Shea Stadium


William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, typically shortened to Shea Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City. Opened in 1964, it was home to the New York Mets of Major League Baseball from 1964 to 2008, as well as the New York Jets of the American Football League and the National Football League from 1964 to 1983.
The stadium was named in honor of William Shea, who was most responsible for bringing National League baseball back to New York after the Dodgers and Giants left for California in 1957. It was demolished in 2009 following the opening of the adjacent Citi Field, the ballpark built to replace it and the current home of the Mets. The former footprint of Shea Stadium is part of Citi Field's parking lots.

History

Planning and construction

The origins of Shea Stadium go back to the relocations of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants in 1957, which left New York without a National League baseball team.
Prior to the Dodgers' departure, New York City official Robert Moses tried to interest owner Walter O'Malley in the site as the location for a new stadium, but O'Malley refused, unable to agree on location, ownership, and lease terms. O'Malley preferred to pay construction costs himself so he could own the stadium outright. He wanted total control over revenue from parking, concessions, and other events.
New York City, in contrast, wanted to build the stadium, rent it, and retain the ancillary revenue rights to pay off its construction bonds. Additionally, O'Malley wanted to build his new stadium in Brooklyn, while Moses insisted on Flushing Meadows. When Los Angeles offered O'Malley what New York City would not—complete ownership of a stadium—he left for southern California in a preemptive bid to install the Dodgers there before a new or existing major league franchise could beat him to it. At the same time, Horace Stoneham moved his New York Giants from Manhattan's Polo Grounds to San Francisco, ensuring that there would be two National League teams in California, and preserving the long standing rivalry with the Dodgers that continues to this day.
In, the National League agreed to grant an expansion franchise to the owners of the New York franchise in the abortive Continental League, provided that a new stadium be built. Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. had to personally wire all National League owners and assure them that the city would build a stadium.
Unlike O'Malley, the owners of the franchise that would eventually become the Mets felt Queens was the logical home for their new team's ballpark. From the outset, they wanted to secure the loyalties of both Dodgers and Giants fans, and feared a team in Manhattan or Brooklyn would be seen as a de facto revival of the respective borough's former franchise, thus possibly alienating fans in the other borough. A club playing in Flushing Meadows would not only likely avoid the same perception, but presumably capture the loyalty of fans in Queens as well, thus potentially confining support for the New York Yankees of the American League to their home borough of The Bronx on the mainland.
Nevertheless, Moses and William A. Shea, the New York lawyer who had led the effort to bring National League baseball back to New York, faced a problem. New York state law of the time did not allow cities to borrow money in order to build a stadium. The only way for the city to finance a stadium would be to demonstrate that the stadium could pay for itself. With this in mind, Moses and Shea proposed to have the new team pay substantial rent in order to pay off 30-year bonds. This provision would come back to haunt the Mets years later; they would never live up to that monetary commitment, and the ensuing financial woes would be an albatross around the team for years.
On October 6, 1961, the Mets signed a 30-year stadium lease, with an option for a 10-year renewal. Rent for what was originally budgeted as a $9 million facility was set at $450,000 annually, with a reduction of $20,000 each year until it reached $300,000 annually.
In their inaugural season in 1962, the expansion Mets played in the Polo Grounds, sharing the facility with the New York Titans of the upstart American Football League which had begun play in 1960. The original plans were for both teams to move to a new stadium in 1963. In October 1962, Mets official Tom Meany said, "Only a series of blizzards or some other unforeseen trouble might hamper construction." That unforeseen trouble surfaced in a number of ways: the severe winter of 1962–1963, along with the bankruptcies of two subcontractors and labor issues. The result was that both the Mets and the football team were forced to play at the Polo Grounds for one more year.
It was originally to be called "Flushing Meadow Park Municipal Stadium" – the name of the public park within which it was built – but an ultimately successful movement was launched to name it in honor of Shea.

Opening

After 29 months of construction and $28.5 million spent, Shea Stadium opened on April 17, 1964, with the Pittsburgh Pirates beating the Mets before a crowd of There were no prior exhibition games or events, and the stadium was barely finished in time for the home opener. Because of a jurisdictional dispute between Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Local 1106 of the Communications Workers of America, the telephone and telegraph wiring was not finished in time for opening day. The stadium opened five days before the 1964–65 New York World's Fair, across Roosevelt Avenue. Although not officially part of the fair grounds, the stadium sported steel panels on its exterior in the blue-and-orange colors of the Fair, the same team colors of the Mets. The panels were removed in 1980.

Demolition

In accordance with New York City law, in 2009 Shea Stadium was dismantled, rather than imploded. The company with the rights to sell memorabilia was given two weeks after the final game to remove seats, signage and other potentially sellable and collectible items before demolition was to begin. The seats were the first, followed by other memorabilia such as the foul poles, dugouts, stadium signage, and the giant letters that spelled out "SHEA" at the front of the building.
After salvaging operations concluded, demolition of the ballpark began on October 14, 2008. On October 18, the scoreboard in right field was demolished, with the bleachers, batter's eye and bullpens shortly thereafter.
By November 10, the field, dugouts and the rest of the field level seats had been demolished.
On January 31, 2009, Mets fans all over New York came to Shea Stadium for one final farewell. Fans took a tour of the site, told stories, and sang songs. The last remaining section of seats was demolished on February 18. Fans stood in awe as the remaining structure of Shea Stadium was torn down at 11:22 am.
The locations of Shea's home plate, pitcher's mound, and bases are marked in Citi Field's parking lot. The plaques feature engravings of the neon baseball players that graced the exterior of the stadium from 1988 onward.

Redevelopment

, Mets owner Steve Cohen is trying to build a park, casino and entertainment complex at the site, called Metropolitan Park, which has the support of the New York City Council and mayor Eric Adams, but is pending approval by the New York State Legislature and the New York State Gaming Commission. The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Metropolitan Park would be built on the site. Local coalition Fed Up opposes the park alienation, instead advocating for a “Phoenix Meadows Vision Plan” which would create public green space over the parking lot.

Stadium usage

Baseball

Shea Stadium was the home of the New York Mets starting in 1964, and it hosted what would be its only All-Star Game that first year, with Johnny Callison of the Philadelphia Phillies hitting a walk-off home run in the ninth inning to win the only Mid-Summer Classic held in the Queens ballpark for the National League. A month earlier, on Father's Day, Callison's teammate, future Hall of Fame member and U.S. Senator Jim Bunning, pitched a perfect game against the Mets.
The stadium was often criticized by baseball purists for many reasons, even though it was retrofitted to be a baseball-only stadium after the Jets left. The upper deck was one of the highest in the majors. The lower boxes were farther from the field than similar seats in other parks because they were still on the rails that had swiveled them into position for football. Outfield seating was sparse, in part because the stadium was designed to be fully enclosed.
At one time, Shea's foul territory was one of the most expansive in the majors. This was very common for ballparks built during the 1960s, in part due to the need to accommodate the larger football field. This was also because, as mentioned, the stadium was designed to be fully enclosed. However, seats added over the years in the lower level greatly reduced the size of foul territory by the dawn of the 21st century. On the plus side, Shea always had a natural grass surface, in contrast to other multi-purpose stadiums such as Three Rivers Stadium, Veterans Stadium, and Riverfront Stadium, which were built during the same era but had artificial turf.
Shea Stadium hosted postseason baseball in 1969, 1973, 1986, 1988, 1999, 2000, and 2006; it hosted the World Series in,,, and. It had the distinction of being the home of the 1969 "Miracle Mets"—led by former Brooklyn Dodger Gil Hodges that defied 100–1 odds and won the World Series, after seven straight seasons in last or next-to-last place. Shea became famous for the bedlam that took place after the Mets won the decisive Game 5 of the World Series, as fans stormed the field in celebration. Similar scenes took place a few weeks earlier after the Mets clinched the National League East title, and then defeated the Atlanta Braves in the first National League Championship Series to win the pennant.
Tommie Agee, Lenny Dykstra, Todd Pratt, Robin Ventura, and Benny Agbayani hit post-season, walk-off home runs at Shea.
Agee was the only player in the history of the ballpark to hit a fair ball into the upper deck in left field. The spot was marked with a sign featuring Agee's number 20 and the date, which was April 10, 1969. Teammate Cleon Jones said the ball was still rising when it hit the seats, so it very likely could have been the longest home run hit at Shea. It came in the second inning, and Agee hit another in the seventh over the center field wall; both solo shots were off of Montreal Expos starter Larry Jaster, and the Mets
In 1971, Dave Kingman – then with the San Francisco Giants and later to play for the Mets on two occasions – hit a home run that smashed off the windshield of the Giants' team bus, parked behind the left field bullpen.
For many years, the Mets' theme song, "Meet the Mets", was played at Shea before every home game. Jane Jarvis, a local jazz artist, played the popular songs on the Thomas organ at Mets games for many years at the stadium.
On October 3, 2004, it was the venue for the last game in the history of the Montreal Expos, and the Mets won Montreal's major league story ended where it had started 35 years earlier: at Shea Stadium. The following year, the Expos relocated to Washington, D.C., and became the Nationals.
The last game played at Shea Stadium was a 4–2 loss to the Florida Marlins on September 28, 2008. However, the Mets were in the thick of the playoff chase until the last day. A win would have meant another game for Shea as the Mets were scheduled to play the Milwaukee Brewers in a one-game playoff for the National League Wild Card berth. Following the game, there was a "Shea Goodbye" tribute in which many players from the Mets' glory years entered the stadium and touched home plate one final time so that fans could pay their last respects to the players and the stadium the Mets called home for 45 years. The ceremony ended with Tom Seaver throwing a final pitch to Mike Piazza; then, as the Beatles' "In My Life" played on the stadium speakers, the two former Met stars walked out of the centerfield gate and closed it behind them, followed by a display of blue and orange fireworks set to Fanfare for the Common Man.
Three National League Division Series were played at Shea Stadium. The Mets won all three, and never lost a Division Series game at Shea.
Seven National League Championship Series were played at Shea Stadium.
  • 1969 against the Atlanta Braves – Mets won 3 games to 0
  • 1973 against the Cincinnati Reds – Mets won 3 games to 2
  • 1986 against the Houston Astros – Mets won 4 games to 2
  • 1988 against the Los Angeles Dodgers – Dodgers won 4 games to 3
  • 1999 against the Atlanta Braves – Braves won 4 games to 2
  • 2000 against the St. Louis Cardinals – Mets won 4 games to 1
  • 2006 against the St. Louis Cardinals – Cardinals won 4 games to 3
The decisive seventh game of this series was played at Shea Stadium, marking the only time that the Mets lost the deciding game of a National League Championship Series at Shea.
Four World Series were played in Shea Stadium.
The Yankees' World Series win in 2000 was the only time that a visiting team won a World Series at Shea Stadium. The Mets won both their World Series titles at Shea Stadium.
File:Shea Crowded.jpg|thumb|left|Shea Stadium prior to the start of a New York Mets game in 2008. Shea had the best attendance in the National League that year, averaging over 51,000 fans per game.
The New York Yankees played their home games in Shea Stadium during the 1974 and 1975 seasons while Yankee Stadium was being renovated. The move to Shea was helped by the city and the Mets, with the former helping in setting up office space in Flushing Meadows Park. Joe DiMaggio participated in his final Old Timers Day game in 1975 at Shea.
On the afternoon of April 15, 1998, the Yankees also played one home game at Shea, against the Anaheim Angels after a beam collapsed at Yankee Stadium two days before, destroying several rows of seats. With the Mets playing a game at Shea that evening against the Chicago Cubs, the Yankees used the visitor's locker room and dugout and the Angels used the home dugout and old locker room of the New York Jets. Former Mets star Darryl Strawberry, by then playing for the Yankees, hit a home run during the game. Stadium operators partially raised the Mets' home run apple signal before lowering it back down, to the delight of the crowd. The Yankees won the game, 6–3.
Shea Stadium also hosted the first extra-inning regular season baseball opener played in New York, on March 31, 1998, when the Mets opened their season against their rival Philadelphia Phillies, playing the longest scoreless opening day game in the National League and the longest one in Major League Baseball since 1926. The Mets won the game 1–0 in the bottom of the 14th inning.
During the 1977 New York City blackout the stadium was plunged into darkness at approximately 9:30 p.m. during a game between the Mets and the Chicago Cubs. It occurred during the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Mets trailing the Cubs 2–1 and Lenny Randle at bat. Jane Jarvis, Shea's organist played "Jingle Bells" and "White Christmas". The game was eventually completed on September 16, with the Cubs defeating the Mets 5–2.