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Shea Stadium

 

 

Shea Stadium,William A. Shea Stadium,New York,NY,

Ball Park First Game
Date – 04/17/1964 (1)
Starting Pitchers – vs. Pirates: 04/17/1964
Final Score 4-3 (PIT)
Attendance – 50,312
Starting Pitchers Jack Fisher (NYN); Bob Friend (PIT)
First Batter – Dick Schofield (PIT) Result – Popped to 2B
First Hits – Willie Stargell (PIT),Homered to RF (2nd)
First Run – Willie Stargell (PIT)
First RBI – Willie Stargell (PIT)
First Homerun – Willie Stargell (PIT) vs. Jack Fisher (NYN) on 04/17/1964 (2nd inning)
First Grandslam – Jim Hickman (NYN) vs. Vern Law (PIT) on 08/19/1964 (6th inning)
First Inside Park Homerun – Ron Hunt (NYN) vs. Sandy Koufax (LAN) on 06/05/1966 (8th inning)
First No Hitter – Jim Bunning (PHI) vs. Mets on 06/21/1964

Ball Park Lasts
Last Game – vs. Marlins: 09/28/2008, Final Score – 4-2 (FLO)
Attendance – 56,059
Starting Pitchers – Oliver Perez (NYN); Scott Olsen (FLO), Winning Pitcher – Joe Nelson (FLO) Losing Pitcher – Scott Schoeneweis (NYN)
Last Batter – Ryan Church (NYN), result – Flied to CF
Last Hit – Jeremy Hermida (FLO), Singled to RF (9)
Last Run – Dan Uggla (FLO), Last RBI – Dan Uggla (FLO)
Last HR – Dan Uggla (FLO) vs. Luis Ayala (NYN) on 09/28/2008 (8th inning)
Last Grand Slam – Carlos Delgado (NYN) vs. Carlos Zambrano (CHN) on 09/24/2008 (3rd inning)
Last Inside The Park Homerun – Jose Reyes (NYN) vs. Brad Penny (LAN) on 09/07/2006 (6th inning)
Last No Hitter – Bob Moose (PIT) vs. Mets on 09/20/1969

TRIVIA –
On April 14, 1999 Mets closer John Franco earned his 400th save of his career in a game against the Marlins and joined Lee Smith in the 400 saves club; On May 5, 2004 Mets catcher Mike Piazza set a new record for catchers when he belted his 352nd homer as a backstop and passed Carlton Fisk on the all-time list.

 

FIRST IMPRESSION
It was a child of the ’60s, home of the Amazin’ Mets, “New Breed” fans and the craziest kind of baseball ever conceived. Shea Stadium is all grown up now, more mature and sophisticated, but age cannot wipe away the memories. This was the house of Casey Stengel and no-holds-barred fun, where ineptitude didn’t matter, wins and losses were meaningless and there was always reason to smile.

That early innocence is long gone now, the smiles have become jaded and, like it or not, winning does matter. But today’s Shea Stadium delivers a more enduring kind of charm. Many New Yorkers still view it as a big, blue, concrete bowl in the heart of Queens — a distant challenger to the incredible New York ballpark legacies of Ebbets Field, Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds — but what Shea lacks in history and charisma, it more than makes up for with personality.

To fully appreciate Shea Stadium, you need to understand the context of its first six seasons — a rollicking stretch of fun and unadulterated joy. When Shea made its major league debut in April 1964 as a spectacular showcase stadium in Flushing Park, it was located only a long fly ball or two from the World’s Fair, which would draw millions of tourists through 1965. And it offered a different kind of baseball, the bumbling, sometimes-bizarre kind played by the expansion Mets, who had lost 231 games in two seasons under Stengel. Shea was fun and trendy, a place, unlike Yankee Stadium, where younger fans could cut loose.

It was a comedy act that played to rave reviews through 1968, thanks also to the shifting of allegiance by jilted Dodgers and Giants fans. There was something going on here and, unlike anywhere else, losing was acceptable. The Mets drew 1.7 million fans in their first Shea season, 400,000 more than the pennant-winning Yankees. And so the fun continued.

But then, just as the comedy was wearing thin, the Amazin’ Mets transformed into the Miracle Mets and Shea Stadium played host to its first World Series.

SIGNATURE FEATURES
The first thing you notice is the openness, a baseball characteristic the National Football League’s Jets had to live with for 20 seasons. But your eyes drift quickly to the giant scoreboard that commands much of the right-center field view. The scoreboard, one of baseball’s biggest in 1964, now is balanced by a Diamond Vision video display in left-center, a backdrop for the park’s few bleacher seats. Next to the scoreboard in center field is the “Big Apple,” which celebrates Mets home runs.

More than 90 percent of Shea’s blue and red seats are located in foul territory, which adds to the open feeling. But that is offset by the five-tiered grandstands that climb precipitously high above the field.

A visit to Shea is not complete without the roar of passing planes into and out of nearby La Guardia Airport — a noise so deafening that players often step out of the batter’s box until the roar subsides. Over the years, other recognizable sounds have been provided by organist Jane Jarvis and the rhythmic chant of “Let’s Go Mets, Let’s Go Mets.”

Signs have always been an important part of the Shea landscape, encouraged by the Mets in deference to Yankee Stadium’s no-banner rule. Big white-letter slogans adorned the stadium’s exterior in the early years — “Watch the Stars Come Out,” “Catch the Rising Stars,” “Ya Gotta Believe” — and fans always have been willing to contribute their own expressive work. Who can forget Shea regular Sign Man, wearing his distinctive pie-hat or Doc Gooden’s “K” count? Shea’s annual Banner Day promotions have ranked among the most popular in baseball.

At night, the exterior of Shea is like a wonderful Christmas light show for travelers on the network of expressways that connect Queens with the distant skyline of Manhattan and surrounding areas. Part of that show is provided by a series of lights that form the outline of bigger-than-life players in various poses (batting, pitching, catching, etc.) on the stadium facade. Part also comes from the distinctive lighting system that rims the inside of the grandstands and the two towers beyond left- and right-center fields.

QUOTABLE
“(Shea Stadium is) a showplace. This will become one of the must visiting places for all tourists to New York, like the Empire State Building, Radio City or the Statue of Liberty.” — Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh after his first visit to Shea in 1964.

 

The Beatles play at Shea

The Beatles play at Shea

Tom Seaver Signed Picture - COA Vintage 8x10 Authentic - PSA/DNA Certified

Tom Seaver day at Shea

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