A little long winded on this topic, I know, but I felt the need. Feel free to ignore it.
On Saturday, September 13, 2008, I took Jonathon and Nathaniel to what I believe will be our last trip to Shea Stadium (for the uninitiated, home to the New York
Mets. They play baseball). The
Mets will open next season in a brand new, state-of- the-art stadium, so they'll be demolishing Shea Stadium during this off-season. The new stadium (
Citi Field) is being built in Shea's parking lot and Shea will become the new parking lot (more on parking later). Jonathon was devastated when I told him this, aside from one trip to Yankee Stadium, Shea is the only professional ball park he's ever known. He was less than 6 months old when he went to his first game:
Due to the after effects of one of the latest hurricanes (don’t you love being on a first name basis with all of these storms?), the Friday, Sept. 12 game was postponed and they played a good old fashioned double-header on Saturday. Since I haven't been to a double-header since the age of 13, I decided not to miss the opportunity. Hoping to beat the crowd of last-minute ticket seekers, I ordered 3 of them over the phone right after they opened the office at 9 AM. Instead of having them e-mailed to me, I decided to just pick them up at the ball park upon arrival (more on why this wasn't so bright later).
I wanted to leave the house at 1 PM, first pitch of game 1 was set for 3:55 PM. As is normal with our family, we didn't leave until 2:30. I knew we'd be a little late, but didn't feel as bad because I knew we'd have a second game.
After the usual stop-and-go traffic on 278 between the Goethals bridge and the
Verrazzano (1 stalled vehicle, 2 accidents, 3 tow trucks, 4 police cars and TOO MANY rubberneckers), we finally saw the familiar cheesy neon baseball player outlines on the side of Shea by about 4:15. However, because parking is so tight (remember, they're building a new ball park in the current parking lot), I didn't actually get to my seat until about 5 PM (the bottom of the 3rd). I wound up driving an almost complete circle around the stadium, looking for somewhere to park, when a police officer let me take an illegal turn down a one-way street so that I could cross over to one of the satellite parking areas. 15 bucks got me in (more on the total cost of this trip later), after which I found myself desperately racing against one other car for another 10 minutes, trying to squeeze myself into some little nook. The place was packed. I finally parked somewhere (I don't think it was a designated spot, but luckily I wasn't ticketed), and then we got out to run to the park, hoping not to be too late.
The parking area was about 3 blocks from the stadium, it was another 10 minutes before we actually got there, entering near Gate A, all the way on the left field side. The ticket office was by Gate E, which was, of course, all the way by the right field side, the furthest you could possibly have to walk. We found the office and picked up the tickets, only to be reminded that our seats were nearest to...you guessed it, Gate A. So we walked all the way back and finally got in.
Of course it wasn't long before the boys were clamoring for food, but I wasn't in the mood to get up just yet, I convinced them to wait until the 5
th inning. Throughout the night we ate (and spent):
- 2 kids meals (hot dog, chips, small soda and cup of jello) - $10.00. This is by far the biggest steal of any meal at Shea
- Italian sausage sandwich with peppers and onions (a must have at any ball game, this one for some reason was especially tasty) - $7.25
- Large fountain soda - $5.25
- 2 ice creams in a souvenir helmet - $10.50
- Very small bag of nachos with cheese and salsa - $6.00
- 20 oz. bottle of soda (silliest purchase of the night) - $4.75!!
With 3 tickets costing $77.25, parking at $15.00, plus tolls, it turned into quite a pricey evening. Imagine taking a family of 8! I haven’t done the math to see what all of this added up to, I'm too scared to know.
The
Mets lost the first game 3-2 in typical
Mets fashion, the bullpen blew a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 8
th. However, the
Mets won the second game 5-0, here’s my scorecard from the win:
Random conversation #1 from the evening:Jonathon: "Dad, do you know what's the best part about being at the ball game?
Me: "What's that?"
Jonathon: "No commercials!"
I must say I agree, TV commercials are a waste of time, though the entire ball park is plastered with advertising. Every square inch seems to be sponsored by somebody.
Random conversation #2:Jonathon: "Dad, how come we aren't sitting down there by the field?"
Me: "Those seats cost a lot more money than these seats."
Jonathon: "How much are they?"
Me: "About $75 each."
Jonathon: "Wow, for that price, they should let you take the seats home with you.”
With the demolition of the stadium, the
Mets are actually selling the seats for anyone that wants to own them. The choice of colors is bright orange, red, blue or green. They are hard plastic, undersized and not the least bit comfortable, but a pair of them can be yours for $872. I even heard that you can buy one of the bases for $999. No thanks.
Random conversation #3:Jonathon (Nathaniel
didn’t say much): “Boy, I’m having a great time at the ball game!”
Me: “Good, I’m glad. What’s been your favorite part?”
Jonathon: “Well, first it was the hot dogs and soda, then the jello, then the ice cream, then the nachos....”
Sometimes I wonder if my kids realize that there's an actual game going on.
The following are some of my own personal memories of Shea, some games I was there for, others I watched on TV, and most of them I listened to on the radio. (BTW, in my opinion, the best way to enjoy a baseball game is by listening to the radio, as announcers "paint the word picture" as Bob Murphy used to say. The announcers are your eyes and your heart, and the good ones can depict in your mind's eye every nuance of every play that’s happening. They are fans just like you and feel what you would feel if you were watching the game yourself and they're able to describe those feelings in crisp, vivid detail.)
Mike Piazza on Sept. 21, 2001 - First professional sports event, and really the first mass gathering of any kind in NYC, after 9/11. The
Mets played their arch rivals at the time, the Atlanta Braves. Very emotional night, the
Mets took the field wearing hats bearing the logos of New York's first responders (
FDNY,
NYPD, other emergency personnel, such as EMT and Port Authority officers), instead of their usual uniform caps. They would do this for the rest of the season.
The stadium was filled to capacity. It was quite a scene, with a long, moving tribute to those who died in the attacks and 9/11 heroes lining the field. The Braves and
Mets came on to the field prior to the game, and hugged each other, you could see the weight of the moment on their faces. There was still a sense of uneasiness, as there was increased security, and in reality, a fear that some other kind of attack would happen. That mood wasn't singular to those at the ball park that night, I think that anybody living in the NY metropolitan area felt the same thing. Shea Stadium is across the Grand Central Parkway from
LaGuardia Airport, with frequent airplanes flying over the stadium during the course of a game. This night was no different, and people watched every plane that flew overhead, with an uneasy anticipation.
It was a tight game, and with the
Mets down 2-1 in the bottom of the 8
th, Piazza came to the plate and cracked a long, 2-run homer over the left
centerfield wall. The crowd went wild, and I think everybody probably breathed a huge sigh of relief. It was a sort of symbolic moment that meant that life could get back to normal. The
Mets won the game 3-2.
Mets vs. Cardinals - game 7 of the 2006 National League Championship Series (NLCS) - I was at the park for this one, and the place was electric. The emotion in the stadium was almost palpable. You were on the edge of your seat for every pitch, because the winner would represent the National League in the World Series, something the
Mets hadn't done since 2000. They haven't won the World Series since 1986 and based on the regular season, the
Mets were by far the better team. We all thought we were there in anticipation of celebrating a trip to the World Series.
Another tight game (the
Mets don't know how to play any other way), it was tied at 1 when in the top of the 6
th, one of the Cardinal players hit a long drive to left field. It appeared to everyone in the stadium that the ball was gone. However, the
Mets left fielder,
Endy Chavez, made the most amazing catch for the situation that you'll ever see, he jumped high up over the left field fence and at the same time reached back to pull the ball back from being a sure home run. The crowd went hysterical, we all thought the momentum had finally shifted and that the
Mets were sure to win. However, the
Mets just couldn't score and in the top of the 8
th,
Yadier Molina hit a 2-run homer that put the Cardinals ahead 3-1 for good. The atmosphere was one of disbelief, and the air was let out from our collective balloon. To top it off, I missed my connecting train in Newark, and had to find a cab at 1:30 in the morning. An imperfect end to an imperfect evening.
Game 3 of the 2000 World Series against the Yankees - Though we didn't know it at the time, it appeared that Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens had a fit of '
roid rage. Mike Piazza broke his bat on a ground ball, the broken shard landed near the pitcher's mound. Clemens grabbed the sharp piece of bat and flung it
at Piazza, as he was running down the first base line. Roger claims that he thought he was picking up the ball. Uh huh, and what, did he think he was playing kickball? You can't peg the runner with a base ball!!
June 1985, second game of double-header - I was at this game when
Mets outfielder Danny Heep was in a horrific outfield collision with fellow outfielder Terry Blocker during the second game of a Banner Day doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals resulting in an inside-the-park grand slam home run. Never seen anything like it in my life, until a couple of years ago when the
Mets Carlos Beltran slammed face first into Mike Cameron, on a similar play. Only my beloved
Mets could manage to do something like this. Twice.
Banner Days - getting to walk on the field with a banner that we made from an old sheet. The
Mets marketing phrase for the year was "Catch the Rising the Stars", so we drew 25 blue and orange (
Mets colors) stars, assigned a player's name to each and wrote "The Stars Have Risen" at the top (it was my dad's idea, we thought it was great and that we were going to win. My dad knew better, but he didn't dissuade us). The winner wound up being some guy who built a 15 foot train out of cardboard that he wore like a costume, much more elaborate than our simple banner, but hey, at least we got to parade around the field.
My almost foul ball - I was about 11, we were sitting in box seats, a couple of rows from the field, down the right field line (back in the days when the
Mets were on the cusp of being good after many years of ineptitude. The best seats cost about $8). I could literally see the bags under Darryl Strawberry's eyes from the partying he had probably done the night before. It was later in the game, and I was standing by the railing as a player on the opposing team hit a line drive, foul ball. It was coming right at me. It bounced once and as I leaned my glove hand out, some guy pushed to get in front of me. He caught the ball with his bare hands, and went running back up to his seat. I've never come anywhere close to catching a foul ball since.
Cow Bell Man - a fixture at
Mets ballgames, in recent years I haven't been to a game that he didn't attend. He's a fan that walks around the stands, banging on a cow bell with a stick, trying to get the crowd to chant "Let's Go
Mets!" "Let's Go
Mets!". My kids are fascinated by him. "Look Dad, Cow Bell Man just walked right behind us!". "Dad, I see Cow Bell Man, he's down there!!". "Dad, I can hear Cow Bell Man!!!".
LDS night - We were at a game in 2007 where the missionaries from the NYC mission of the
LDS church sang the national anthem to open the game. The missionaries stayed for the game, occupying an entire section of the upper deck.
Anyway, there's lots of other memories, mostly of the
Mets letting me down. I always seem to come back for more though. I blame it on my dad, who passed on his "love of baseball" malaise to me. I am hopelessly afflicted.
So thanks for the memories, Shea, I bid thee an appreciative farewell.
I do understand the need to update the facility, Shea really is a dump, and though I've never been overly sentimental, it was/is
our dump. I'm going to miss that crummy old place.
