 13 year old kid could travel alone . . .
Although there have been memories, oddly, I don't harbor any love for that particular building. . .
I kind of tried to honor the memories by attempting to purchase Billy Joel tickets on Ticketmaster when they went on sale two months ago. They wanted something like $125 for the nosebleeds, and I passed.
Nor am I interested in the new "Citi Field". . . greed has killed the romantic idealist in me.
I DID go to Yankee Stadium in April against the Tigers, but that was only because I bought two $55 buck box seats for the price of one, from a buddy who has season tickets. These season plan Field level seats costing $55 each will be $200 each next year. They are getting $135 for the first row of the upper deck at the "new" Yankee Stadium next year.
I believe the Mets announced their prices for next year, today. They will also be exorbitant, and mirror the pyramid economy that is quickly falling around us.
By the way, I'll never forget The Black Cat Game, and the way Shea used to vibrate and shake whenever a Met barelled around third to score the unlikely winning run in '69, the year we landed on The Moon.
Thanks for the memories chaps.
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