Shea Stadium wasn’t just the home to the New York Mets, it was my home. It was known to many outsiders as a “Dump.” But, like many Mets fans, I would say, “Sure…but it’s my dump.” Some people may have difficulty understanding how the closing of a sports stadium can be so emotional. Well it wasn’t just a Stadium for me. Let me explain…
Shea was the home to many magical moments: The black cat incident of 1969 and the black bat incident of 2008. The Beatles concert in 1966 and Billy Joel’s “Last Play at Shea” this year. The historic year of 1986: Parachute man flying into Shea, the ball through Buckner’s legs finally culminating with the franchise’s second World Series victory. Great present day memories like Todd Pratt’s walk-off homerun against the Diamondbacks in 1999, to Robin Ventura’s Grand Single to Mike Piazza’s game winning home run in the first game back after 9/11.
I’ve been going to Mets games at Shea Stadium for well over 20 years…for longer than I could remember. I grew up at Shea. I had my own seats…well they weren’t really mine. They were my dad’s friend’s seats. He would give us ticket to go to so many games a year. They were the best seats in the house in my opinion Loge Box Section 5 Row 329 Box A. You weren’t too close that you didn’t get a wide enough view of the field. But you were high enough and close enough that you got a great view, you heard all the sounds on the field, were in prime range for foul balls and you didn’t feel isolated from the game. Ironically enough, my dad’s friend left the company who seats he held just last week, when Shea closed. Shea was the place where I grew up learning my favorite sport…and got to know the players that have sketched my mind with so many memories. The Mets have only won one championship in my lifetime (I was 2 years old at the time). They have fielded some really bad teams and teams that have really broke my heart (e.g., last three years). But no matter how bad the team was, I was always excited to go to Shea. I’ve seen the Mets from most areas of the stadium, from the last seat in the upper deck in left field at a Subway Series game to sitting front row behind home plate (close enough so my colleague at work could yell at Tony LaRussa to put Tino Martinez in the game…Tino told the guy to be quiet). The only two places I regret never going was the picnic area, and on the field itself. That’s never going to happen now.
At Shea, I felt like I was apart of a community…a community where everyone had a common cause. Being a Mets fan was the only thing you needed to be accepted at Shea. I felt like I was timed warped back into the 60’s…everyone around me would greet me and offer a tidbit about how the Mets could win. “They should really start Chavez today,” to “Whatever they do…just please don’t bring in Rojas!.” Mets fans are unlike other fans…we’re real, authentic and passionate. We’re fun to watch a baseball game with, you never felt like just a spectator at Shea. Its one of the first things an outsider may realize about Shea. I’ll always remember the interesting people I encountered at Shea…whether it be Cow Bell Man (who I had to track down one day to get his autograph), the guys would walk around in orange suits, sign guy, the drunk guy who yelled at Rafael Furcal for his drinking problem (accusing him of being 46) or the guy who loved his seats because he was near the bathroom. Shea wasn’t Yankee Stadium…and that was a good thing. Shea was like the teams that played in it…gritty, imperfect and full of flaws. We didn’t get a bunch of wide-eyed tourists from Montana and Nebraska like Yankee Stadium. Shea Stadium was where the true New York fans were. It pains me to think that CitiField will be full of a bunch of corporate slacks. They are the only ones that can afford the hiked-up ticket prices.
Everything at Shea seemed so vibrant. Once you walked in your attention was immediately grabbed by the full gamut of colors: the green grass, the brown dirt, the orange, blue, green and red seats and the giant scoreboard (nobody in the country had a bigger scoreboard than Shea!). It was stimulating enough to wake up anybody who felt a little sluggish. As a kid, I couldn’t believe how green the grass was. I grew up in the suburbs and the greenest grass I saw in my life was in the middle of Queens! And grounds crew, led by Pete Flynn, would always have those cool patterns in the outfield. The best one was the one of the New York skyline, that must have taken forever. Speaking of skylines, at each game, whenever I sat down in my seat and in an attempt to be humorous I would point out beyond the outfield wall and say to whoever was with me…”will you just look at that beautiful Flushing skyline???” I mostly got a chuckle out of it. It was never funny. I said that bad joke until CitiField was built and blocked my view. I’m sure that most people were glad they started building that stadium for that reason. And I’ll always remember the smell of Shea…it honestly smelled like old beer. To this day, whenever I walk into a grocery store’s recycling section, I always comment how the old beer bottles remind me of Shea. It’s a dump, remember!
I loved tailgaiting in the parking lot before it game (until the parking lot was replaced by CitiField). I would have a catch (with whoever I could convince to put on a glove) and pretend that I was one of the players. Later in my life I would draw a crowd around my car because I would blast “Lazy Mary,” and my fellow Mets fans loved it! I hope they continue playing “Lazy Mary” in the 7th inning stretch at CitiField, that’s a Mets tradition that must never go. They got away from it a little this season. Anyway, I’ve skipped high school early…and even skipped out on a college class or two to be at Shea. I didn’t care if I got a bad grade or got in trouble…there was no where I would rather be than watching the Mets in my ballpark…my dump.
Going way back, I remember the first time I realized they had giant neon baseball players on the side of the stadium. It was one of my earliest memories…I was with my family on my way to my grandmother’s house in Jackson Heights. Those neon players looked so cool to me, but in reality they were cheezy in every way possible, it was quintessential “Shea.” Whenever my family visited my grandparents in Jackson Heights or Woodside on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon I would try to peek in the Stadium from the car and to get a glimpse of the game. Or during the offseason I would take a peek to see if they made any changes to the stadium. They never did…the only change they made annually was the always corny but hilarious slogan (for example, “CATCH THE ENERGRY!”and “SHOW UP AT SHEA!”) on the left field side of the stadium.
I’ll always remember going to Mets game with my dad as a kid. He grew up in Jackson Heights queens, a short five minute to drive to Shea. He would show me around the neighborhood and all point out the houses the Mets used to live in. My favorite was always Willie Mayes’ house right by the Grand Central Parkway. I used to love to drive down with my dad to Corona after the games and stop at the Lemon Ice King. Delicious. And speaking of food, Shea had the best Chicken Tenders…ever. They better have those at CitiField, Chicken Tenders with BBQ sauce and Nathan’s french fries…not that’s the “good stuff.”
Shea was a place of refuge for me. Whenever I walked through the turnstiles and the ticket-taker welcomed me to Shea, my worries were gone. I knew for the next three hours or so the only thing on my mind would be baseball…and that was enough to make me happy. I would always get a warm feeling when I walked in the Stadium.I For some reason I’ll never be able to explain I felt safe in Shea. While friends came and friends gone, Shea Stadium was always there for me. It was my rock. No matter how bad things were going for me, no matter how boring adolescence was, I could always look forward to going to Shea. Those feelings will be missed..
In a way, Shea was like my “Cheers” or “Central Perk.” It was a place I could go with my friends…a place where we could all agree upon. No one ever had a problem going to Shea, we all wanted to be there. Baseball was awesome and going to game was awesome. Going to games never got old because every game gave us new memories, new jokes and new stories. We went there to have a good time…and a good time we had. So many classic inside-jokes started at Shea…from turning my back whenever I hear “Sweet Caroline,” or the debate of whether the giant Dunkin Donuts Cup in the visitor’s bullpen is a Coolata or Iced Coffee (I still think it’s a Coolata) or “IT’S ALL ABOUT THE KIDS.” It was a place where I could talk to someone who I had nothing in common with. It was a place where I could met up with an old friend I haven’t seen in years and just shoot the shit for a couple of hours.
I had so many classic Shea memories. From yelling at Austin Kearns from right field, to seeing the sprinklers go off during a Pedro Martinez start, to seeing Glendon Rusch pitch a one-hitter (because of a crap bunt single in the first inning) to being at Shea the day the Mets traded Piazza. Mets fans were so excited that day in 1998…because the Mets mattered again. However, like anything else, I had my top 5. So without further ado, here they are, my top five Shea Stadium moments:
(5) Opening Day 1999: I’ve been to a lot of opening days, but this was my favorite. I was in 9th grade and was able to skip out of school early and catch this 8-1 win. I remember I left school after English class and classmates (who were Mets fans) were incredibly jealous. It wasn’t very often they were jealous of me. Anyway, I remember it was freezing and thinking “baseball shouldn’t be played this early.” But it didn’t matter, I would rather be cold at Shea than be warm in school. Me and my dad sat in the Loge section in right field and watched a great pitching performance from Bobby Jones…who even hit a home run! I was so happy to see all the players again (the 1999 Mets are my second favorite Mets team): Piazza, Olerud, Ordonez, Alfonzo, Ventura, Leiter…Shea was buzzing that day. We all knew that we had a contending team that year, and although it was only one win, it solidified everyone’s feelings on that team. Everyone was on a baseball high that day.
(4) My First Bruce Springsteen Concert: Bruce Springsteen is my God. But, I was not always a Springsteen fan. That all began on October 3rd, 2003. I drove down from Albany on a Friday to catch the concert because a bunch of colleagues I used to work with at the Brooklyn Cyclones got tickets through the Mets ticket system. When invited I said…”Yeah, what the hell I’ll go. I never been to a concert at Shea.” Well I knew that the night was going to be good before the show started because I saw Mick Foley (aka: Mankind, Cactus Jack, Dude Love) in the parking lot before the show! The show was amazing and Bruce was incredible! I couldn’t believe the energy this guy had. He is five days older than my dad and my dad sure as well would be exhausted after 3 minutes out there. He was running back and forth across the stage that was the size of the outfield. He was sliding around and doing knee dives! And the Shea crowd was really into it…all night I was hearing chants of “BRUUUUUUCE!” It was awesome to hear over 65,000 chant along to “Waiting on a Sunny Day.” This was Bruce’s first tour since 9/11 and people in the crowd were in tears when Bruce played his 9/11-themed “The Rising” and “My City of Ruins.” And to this day…I’ll never forget how every single person at Shea was dancing with a partner in their arm Bruce played “Rosalita (it instantly became of my favorite songs).” I even got to see Al Leiter on stage banging a tambourine during “Dancing in the Dark.” Needless to say, I’ve been hooked on Bruce since that day.
(3) The Catch: No…not Endy Chavez’s catch, but my own. April 3rd, 2002. Game two of what would be an extremely disappointing season. However that day hopes were still high. The highly anticipated Mo Vaughn his a mammoth home run and even got a curtain call from the crowd. In the 9th inning the Mets were down 4-3 and David Weathers was pitching to catcher Jason Kendall. I was sitting in my usual seats, Loge Box Section 5 Row 329 Box A. For those who don’t know, those seats are in the second row…about at the outer edge of the net behind home plate on the first base side. Me and my friends moved up to the first row because it started to rain and the people in front of us left. Now, to give you a play-by-play recount of what happened next: Weathers delivers the pitch…Kendall fouls it back to stay alive…holy crap its coming my way! Wait, not exactly my way, it’s below me. So what I later described as “reflex and moxy,” I took off my hat and leaned over the railing…my friend, also acting on some sort of reflex and holds my foot so I don’t fall over the rail. I feel the ball in my hat…HOLY CRAP I JUST CAUGHT THE BALL IN MY HAT! I get a standing ovation from the Shea faithful! Everyone around me wanted a high five. I remember the people behind me wanted to see the ball…but I was afraid they would run away with it (They promised to give it back, and they did). I was on a high for the rest of the day, boy was I proud of myself. When I got back home, I set my VCR to tape the game’s replay at 7 on Fox Sports (it was a day game). When the play came on TV, this is I heard/saw. Dead silence, Howie Rose talking about something irrelevant. There is foul ball off the bat by Kendall…and all of the sudden, A HUGE OVATION! Then the camera cuts to a different angle (not to me)…you see a man in his 40’s behind the dug gout clearly say to his friend, “Wow, what a great catch!” Although they didn’t show the catch on TV or mention it…I was still pumped. I still have the tape to this day. The ball is sitting on my trophy case…I always wanted to get it signed by David Weathers and Jason Kendall. I should get on that.
(2) The 2006 playoffs: Okay, this is more than one particular moment. But these playoffs were just incredible. The Mets were “Amazin’ Again,” as the advertisements told us. They had won the division by a wide margin and were front-runners in the National League. I was lucky enough to attend four playoff games that season. I was at Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers when the mets won…and Paul LoDuca made that bizarre double play at home. I was shocked…I was in disbelief when I saw it. I was at Game 2 two days later where Tom Glavine pitched a gem in a 2-0 win. I remember the subway ride to the game that day. I was coming from school and taking the 7 train from Grand Central Station. Everyone of the train was dressed in Mets gear. The train was buzzing, people were believing it was the Mets year. I remember the conductor getting on the microphone and saying “This is the Express Number 7 train to Willets Point/Shea Stadium…where our New York Mets will pummel the Los Angeles Dodgers all the way back to LA…Lets go Mets!” Pure New York. I was at Game 6 of the NLCS against the Cardinals. The Mets were one game away from elimination but NO ONE in the ballpark thought they were going to loose…and they didn’t. John Maine pitched the game of his life. I sat all way in the upper deck in left field, behind the foul pole. I never heard Shea Stadium so loud as it wasy after that game. I was so proud to be a Mets game at that moment. Everyone was screaming “ONLY ONE MORE WIN TIL THE SERIES!” “BRING ON THE TIGERS!” Shea tends to shake a lot during big games (its one of the unique parts of the Stadium). It was always a little disconcerting when the ground you were sitting on (100 feet or so above the ground) started to shake. Shea never shook more than I felt that day but I didn’t even care because I thought we were on our way to the World Series. It was quite the sight walking down the ramp after the game. People were walking down the ramps just giving strangers…complete strangers high fives. It was great. People’s hands were just hanging off the side of the ramps because as you walked down, the people on the other ramp were slapping it. I wished I had my camera on me at that moment to get a picture of it. I couldn’t resist getting in on the action. Then came Game 7. My dad was lucky enough to score tickets in Loge Box 329…our seats. Even though the Mets broke my heart and lost in devastating fashion (I couldn’t bring myself to watch the replay of Beltran’s strikout until the next April), it was still a great game. I was so excited that I even waved a rally towel (I hate rally towels). Oliver Perez pitched a great game (and I got to see the OPP scoreboard sign for the first and only time). But the real moment came in the 6th inning. Scott Rolen crushed a ball to left field, I knew it was a homerun. I couldn’t watch…but out of the corner of my eye I saw Endy Chavez moving back to the wall with a confidence that is unmistakable. He jumped….HE CAUGHT IT!!!!!!! ENDY CHAVEZ JUST MADE THE GREATEST CATCH I, AND EVERYONE IN THE BALLPARK HAS EVER SEEN! The only catch thatarguably may be better and in a bigger spot was Willie Mayes in the World Series. The crowd went nuts! And he turned the double play to boot. I’ll always remember the train ride home from that game. Most people weren’t angry, or screaming or crying…they were disappointed, contemplative and realistic. I heard “It was a great year” “We got this far in the playoffs on no pitching.” Total class by Mets fans all the way. No doubt other cities would be starting riots.
(1) The 16 Inning Game: May 23rd, 2006. Me and my friends decided last minute to go to the Mets/Phillies game. That’s what I’m really going to miss about Shea, being able to go to a game last minute. With CitiField being a new and novel ballpark…along with the subtraction of 13,000 seats, those days are over. Anyway, we bought cheap tickets in the upper deck and I had no idea what was in store for me. It ended up being the best Shea experience of my life. The game was not sold out by a long shot…it wasn’t even crowded in the upper deck. But it didn’t matter, we had a blast. We learned a new a danced for Carlos Delgado’s song, “Rompe” (thanks to the people next to us), we danced to Lazy Mary, we and chanted for Jose Reyes. The Mets were down 6-2 in the 5th, but they started to slowly climb back. Then the Phillies scored a few more runs to make it 8-5 in the 8th and it looked like time was running out for the Amazins. They got the score to 8-6 when JOSE REYES HIT A GAME TYING HOMERUN! The great part about that was…there was an older man sitting about five rows behind us in the Upper Deck keeping score while listening to the game on his pocket radio. My friend David said to my friend other friend Matt: if the Mets tie the game, you need to give this guy a high five. So, when Jose Reyes tied up the game, Matt kept his word. He stumbled and fumbled, climbing over 5 rows of seats (I still don’t know why he didn’t take the stairs) and gave the guy the most enthusiastic high-five I have ever seen. I couldn’t stop laughing at the sight. The man, who was ecstatic that the game was tied, happily returned the request for a high five. That was the great part about games at Shea, solidarity between Mets fans. The game lasted another eight innings after that. Kaz Matsui kept getting out in clutch siuations to which my friend David would turn and complain about how much he hated Kaz. At one point, I think it was the 12th inning, Matt turned to us and said, “OK guys, you ready to go home?” Obviously he was kidding, but I thought he was serious for a second…I yelled “ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS??!?!” I didn’t want to leave…NOBODY wanted to leave. If you left and missed a dramatic Mets walk-off win…then you would loose your blue stripes. Surprinsgly enough a lot of people stayed. More people stayed than I expected for this late of a game (on a school night). We even got to have a 14th inning stretch…two Lazy Mary’s in one game! After the 14th inning we moved down to a lower level because there were some open seats. Then in the 16th inning it happen…Carlos Beltran launched a pitch from Ryan Madson into the Flushing night. THE GAME WAS OVER!! THE METS WIN 9-8 IN 16 INNINGS!! We were all jumping for joy…we were dripping with sweat from yelling and jumping around for 5 and a half hours (it was cold night too)! We were hugging random strangers. In reality, the game really meant nothing, it was a meaningless regular season game in May, but to everyone that witnessed it, it was the biggest Mets win of the season. It was a crucial win..why? Because we were there and if we had to spend 5 and a half hours at Shea, Mets better win! But what made this game number one on my list is what it symbolized for me. It was my first game I went to after I graduated college. I had just come home two days earlier and was looking forward to moving back home. I was excited to see all my friends and start up with them again. I missed being back in good old downstate New York and going to Shea. Going to Shea made me happy. I was looking forward to the summer…and I was especially looking foward to going to Mets games with my friends and family and this was a great start to that summer.
This post was hard to write. As I started putting ideas down, I kept thinking of more things. My mind opened its vault and memory after memory flooded to my consciousness…memories that made me smile. I would say to myself “Oh man, how could I forget about that?!” But each memory was also a little punch to my gut. It’s another reminder that Shea is going to be gone soon…
Although I am intrigued to see what CitiField will be like, it will never replace Shea. It will be very difficult for CitiField to capture the magic and aura that Shea had to so many Mets fans. I was so emotional on Sunday during the ceremonies and I am not afraid to admit that the nostalgia got to me…I teared up a bit. There were tears of happiness to see guys like Robin Ventura, Edgardo Alfonzo and Doc Gooden back again. These guys were the stars of so many happy memories growing up. Of course Keith made me laugh a little when he dug into the batters box one last time. And to watch Piazza and Seaver walk out to center field together while the lights went off one-by-one, man was that something.
But it hurt to see the old players touch home plate one last time. No Met will ever cross home plate again at Shea. The stadium is just going to be gone next year…it’s a parking lot. That’s hard to believe and accept. How could they just pave over a place that have meant so much to so many? It’s saddening to know what I will never go back there again. I’ll never be able to loose myself in a baseball game at the place I used to call home. My children will never be able to set foot in the place where I grew up. Sure, I can tell them all of the stories from my days at Shea, but they will never know what it’s like. Another piece of my childhood has been torn away from me…which seems to be happening a lot to me lately. I will miss that dump in the middle of Flushing Meadows Park. I will miss everything Shea Stadium has given me, but I will not ever forgot what it means to me. Farewell my friend, your purpose was served more than you could have ever imagine.
Sadly, the Mets AAA affiliate has left New Orleans. The cute little rat-wombat-possum thing called the Zephyr will no longer be the property of the New York Mets. New Orleans residents are devastated they have seen their favorite rarely-called-up to the majors outfielder, Ben Johnson play again (although I think he was released in the middle of the season). AAA has packed up their bags and for some reason will play their games in Buffalo next season (good luck keeping warm in early April). I understand that the Mets wanted to move their AAA team closer to New York and out of the Pacific Coast League, but Buffalo is a little extreme.
The other day I bought a bag of “Plackers” Dental-Flossers. We’ve all seen them and even used them at one point. Now, I am not denigrating the usefulness of this product, it is great. I can’t use regular floss, and I always take way too much string when I try to. This is more ergo-dynamic and economical for me. Listen…I don’t mean to use my blog as a product placer.